POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONIN EARLY CHINAA~ in the Indus River >"liley or India, fertile river vaHeys in Chin,} 31lowed villdg~ alld[owns to flourish :llong their ballk~. The mostVellowand Y:lngzi

mllch of Chin:l Ilnder theirdistinctive Chinese society.

warra much;md Zhou:lIlel l:lid a

THE YELLOW RIVER Like the Indus, the Yellow River is boisterous :llld Ull-101t. It rises in the mountains bordering the plateau ofTiuct, and it courses4.700 kilolJlctcrs before imo the Yellow Sea. It lakes its

name, I-luang He, from vast quantities soilthat it picks up along its rome. So much soil becoilles slispended in I{ivcr th;}1tht wattr [Urns yellow. T"he soil raising the river bed ,lIld fo[cwater Ollt of it's cst3blishcd l1ands. TheRiver Ius caused so [kit nickname "Chin:j'S Sorrow."Despite lhe pcriodicd;JlllJge Glused by the Yellow River, however, the soil it deposits is ex-tremely fenile and Glsy to work, so evell before the introduction of llle[;11 tools, cultivatorsI1sillg wooden implelTltlH's could bring in As in India, sur-pluse~ resulted ill illueased

th:tt arose

:ed all the territory claimed by

The Xia and Shang Dynasties

THINKING ABOUT

TRADITIONS IN EARLY SOCIETIES IN

SOUTH AND EAST ASIA. Irbetween 3000 <Jnd500 U.C.E.,

THE SHANG DYNASTY

Xi;} kingw;Js;Il'the ShJng dynabefore theXia realm.I 122 B.C.E., and archaeol~gical discove~;ie; h:,v~ hrgely c~nFirmeddates. Because the Shang

Yang'Li (YAHNG-zuh)

Xia(shy:th)

AlAI" :-l.:.!- I The Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. 2200-256 a.CE.

Notethattlie three dynasties extended their territorial reach th roughtime. How might technological considerations explain the increasingsize o!eorly Chinese states?

ri:ll rcm:lins. tht hasic intomuch ck:un focus th:1I1 thr:y did ,1unn, ,/" .'0.

BRONZE METALLURGY AND CHARIOTS

helps to explain tilt risc and success of the Shangtransformed Chintst society dur-may well have cnabled Shang rultrsl3wnze llleraliurgy-lOgerhLT wilh

hOI·SCS, borst-dl·awn chariots, :lnd other wheeled vellicles-camefa China with Indo-Europe,lJl 1l1igr:Hlts from wurhwcsi Asia.

the Xia dynasty alrcady nude limitcd usc of bronzelIlanaged to monopolircRivt;i vallcT. Thus, con-

Shang·

Mawaflgd",.

c;:J""Sh.,,,!;

Zho!J

extended their mit 10 a brgc portion of llonhcastel'l1 China cel11cred onIhe modem-d:lY province of Hr:nan. Like state builders in other pans of the world, thr:kings claimed a generous portion of the sttrplllS ;lgricuitural production from the legions.I,,;' eo,,,,,,lbl and thell lIsed that slIrpllls to suppaI'! milit:\I)' forces, political ;lllie5, andolh,·" ,,·ho<.o,,,,l.dhelpthem 1l1ain[;lin

SHANG POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

network of WJllcd towns whose local rulers rccognit;(:d

~t,i~'::';;<~~~'~~:~::':''''';'~d~;:r~<';;<::~:~~':;,,;"and religious obscrvancr:s.

THE SHANG CAPITAL AT YIN EXCJv:\tionshavcrcvealedlllllChaboUlllle

:~:~;:;';I~~:;:;,S;:;::;~I::;i<,~:'!~,~O:n;:cremarkable site is Yin, nC<Hmodern AllY:l1lg, which

C\J\~':,e'\.", """~

.",\l\\\/k::._ ~~-';.JC"

Note the mallYcities thatserved as capitals

King Tan9,first '!JlcroltheShangwww.mhhe.comfb,mtleybrief2e

ArituillwirlcveS5f'lf.omthe 5hJng Dyna~tywww.mhh~.c"m/bentl~ybr;ef2"

EARLY 50(.;IETIE5 IN 'SOUTH AND CA5T ASIA

(he roughly contemporaneOlls with the Shang dynasty. 3nd it pl'obdbly served as

The Zhou DynastyTHE RISE OF THE ZHOU Although linle information survives to illus-tl'ale the principles ofhw. justict·. and administration rtllers m,lill1ainedot·der. die becomes man: dear in the practices whidl suc-ceeded the as the preeminent politicli authorithe \'(/ei River of northwestern China (modern:1 tough people bankd forces and ev(rhe westcrn UUt the of rhe two

~:::~';:r,n:~;~:~~~::':::,':~~.'~w;ll~~r~l, aCCOllnts. the

in 1122 1-I.c.E. and rcplaced it with their OWll state.mOSl of nOl'lhcrl1 :md celltral China, at least nornin;llly, until25G fl.C.r-:.

"explained the fall of the Slung and rhe tf.1nsfcr of the nund:l1e ofhc:m;n ro the Zhou

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION The Zholl 51:11(; was muchIn

ofdt(' Zhou dyrt:lsry.rnillennillllr B.C.!::., and Z110u subordin;lles lOoktheir OWlI forces with weapons to resist the C('lltLII goverrnnent.

DECLINE OF THE ZHOU mlede-lerior:rte(1 as nomadic invaders forced the rOY:II H:lO, Althoughthe surviwd. it never r'Cg;lined iLl S1Jtes fought fero-

"'~I'::\;::':~';:::~'~:;:'~':;111 new politicalorder. thc Llst centuries of the are known 'lS the

B.C E.). ,,~',~::i;~~:;,,:i;i:.'!':i;:::;~;'~~;~:~';:~:':'1~1:'~H.CF.. when his positionlhe establishment 221 fl.LIl. did

gove1'1l1ll(:nt rctlr!ll to China.

Zhou(jOI-1)

Q'o(Ch',,)

SOCIE'l'Y AND FAMILYIN ANCIEN'r CHINA

The Social Order

In Chiru, as in Incii:l, du: intl'Odu(;(ion CJlJblcd individuals 10 :1C-

ClItnuhre wCJlrh and it within SociJI distinctions began 10

~~~'~",,:~::::;,}:~:~~:~;:~,,~:'~irr:::'''::':,,',:''::':d~:".::f,:,,::,;d,~":.,:,::s:r,a~;b::l;i,~~h:~m:~c:ll,~',,~Of";l:':h:~CXi:!, Shang, alldChin:t thcparri.as the institution that ITlOSI directly individuals'

Thedelicille

dard 1l1llCh morc rdilled 1h:ll1 Ihat of the COlllll10lltrs and slaves whoworked served (hreir needs. by a small class of freeartisans alld craftsmen, indlldinglllanUhKwras, whocnjoy~d:1 "'~,,,",,"',m"'''o:"'''.'CI':HlC patrOIl:lgc.

designthe high level ofcraftsnlallship duringthe late Shang dynasty. Why did the eliteclasses prefer objects made of bronze?

PEA 5 ANT 5 Fal-less cornhrt~i'b;!";':i:W;~".~SI:;' t~;f;~~J:~:~:;;:~;;::~~::~;~,:ifi;[::~:r::~~~';f~:lIhted rhCyowlled:1Ild 111 :1 pOl'1lOIl

of the harvest. "rhey lived like lhcilhouses excavated to J depth of abom on(· meKr (three from the cle-ll1enl:S by thatched walls ,mel roofs. Won",,\ d",;" ;n,dudbl ",,,,,I.y ;n •.1oo" ",;,;,;,,, ••,d,as wine rnakin~, lnd cultivation of silkworrns, whcn:as tHell spent most of rlwirrimt: olltside working; in hUIHing, and fishing.

SLAVES there was a sizable class of sl:lves, most of whom wcre enemy WJr-

Family and Patriarchyrhe insrionion for the so-

the prcscrv:l!ioll of cultur:tl In China the cXlcndnlinSlitutiOIl dming neolithic tilTles, Jnd it con-

their

Pea,,{l1IlS ill (Indent Chilla most{y did IIOt OWII land. instead, (bey worked (IS (ClUlI/ts on plots allotted to tbem by royal 0/'

tlristocraHc OlVl/erS, who took sizI,ble portions o/tbe blll'vest jin' flgir own IIses. TI/ thefollowillgpoem /rolll the Hook of

Songs, II col/t'clirm (~r/Jl'1'ses dlltingjrv/f/ Z/'Oll times, peasallts lil'ell their lords to rodel/lS, protest the bite lords Itll'efrom

tlu peasants' agricultural prot/uction, IIl1d thretltell to "hilI/doli the fords' Itlllds j;". a llI!ighborillg slllte where condilions

tlrl,bettel'.

willin!!. fO show ~nv rC!!.;Hdror us

L~ rge ra ts~ L.argc (;1[S!

Do IlOl eal ollfwhe'\l.rlnce yean haw we had (() do with

I havc' not been \",illing to

leavevoll,And go to tha't hal'Pystate.HappysuldTJIlTl'shali wc' ollrscivcsarighl.

• How might you go about judging the extent to whichthese verses throw reliable light on class relations in

kindne~s to us. ancient China?

ho .....·dc.

VENERATION OF" ANCESTORS One l'e:lson for the pronolJllced i'lflu-ence or the Clli'lese family was the wl1l'fJtiotl :l pracrice wi111 roors in lIeo-lithic times. This practice was based Oil the belief that :l1lcestors kid the Dower to

supporr;uldrespecr;uld

PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY III the .1bsencei in ancient China, the pJtriarchal heJd of rill" hn;'ily ''''',id,Jances1ors' spirits. As mediator between the fJmily's

rhe possessed tremendous Indeed, Chineseill elderl~' males who headed households. And, like

pans Chi,;ese intensified wid] the emergence of hrge statesDuring men public :lltthoriry,ro il by Virflle of the reliiale line or their des<.:ent. Gradllally.it's rnatrilineJI char;\cter. By ,hd,nn Sh,mg ,,,,dZh,,,, dyn."ill the shadow or men, (~vcn queens and empresses werebeillg :lssociatnl with their illustrious husbands.

patriarch (l'AY-uee·ahrk)

EARLY CHINESEWRITING ANDCULTURALDEVELOPMENT

ENCOUNTERS IN EARLY SOCIETIES IN

SOUTH AND EAST ASIA. 80th Chinese

and Indian

Tt-'INKING ABOUT

out~idctheir

;

'):n;' ~~~~~i~~?~!iiW;"'~"id~"~h;i"j'01C.[N~O';';li(;1 a;''';I'l'"~' J~i:1;:;~·;i:r;1~hii;~n~ii:hWithindigenous Dravidii;lllpeopk~5 How did these interactions influ-

Jncestors. In-dl.""",do.,ocl,i str-ucture, or culture?

secular cuhur:ll tradition in China.(hal writing came into extensive U~t during the III

;1$ J their world

Oracle Bones and Early Chinese WritingIII Indi;l, merchants pioncnccl rhe usc of wriLing. In elli!!;],e<lrlie~r wririlli! served the interests of rulers radler Ih:1I1 tr:ldcrs.

du:ir Illessages. Yet one medium employed by ancien I l.Jl1IlCSCscnl)Cs lidS survlve(1 the ray-dgCS of timr.:. inscriptions 011 oracle bones have throwntremendous light on the Slung dynasty andon the early stages of Chinese writing.

evenrSOll snips of

5kang orade honewww.mkhe.com/b .. "tleybrief2e-

the oracle Uonr.s ofltr (JII I ,..;!': !'; I'; OI{ACl.E; BOl'>:E. I Oracle bone from Shang times withtradition of Chinese an inscribed question (lnd cracks caused by exposure of the bone to he~t.

Oracle bone scriptof the Sh~ng dyn<l

Zhoudynastyscript

Turtle Horse

i ~'>$1 ~

~ ~

it .~~ ~~

~ JhCIIII'..:E"I·; \\'HITL"U. I The evolulion of (hine<;echaracters from the Sharlg dynasty to the preserlL In whatways did the characters above change over time?

The carlie~t form of Chinese \vriring, like Sumeri:l1lan \\'firing, W:lS the piClogr:lph-a conventionalrepresentation of :In object. The ckH,lCters used

Chinese are direct descencbnts 01tlilles. have idenrined 1I10le

dun two ch:1LlCrers inscribed on OLlCle bOllOCS,most of which h:llT a modern COllnterp:Ht. Over rhe cell-luries, wrinen Chinese ch:lr:lClcrs have consid-erable 1l1odiilcation: become

CO"",,,,,""", '''''' :il)strJCt the :lH-lllirieswritten chancIer, areal-l-

TlJ:lvhavc:ac-~l1ce estab-

ill

of Qin emkd thl' chaos of the Period of thl'under tidulv centralized nile in 221 B.C.E., ,h,·v;"o,;ou., '''''P'''''

du[ did not have some immediate valul'. Unlptcw ,",n,for a decade or more until schobrs and writers 011C{'<lg:lln

withollt 'fhesc fcw sl!rvivors reprcsent the e:!rliest developme1ltof Chinese litcr:uHrc <md mor;tlthoughl.

ANCIENT CHINA ANDTHE LARGER WORLD

siol! (JfChil!(:~e agricllllllrJIcentral Asian

north, the wcs!. and Ihe sOlHh

Relations with NomadicPeoples of Central AsiaSTEPPE NOMADS From the valky of Ihc Yellow River, Chinesc 3griculrllre~prcad 10 Ihc north :lIld west. As occurred, Chillese cultivarors cnCOllllren:dnom:ldk peoples w],o h:ld Ihe gras~y steppes of cClllr:l1 Asia. TIles<:lands 100 arid w sustain :l!jriclIllliral societies, but their grJ.'ises supp0rH:d largehcrds of livbtock. ~.c.E. nOlll:lds wefe already expcriel1ced horseback rid,Iud k~dflled rhe of bronze lllcrallurgy, and had introduccd large llI11nlx:rs

imo til(' steppcs. Aficr aboul 1000 B.C.!',. sevcral clusters of nomadk pt:oplcspowerful hcrdil1!j socictics on Ihe Eur:lsian steppes.

NOMAD I C SOC I ETY NOII1Jdic peopks did little- brnlillg bur instead wncell-trat(·d on herding Iheir ,lIlillials, to where Ihey could find food 3ndwater.snvcd as links bcrwecn societies to the easl prOllllllel\1intnmcdiaries in II'Mle nerworks spal\) . .of brolll.C 31ld horse-drawndepcnded on socinies forIller:d goods, nor ""[i['I>'O,j,,,,, focproduus, which 0

ro othel Yet the Chinese ;lIld nOllladicdeed, they oftcn engaged in biller wars, andIlorthern ;\11(1 wcstcrn rcgions o(Chin:l.

The Southern Expansionof Chinese SocietyTHE YANGZI VALLEY Chineseinflllcnccspre;!(i(orhesOUlh ,15 well 10 Ihe north and west. There was no immedi;u'ebarricr to Cl1ltiv;llion ill rhe south; indeed,River SIlPPOI'("S("vell iTlore illtensiv(~ agriculture than isthe Yellow RiVt:r \nsill. III f\n. the moisl, climate ofsouthern Cllilla lent itself rcadilv to the cldlivalion of rice: ancient

nillivators sOlnctimes raised 'w:',~:~~:~,~:~,:,:,,~~~'::~:':.But intensive cultivacion,.,1 011 ,h,w,,,,m,,,ion

alld m;\i"tcll;\ncc of an e1aboralC inndrivarors to tlood their p,lddies and

Id colliple

Cilll"ESE AGr~rCUV1·lJr,c. I Terraced ricepaddies in the river valleys of southern China have longproduced abundant harvests. What is the advantageo/terraces in agriculture?

CARLY SOCIETIt:5 IN SOUTH AND EAST ASIA I (;;l

SUMMARY

Agricultural in soulh :md east Asia built complex societies rh:l1 in oro:ld Otit-

line were much lllO"C 10 rhe west. Partinduly in the v:ll!cys of lhe Yellow(he and rhe Indus River, early Chinese and Indian Cilitiv;norsSCU(S, social and established wlrurJITheir Iang:u:lges, writing, ont: :mother andfrom those of their COil temporaries in other sociaics, :lnd ilwst: odlurJI elernents kIltdistinctiveness to both Chinese and lndi:Hl sociery. Moreover, inhabitants of both an-ciellt China and India managed to trade and cornlllllnic.1re wiTh """"I,, "r ,,,h,,, ",.,;,.lies. As a whr.:at cultivation, bronze :Ind iron chariots,and whee1c(1 all made their way from s()\J!hwe~r ancient times. "rhus,ill south and cast Asia, as in Olhcl of the e:lsrcm hemisphere, agriculture dcmoll-stratrd its potcnrial to for social organizatioll and 10supporr lntcr:lCflon

STUDY TERMS

Aryans (Sl)[3r~hm~n

mandatcofhcavcn (58)

Ved,lS(52)

(53)Upanishads (54)

River (56)Yu(!17)ZhOll dynasty (58)

FOR FURTHER READING

ill Lra"slatit)Tl

),Jicola di Cosmo. Antient China "fir/Iff !:,nrmio; The Ri;I' ofiVomtldic I'ower ill Past /lsianCambridge, 2002. ,\" in~ightful studv :I""iv·"ing the <:I))~rg~nc(" of pa,tor~l n()1TI~di"TTl Jndtions b~tw("rn Chincs~

1/" 1983. An importam Lolleuion of

()4 I PART I I THC CARLY COMPLEX SOCIETIES. 3'-;00 TO '-;00 ~_c.~