Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- PART I -- CHAPTER ONE The Steppe Highway -- Geographic Features -- A Note on Terminology -- Manchurian Plain -- Mongolia -- Sinkiang -- Pastoral Nomadism in the Steppe: Preconditions -- The Horse -- Andronovo's Chariots -- Further Cultural Developments -- Early Nomadic (Scythian-type) Cultures in the Eurasian Steppe -- Chronology and Distribution -- Social and Economic Development -- Material Culture -- Conclusion -- CAHPTER TWO Bronze, Iron, and Gold -- Introduction: The Northern Complex -- Metallurgy: The First Frontier -- The Northern Zone Bronze Complex -- Early Contacts between China and the Northern Zone -- Identification of Early Nomads in the Northern Zone -- Periodization -- First Phase: Late Western Chou and Early Spring and Autumn Period (c. Ninth-Seventh Century B.C.) -- Early Nomadic Sites in the Northeast -- The Northwestern Complex -- Second Phase: Late Spring and Autumn to Early Warring States (c. Sixth-Fourth Century B.C.) -- Foci of Pastoral Nomadic Cultures -- Third Phase: Late Warring States (c. Mid-Fourth-Third Century B.C.) -- Conclusion -- PART II -- CHAPTER THREE Beasts and Birds -- Introduction -- Cultural Statements in Political Context -- Peace or War? -- The Non-Chou as Conquerable -- Non-Chou as Allies -- The Contexts of Peace -- The Non-Chou as Resources -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER FOUR Walls and Horses -- Introduction -- The Question of Hu -- First Encounter -- Trade -- Cavalry -- Wall Building -- The Written Evidence -- Technical Features of the Northern Walls -- The Archaeological Context -- The Frontier after the Walls Were Built -- Conclusion: Configuring the Northern Walls in Late Warring States History -- PART III -- CHAPTER FIVE Those Who Draw the Bow -- Introduction -- The Ethnic Origin of the Hsiung-nu.

Early State Formation -- The Rise of Modun's Military Power -- Act I: General Meng T'ien, the Conqueror -- Act II: Modun, the Parricide -- Act III: A New Leadership -- The Formation of the Hsiung-nu State in Historical Perspective -- Crisis -- Militarization -- Centralization -- State Formation among the Hsiung-nu -- Hsiung-nu Expansion under Modun -- Early Han Relations with the Hsiung-nu -- Han Kao-tsu's Treaty of 198 B.C. -- The Ho-ch'in Treaty Policy and the Principle of Equality -- A New World Order -- The Ho-ch'in Policy during the Reigns of Emperors Wen and Ching -- Chia Yi and Ch'ao Ts'o -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER SIX From Peace to War -- Introduction -- Why Did the Ho-ch'in Policy Come to an End? -- The Debates over Ho-Ch'in (135-134 B.C.) -- Limits and Ultimate Failure of the Ho-Ch'in Policy -- War and Expansion -- Han Wu-ti's Offensive: Political and Technical Aspects -- The Han Campaigns -- The Question of the Western Regions -- The Western Regions as a Hsiung-nu Power Base -- Conclusion -- PART IV -- CHAPTER SEVEN In Search of Grass and Water -- Introduction -- The Role of the Historian (Shih) in Early China -- History Writing during the Early Han -- The Hsiung-nu Described -- Sources -- Ethnography of the Hsiung-nu -- BURIAL CUSTOMS. -- Geographic Expansion and Trade -- The Economic Impact of the Hsiung-nu Wars -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER EIGHT Taming the North -- Introduction -- Ethnogenealogy of the Hsiung-nu -- Inner Asia and Correlative Cosmology -- Formulation of Prognostications Involving Northern Peoples -- Conclusion -- Glossary -- A -- C -- D -- E -- F -- H -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- P -- S -- T -- W -- Y -- Select Bibliography -- Index.