ChinaEast Asia:

Prepared by:

Gregg Alfonso G. AbbangMA Anthropology

Southeast China tropical climate with high levels of precipitation and humidity

rugged, with rivers dissecting deep valleys as they run from the inland plains through coastal mountains to the sea

dense woodlands and tropical rainforests

Southeast China Early Neolithic (9000-5500 B.P.)

earliest agriculturalists in the world the presence of hoes and what appear to be digging stick

weights makes gardening likely for most Early Neolithic communities, especially in the coastal region

first in the region to make ceramics (thick, grit-tempered wares, fired at low temperature)

Hunting was done with spears armed with bone, chipped stone(used also for cutting and scraping tools), or slate points.

ground stone adzes & axes = wood working polished scythes, hoes & grinding slabs = producing, collecting,

processing plant foods Caves were a primary settlement location for these peoples,

but open coastal & riverine sites are also found. community = 30 to 50 people, semisedentary lifestyle, both

egalitarian & acephalous

Southeast China Late Neolithic (9000-5500 B.P.)

first in East Asia to develop sedentary agricultural communities developed into a subsistence regime that has persisted in some

areas to the modern era community = 50 to 100 people, lived in small, circular wattle-

and-daub houses, but evidence is not well preserved and no clear housing or community patters are known

relatively simple tool kit distinctive complex stamped ceramics (some of these show

enough regularity and sophistication in their manufacture) Craft Specialization in stone and jade work items of daily use = chipped & polished stone tools, shell &

bone implements, and woven items & cordage some evidence of social stratification Shixia site (Guangdong province) = 2 distinct types of burials

(secondary inhumations placed in large graves & simple pit inhumations

NorthernChina climate is variable, with cold & dry winters and hot & wet

summers most of the rain is falling in the summer much of the area is covered in grasslands, but alluvial valleys

and other areas contain hardwood forests

Peiligang (8500-6200 B.P.)

the first agriculturalists in the region raised millet, pigs, and chickens in the rich alluvial plains of the

Yellow River valley and expanded agriculture out into the North China plains

houses were typically small, round, and semisubterranean with plastered floors containing a hearth and associated storage pits

technology was simple = ground stone tools, axes, hoes, serrated scythes, & distinctive rectangular mortars with four legs

Microlithic Industry (microliths as cutting & scraping tools) Ceramics were handmade and fired in low-temperature kilns Red and brown slipped wares were common (two-handled,

narrow-necked jars and deep, tripod-footed bowls)

A red pot with two small "ear“ handles, from the Peiligang

culture

Stone roller and quern

Hongshan (7000-4500 B.P.)

raised wheat, millet, pigs, sheep and cattle first in the region to use plows lived in agricultural villages scattered across the landscape villages = 50 to 100 small, semisubterranean dwellings (densely

concentrated in one area and surrounded by a ditch) ceremonial mound centers and burial rounds These centers included large stone-mounded tombs, stone-

faced platforms, and stone circles. combinations of square and round constructions reflects the

later division between earth (square) and heaven (round), pointing to rituals where humans attempted to create or strengthen bonds between heaven and earth

Some of the stone-mounded tombs constructed were elaborate, suggesting an elite class of individuals was present.

Early Xiajiadian (4500-3600 B.P.)

three-tiered settlement hierarchy was established agriculturalists who raised millet and other crops in the rich

loess plateau of Northern China pigs, sheep, goat and cattle tool kit = ground stone hoes, axes, and grinding stones, flint

blades and microliths, and ceramics ceramics = brown, sand-tempered wares made on a fast wheel

and decorated with net or cord impressions (flat-bottomed or had legs)

Craft specialists also produced the numerous jade, shell, and semiprecious stone beads, pendants, rings, bracelets, and other personal ornaments that are often found in their graves.

Political centers with complex fortification systems in the Early Xiajiadian point to conflict, and conflict may have brought political centralization in the region to an end

Dadianzi

Late Xiajiadian (3600-2500 B.P.)

lived in small villages lacking defensive works and with no evidence of settlement hierarchy

social differentiation does appear to have continued have begun to emphasize animal husbandry although

agricultural villages do exist along major rivers agricultural villages = both surface and semisubterranean

dwellings made of mud brick or tamped earth Millet remained to be the staple food Animal husbandry was very important as well also common are horse remains and tack = herding economy Bronze also became common and local bronze workers

produced both tools such as axes, chisels, and horse fittings, as well as weapons like daggers and arrowheads

Mixed agricultural and pastoral economy (with society held together by wealthy elites)

Central China dominated by the two great East Asian rivers, the Yellow and

the Yangtzee includes the mountainous regions of western Szechwan and

eastern Hsikang, which are dissected by deep valleys and fast flowing rivers, and to the east, a vast coastal basin surrounded by mountains and dissected by the Yangtzee, Min, T’o, and Chia-ling rivers.

The basin itself consists of rolling hills and fertile but clayey soils.

climate = generally mild and wet, with hot, humid summersand cool winters

Yangshao (7000-4500 B.P.)

emergence of relatively large agricultural communities organized around a public courtyard, many with a defensive moat, which may have been built for flood control rather than to defend against invaders

most communities were located on the banks of small rivers houses were either circular and semisubterranean or

rectangular and above ground (often with plastered floors and plastered wattle-and-daub walls)

Internal organization of Yangshao villages: family, descent group & the village as a whole

Villages were autonomous and appear to have been egalitarian.

Descent group leaders probably served as village leaders as well.

Banpo & other sites show little variation in burial treatment

Artist’s sketch of Yangshao village scene

Banpo

Yangshao cordmarked amphora(Banpo phase, 4800 B.C.,

Shaanxi)

Dawenkou (6200-4500 B.P.)

lower Yellow River valley developed stable agricultural communities with substantial

houses Most sites were located with easy access to prime agricultural

soils and water. village = composed of dozen or more w-a-d houses ranging in

size from 10 to 40 sq. m. (single nuclear family) subsistence = millet & rice agriculture, domesticated pigs &

chicken, hunted & gathered foods trade in prestige goods (sometimes found in large quantities in

particular burials) such as ornaments of jade and ivory high status burials are all male = system of status based on

patrilineal descent

Late Dawenkou mortuary goods and burial custom

Majiabang (7000-5000 B.P.)

lower Yangtze River, south of Shanghai in a low salt-marsh area combined rice agriculture with pig & water buffalo husbandry first inhabitants lived in round pit houses but soon began to

construct rectangular above-ground structures built on tamped earth platforms

made a variety of ceramics, and these were found in abundance at the site

abundance of bone tools 30 burial sites (only 6 had grave goods) largely autonomous and egalitarian agricultural village with

perhaps some individual having greater access to goods than others

Daxi (7000-4500 B.P.)

created sedentary agriculture communities in the middle & upper Yangtze River valley

No villages and only a few houses have been excavated. houses = made of square or rectangular bamboo or wooden

frames covered with clay, which was then burnt or baked to a hard finish

economy = rice agriculture supplemented with fish and meat from domestic pigs & chickens

tools = hoes, axes, sickles, bone and shells ceramics were abundant (red wares predominated, largely

undecorated) had flat to round bases or ring feet One form unusually common among the Daxi people was a

cylindrical bottle.

Longshan (4500-3900 B.P.)

descent-based political leadership seems to have developed into a complex and centralized form

Shared forms of ceramics were found over a wide area suggesting that interregional interaction had increased markedly.

Eggshell ware = remarkably sophisticated, often found in burials, less than one millimeter thick

indications of the beginnings of copper or bronze work that again point to emergent of craft specialization

Longshan (4500-3900 B.P.)

Settlement appears to have been organized hierarchically, ranging from small agricultural villages to large, fortified political centers.

subsistence = combination of agriculture & animal husbandry marked differences among Longshan burials (quality and

quantity grave goods, size and construction material of graves) reflect the presence of ranked patrilineal descent groups presence of craft specialists, settlement hierarchies, and large,

walled communities all indicate that centralized polities, perhaps chiefdoms, were present

Some scholars have proposed that city-states developed in some regions, and that Longshan sites in western Henan and southern Shanxi are precursors of the Xia Dynasty, the earliest state-level society in China, described in later Zhou & Han texts.

Stone fortifications in northern Shaanxi. (A) Landscape (bottom right) and the stone wall of the Jinshanzhai site in Hengshan, early Longshan period. (B) Landscape of the Guanhugada site

in Wubu, middle-late Longshan period.

A B

Shang (3900-3100 B.P.)

witness the emergence of powerful states in the central Yellow River valley

Anyang = last capital of the Shang dynasty thousands of inscribed oracle bones (turtle shell or cattle

scapula) = divinations presence of sophisticated written script on Shang oracle bones divination was a primary occupation of Shang kings = served as

the mediator between the ancestral kings and the living world Shang royal tombs are among the most impressive in the

ancient world = wooden coffin, numerous bronzes & jade pieces, sacrificed palace guards, other elites & horses with chariots

Shang (3900-3100 B.P.)

Patrilineal descent groups were the basis of social organization and social status.

The royal lineage was at the head of the social, political, and religious order, but beneath them were lesser noble lineages of the king’s sons and minor lineages of more distant relations.

War was a constant concern for Shang kings, and this alone demonstrates that Shang was not an empire that controlled much of the Yellow River valley since they apparently had numerous rivals.

Xie Xie!