"HELLENES" OR "SCYTHIANS": THE PROBLEM OF FOREIGN CULTURAL INFLUENCES IN NORTHERN CHINA IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 1ST MILLENNIUM

Abstract

China’s contacts with the Greek world, as shown in previous research, are chronologically extensive. It is certain that they began in antiquity and continued until the developed Middle Ages (Roman Embassy to the Song China). However, in domestic and foreign scientific literature there are often very dubious examples of the Far East and Hellenic culture links. In this article we will examine some of them. It is noteworthy that in the Greek-Chinese contacts study it is often necessary to decide questions concerning the ethno cultural situation in the «world of early nomads». The latter extended from the Northern Black Sea to Transbaikalia and Ordos. The article also considers the problem of correlation of «ethnonyms» from narrative sources with archaeological cultures, the sites of which were found in the north of the People’s Republic of China.