Myth, History, and
Archaeology: Divergent
Views of Chinese State
Origins
Anthropology 12 Lecture 10
China’s Significance to World
Archaeology
• Record of primate evolution reaching back
to the Paleocene.
• Record of hominin evolution second only
to Africa in chronological depth.
• Point of origin for ¼ of the world’s
languages.
• Early transition to agriculture.
• Place where some of the earliest statelevel societies appeared.
Differences Between Anglo-American and
Chinese Perspectives on China’s Past
Chinese
Anglo-American
Tendency to conflate
myth and history.
Skepticism concerning reliability
of Chinese historical sources.
Primacy accorded to
historical sources
Historical and archaeological
records accorded equal weight.
Orthodox Marxist interpretative
framework (Marx/Engels).
Varied theoretical perspectives.
Empiricism.
Nationalism.
Belief in ethnic uniformity.
Outsider (etic) perspective.
Case in Point: The Origins of Statehood in
China
Traditional Historical Synthesis: from Shiji or
Records of the Grand Historian by Sima
Qian, composed 109-91 BC
Three Sovereigns
Five Emperors, beginning with the Yellow
Emperor (Huángdì) (27th century BC)
Xia Dynasty 2205-1766 BC
Shang Dynasty 1765 – 1123 BC
Zhou Dynasty 1122 – 256 BC
Western scholars suspect that the Three
Sovereigns and Five Emperors are
euhemerized gods.
Putative reign would place Huángdì in the
Late Neolithic
Huangdi is said to be the ancestor of the
Han Chinese
Huáng Hé - Yellow River in Jinan
looking up river.
• Northern China: has
a more temperate
climate. Millet is the
predominant grain.
Millet was joined by
soybeans, wheat,
barley, melons, fruit
and hemp.
Southern China is more
tropical. Rice is the
dominant grain.
Rice is a swamp plant. It
grew wild in southern
and central China, and
was domesticated c.
12,000 years ago along
the middle reaches of
the Yangtze.
Other plants grown in
the south included yams,
beans, melons, fruits,
and vegetables.
The Chinese Neolithic
North China
A number of Neolithic cultures have been
identified spanning the period 8,500 –
7,000 years BP.
These cultures possessed a range of
domesticated plants and animals and wellmade stone tools and pottery, showing
that initial domestication had preceded
them. Origins of pottery are now placed at
20,000 years ago.
Cishan-Peiligang Culture, Hebei and
Henan Provinces
500 rectangular grain storage pits were
excavated; each could hold 1,000
kilograms of grain.
South China
Diaotonghuan
Excavated in 1994 by Yan Wenming and Richard
“Scotty” MacNeish. Layer D produced phytoliths of
domesticated rice, dated to 10,000 – 8,000 years ago.
Hemudu Village, Zhejiang Province
• Hemudu Culture dates to 7,000-6,500 BP.
• Site had exceptionally well-preserved long
wooden houses on stilts.
The Yangshao Period
5,000-3,000 BCE
Banpo Village, Banpo Culture
Located in the Wei
River valley. The
village dates to 4500
BCE. It was
excavated from 195557.
Equipment related to
hunting and fishing
outnumbered tools
related to agriculture.
Pottery Kiln, Banpo Village
The fish is a symbol of
prosperity in modern China,
and is often found on bowls
Shaman’s burial.
Xishuipo, Henan
Goddess Temple and burial
mounds –Niuheliang N. China
3500 BCE
Niuheliang ritual complex
The Longshan Period
3000-2000 BC
Pottery attests to the
existence of the fast
wheel.
Táosi, Shanxi Province The settlement’s wall enclosed 3,000,000 sq. m.
Elite grave
goods
1% of the graves
were type A or B
elite graves.
Wooden drum
covered with
crocodile skin, Taosi
2600-2000 BCE
Town surrounded by rammed earth wall,
Wangchengang, Henan Province 2000 BC
Set of stone chimes in the forbidden city, Qing Dynasty
Sacrificial pit, Wangchengang
Ritual Homicide
Langzhiu Culture
3300 BC – 2250 BC
• Located on the Yangtze River Delta
• Had developed into a complex society by
3,000 BC.
• Known for a rich assortment of ritual jade
objects and silk weaving.
bi
cong
Taotie mask
yue