“92 BC, Crossing the Sea of Hidaka” [170] The Ninsha Techniques Feared by General Li Guang
Chapter 7: Taking on the Challenge of Making Iron Swords
Section 3: Menahem's Reminiscences
[170] Episode 3: The Ninsha Techniques Feared by General Li Guang
“General Li Guang spent a full day looking around the land of Ninsha. It is said that he stopped at every gate, observing the situation inside in great detail. And the general learned that the Ninsha people used tools he had never seen before and that everyone possessed special skills. Now, Naoto is trying to make steel somehow. But a hundred years ago, there were blacksmiths in Ninsha. There were also craftsmen whose sole job was to sharpen iron tools. There were people like my father who used iron tools to dig wells, and they were valued as special craftsmen. Iron and tools made of iron were common in our daily lives. I believe that is the reason Naoto asked me about Ninsha today. Naoto is clever, after all. General Li Guang thought that if he left the Ninsha people in this land as they were, it would go exactly as the Xiongnu planned. He might have thought it would be fine if the Xiongnu wiped them all out. But since they attacked almost every year, they clearly had no intention of killing them all from the start. The Xiongnu were using the Ninsha people to supply their weapons. He was convinced that they came not to plunder, but to trade. The group of Ninsha people could skillfully handle whatever they were asked to make. For example, the Ninsha people not only knew how to dig wells, but they also knew how to draw water into the wilderness. They drew water into the dry wilderness that the Han people ignored, using a method called 'qanat' that the Persians had been good at since ancient times. It was a method the Persian people used in the dry lands far to the west, near Bactria, before coming to Ninsha. My father was that kind of well-digger, too. First, someone who could read the terrain well would announce a spot, saying that if you dug to such-and-such a depth here, water would come out. When they dug, water would gush out just as predicted. From there, they would dig several wells at intervals in the wilderness stretching toward the southwest. It didn't matter if water came out or not. They just dug. When we young Ninsha children started digging new wells to expand the fields, we would often be scolded by our fathers for kicking pebbles into wells that didn't produce water, making a clattering sound. We would connect these dry wells underground. If we then connected them to a well that produced water, eventually we would be able to draw water from any of the wells. As the Persians say, water calls to water. The Ninsha people drew water from each well into the wilderness to make fields and grow wheat. Not only that, they created streams and planted willows on the banks. That was before I was born. Over a long time, they became rows of trees, and even though it was a dry land, we Ninsha children used to play in the green shade on hot days. Furthermore, the Ninsha people use a script. It is the same script as Sogdian. Moreover, unlike the Sogdians, where trade and writing are only for men, in Ninsha, both men and women learn to write, and even their children can record the important things that happen every day. That is why the many invaluable techniques passed down in Ninsha are handed down from generation to generation among the residents. You can see how surprised General Li Guang must have been, right?”
“I think what the general feared most was the technique of freely processing iron. It was fine as long as they were making the blades of hoes or sickles for harvesting ears of grain. But it must have been self-evident to the general that steel manufacturing lay beyond that. After all, there were even craftsmen who specialized in sharpening, using various types of stones. General Li Guang was a warrior born and bred. I don't think he could overlook this. However, the general did not think to capture even the young children and kill them all. If he didn't want them to be used by the Xiongnu, he could use them himself. Thinking this, he consulted with the head of the Ninsha clan. I believe he offered some gold. Whether that money spoke, or whether they feared the general's military power, many Ninsha people followed the general, leaving the land outside Phoenix Castle where they had lived for so long, and headed south. They moved to the general's home province, Liangzhou in Han. Most of the Ninsha people are of the clan of Abram, the Israelites. And they are craftsmen. Naoto, just like you. That day, when I saw you in the forest for a moment, I knew. You have the same blood flowing in you as the Ninsha people. Your back looks the same. You are the same in that you do not kill people, but create things. I have never spoken about this in detail to anyone before, but we brothers, my father Kai and Eregzen's father, were born in Ninsha. Both Zaya and Eregzen carry the blood of the Ninsha craftsmen.”
“Among the Ninsha people, there were those who did not follow General Li Guang's recommendation and chose a different path. It was our family, the Levi, who coincidentally shared the same surname as the general. In Ninsha, we went by the name 'Li', but Zaya, Eregzen, and I are all Levis, a lineage that has lasted a thousand years. My father, who disliked Han rule, consulted with the family and decided to leave Ninsha. He intended to rely on his older brother, who he had heard was digging for gold in Khakassia, far to the north of the Altai. We left Ninsha under the cover of night, avoiding Han soldiers, and headed west through the Hexi Corridor. As a young child, I just desperately moved forward, led by the hands of my parents who were trying not to fall behind on a large, dry road with mountains closing in on both sides. I remember the wind was strong. But I had no idea where or how we were walking. Everything is a story I heard long after. Thinking about it now, I don't think anyone knew how long the journey was as we walked it. We moved forward one step at a time, weaving between the hills. Strangely, there were no Han soldiers to stop us. Perhaps it was because we appeared to be such a bizarre group. We kept our heads low as we passed through the Jiayu Pass, somehow made it past the parched Dunhuang in Shazhou, and while troubled by the strong, sand-filled winds coming from the west, we finally entered Hami, where the hands of the Han soldiers could not reach. With the help of our kin, we spent time there until the following spring, and then we set out on our journey again. In the end, we did not go to Khakassia but settled in the grasslands north of Tannu Ola. My father's older brother—my uncle—was there. After a long, long journey, our family's life finally stabilized. For my mother, it must have been a long and painful journey with us young brothers in tow. Eregzen's father was four years old at the time. I don't think he had been speaking for long. My mother, whether she couldn't remember or didn't want to remember, hardly spoke a word about this journey as long as she lived.”
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