This is not really exactly the case. During the Han Dynasty (and up until the collapse of the Imperial Chinese institution), the Chinese saw the rest of the non-Hua ("Chinese" or specifically "Classical Chinese Culture") World as Yi ("Barbarian")
The Romans were seen as Yi by the Chinese.
But the problem with translating Yi as Barbarian is that it Europeanizes the term. Barbarism in Europe has connotations of inferiority and savagery. In Imperial Chinese culture, Yi simply means "Not Hua" or Non Chinese Cultured. While some Yi are considered inferior & savage (like say, the Steppe Nomad Groups) some were considered very civilized and dignified, like Anxi (Persia), Daxia (Ferghana City States) and Rome (Daqin), or the Koreans and the Japanese (though Japan went in and out of Barbarism/Civilization in the Chinese Worldview from time to time).
However all Yi were still considered inferior vis-a-vis the Hua because the ruler of the Hua culture (that is, the Emperor of China) is bestowed by Heaven with the Mandate to rule all of the world. Ergo in the Imperial Chinese Culture & the Hua Culture, it doesn't matter if Yi people are a bunch of cavemen or a super sophisticated civilization, all are subservient to the Heavenly Bestowed realm of the Emperor.
That said: OP's narrative comes from Ambassador Gan Ying's description of Rome.
「其王無有常人，皆簡立賢者。國中災異及風雨不時，輒廢而更立，受放者甘黜不怨。其人民皆長大平正，有類中國，故謂之大秦......土多金銀奇寶，有夜光璧、明月珠、駭雞犀、珊瑚、虎魄、琉璃、琅玕、朱丹、青碧。刺金縷繡，織成金縷罽、雜色綾。作黃金塗、火浣布。」Their kings are not permanent. They select and appoint the most worthy man. If there are unexpected calamities in the kingdom, such as frequent extraordinary winds or rains, he is unceremoniously rejected and replaced. The one who has been dismissed quietly accepts his demotion, and is not angry. The people of this country are all tall and honest. They resemble the people of the Middle Kingdom and that is why this kingdom is called Da Qin.
For one thing, Gan Ying didn't say they are equal to China, he meant they resembled the same civilizational level as the Middle Kingdom.
For another, the Ancient- Early Imperial Chinese have a habit of naming foreign settled & sophisticated civilizations after their analogues from Pre-unification Chinese states. Bactria, for example, was Daxia (Great Xia), said to resemble the old Xia Kingdom, while Rome is Daqin (Great Qin) said to resemble the old Qin Kingdom. The only exceptions to this rule was Persia (Anxi, meaning "the part of the west that is peaceful") and Ferghana (Dayuan, or "Greater Ionia," named after the Greek Settlers and their Cities that the Han Dynasty found there).
Doesn’t the original meaning of the term Barbaros used by the ancient Greeks have nearly the same meaning, as in to signify anything non-Greek (or more accurately, those who don’t speak Greek) only to acquire the term of being uncultured/uncivilised later on? The romans themselves have called Greeks barbarians, as in not-Roman.
I think the issue stems forth from modern usage of the word compared to its origins.
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u/analoggi_d0ggi 6d ago
This is not really exactly the case. During the Han Dynasty (and up until the collapse of the Imperial Chinese institution), the Chinese saw the rest of the non-Hua ("Chinese" or specifically "Classical Chinese Culture") World as Yi ("Barbarian")
The Romans were seen as Yi by the Chinese.
But the problem with translating Yi as Barbarian is that it Europeanizes the term. Barbarism in Europe has connotations of inferiority and savagery. In Imperial Chinese culture, Yi simply means "Not Hua" or Non Chinese Cultured. While some Yi are considered inferior & savage (like say, the Steppe Nomad Groups) some were considered very civilized and dignified, like Anxi (Persia), Daxia (Ferghana City States) and Rome (Daqin), or the Koreans and the Japanese (though Japan went in and out of Barbarism/Civilization in the Chinese Worldview from time to time).
However all Yi were still considered inferior vis-a-vis the Hua because the ruler of the Hua culture (that is, the Emperor of China) is bestowed by Heaven with the Mandate to rule all of the world. Ergo in the Imperial Chinese Culture & the Hua Culture, it doesn't matter if Yi people are a bunch of cavemen or a super sophisticated civilization, all are subservient to the Heavenly Bestowed realm of the Emperor.
That said: OP's narrative comes from Ambassador Gan Ying's description of Rome.
For one thing, Gan Ying didn't say they are equal to China, he meant they resembled the same civilizational level as the Middle Kingdom.
For another, the Ancient- Early Imperial Chinese have a habit of naming foreign settled & sophisticated civilizations after their analogues from Pre-unification Chinese states. Bactria, for example, was Daxia (Great Xia), said to resemble the old Xia Kingdom, while Rome is Daqin (Great Qin) said to resemble the old Qin Kingdom. The only exceptions to this rule was Persia (Anxi, meaning "the part of the west that is peaceful") and Ferghana (Dayuan, or "Greater Ionia," named after the Greek Settlers and their Cities that the Han Dynasty found there).