The Queen's Thief, Star Trek, and ancient trade

[ljwrites]

Now listening to: I finished the audiobook version of The Queen of Attolia and will be moving on to The King of Attolia once I load the files onto my phone. I enjoy the distinctive fantasy Greek setting and the depth of the characters and drama in this series. Also the narration of the audiobooks by Jeff Woodman really adds to the atmosphere.

Now viewing: Episodes of Star Trek: Discovery with my husband when we sit down to fold the laundry. We're caught up to "Saints of Imperfection" now. Earlier we watched DS9 together this way (rewatch for me) and are both rather nostalgic for that older style of Trek that had a more leisurely narrative and a more ensemble feel, filler episodes and all. Discovery has characters that I care deeply about and raw, emotional storylines, but it's so tightly focused and fast-paced--from narrative to camera shots--that I'm sometimes overwhelmed.

Now reading: Ancient Korea, the Sea-Roads of Cotton and Spice by Park Namsu. I thought I was going to read nice tame accounts of trade in the ancient world (I know haha, when has anything been nice or tame about trade?), but instead the book opens with ancient accounts where the ancient Chinese had to heroically rescue their subjects from the enslaving, marauding Koreans. In both stories the Koreans, threatened with having their shit fucked up by armies, cough up bolts of hemp cloth as "sorry we enslaved you" compensation. Okay so that's not trade per se, but it's still some of the earliest records of textile production by ancient Koreans. Also my ancestors were kind of dicks, but everyone's ancestors were dicks so I'm not too torn up about that.

One thing that bugs me about the book is that Dr. Park is weirdly dismissive of the idea that cotton could have been farmed on the Korean peninsula before the 14th century when cotton farming began, according to official record, with seeds smuggled out of China by Moon Ikjeom. Park explains away the clear records of the ancient Korean kingdoms exporting cotton products by saying, oh, they imported the raw materials from West and Central Asia.

I guess that's a possibility, and certainly there is strong evidence of trade with these regions that should not be dismissed. Still, this was hardly the time of integrated supply chains when raw materials were traded as actively as finished products. Stuff like raw cotton would be expensive as fuck once it crossed a continent or a sea, and would take up a lot of space that could be better used for more profitable goods (like... glass? Hello??), so the kind of trade Dr. Park proposes doesn't seem to make much economic sense.

So why doesn't he even consider the possibility that there could have been indigenous cotton of a different variety in Korea, a possibility clothing researchers have raised? Maybe because it's hard to attach a heroic male name to indigenous cotton, and because it's not prestigious enough without the connection to China? Argh.

Comments

[asya_ana]

I'm loving Discovery! I've only watched one ep of the current season. I know what you mean about the pacing, half the time I have no clue what's going on. But TV is just like that now and people probably wouldn't like it otherwise :( Still, the characters! *heart eyes*

[ljwrites]

Yeah, Mr. L.J. and I were mourning the fact that we probably won't ever have old-style Trek back because the television environment has changed too much. :( The characters are still amazing, though!

[lb_lee]

Haven't seen Discovery (or much of any Trek, embarassingly), but I didn't realize just how herky-jerky fast TV had gotten until my roommate developed a neurological issue that meant fast movement and quick cuts made her sick. "Murder, She Wrote" was watchable, but modern superhero stuff was really tough.

[minoanmiss]

I like your analysis of Dr. Park's analysis. Science needs examinations just like this to reduce the amount of human bias tainting it.

I am seriously considering the Queen's Thief series, not least because of my love of the Greek world (the Bronze Age is my favorite but I also love the Iron Age right up until Christianity smeared across it.)