Upper East Asia (909 BCE – CE 819): Steppe Empires, Frontier Kingdoms, and Transcontinental Corridors

Geographic and Environmental Context

Upper East Asia includes Mongolia and the parts of western China comprising Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, and western Heilongjiang.

• This is a region of vast steppe and desert basins, high mountain ranges such as the Altai, Kunlun, and Himalayas, and the high plateau of Tibet.

• Key river systems include the upper Yellow River, Tarim, and Amu Darya headwaters, while oases along the Tarim Basin edge sustain agriculture in otherwise arid landscapes.

Climate and Environmental Shifts

• The region’s continental climate brought cold, dry winters and short, warm summers in the steppe, and harsh alpine conditions in the plateau.

• Rainfall was scarce in lowland deserts but more abundant in mountain foothills and river valleys.

• Climatic fluctuations could expand or contract pastureland, influencing nomadic migrations and trade.

Societies and Political Developments

• Nomadic confederations such as the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Türkic Khaganates rose to prominence, controlling steppe trade and threatening or allying with Chinese dynasties.

• The Tibetan Plateau saw the emergence of the Tubo (Tibetan) Empire, which at its height in the 7th–9th centuries CE contested influence in Central Asia and the Himalayas.

• Oasis states like Khotan and Turpan thrived as Silk Road hubs, balancing allegiance between steppe powers and Chinese dynasties.

• Semi-sedentary agricultural communities persisted in fertile river valleys, often under the control of nomadic elites.

Economy and Trade

• Pastoral nomadism centered on horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and camels, with seasonal migration between summer and winter pastures.

• Oases supported agriculture—wheat, barley, millet, grapes, and melons—and served as caravan rest points.

• Trade along the Silk Road moved silk, jade, and ceramics westward, and glassware, precious metals, and textiles eastward.

• Control of trade routes brought wealth to steppe and oasis states alike.

Subsistence and Technology

• Nomadic societies excelled in mounted warfare, metalworking, and portable felt tent (yurt/ger) architecture.

• Irrigation systems in oases allowed intensive farming despite aridity.

• Camel caravans made long-distance trade possible across deserts and mountain passes.

Movement and Interaction Corridors

• The Silk Road and its northern branches connected China with Central Asia, Persia, and the Mediterranean.

• Mountain passes in the Altai, Tian Shan, and Kunlun ranges acted as strategic gateways.

• Rivers such as the upper Yellow and Tarim provided local transport and irrigation sources.

Belief and Symbolism

• Religious traditions included shamanism, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, and Zoroastrian influences.

• The spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road left a legacy of cave temples, murals, and monasteries in oasis cities.

• Nomadic art featured animal motifs, emphasizing strength, mobility, and spiritual guardianship.

Adaptation and Resilience

• Seasonal mobility ensured sustainable use of pastures.

• Alliances and tribute relationships with neighboring states provided stability and trade security.

• Oases acted as refuges in times of drought or political instability, enabling recovery and continuity.

Long-Term Significance

By CE 819, Upper East Asia was a strategic bridge between China, Central Asia, and the Middle East—home to powerful steppe empires, thriving Silk Road towns, and enduring pastoral traditions that would continue to influence Eurasian history for centuries.

In order to facilitate administration of their new territories, the Chinese build roads, waterways, and harbors, largely with corvée labor (unpaid labor exacted by government authorities, particularly for public works projects).

Agriculture is improved with better irrigation methods and the use of plows and draft animals, innovations which may have already been in use by the Vietnamese on a lesser scale.

New lands are opened up for agriculture, and settlers are brought in from China.

After a few generations, most of the Chinese settlers probably intermarry with the Vietnamese and identify with their new homeland.

Chinese rule over the Vietnamese becomes more direct following the ill-fated revolt, and the feudal Lac lords fade into history.

Ma Yuan establishes a Chinese-style administrative system of three prefectures and fifty-six districts ruled by scholar-officials sent by the Han court.

Although Chinese administrators replace most former local officials, some members of the Vietnamese aristocracy are allowed to fill lower positions in the bureaucracy.

The Vietnamese elite in particular receive a thorough indoctrination in Chinese cultural, religious, and political traditions.

One result of Sinicization, however, is the creation of a Confucian bureaucratic, family, and social structure that give the Vietnamese the strength to resist Chinese political domination in later centuries, unlike most of the other Yue peoples who are sooner or later assimilated into the Chinese cultural and political world.

Nor is Sinicization so total as to erase the memory of pre-Han Vietnamese culture, especially among the peasant class, which retains the Vietnamese language and many Southeast Asian customs.

Chinese rule has the dual effect of making the Vietnamese aristocracy more receptive to Chinese culture and cultural leadership while at the same time instilling resistance and hostility toward Chinese political domination throughout Vietnamese society.

Maritime East Asia (45 BCE–99 CE): Dynastic Turmoil, Regional Influence, and Rebellions

Between 45 BCE and 99 CE, Maritime East Asia—comprising lower Primorsky Krai, the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese Archipelago below northern Hokkaido, Taiwan, and southern, central, and northeastern China—experiences significant political upheavals, regional expansions, and continued cultural and technological advancements during the later Han dynasty.

Political Instability and Dynastic Change

The early first century CE is marked by dynastic turbulence, most notably during Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty. Major agrarian rebellions originating in modern Shandong and northern Jiangsu drain the Xin dynasty’s resources, eventually leading to Wang Mang’s overthrow. The Lülin rebellion elevates Liu Xuan (Emperor Gengshi) to briefly restore the Han dynasty. However, internal divisions soon see Gengshi replaced by the Chimei faction's puppet emperor, Liu Penzi, who himself falls due to administrative incompetence.

By 30 CE, the Eastern Han dynasty under Emperor Guangwu (Liu Xiu) reestablishes control, overcoming these rebellions and restoring a degree of central authority.

Expansion and Influence in Korea

Lelang (Nangnang), near present-day P'yongyang, becomes a significant center of Chinese governance, culture, industry, and commerce, maintaining its prominence for approximately four centuries. Its extensive influence draws Chinese immigrants and imposes tributary relationships on several Korean states south of the Han River, shaping regional civilization and governance.

The Korean Peninsula witnesses substantial agrarian development, notably through advanced rice agriculture and extensive irrigation systems. By the first three centuries CE, walled-town states cluster into three federations: Jinhan, Mahan, and Byeonhan, marking significant strides toward regional organization and agricultural efficiency.

Goguryeo and Han Relations

During the instability of Wang Mang’s rule, the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo exploits the turmoil, frequently raiding Han's Korean prefectures. It is not until 30 CE that Han authority is firmly restored, reasserting control over these border territories.

Xiongnu and Frontier Conflicts

Wang Mang's hostile policy toward the northern nomadic Xiongnu tribes culminates in significant frontier conflicts. By 50 CE, internal division splits the Xiongnu into the Han-allied Southern Xiongnu and the antagonistic Northern Xiongnu. The Northern Xiongnu seize control of the strategically important Tarim Basin in 63 CE, threatening Han’s crucial Hexi Corridor.

However, following their defeat in 91 CE, the Northern Xiongnu retreat into the Ili River valley, allowing the Xianbei nomads to occupy extensive territories from Manchuria to the Ili River, reshaping regional power dynamics.

Technological and Cultural Developments

This period sees continued advancements in mathematics and commerce. Notably, the influential Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art (Jiu Zhang Suan Shu) documents the first known use of negative numbers, employing distinct color-coded counting rods to represent positive and negative values, and presenting sophisticated methods for solving simultaneous equations.

Peak and Decline under Emperor Zhang

The reign of Emperor Zhang (75–88 CE) is retrospectively regarded as the Eastern Han dynasty's zenith, characterized by administrative stability and cultural flourishing. However, subsequent emperors witness increasing eunuch interference in court politics, sparking violent power struggles between eunuchs and imperial consort clans, foreshadowing dynastic decline.

Legacy of the Age: Turbulence, Expansion, and Innovation

Thus, the age from 45 BCE to 99 CE is defined by significant political turbulence, territorial expansion, technological innovation, and sustained cultural influence. Despite internal strife, this era reinforces critical foundations for subsequent East Asian civilizations, shaping regional dynamics profoundly.

Lelang is a great center of Chinese statecraft, art, industry (including the mining of iron ore), and commerce for about four centuries, from the second century BCE to the second century CE.

Its influence is far-reaching, attracting immigrants from China and exacting tribute from several states south of the Han River, which pattern their civilization and government after Lelang.

In the first three centuries CE, a large number of walled-town states in southern Korea have grouped into three federations known as Jinhan, Mahan, and Byeonhan; rice agriculture has developed in the rich alluvial valleys and plains to the point of establishing reservoirs for irrigation.

Major agrarian rebellion movements against Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty, initially active in the modern Shandong and northern Jiangsu region, eventually lead to Wang Mang's downfall by draining his resources; this allows the leader of the other movement (the Lülin), Liu Xuan (Emperor Gengshi) to overthrow Wang and temporarily establish an incarnation of the Han Dynasty under him.

Chimei forces eventually overthrow Emperor Gengshi and place their own Han descendant puppet, Emperor Liu Penzi, on the throne, but briefly: the Chimei leaders' incompetence in ruling the territories under their control, which matches their brilliance on the battlefield, causes the people to rebel against them, forcing them to try to withdraw homeward.

They surrender to Liu Xiu's (Emperor Guangwu’s) newly established Eastern Han regime when he blocks their path.

The state of Goguryeo had been free to raid Han's Korean prefectures during the widespread rebellion against Wang Mang;  the Han dynasty does not reaffirm its control over the region until CE 30.

The rebellion led by the Trung Sisters of Vietnam is crushed after a few years.

Wang Mang had renewed hostilities against the Xiongnu, who are estranged from Han until their leader, a rival claimant to the throne against his cousin, submits to Han as a tributary vassal in 50.

This creates two rival Xiongnu states: the Southern Xiongnu led by a Han ally, and the Northern Xiongnu led by a Han enemy.

During the turbulent reign of Wang Mang, Han had lost control over the Tarim Basin, which is conquered by the Northern Xiongnu in 63 and used as a base to invade Han's Hexi Corridor in Gansu.

After the Northern Xiongnu defeat and flight into the Ili River valley in 91, the nomadic Xianbei occupy the area from the borders of the Buyeo Kingdom in Manchuria to the Ili River of the Wusun people.

The reign of Emperor Zhang, from 75–88, will come to be viewed by later Eastern Han scholars as the high point of the dynastic house.

Subsequent reigns will be increasingly marked by eunuch intervention in court politics and their involvement in the violent power struggles of the imperial consort clans.

Central Asia (45 BCE–CE 99): Crossroads of Empires and the Rise of Kushan Influence

From 45 BCE to CE 99, Central Asia—encompassing modern-day Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan—served as a critical crossroads for cultural, economic, and political interaction. This transformative era was defined by the decline of Greco-Bactrian and Scythian states, the ascendancy of the Kushan Empire, flourishing Silk Road commerce, and increasingly intricate interactions with neighboring powers, notably Han China and Parthia.

Political and Military Developments

Decline of Hellenistic and Scythian Influence (45 BCE–25 CE)

• The fragmented Greco-Bactrian kingdoms, remnants of Alexander’s empire, had largely dissolved by the start of this era. Small, Hellenistic-influenced principalities in Bactria, Sogdia, and Margiana gradually gave way to nomadic groups, especially the Yuezhi and other Indo-Iranian and Turkic peoples.

• To the north, the Indo-Scythian kingdoms steadily weakened, paving the way for stronger, centralized empires emerging from the Yuezhi confederation in Bactria and the Tarim Basin.

Rise and Consolidation of the Kushan Empire (25–99 CE)

• Around 25 CE, Kujula Kadphises, leader of the Yuezhi confederation, unified various tribes and city-states, laying the foundation for the powerful Kushan Empire. Although Kujula’s precise reign dates remain uncertain, his effective rule began around this time, consolidating territories in northern Afghanistan, Tajikistan, southern Uzbekistan, and parts of Turkmenistan.

• Under Kujula’s successors, particularly Vima Takto (Soter Megas) from about 80 CE, the Kushan Empire expanded dramatically, controlling strategic points along the Silk Road, fostering vibrant commercial and cultural exchange between East and West.

Interaction with Han China and Parthia

• The Kushans became influential intermediaries between the Han Dynasty in China and the Parthian Empire to the west. Diplomatic missions and alliances were frequent, as each empire sought advantageous trade terms and territorial security.

• Central Asian states skillfully navigated these relationships, often balancing diplomatic, commercial, and occasionally military pressures exerted by both eastern and western neighbors.

Economic Developments and the Silk Road

Central Asia as Silk Road Nexus

• Central Asian cities—Samarkand, Bukhara, Termez, and Maracanda—became increasingly wealthy through trade, benefiting from their strategic positions along the Silk Road. These cities served as pivotal commercial hubs, handling silk from China, spices and textiles from India, and precious metals, glassware, and wine from Rome and Parthia.

• Sogdian merchants, particularly based in Samarkand and Bukhara, established expansive trade networks, dominating long-distance caravan trade across deserts and mountain passes.

Economic Prosperity under the Kushans

• Kushan rulers fostered economic stability by issuing standardized coinage featuring imagery from diverse cultures, symbolizing the cosmopolitan nature of their empire and facilitating commercial interactions along the Silk Road.

• Agriculture thrived in oasis settlements, enhancing regional prosperity. Innovations in irrigation and water management boosted agricultural output, enabling cities to grow and sustain large populations.

Cultural and Religious Developments

Cultural Syncretism and Kushan Patronage

• The Kushan Empire promoted remarkable cultural syncretism. Their coins, monuments, and artifacts combined Hellenistic, Indian, Persian, and nomadic artistic traditions, reflecting Central Asia’s unique position as a cultural crossroads.

• Artistic and architectural developments flourished, blending styles from Greco-Roman, Parthian, and Indian traditions, particularly visible in sculpture, coinage, and the monumental architecture of urban centers.

Spread of Buddhism into Central Asia

• Under Kushan patronage, Buddhism spread rapidly throughout the region. Buddhist monasteries and stupas emerged in Uzbekistan (particularly in Termez), Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, acting as centers of learning, art, and spiritual practice.

• The Kushan rulers supported Buddhist missionary activities, facilitating the religion’s transmission into East Asia, notably influencing its arrival in China.

Persistence of Local Religions and Zoroastrian Influence

• While Buddhism expanded, local religious traditions—including Zoroastrianism, local Iranian cults, and various animistic practices—remained robust and continued to coexist with Buddhism, contributing to Central Asia’s religious diversity.

• Zoroastrian temples and fire worship persisted prominently in Sogdiana (especially around Samarkand and Bukhara), reflecting continued Iranian cultural influence.

Social and Urban Developments

Growth of Cosmopolitan Urban Centers

• Central Asian urban centers flourished during this period, characterized by vibrant marketplaces, cosmopolitan communities, and complex social structures influenced by interactions among nomadic tribes, sedentary populations, and foreign traders.

• Samarkand and Bukhara emerged as significant cultural and economic hubs, attracting merchants, scholars, and artisans from across Eurasia, facilitating cultural exchange.

Tribal and Nomadic Influence

• Nomadic tribes continued to impact the region profoundly. Various Turkic and Iranian-speaking nomads regularly interacted with settled populations, influencing urban culture, political structures, and military dynamics throughout Central Asia.

Long-term Consequences and Historical Significance

The era from 45 BCE to CE 99 positioned Central Asia decisively as an essential hub of economic exchange, cultural fusion, and political power. The emergence and expansion of the Kushan Empire provided political stability and economic growth, fostering cultural syncretism and religious diffusion. Central Asia became deeply embedded in the Silk Road networks, profoundly shaping global history by enabling sustained cultural and commercial exchange between East and West.

The foundations established in this era—including vibrant cosmopolitan cities, integrated trade networks, diverse cultural traditions, and religious pluralism—defined Central Asia’s identity for centuries, securing its legacy as a pivotal crossroads of Eurasian history.

The Chimei or Red Eyebrows is, along with Lülin, one of the two major agrarian rebellion movements against Wang Mang's short-lived Xin Dynasty.

The Chimei rebellion, initially active in the modern Shandong and northern Jiangsu regions, eventually leads to Wang Mang's downfall by draining his resources, allowing Liu Xuan (Emperor Gengshi), leader of the Lülin, to overthrow Wang and temporarily reestablish an incarnation of the Han Dynasty.

Eventually, Chimei forces overthrow Emperor Gengshi and place their own Han descendant puppet, teenage Emperor Liu Penzi, on the throne, who rules briefly until the Chimei leaders' incompetence in ruling the territories under their control (which matches their brilliance on the battlefield) causes the people to rebel against them, forcing them to retreat and attempt to return home.

When their path is blocked by the army of the newly established Eastern Han regime of Liu Xiu (Emperor Guangwu), they surrender to him.

Opposition from wealthy landowners and provincial officials still loyal to the Han dynasty forces the autocratic Xin (Hsin) emperor Wang Mang to rescind his radical reforms.

A descendant of the Han rulers, Liu Xiu (Liu Hsiu), effects a restoration of the old dynasty in CE 25.

Wang Mang’s brief rule thus separates the Han Dynasty into two periods: that of the Former, or Earlier, Han, before CE 9, and that of the Later Han, after CE 25.

Emperor Gengshi's forces cause the death of the former Western Han emperor-designate, Emperor Ruzi (Liu Ying), in 2.

Two co-conspirators—Fang Wang, the former strategist for the local warlord Wei Xiao, and a man named Gong Lin—and their group of several thousand men, after kidnapping the former Duke of Ding'an, occupy Linjing (in modern Qingyang, Gansu).

Emperor Gengshi sends his prime minister Li Song to attack them, and wipes out this rebel force, killing Liu Ying.