History 381
Asian Experience
China in Antiquity
Modern East Asia
Yellow River
Yangtze River
Pearl River
Yellow River Valley
Source in the high plateau of
Tibet
 Loess soil carried by the
river's water, hence "yellow"
 "China's Sorrow“ - extensive
flooding
 Loess provided rich, soft and
easy to work soil
 Heartland of Chinese
agriculture
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Yangzi River
Paleolithic remains
Early walled towns
discovered from 5000
BCE
 Inhabitants probably
pushed out during
late Neolithic period
by Yellow River valley
settlers
 Major rice farming
area
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Neolithic China
Neolithic China 10,000–2,000 BC
Climate warm and moist
 North China consisted of lakes and marshes
 A huge lake covered much of central China
 Two main cultures in eastern China
– Yangshao
– Lungshan
 Early writing possible
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Yangshao culture
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Domesticated pig, dog
Millet (coarse grain)
Painted geometric pottery
Pottery fired at 1000-1500°C
No evidence for potters’ wheel
Millet plants and seeds
Neolithic farmers domesticated Millet but in later times wheat from
western Asia, and rice from southeast Asia replaced millet. In
modern times millet is used for animal feed.
Painted pottery with
black & white slip
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Excavated in eastern China
Lung-shan culture 3,000 BC.
Swirling pattern around the top
Straight, triangular patterns
around the middle
Patterns integrated with each
other and overall shape of the
vessel
Such integration will be carried
forward into the construction and
design of later bronze vessels
Bowl ca. 3000 BCE
Gansu Province, China
Diameter 11 in. (27.9 cm)
Jar ca. 2000 BCE
Gansu Province,
China
Early Chinese Dynasties
Xia Dynasty
2200-1766
Shang Dynasty
1766-1122
Zhou Dynasty
1122– 403
Warring States
403– 221
Qin Unification
221 BC
Xia Dynasty
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Xia dynasty was once thought to be legendary
Erlitou culture (Henan Province) may be Xia
– 2000 – 1700 BCE
– Evidence for palaces, temples, tombs
– Art
– Urban planning – paved roads
– No evidence for writing
China’s Geographic Setting
Ancient China map
Chung Kuo - “Central
Kingdom”
Xia Dynasty:
Mythological Rulers of Ancient China
Pan Gu (P’an-ku)
Creator of the universe
Xia Dynasty:
Mythological Rulers of Ancient China
Fuxi (Fu-hsi)
Taught people to hunt
& fish.
Xia Dynasty:
Mythological Rulers of Ancient China
Shennong (Shen-nung)
taught the people
agriculture
Xia Dynasty:
Mythological Rulers of Ancient China
Huang-di (Huang-ti)
Taught the people
sericulture (silk
making)
Xia Dynasty:
Mythological Rulers of Ancient China
Yu taught large
scale irrigation &
flood control.
Shang Civilization
Shang China
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Shang Dynasty (2000 BC)
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Oracle Bones
Shamanism
Writing System
Bronze ware
Sericulture
Shang Dynasty Writing System
Traced back to 4000 BC.
Shang Dynasty is traditionally dated from
1766 BC.
The Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600-1050 BC)
Shang Dynasty 1600-1050
Shang controls a large
area in northeast and
north central China.
 Zhengzhou, cult center
 An’yang, the capital
 This period is noted for its
bronze vessels used to hold
wine and food in rituals
linking rulers and their
ancestors.
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Shang Dynasty
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Bronze metallurgy, monopolized by ruling
elite, used for record keeping
Horses and chariots traveled with IndoEuropean migrants to China
Agricultural surpluses supported large
armies
Vast network of walled towns
Shang royal tombs extremely rich
Human sacrifice at An’yang
Reconstructed chariot
Jade water buffalo
Zhou Civilization
Zhou Dynasty ca. 1046 BC
Northwestern people wrest
control from the Shang
 The first part of the dynasty
is known as the Western
Zhou (ca. 1046–771 B.C.)
after the location of the
capital in the vicinity of
present-day Xi'an
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Zhou gradually deposed Shang
Mandate of heaven, the right to rule
 The Zhou needed to justify the overthrow
 Ruler as "the son of heaven"
 Mandate of heaven only given to virtuous
rulers – Shang said to have become morally
lapse
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Mandate of Heaven
Connects social norms to cosmos
 If a ruler acts contrary to Heaven then crop
failures, famines, storms, earthquakes, etc.
result
 Catastrophes are Heaven’s warning
 If a ruler fails to rectify himself his dynasty
will be replaced
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Zhou politics
Decentralized administration
 Princes and relatives ruled regions
 Consequences:
– Weak central government
– Rise of regional powers
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Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1100-200 BC)
A
time of decentralized government.
 Competing warlords.
 Few great accomplishments in
science, art and literature.
–Excelled in philosophy
Great Sages tried to bring about Unity,
Peace & Prosperity.
The Social Order: Merchants
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Shang pottery found at Mohenjo-Daro
Trade networks linked China with India and
Southeast Asia
Oar-propelled boats traded with Korea and
offshore islands
Most trade among cities in the civilized states
Some merchants became very wealthy
Coinage imported from western Asia in 4th
century BC
The Social Order: Commoners
Free artisans and craftsmen worked for
elites
 Peasants were majority of population
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– Well Field System
– Landless peasants provided labor
– Women's work: wine making, weaving,
silkworm raising
– Wood, bone, stone tools before iron spread
in the sixth century BCE.
 Slaves were usually prisoners of war
The secular cultural tradition
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Oracle bones used by fortune-tellers
– Inscribed question, subjected to heat,
read cracks
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Early Chinese writing, from pictograph
to ideograph
– More than two thousand characters
identified on oracle bones
– Modern Chinese writing is direct
descendant of Shang writing
Evolution of Chinese characters
China during the Period of the Warring States
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The Han Dynasty
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The Great Wall with tower, north of Beijing
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The Qin and Han Empires
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Ruins of Jiaohe, Turphan depression. Han dynasty
outpost in Central Asia
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The Western terminus of the Great Wall at Jiayugan
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Trade Routes of the Ancient World
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