The University of Macau (UM) today (25 February) held a talk titled ‘”Treasured Shells” from the Indian Ocean: Cowries in Early China’ as the Fourth UM Scholar Research Forum. Yang Bin, professor and head of the Department of history of UM, was the keynote speaker. Combining both online and in-person elements, the talk attracted many UM faculty and high school members and students.
According to Prof Yang, whose research studies have combined both archaeological and textual sources, cowrie shells used in the Xia-Shang-Zhou period in early China were originally from the Indian Ocean. They were shipped via India and Central Asia and reached China’s northwest and the Yellow River region. His study proposed a different view from traditional narratives that the shells came from East China Sea and South China. More importantly, Prof Yang has demonstrated that these items from Indian Ocean, while playing a significant role in politics, economy, religion, and culture of early China, were regarded as ‘treasured shells’ rather than money in early Chinese society. This is a breakthrough in the interdisciplinary study of economic history, monetary history, maritime history, and global history.
| Source: Research Services and Knowledge Transfer Office | |
| Media Contact Information: | |
| Communications Office, University of Macau | |
| Albee Lei | Tel: (853) 8822 8004 |
| Cathy Cheang | Tel: (853) 8822 8009 |
| Email: | prs.media@um.edu.mo |
