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INTRODUCTION: I am truly honored to present this Timeline. This page is a work-in-progress and visitors must use it with some caution. I do ask that any materials quoted from this page be properly cited: Baran, Robert J. "A Suggested Timeline for the Development of Magical Miniature Landscapes," http://www.magiminiland.org/BigPicture/Timeline.html, version dated 24 November 2019. This is very important as this page will be amended from time to time. In addition to new material being continually discovered and included here, citations are being gathered from all my old notes. Some of my earlier research grouped references by chapter, and I am now teasing out the specific source of each of the below events if it isn't cited elsewhere on this website. When all the sources have been located I will do a "final" renumbering of all the footnotes. Please be aware that it is not intended that every entry here has "equal weight." In compiling this tapestry, so to speak, we have used threads of different textures and materials in an attempt to best portray the story of which we actually know relatively little. |
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APPROX. |
CHINA |
JAPAN |
OTHER |
|
B.C.E.
|
* World's oldest known pottery dating back to c.18,000 B.C.E.:
Xianrendong cave in what is now known as Jiangxi province in south China. (1) * Pottery dating back to c.16,000 B.C.E.: Yuchanyan cave in Hunan Province in south central China. (2) * Pottery dating back to c.13,000 B.C.E.: Miaoyan in Guilin in Guangxi Province in southern China. (3) * Pottery dating back to 9,000 B.C.E.: the Immortal's Cave on Mount Huifeng, Lishui County, Jiangsu Province in eastern China. (4) * Last glacial period within current ice age was ending by approx. 8,700 B.C.E.. Despite having temperatures similar to those of glaciated areas in North America and Europe, East Asia, Taiwan and Japan had remained unglaciated except at higher elevations. This was caused by ice sheets in Europe producing extensive anticyclones above them which generated air masses that were so dry on reaching Siberia and Manchuria that precipitation sufficient for formation of glaciers could never occur (except in Kamchatka where these westerly winds lifted moisture from Sea of Japan). Relative warmth of Pacific Ocean and presence of large east-west mountain ranges were secondary factors preventing continental glaciation in Asia. Present-day subtropical regions had also lost most of their forest cover, including southern China, where open woodland became dominant due to drier conditions. In northern China -- unglaciated despite its cold climate -- mixture of grassland and tundra had prevailed, and even here, northern limit of tree growth was at least twenty degrees further south than today. (5) * As early as 8,000 B.C.E., millet had been cultivated in the area around Yangshao in Henan Province. (6) * A pottery cauldron containing boiled medicinal herbs (unearthed in 2001) at Kuahuqiao in Xiaoshan County, Zhejiang Province indicates that Neolithic people had realized some natural herbal medicine use as early as 6,000 B.C.E.. (7) * Silk weaving had begun by 3,500 B.C.E.. (8) |
* Pottery apparently made in northern tip of Honshu island,
Japan, 14,500-14,000 B.C.E. (9)
* 10,000 B.C.E., applique-ware ceramics made in south and spread to northern and eastern regions of islands. In two and a half millenia, new pottery tradition developed w/complex surface designs in what would be central Japan's Kanto district. Cord-marked (jomon) designs would become dominant throughout islands. (10) |
* c.24,000 B.C.E., 4-1/2" tall female figurine, with
exaggerated hips and breasts, the Dolni Vestonice Venus from Czechoslovakia, part of oldest known set of
sculptures as an early attempt at fired ceramic (14,000 years older than first ceramic pots and jars).
(11) * Earliest Near Eastern sun-dried pottery: Iran, c.9,000 B.C.E. (12) * Apples cultivated in southwestern Asia around 7,000 B.C.E. and oranges cultivated in India and Tigris River Valley within the next millenium. (13) * Grapevines cultivated in Armenia no later than around 6,000 B.C.E. (14) * By 6,000 B.C.E., Korean Chulmun Period (to 1300 B.C.E.) was producing applique-ware ceramics on east-central coast. Within a millenium, this pottery was distinct tradition w/regional variations. (15) * By 4,000 B.C.E., earliest Britons were already pruning young trees to harvest timber and fuel. (16) |
|
3000
B.C.E. |
* Earthenware shallow basins/flattened low-rimmed bowls were known as
pen.
* Earliest date of appearance of wheel in China, resulting in better class of thrown pottery. (17) * Chinese craftsmen were making bronze tools. (18) * Some jade being worked and used by this time, probably brought in from trade with the Siberian region. Jade vessels were being made c.2700 B.C.E.. (19) * Rain Flower pebbles (Yuhua shi), one of oldest stones to be considering as viewing stone in China, were collected and appreciated at least 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. These small colorful pebbles of agates, crystals, opals, and other stones were found in grave sites w/bodies in excavation of ancient sites near Nanjing in Jiangsu Province. Originally found in extensive gravel layer, stones have been reduced in size, rendered smooth, and shaped to round or oval or sometimes flatten by millions of years of tumbling with sand and other stones in rivers. (The name "Rain Flower stone" would be derived from ancient myth dating back to Southern Liang dynasty about 600 C.E.) (20) * 2354 B.C.E., catastrophic environmental dislocation (from bombardment by cometary debris?). (21) * Indo-Europeans from west of central Asian steppe brought new cultural components to Yellow River Valley c.2300 B.C.E., combining advanced technological techniques w/native-developed agricultural culture. Language of Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, and his immigrating people -- known to us as being written in "ancient Chinese characters" -- rose to pass on their history here, and not tales of various earlier indigenous east Asian cultures dating back even hundreds of thousands of years. (Hence disparity between archaeological sites in Yellow and Yangzi River valleys and traditional historical records w/regard to beginning of agriculture in that region.) (22) * Oranges used in China from southeast Asia or India by 2200 B.C.E. (23) XIA DYNASTY (legendary, c. 2200-1766 B.C.E.), equivalent? to Erlitou culture (2000-1600 B.C.E.) discovered in 1959 in Yanshi, Henan Province. (24) |
* In Middle Jomon Period (2500-1500 B.C.E.),
the Jomon migrated from Kanto plain into surrounding mountainside and began to live
in very large villages, developing very simple agriculture or proto-agriculture.
(25) * "In pre-animistic times, large rocks were used as markers delineating the occupation of property or land. At some point, the original function of rocks was set aside for more mystic purposes... plants, mountains and streams [were seen to] be inhabited by kami, the native gods of Japan. Particularly potent forms, such as waterfalls, imposing boulders and ancient trees were recognized as the most likely places for the gods to reside. In order to communicate w/these invisible forces, to pay tribute and promote fruitful co-existence, sacred spaces were created in which large boulders called iwakura were placed. These clearings in the forest, along natural pebble beaches and beside waterfalls, may represent Japan's first 'garden' plots... Other ritual spaces were created in the form of iwasaka ('god boundaries'), stone circles where pillar-shaped rocks would surround a central master stone... Intended solely for the purposes of worship and ritual, aesthetic considerations were secondary..." (26) |
* Olives cultivated in Crete and Syria. (27)
* During Early Harappan period (Early Bronze Age in India, about 3200-2600 B.C.E.), similarities in pottery, seals, figurines, ornaments, etc. document intensive caravan trade w/Central Asia and Iranian plateau. (Early Bronze Age in Near East -- area of modern Middle East -- was c.3500-2000 B.C.E., while in Central Europe it was as late as 1800-1600 B.C.E..) (28) |
|
2000
B.C.E. |
* Ginseng trade between China and pre-Babylonia Akkad.
(29)
* 1628 B.C.E., environmental disasters -- dimming of the sun and summer frosts that caused crop failures and famine (from bombardment by cometary debris?). (30) SHANG DYNASTY (1766 B.C.E.-1122 B.C.E., alternately given as c.1500 B.C.E.-c.1050 B.C.E.) * (The term "Bronze Age" signifies elsewhere a period when bronze tools replaced stone tools, and were later replaced by iron ones. In China, bronze was in use pre-Shang and, although higher-temperature iron smelting technology would arrive by mid-Zhou, bronze vessels would make up majority of metal vessels all the way through Later Han period.) (31) |
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* Ayurvedic medicine in India made use of hundreds of herbs, some kept
readily at hand by being grown in containers. Many of those plants
became naturally dwarfed after a few seasons.
(32)
* c.1550 B.C.E., a 65 ft. long Egyptian medical scroll listed about 800 medicinal drugs, including many herbs and spices. (Would be discovered in 1884 C.E. by Georg Ebers and named the Ebers Papyrus.) (33) |
|
1500
B.C.E. |
* Bronze pen as ritualistic serving dishes or hand-washing basins.
* Practice of contemplating stones and rocks and using them as garden features ("stone arranging") in use. (34) * Large numbers of silk fragments show silkworm was being cultivated by this time for Chinese silk industry. (35) * Chrysanthemum ("autumn flower") was first cultivated in China as flowering herb and is described in writings as early as the 15th cent. B.C.E. (36) * Earliest known hunting-ground for imperial pleasure existed during late Shang and measured up to 200 km in length. Built on natural terrain and filled w/exotic plants, animals, birds and fish, it held tall, square earthen man-made platform. On this the emperor was said to perform cosmic rituals, study constellations, observe weather, and enjoy other recreational activities. Some six centuries later, size of this earthen platform was dramatically increased and elaborate palace buildings were constructed to accommodate the merrymaking of emperors and their nobles. (37) * "Mandate of Heaven" concept of cyclical authority begun. When members of a dynasty were deviant and otherwise no longer worthy, the protection or Mandate was transferred to the virtuous head of a new dynasty. (38) * Rectangular marble pedestal stands w/recessed legs and arched, cusped aprons -- common features in later display stands -- used to uplift and add prestige to food offerings presented to ancestral spirits in vicinity of last Shang capital, Anyang in Henan Province. Employed literally to raise objects from mundane plane to sacred realm. (39) * "Proto-porcelain" or "primitive porcelain" made of kaolin clay, of compact texture, and surprisingly lustrous, apparently was made by 11th cent.B.C.E.. (True porcelain -- high temperature fusion of pure clay with feldspar and quartz -- would occur twelve hundred years later.) (40) * 1159 B.C.E., environmental disasters -- dimming of the sun and summer frosts that caused crop failures and famine (from bombardment by cometary debris?). (41) ZHOU DYNASTY (1122 B.C.E.-221 B.C.E.) * A bronze spade closely resembling more modern ones was used as early as 1100 B.C.E. (42) |
* Later development... was addition of layer of white gravel or sand around stones. Known as kekkai or "border zones," they marked boundary between sacred and human, but were also meeting place between mankind and divine. (43) |
* c.1500 B.C.E., Sumerians of the Middle East had primitive single-tube seed drill
(which never made its way to Europe). This device allowed farmers to sow seeds at specific depths
at specific seed rate, instead of simply casting seeds on the ground, by hand, for them to grow
where they landed (broadcasting). Some of broadcast seeds were cast on unprepared ground where
they never germinated, germinated prematurely only to be killed by frost or died from lack of access
to water and nutrients.
(44)
* In Egypt, 31 young myrrh trees were transported in soil-filled wicker baskets from Punt on Somali Coast and planted in stone pots that had drainage holes in their bases at memorial temple garden of Queen Hatshepsut (c.1502-1452 B.C.E.). (About twenty-five years later trees were uprooted and burned as Thutmose III sought to erase her name from history.) (45) * By 1,500 B.C.E., agricultural developing in northern Korea w/stone and wood farming implements. Undecorated (mumun) pottery began to replace Chulmun. (46) * Mid-14th cent. B.C.E., early representation of garden from tomb of pharaoh Akhnaton. Shows plants and trees growing thickly and without absolute order within an enclosure of strictest symmetry, where outside walls are matched by square shape of pool in center. (Such formality would be continuing theme in Europe from Middle Ages up to current times.) From end of that century comes small painting of rectangular ornamental fish-pond, around which are symmetrically-set fruit trees and possibly vines. Also, plants were treated architecturally and trained on lattice structures to artificial shapes (referred to as arbors, bowers, or pergolas). (47) * Late 12th cen. B.C.E. Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser I collected cedars and box trees for his botanical collections from countries he conquered. (48) |
|
1000
B.C.E. |
* Evidence of plant grafting as a propagation technique.
(49)
* Evidence of silk strands in an Egyptian mummy by this time suggests very early exchanges of goods between China and Egypt, probably from overland routes that included Persia. (Process remained carefully guarded secret, backed up by death penalty in China.) (50) * Chinese cut down some forests to create more farmland. (The deforestation would lead to soil erosion, floods, and drought in millennia to come.) (51) |
|
* Palm trees clipped into columnar forms by Egyptians: possibly first instance of topiary-type work.
(52)
* Charaka Samhita (~ 900 B.C.E. ) was first recorded treatise fully devoted to concepts and practice of Ayurveda. The work listed 341 plants and plant products classified into 50 therapeutic groups. The Sushruta Samhita (~ 600 B.C.E. ), specially emphasizing surgery, described 395 medicinal plants, 57 drugs of animal origin, and 64 minerals and metals as therapeutic agents. (53) * By 7th cent. B.C.E., Phoenician colonists had planted olive trees on opposite end of Mediterranean Sea, on Iberian Peninsula. (54) * Assyrian ruler Sennacherib (r.701-681 B.C.E.) gathered together in his gardens in Nineveh aromatic plants from Syria and fruit trees from many countries. In one place he cut five-acre temple garden out of solid rock, by digging out planting holes and five-foot-deep water channels. (55) * By 650 B.C.E., Greek hillsides were bare of trees cut down to provide wood for houses, ships, and charcoal used by metalworkers. This led to soil erosion and loss of fertility in many areas. By 594 B.C.E., Athenian statesman Solon forbade export of any agricultural produce. (This edict would result in more olive trees planted, but as their roots do not hold soil together, erosion of Greek hillsides would be hastened over the next two to three centuries. Rich silver mines also played a part in this.) (56) * Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 B.C.E.) said to have built terraced Hanging Gardens of Babylon in imitation of Persian landscape for his homesick princess wife. Covered about one-quarter square mile and reached to about 70' high. Was thickly planted w/trees of every kind. Some type of machine, possibly waterwheels, kept whole irrigated from Euphrates river. (57) |
|
500
B.C.E. |
* Legendary mystic Lao-zi (c.604?-?
B.C.E.
)
taught concept of Dao, the path or way natural events take w/spontaneous
creativity, non-interference, and regular alternation between extremes which are not
exclusive but mutually complementary. Wise ruler and sage give up all striving and
ideally do not interfere in people's lives but lead by example and subtle direction.
(58)
* Ethical teacher Kongfu-zi (c.551-479 B.C.E. urged system of morality and statecraft to bring about peace, justice, and universal order. Believed strongly in importance of ritual and ceremony, value of politeness and good manners, and importance of education and self-cultivation, especially for ideal gentleman. His interpretation of dao was "the Way of running a state so that good order and harmony can prevail among men." Said to have once met Lao-zi. (59) * Spring and Autumn (722 - 481 B.C.E. ) or Warring States period (481 - 221 B.C.E. ) Tripod Basin, earliest known high-fired stoneware pen, closely follows shape of contemporary bronze tripod water basins of Eastern Zhou. (60) * Sixth cent. B.C.E. saw mastery of cast iron technology which created cast-iron hoes and led to sharp axes that opened vast areas to forestry; mold-board plow and annealing (heating then cooling) techniques for making a malleable, nonshattering cast iron three centuries later; and swan-neck hoe capable of weeding around plants without damaging them two centuries after that. (Although blast furnace technology would exist in the West (Scandanavia) by late eighth cent. C.E. and cast iron would be widely available in Europe half a millenium later, it would not be until the seventeenth cent. C.E. that plow and seed drill technology from China would arrive in the Netherlands and England, instigating agricultural revolution.) (61) * Mid-first millenium B.C.E. 'Yu Gong' ('Tribute of Yü') chapter of the book Shu Jing (Classic of History) mentioned the ancient northeastern province of Qingzhou, whose "articles of tribute were salt, fine cloth of dolichos fibre, productions of the sea of various kinds; with silk, hemp, lead, pine trees, and strange stones, from the valleys of Dai." Term kuai shih (guaishi or unusual stone) at time referred more to ornamental semiprecious stones than to garden rocks of curious shapes a thousand years later. (62) * Fifth cent. B.C.E. records of poets and scholars tell of trips into mountains for inspiration. Also, praises of chrysanthemums recorded from this time onward. (Yellow-flowered variety mentioned first.) (63) * Record during the reign of Duke Wei of Ch'i (357-320 B.C.E.) of unsuccessful mission to discover Island of P'eng-Lai, most famous of Isles of Blessed believed by Daoists to be opposite coast of east-central Jiangsu province in Eastern sea. (Possibly originated from occasional experiences there of amazing mirage effects when on-lookers can see what appear to be islands and trees in distance off coast?) (64) * Li Sao (On encountering sorrow) by Qu Yuan (4th cent. B.C.E.), earliest surviving long narrative poem on theme of "an escape from human miseries by means of a journey into the supernatural world." (65) * Third cent. B.C.E., Zou Yan first introduced/synthesized philosophy for understanding all processes of nature as Five Agents Theory, from which was derived belief in potency of replicas in miniature and correlative symbols. (66) * Also from this time, treatise described 300-year-old method of improved crop growth by planting in rows w/multi-tube seed drill rather than simply broadcast-scattering of seed. (India soon adopted this also, but Europe would not try this method for two millenia.) Another text from this time describes connection between types of vegetation which grow in certain areas and minerals to be found underground at same localities. (First European example of geo-botanical prospecting would be about sixteen hundred C.E.) (67) * About 250 B.C.E., Daoist ideas were amalgamated with other beliefs which had as their goals the maintenance of health and vigor and achieving immortality. This new "religious Daoism" had saints and deities, and was administered by priests. Popular religious Daoism believed in magic, miracles, and alchemy. It became and would remain one of most broad-based religions of China. (68) QIN DYNASTY (221 B.C.E.-207 B.C.E.) * Earliest mention of imperial garden began by Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di: 120,000m in circumference, held 300 palaces and several lakes, largest being 300 hectares in area. There was scale model of conquered territories, a more powerful index of conquest than usual undifferentiated treasure-heap (plunder or tribute), world in miniature crafted to make visible actions and relations in real-sized world. Parts of emperor's garden correspond to parts of realm under emperor's power, thus, image of the realm. Also, assembling of these sub-gardens by one man into single space is feat of one man, kind of royal portrait. (Similar building and landscaping programs would be initiated to recall particular feats and characteristics of individual rulers down through centuries to even Qing dynasty). And, in 219 B.C.E. this First Emperor sent expedition of 3,000 young men and maidens, led by a Daoist priest, to find tree and fruit which confer immortality in Isles of Blessed. They did not return and legend suggests that they were the people who became [some of] ancestors of Japanese. (Other Chinese Emperors said to have tried to reach Isles of the Blessed, and irritated by lack of success had their magicians and scholars put to death. Some of legends may allude to historic attempts to colonise some of islands of Japan. Only later would legends of Isles of Blessed be seen as allegories of spiritual search, not as real places to be visited.) Qin Shi Huang Di also said to have had dwarf as court jester. (69) * 208 B.C.E., catastrophic environmental dislocation (from bombardment by cometary debris?). (70) WESTERN HAN DYNASTY (206 B.C.E.-8 B.C.E.) * Development of hillside upward slope-sited dragon-kiln or "climbing-kiln" (longyao) at least by this time in Zhejiang. Flues and chimney were at upper end of chamber which could in a few centuries reach high-firing temperature of 1300° C. (This fuel-economized, fast-firing, and rapid-cooling design would then be perfected here in centuries between Han and Tang dynasties, and would become compartmented by Song. By Tang would be adopted as standard in ceramic industry in this and neighboring provinces until advent of modern firing and mechanization.) (71) * Earliest conceptual model of garden design in China included "one lake, three hills" by first emperor Gaozu. Lake had three mountains representing legendary islands in land of Immortals, an enduring theme for imperial and some private gardens ever since. (72) * c.140 B.C.E., new Emperor WuDi sent emissary Jang Qian halfway around world to Bactria and Sogdiana to seek an east-west alliance against the Hsiung Nu (Huns). News of Jang Qian and of Serica (land of silk) would reach Rome and caravans would begin to carry first apricots and peaches to Europe, while grapes, pomegranates, walnuts and other plants would be introduced to China. (73) * 104 B.C.E., emperor WuDi ordered construction of of great lake in his park/gardens containing four islands called P'eng-lai, Fang-chang, Ting-chou, and Hu-liang. This project was undertaken w/intention of reaching actual islands themselves. (74) * 101 B.C.E., Chinese ships reached the east coast of India w/help from navigational compass pioneered by the Chinese using orientating effect of lodestone (magnetite, an ore resulting from iron mining and working beginning eight centuries earlier). (First mention in Europe of magnetic compass would be in 1190 C.E.) (75) |
* Yayoi culture (300
B.C.E.
-300
C.E.
)
resulted from introduction of wet cultivation of rice, iron and bronze metalworking, and potter's wheel
from China and Chinese colonies in Korea. Shinto has kami (divine forces) in nature and virtues
of loyalty and wisdom. Man-made bound ropes -- shime-nawa -- often used to mark territorial
boundaries; later to delineate natural abodes of Shinto-dieties.
(76)
* Chinese magician/physician Xu Fu sent c.221 B.C.E. here w/600 youths in quest for Elixir of Life at magical island in Eastern Sea. (77) |
* Siddhartha Gautama (c.563-477
B.C.E.
),
historical Buddha ("Awakened One"), in India taught Middle Way and Four Noble Truths.
(78)
* As early as fifth cent. B.C.E., fame of Indian steel and iron had made its way to Persia and to Rome. (79) * 431 B.C.E., pepper from India fairly common in Greece as a medicine. (80) * Latter half of 4th cent. B.C.E., first described gardens in Athens, sacred grove of the Academy founded by Plato. Plane trees and olives (said to have been reared from cuttings taken from sacred olive in Erechtheum) grew there, watered by river Cephissus. (81) * Indian king Chandragupta Maurya (r.322-298 B.C.E.) had park surrounding his palace which included both indigenous and imported from abroad evergreen trees. * Indian king Asoka (269-232 B.C.E.) planted groves of trees for public recreation, and later rulers followed his example. Asoka also adopted Buddhism. He established India's first hospitals and herbal gardens and placed them under Buddhist control in opposition to the Hindu Brahmins. (82) * By c.300 B.C.E., Indian Ayurvedic texts had been translated into Greek. (83) * By 300 B.C.E., local bronze industries emerged in northwest Korea and spread southward during next century. Local iron technology arose under Chinese influence, and these products would be sought after by Chinese as well as Japanese elites. (84) * Theophrastus (c.370-c.287 B.C.E.), Greek philosopher known as the father of botany, and a favorite pupil of Aristotle. Thought to have written more than 200 books, of which only two survive, History of Plants and Causes of Plants, and these only in part. He also developed first known botanical garden. These two works, almost alone, carried Greek learning about plants and gardens for sixteen centuries, to the Renaissance. Many of his observations are current down to our own time. (85) * 221 B.C.E. Qin dynasty in China completed its conquest of neighboring states and became first to rule over united China. Qin Empire, however, collapsed after its founder's death. In wreckage of empire, Chinese commander in south built his own kingdom of Nam Viet, including young state of Au Lac. In 111 B.C.E., Chinese armies conquered Nam Viet and absorbed it into growing Han Empire. After briefly ruling through local chieftains, Chinese rulers attempted to integrate Vietnam politically and culturally into Han Empire and Chinese administrators were imported to replace local landed nobility. Political institutions patterned after Chinese model were imposed, and Confucianism became official ideology. Chinese language was introduced as medium of official and literary expression, and Chinese ideographs were adopted as written form for Vietnamese spoken language. Chinese art, architecture, and music exercised powerful impact on their Vietnamese counterparts. (86) * 108 B.C.E., Chinese invasion of northwest Korea (following expansion of Yan state into Manchuria two cent. earlier) established four-cent. Chinese commanderies at Lelang (near modern Pyongyang) as political and military arm of those dynasties and major contact point between advanced Chinese civilization and local populace. Koreans formed useful political alliances and acquired from Chinese residents advanced technologies including wet-rice cultivation, iron technology, and high-fired ceramic technology. (87) |
|
100
B.C.E. |
* Tea drinking, made like soup from green, unfermented leaves of wild bush related to camelia, first started in south China in this
dynasty. Plants cultivated for culinary and medical use.
(88)
* First herbal here put in writing at least by 2nd cent. B.C.E. Contained descriptions of some 365 drugs from 252 plants. (89) * Stands no longer restricted for use in ritual contexts. Earliest known display pedestal commissioned for a collected object: four-legged gilt-silver stand and cover made for a neolithic white jade cong tube. (Would be excavated in 1963 from a tomb near Nanjing.) (90) * Importations of new aromatics took place under Han Emperor Wu in consequence of far-reaching expansion politics of this monarch and newly opened commercial relations of China. New type of vessel was created: xunlu (later termed boshanlu), incense burners in form of mountain peaks which rose over the waves and symbolized abode of the Immortals, the mythic Islands of the Blessed. Some burners rested on small pen dish to either catch hot embers or hold miniature symbolic ocean. Some boshanlu may have also served as three-dimensional maps of known or unknown lands. * China sanctioned official trade in silk w/foreigners in 2nd cent. B.C.E (91) * Shan Hai Jing (Classic or Collection or Canon of the Mountains and Seas), first edited in Western Han times, refers to wenshi ("texture stones") and meishi ("beautiful stones"). (92) |
|
* By 15 B.C.E., Roman-style propagation pots in use in Jericho. Shaped like
upside-down bottles w/holes perforated near the necks and packed w/soil, these would hold a young
branch or shoot for two years until rooting occurred. Then separation would be made from parent plant and
transplantation to new location would be made.
* Romans seem to have invented art of topiary around end of first cent. B.C.E. Metal one-piece spring hand-shears, an essential tool for trimming bushes into geometric shapes, were used for topiary work since at least this time. (93) |
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