»I Spy with my Little Eye«: GIS and Archaeological Perspectives on Eleventh Century Song Envoy Routes in the Liao Empire (Kitan-Liao Archaeological Survey and History KLASH)

Gwen Bennett

doi:doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no1_2015s71

Walter POHL – Andre GINGRICH (Eds.)

Approaches to Comparison in Medieval Studies

medieval worlds 1 (2015)

MEDIEVAL WORLDS provides a new forum for interdisciplinary and transcultural studies of the Middle Ages. Specifically it encourages and links comparative research between different regions and fields and promotes methodological innovation in transdisciplinary studies. Focusing on the Middle Ages (c. 400-1500 CE, but can be extended whenever thematically fruitful or appropriate), MEDIEVAL WORLDS takes a global approach to studying history in a comparative setting.
MEDIEVAL WORLDS is open to regular submissions on comparative topics, but also offers the possibility to propose or advertise subjects that lend themselves to comparison. With a view to connecting people working on related topics in different academic environments, we publish calls for matching articles and for contributions on particular issues.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Walter POHL and Andre GINGRICH
Medieval Worlds: Introduction to the First Issue
Patrick GEARY, The Discourse of Herrschaft as the Practice of Herrschaft in the Fifth Century
Robert MOORE, The First Great Divergence?
Lars Boje MORTENSEN, Comparing and Connecting: the Rise of Fast Historiography in Latin and Vernacular (Twelfth to Thirteenth Century)
Helen SIU, Historical Anthropology: A View from »South China«

COMPARATIVE PAPERS: UNIVERSAL HISTORIES
Ian WOOD, Universal Chronicles in the Early Medieval West
Ann CHRISTYS, Universal Chronicles in Arabic before c. 900

COMPARATIVE HISTORY IN THE MAKING: ONGOING MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECTS
Gwen BENNETT, »I Spy with my Little Eye«: GIS and Archaeological Perspectives on Eleventh Century Song Envoy Routes in the Liao Empire (Kitan-Liao Archaeological Survey and History KLASH)
Michael BORGOLTE, Foundations »For the Salvation of the Soul« – an Exception in World History? (Foundations of Medieval Societies FOUNDMED)
Catherine HOLMES and Naomi STANDEN, Defining the Global Middle Ages (AHRC Research Network)
Eduardo MANZANO, Why Did Islamic Medieval Institutions Become So Different from Western Medieval Institutions? (Power and Institutions in Medieval Islam and Christendom PIMIC)
Walter POHL and Andre GINGRICH, Visions of Community (VISCOM): Comparative Approaches to Ethnicity, Region and Empire in Christianity, Islam and Buddhism (400-1600 CE)
John TOLAN, The Legal Status of Religious Minorities in the Euro-Mediterranean World (RELMIN)

Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Austrian Academy of Sciences Press

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Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400
https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at

The journal is funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).

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Approaches to Comparison in Medieval Studies

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»I Spy with my Little Eye«: GIS and Archaeological Perspectives on Eleventh Century Song Envoy Routes in the Liao Empire (Kitan-Liao Archaeological Survey and History KLASH)

Gwen Bennett

MedievalWorlds.Approaches to Comparison in Medieval Studies, pp. 71-85, 2015/06/30

medieval worlds 1 (2015)

doi: 10.1553/medievalworlds_no1_2015s71

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doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no1_2015s71

Abstract

Archaeological data, combined with GIS analysis has given us new perspectives on eleventh century medieval period envoy missions from the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) to the Liao Empire (907-1125 CE). Lu Zhen and Wang Zhen were Song envoys sent in 1008 and 1012 by the Song to the Liao’s Middle Capital or Zhongjing, in present day Chifeng Inner Mongolia, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). Lu Zhen recorded information about the route he traveled that allows us to locate it on administrative maps of the Song-Liao period and present day maps of the PRC. Viewshed analysis of the route combined with information Wang Zhen recorded about it lets us calculate population densities for an area that he passed through that can be used to extrapolate population density estimates from archaeological data for other areas in Chifeng. Viewshed analysis provides insights about the areal extent of the landscape and what man-made structures the envoys might have been able to see along the route during their travels. Combined, these analyses give us better insights into some of the concerns that the Liao had about these foreign missions crossing their territory and the steps they took to address them.

Keywords: Liao Empire, Song Dynasty, archaeology, GIS, China, landscape analysis, viewsheds, optimal routes

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Published Online: 2015/06/30 10:33:09

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Walter POHL – Andre GINGRICH (Eds.)

Approaches to Comparison in Medieval Studies

medieval worlds 1 (2015)

»I Spy with my Little Eye«: GIS and Archaeological Perspectives on Eleventh Century Song Envoy Routes in the Liao Empire (Kitan-Liao Archaeological Survey and History KLASH)

Abstract