Sino-Tibetan interaction during the Ming dynasty was phenomenal and dynamic,yet the textual records are,to a certain degree,simplified by the narrative of the tributary system.Previous scholar-ship on Ming dynasty Sino-Tibetan interaction also falls into this simplified narrative.This article proposes to take the material culture perspective,especially through focusing on Tibetan dogs,botanical medicine and swords and armories,to revisit the alleged"trivial tributes vs valuable awards"paradigm of previous histori-ography on the tributary system so as to deepen our understanding of Ming dynasty Sino-Tibetan interac-tion.The cultural connotation of Tibetan dogs changed in the transregional Sino-Tibetan interaction from re-ligious totem to symbols of suppressed outsiders.The flow of botanical medicine allows us to examine the livelihood of Ming China's frontier garrison soldiers and cross-ethnic material exchange.Swords and armor-ies in northwestern Sichuan were tokens for political alliance and symbols for submission and peace-mak-ing,but from the Ming official's perspective,they were simply cheap metal that frontier swindlers use to trick the Ming for rewards.Cultural misunderstanding during Sino-Tibetan interaction even caused geopoliti-cal reshuffle.The perspective of material culture provides a new angle to study Ming dynasty cross-ethnic interaction.
Ming dynastymaterial cultureSino-Tibetan interaction
维普
万方数据
