Centering the Periphery: The Case of Southeast China during the Early Imperial Period

Summary

First incorporated into China in 214 BCE, the southern region known as Lingnan (which consists of the present-day provinces of Guangxi and Guangdong), has traditionally been regarded as one of China’s peripheral regions. Not only was Lingnan distant from imperial centers in the north, its native pre-literate ‘Yue’ inhabitants spoke non-sinitic languages and were known for their distinctive ‘uncivilized’ behaviors. Along with its location at the southern margin of modern China’s territory, the fact that political, cultural and material elements originating north of it did have a significant impact on Lingnan’s long-term development further helps mark the region as ‘peripheral’. However, by focusing on unidirectional currents emanating from distant political centers, one risks underestimating the influence of areas ‘beyond the periphery’, as the case of Lingnan illustrates when one takes into account material and cultural elements which reached southern China along the ‘Maritime Silk Road’. Having said this, the mere act of ‘centering’ so-called peripheral regions for the purpose of understanding local change is in itself insufficient, as the analysis must consider not only the origin of single elements of interaction, but also their magnitude, impact, and the extent of their social and spatial penetration at the local level.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20148