The Yellow River
Chapter 5
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3000 Miles: Tibet to the Yellow Sea
Deposits fertile, light colored soil
Periodic flooding: China s sorrow
Early Society in East Asia
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Prehistoric Society: Yangshao
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The Earliest Dynasties
5000-3000 BCE
Banpo Village
Painted pottery
Bronze tools
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Xia
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Shang
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C. 2200 BCE
Organized through
village network
Hereditary monarchy
Flood control
1766-1122 BCE
Zhou
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1122-256 BCE
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Shang Dynasty
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Bronze metallurgy from 1200 BCE
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State monopoly
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Horse-drawn chariots, other wheeled vehicles
Large armies
Political organization: network of fortified cities, loyal to
center
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Hierarchical social structure
Live burials alongside deceased member of ruling class
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Sacrificial victims, mostly slaves
Wives, servants, friends, hunting companions
Later replaced by statuary, often monumental
1000 cities
Capital moved six times
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Shang Dynasty Burial Practices
Impressive architecture at Ao, Yin
Other regional kingdoms coexist: Sanxingdui
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Zhou Dynasty, 1122-256 BCE
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No law codes: rule by decree
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Mandate of Heaven
Decentralized leadership style allows for building
of regional powers
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Aggregation of villages opposed to Shang
leadership
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Decline of the Zhou Dynasty
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Decentralization of authority
Development of cheap iron weaponry ends Shang
monopoly on Bronze
Early money economy
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Increasing local independence, refusal to pay Zhou
taxes
Iron metallurgy allows for widespread creation of
weaponry
Northern invaders weaken Zhou dynasty,
beginning 8th c BCE
Internal dissention: the Period of the Warring
States (403-221 BCE)
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Period of the Warring States (403-221
BCE)
Social Order
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Ruling classes great advantage
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Palatial compounds, luxurious lifestyle
Supported by agricultural surplus, tax revenues
Defended by monopoloy on bronze weaponry
Hereditary privilege
Support class of artisans, craftsmen
Evidence of long-distance trade, merchant class
Large class of semiservile peasants
Slave class
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Oracle Bones and Early Chinese Writing
Family and Patriarchy
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devotion to family, ancestor veneration
connection of spirit world to physical world
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Ritual sacrifices
Used for communicating with spirit world,
determining future
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Father ritual head of family rites
Earlier prominence of individual female leaders
fades in later Shang, Zhou dynasties
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Question written on animal bones, turtle shells
Then heated over fire, cracks examined for omens
Early archaeological evidence of Chinese writing
Evolution of Chinese script
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Pictograph to ideograph
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Oracle Bone from Shang Dynasty
Zhou Literature
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Confucius (discussed in chapter 8)
Book of Changes
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Manual for divination
Book of History
Book of Etiquette (Book of Rites)
Book of Songs
Little survived
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Often written on perishable bamboo strips
Many destroyed by Emperor of Qin dynasty in 221 BCE
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Southern Expansion of Chinese Society
Nomadic Peoples of Central Asia
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Steppe nomads
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Poor lands for cultivation, extensive herding activities
Horses domesticated c. 4000 BCE, bronze metallurgy
in 2900 BCE
Yangzi Valley
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Extensive trade with sedentary cultures in China
Tensions: frequent raiding
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Yangzi river: Chang Jiang, long river
Excellent for rice cultivation
Irrigation system developed
The State of Chu
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Autonomous, challenged Zhou dynasty
Culture heavily influenced by Chinese
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