Chapter 5

Early Society in East Asia

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The Yellow River

Huang He

3000 miles: Tibet to the Yellow Sea

Deposits fertile, light-colored soil

Periodic flooding: “China’s sorrow”

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Prehistoric Society: Yangshao

5000-3000 B.C.E.

Middle region of the Yellow River valley

Banpo village

Painted pottery

Bronze tools

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The Earliest Dynasties

Xia

ca. 2200 B.C.E.

Organized through

village network

Hereditary monarchy

Flood control

Shang

1766-1122 B.C.E.

Zhou

1122-256 B.C.E.

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Shang Dynasty

Bronze metallurgy

State monopoly

Horse-drawn chariots, other wheeled vehicles

Large armies

Political organization: network of fortified cities,

loyal to center

1000 cities

Capital moved six times

Impressive architecture at Ao, Yin

Other regional kingdoms coexist: Sanxingdui

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Shang Dynasty Burial Practices

Hierarchical social structure

Burials alongside deceased member of ruling class

Sacrificial victims, mostly slaves

Wives, servants, friends, hunting companions

Later replaced by statuary, often monumental

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Zhou Dynasty, 1122-256 B.C.E.

No law codes: rule by decree

“Mandate of heaven”

Aggregation of villages opposed to Shang

leadership

Decentralization of authority

Development of cheap iron weaponry ends Shang

monopoly on bronze

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Decline of the Zhou Dynasty

Decentralized leadership style allows for building of regional powers

Increasing local independence, refusal to pay Zhou taxes

Iron metallurgy allows for widespread creation of weaponry

Northern invaders weaken Zhou dynasty, beginning eighth century B.C.E.

Internal dissention: the Period of the Warring States (403-221 B.C.E.)

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China During the Period of the Warring

States, 403-221 B.C.E.

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Social Order

Ruling classes great advantage

Palatial compounds, luxurious lifestyle

Supported by agricultural surplus, tax revenues

Defended by monopoly on bronze weaponry

Hereditary privilege

Support class of artisans, craftsmen

Evidence of long-distance trade, merchant class

Large class of semi-servile peasants

Slave class

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Family and Patriarchy

Devotion to family, ancestor veneration

Connection of spirit world to physical world

Ritual sacrifices

Father ritual head of family rites

Earlier prominence of individual female leaders fades in later Shang, Zhou dynasties

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Oracle Bones and Early Chinese

Writing

Used for communicating with spirit world,

determining future

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

Pictograph to ideograph

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Oracle Bone from Shang Dynasty

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Zhou Literature

The reflections of Confucius

Book of Changes

Manual for divination

Book of History

Book of Etiquette (Book of Rites)

Book of Songs

Little survived

Often written on perishable bamboo strips

Many destroyed by emperor of Qin dynasty in 221 B.C.E.

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Nomadic Peoples of Central Asia

Steppe nomads

Poor lands for cultivation, extensive herding activities

Horses domesticated ca. 4000 B.C.E., bronze

metallurgy in 2900 B.C.E.

Extensive trade with sedentary cultures in China

Tensions: frequent raiding

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Southern Expansion of Chinese

Society

Yangzi valley

Yangzi River: Chang Jiang, “long river”

Excellent for rice cultivation

Irrigation system developed

The state of Chu

Autonomous, challenged Zhou dynasty

Culture heavily influenced by Chinese

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