Origin of the Alans

[Alanus]

The Generals from The North, Part 2

This post adds to previous ones:
Post #61; Clan of the White Ram, elite burial of a State of Yan officer from the Loufan tribe.
Posts #75 & 76; the Argali Charioteers
and Post #92; the 176 BC letter from Modun to Emperor Wen, as the Shanyu describes various Yuezhi tribes conquered by his Right Hand General-- "the Loufan, Wusun, Hujeie, and their [the Yuezhi's other] 26 states have become the territory of the Xiongnu."

By studying the Loufan tribe, we find valuable hints to the origin of the Yuezhi. An important paper on this subject was written (in broken English and Chinese) by A.A. Kovalev, St. Petersberg, 2009, "The Location of Loufan Tribe in 4-2 Century B.C. and Influence of Its Culture to the Culture of Central Plain and the South." Kovalev not only documents the location of the "inner" Loufan but also shows dozens of Animal-style artifacts only found in two cultures-- the Loufan and Pazyryks. I'll cover Kovalev's documentation of the "later" Loufan in a near future post.

But first, can we actually find a specific origin of the Loufan? Perhaps, if we look to Bronze Age China during the rein of King Wuding and his famous general Fu Hao. We find this assessment by Anthony J. Barbieri-Low and Emma Bunker: "She [Bunker] proposes that the Shang acquired the chariot through a marriage alliance to a non-Chinese group to the northwest. Fu Hao, one of several consorts to the Shang king, was a warrior queen and, according to the interpretation of her name as a toponym, a native of a non-Chinese group. Perhaps she brought the chariot to court as her dowry. Her tomb certainly contains many artifacts such as mirrors, animal-style knives, and bow-shaped objects [rein holders] which were imported from or influenced by the culture of the Northern Zone. Regardless of exactly how it was given, I concur with Bunker that the chariot was probably given to the Shang kings as part of an amicable exchange with a... group to the northwest." (Barbieri-Low, p. 47, Wheeled Vehicles in the Chinese Bronze Age, Sino-Platonic Papers, No. 99, Feb. 2000)

   
The chariot and Fu Hao arrived in Anyang at precisely the same time; no chariots are found earlier than her lifetime and that of King Wuding. The Anyang chariot burials also contain artifacts not mentioned by Barbieri-Low, such as this Karasuk-styled knife. Its finial can only be described as belonging to the Clan of the White Ram.

If my eyes are seeing correctly, Fu Hao's tribe would be the Loufan, straight from the Altai, and the rivers Irtish and Ob, with its neighboring Karasuk Culture. Perhaps, then, the Loufan were products of the Seima-Turbino Phenomenon, a rapidly spreading technological over-layment upon the westward [then southward] expansion of the Andronovo Culture (which gave us the chariot). We're looking at 1,200 B.C., roughly the same time we find chariot petroglyphs below the Altai foothills. These bronze knives are almost identical to Karasuk examples, but their finials feature male sheep-- not deer, or horses, or whatever-- but rams in the earliest form of known "Scythian Animal Style."  

I hope this is something to think about. These knives are found in the Minusinsk Basin within the Karasuk area. But they are also found in the Ordos and down to Anyang; in other words, the geographical location settled by the Loufan, a pastoral tribe which also practiced agriculture. Rather than fight the Shang, the Loufan made a deal which, in fact, affected the future of China. Fu Hao may have been the first General from the North. But her short lifetime was the beginning of a tradition; and future dynasties, the Zhou, Qin, and Han, all employed Loufan generals. To be continued, but here's another bronze knife from Anyang: