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EARLY SOCIETIES IN EAST ASIA

EARLY SOCIETIES IN EAST ASIA. Chapter Four. Early agricultural society and the Xia dynasty. water source at high plateau of Tiber Loess soil carried by the river’s water, hence “yellow” “China’s Sorrow” – extensive flooding Loess provided rich soil, soft and easy to work. Yellow River.

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EARLY SOCIETIES IN EAST ASIA

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  1. EARLY SOCIETIES IN EAST ASIA Chapter Four

  2. Early agricultural society and the Xia dynasty • water source at high plateau of Tiber • Loess soil carried by the river’s water, hence “yellow” • “China’s Sorrow” – extensive flooding • Loess provided rich soil, soft and easy to work Yellow River

  3. Neolithic societies after 5000 B.C.E. • Yangshao society, 5000 -3000 B.C.E. • Excavations at Banpo village, fine pottery, bone tools

  4. The Xia dynasty Archeological discovery still in early stages Established about 2200 B.C.E. Legendary King Yu, the dynasty founder, a hero of flood control Erlitou, possibly the capital city of the Xia

  5. Turquoise dragon discovered at Erlitou

  6. The Shang dynasty 1766-1122 B.C.E. • Arose in the southern and eastern areas of the Xia realm • Many written records and materials remains discovered • Bronze metallurgy, monopolized by ruling elite

  7. Horses and chariots traveled with Indo-European migrants to China (findings of chariot tracks at Erlitou cast doubt) • Agricultural surpluses supported large troops

  8. A vast network of walled towns • Lavish tombs of Shang kings with thousands of objects • Other states The Shang capital moved 6 times • besides Shang, for example, Sanxingdui

  9. The Zhou dynasty 1123- 256 B.C.E. • Zhou gradually eclipsed Shang • Mandate of Heaven, the right to rule - Zhou needed to justify overthrow - Ruler as “son of heaven” - Mandate of heaven only given to virtuous rulers Duke of Zhou

  10. Political organization: decentralized administration • Used princes and relatives to rule regions • Consequence: weak central government and rise of regional powers

  11. Iron metallurgy spread through China in first millennium B.C.E.

  12. The fall of Zhou The Warring States (403-221 B.C.E. • Nomadic invasion sacked Zhou capital in 711 B.C.E. • Territorial princes become more independent • The last king of Zhou abdicated his position in 256 B.C.E.

  13. Society and family in ancient China • The social order: - the ruling elites with their lavish consumption of bronze - hereditary aristocrats with extensive landholdings - administrative and military offices - manuals of etiquette

  14. Free artisans and craftsmen mostly worked for elites • Merchants and trade were important • Trade networks linked China with west and south • oar-propelled boats traded with Korea and offshore islands

  15. Peasants, the majority of the population • Landless peasants provided labor • Lived in small subterranean houses • Women’s work: wine making, weaving, silkworm raising • Wood, bone, stone tools before iron was spread in the sixth century B.C.E.

  16. Family and patriarchy • Early dynasties ruled through family and kinship groups • Veneration of ancestors - belief in ancestors’ presence and their continuing influence - burial of material goods with the dead

  17. Offering of sacrifices at the graves • Family heads presided over rites of honoring ancestor’s spirits

  18. Patriarchal society evolved out of matrilineal one • The rise of large states brought focus on men’s contribution • After the Shang, females devalued

  19. Early Chinese writing and cultural development • The secular cultural tradition - absence of organized religion and priestly class - believed in the impersonal heavenly power- tian

  20. Oracle bones used by fortune-tellers

  21. Inscribed question, subjected to heat, read cracks • Discovery of “dragon bones” in 1890”s

  22. Early Chinese writing, from pictograph to ideograph • More than 2000 characters are identified on oracle bones

  23. Modern Chinese writing is direct descendant of Shang writing

  24. Thought and literature • Zhou literature – many kinds of books - The Book of Change, a manual of diviners - The Book of History, the history of the Zhou - The Book of Rites, the rules of etiquette and rituals for aristocrats - The Book of Songs, a collection of verses, most notable work (Most Zhou writings have perished.)

  25. Ancient China and the larger world • Chinese cultivators and nomadic peoples of central Asia - exchange of products between nomads and Chinese farmers - Nomads frequently invaded rich agricultural society - Nomads did not imitate Chinese ways - Nomads relied on grains and manufactured goods of the Chinese

  26. The southern expansion of Chinese society • The Yangzi valley; dependable river; two crops of rice per year

  27. The indigenous peoples of southern China • Many assimilated into Chinese agricultural society • Some were pushed to hills and mountains • Some migrated to Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand

  28. The state of Chu in central region of Yanzi • Challenged the Zhou for supremacy • Adopted Chinese political and social traditions and writing

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