The Saka in Yunnan

[Zeibek]

I just read a book called The Tarim Mummies by J.P Mallory and Victor H. Mair. In it was mentioned a theory harbored by Chinese archaelogoist Zhang Zengqi: when the Yuezhi, displaced by the Xiongnu, attacked the Saka in the Ili valley and in turn displaced them, some of the Saka moved south and settled in Yunnan. As evidence he cites the presence of a local minority known as Xi, which he believes to be the local transcription of the Chinese term 'Sai', meaning Saka. Furthermore, he parallels the local custom where a host and guest drink from the same horn as a sign of friendship with the Scythian tradition of two men becoming blood brothers bry drinking from the same horn, and notes that not only do they depict horsemen with braided hair and generic steppe clothes in Yunnan, but they actually adopted the animal style art there (I'd post the two comparison between a Yunnan belt buckle and a Saka one if my scanner worked, but it's sufficient to say that they do bear a striking resemblance).

Has anyone else heard of this theory before? I've only found one reference to it and would like to find out more if possible.

[Leviathan DarklyCute]

Cool story bro.

[MeinPanzer]

I just read a book called The Tarim Mummies by J.P Mallory and Victor H. Mair. In it was mentioned a theory harbored by Chinese archaelogoist Zhang Zengqi: when the Yuezhi, displaced by the Xiongnu, attacked the Saka in the Ili valley and in turn displaced them, some of the Saka moved south and settled in Yunnan. As evidence he cites the presence of a local minority known as Xi, which he believes to be the local transcription of the Chinese term 'Sai', meaning Saka. Furthermore, he parallels the local custom where a host and guest drink from the same horn as a sign of friendship with the Scythian tradition of two men becoming blood brothers bry drinking from the same horn, and notes that not only do they depict horsemen with braided hair and generic steppe clothes in Yunnan, but they actually adopted the animal style art there (I'd post the two comparison between a Yunnan belt buckle and a Saka one if my scanner worked, but it's sufficient to say that they do bear a striking resemblance).

Has anyone else heard of this theory before? I've only found one reference to it and would like to find out more if possible.

There almost certainly were contacts between the peoples of Yunnan province and steppe cultures, whether they were direct or indirect. Yunnan art (that is, the art of the Dian people, who were the most powerful in Yunnan) does show some steppe-like costume. One cowry shell container from the last two centuries BC or so has a scene with a procession of ambassadors from other nations, and one group wears long-sleeved caftans and trousers and carry long swords. The braided hair is not really a sign of steppe culture, though - ancient Chinese sources tell us that many of the people living around the Dian wore their hair plaited, with the main group being the Kunming, and the figures who wear steppe costume do not wear their hair plaited.

In my opinion hypothesizing a whole group of Saka moving all the way to Yunnan seems a bit farfetched, especially without any further note in the Chinese sources, but a steppe influence seems seems very likely.

[Zeibek]

In addition to my first post I've only got the Han Shu's statement that "The Yuezhi attacked the king of the Sai who moved a considerable distance to the south and the Yuezhi then occupied his lands" as any kind of support for the supposed migration. That's why I'm eager to find any kind of new information on the subject, since the idea fascinates me but I can't find anything about it.

There is also another theory according to which the migration was a steady process that began circa 1000BC, though the evidence for that is dubious to say the least (e.g daggers were supposedly unkown to the Chinese and were passed on by the steadily moving Saka, and some funerary erections are credited to them by the theory as well).

[keravnos]

Missed this first time around. Having read about the Xi, and just looking at their characteristics (they seem to have more caucasian features than other chinese, I am inclined to believe the author of the book, or at least keep an open mind. MP's suggestion is the accepted scientific consensus, no doubt. Please if you have more data on this you find interesting, post them here.