Exploring Chinese Culture in SCA: A New Perspective

I first became interested in developing a Chinese persona for the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), one question lingered in the back of my mind:

“How would this have worked before the mission changed?”

Years ago, the SCA focused on pre-1600 Europe and cultures that had contact with Europe. That led to some interesting discussions about who “fit” within the Society.

Japanese personas were generally accepted. The explanation I often heard was that Japan had a feudal society, making it a comfortable fit with the SCA’s medieval focus. Whether that was ever an official rule or simply a widely accepted tradition, it seemed to satisfy most people.

China, however, was a different story.

The more I research, the more I realize that China actually had documented contact with medieval Europe. Goods traveled the Silk Road. During the Mongol Empire, travelers crossed Eurasia in both directions. Later, European merchants and missionaries reached Ming China. The historical connections were there, even if they weren’t everyday occurrences.

But that’s no longer the point.

The SCA’s mission has expanded to include the rich tapestry of pre-1600 cultures around the world. I don’t have to explain why my Chinese healer belongs in the Society. She belongs because she represents a real culture, lived by real people, during the period we study.

That shift is more significant than it might first appear.

Instead of asking, “How does this culture fit into Europe?” we can ask, “What can we learn from this culture?”

For me, that’s a much more interesting question.

My Chinese persona has led me to explore traditional medicine, the lives of Ming women, the history of tea, river trade, clothing, calligraphy, and martial arts. Every new topic opens another door into a world I knew very little about just a few years ago.

The same is true for any well-researched persona, whether it’s Persian, Mongol, Korean, West African, or Japanese. Each one broadens our understanding of the medieval world.

Perhaps that’s the greatest gift of the SCA. We come together because we love history, but we stay because we keep discovering that history is far larger—and far more interconnected—than we first imagined.

These days, I’m less interested in asking whether a culture “fits.”

I’m much more interested in asking, “What can it teach us?”