Historical Notes on International Trade

Prof. Richard Nelson Frye

Former Chairman, Committee on Inner Asian Studies, Harvard University

First I want to thank Professor Huang Hai-feng for inviting me to speak to you, a dinosaur in a modern menagerie. Although old people usually have only memories and advice left in their lives I shall try not to burden you with one or the other.

I begin with a quotation from an eleventh century book written by a ruler of a small principality on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea in the eleventh century of our era. The Qabus Nameh was a book of advice, the genre called Mirrors for Princes? and in it the ruler gave advice to his son and successor. One chapter is devoted to merchants, where he tells his son always to respect and help merchants, especially those engaged in long distance trade, since, to benefit the inhabitants of the west they import the wealth of the east, and those of the east the wealth of the west, and by so doing become the instrument of the world’s civilization. None of this could be brought about except by commerce.

This quotation should be sent to every government and global company, but the sentiment was not new, for international trade between China and the Near East existed much earlier. Fifteen years ago UNESCO launched a Silk Road Project, of which happily I was part, and today we have Silk Road journals, restaurants, and even at least two foundations with that name. So people have become aware of ancient contacts between China and the west, and no longer is China considered an isolated and insolated land only inward looking.

Commerce between China and Iran, at the other end of the Silk Road was generally promoted by both sides, and both countries have a long record of friendly relations. Indeed they both were similar in several respects with high cultures or civilizations, and both with similar histories of conflict and invasions.

Further steppe people from the north. Both were part of the Mongol world empire, with the dynasty of Il-khans in Persia and the Yuan in China. This friendship continues today, an individual example of which I observed two years ago in Tehran.

As I returned to my hotel I noticed a marriage party in the large dining room and was invited to participate. A Chinese engineer from Beijing was marrying a Persian girl who worked in his office in Iran. On one side sat the friends of the engineer and on the other family and friends of the girl. They could not speak to one another, for only the bride and bridegroom spoke English, and the mother of the girl was upset because her daughter was leaving for an unknown Beijing. I asked the mother if she were going to visit her daughter in Beijing and she said she hoped so. So I reassured her that on arrival in Beijing she would find similar traffic, similar feverish building activity, similar pollution and dry climate, but above all friendliness of the people.

Further I told the mother to learn some English if Chinese proved too difficult since English was widely spoken in Beijing. She seemed somewhat mollified. The small orchestra playing for the wedding could play contemporary Iranian and Chinese music, which pleased both sides, but frankly I could not tell the difference between the two kinds of music but then I am no musician. But this convergence of modern music brings me to another matter, fear of the loss of native cultures. I do not believe that the relegation of many features of local cultures to museums will result in their loss. This is what we always do to preserve the past, since everything changes and especially rapidly at the present time. We cannot halt that universal feature of civilization, but it does not mean erasing the past. The past needs to be preserved in places like museums since it cannot survive the changes in technology and culture. But there is no clash of civilizations, as my colleague Sam Huntington at Harvard wrote. The blending of cultures is already in full force, but, in my opinion, there never was a clash of civilizations but only a clash of individual fanatics. Thomas Carlyle in the early 19th century wrote about heroes and hero worship, which made history. No, I say not heroes, rather fanatics unfortunately make history. Alexander was great because he conquered and killed many peoples. Napoleon conquered Europe, so we exalt such fanatics. What do I mean by fanatics make history? Let me give you two modern examples.

In 1942 I happened to pass through Jerusalem on the way east and was invited to listen to a conference in the YMCA, opposite the King David hotel, where moderate Arab and Jewish leaders were discussing the future of their land after the war. One of them, I have forgotten which, suggested that they issue coins for their united country, on one side of which would be Filistin in Arabic and on the other Israel in Hebrew. What happened to the chief of the Arab delegation, moderate Nashishibi, of a leading family in Jerusalem? Arab fanatics murdered him. What happened to Judah Magnes, head of Hebrew University and of the Jewish delegation? His chauffer was killed but he escaped and fled to New York where he died with a broken heart. Who ordered his execution? A leader of the Irgun gang called Menachim Begin. I repeat; fanatics make history.

My next example is of Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia. He saw his power declining, and even supporters abandoning him, so he decided to rally support by embarking on a crusade. In the past he could have rallied his people with an attack on a neighbor such as Bulgaria, Romania or Hungary, but this was now forbidden so he had to turn inward. But he was in a dilemma, for in his multi-ethnic state they all spoke the same language and all had a similar history, society and culture, but they had different religions, so he launched the religious war of the end of the twentieth century, resurrecting what Europeans had thought was a relic of the past. I repeat; fanatics make history. In every way we must stop them. Wars between large countries are over, but local wars can be started by fanatics seeking to gain or hold onto power. That is a dilemma of the future, how to stop the barbarians, including internal barbarians from gaining power? 

One-way is to promote contacts and cooperation between people of the same Interests; businessmen everywhere should work with businessmen, athletes with athletes, musicians with musicians, etc. People of like interests understand each other and can cooperate.  For example, European businessmen should work with Chinese businessmen and not directly with governments. This understanding and cooperation is happening world-wide with people in many fields. Hopefully governments will follow the example of their peoples and cooperate rather than confront each other. The young people of the world are beginning to understand the need for global cooperation and they should be encouraged and helped. In this regard I am optimistic for the future if we jointly can care for the environment, which is the chief problem for all of us.