Huang He

3000 miles: Tibet to the Yellow Sea

Deposits fertile, light-colored soil

Periodic flooding: Chinas sorrow

 5000-3000 B.C.E.
Middle region of the Yellow River valley

Banpo village
Painted pottery
Bronze tools

 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.

 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

 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

 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

 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.)

 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

 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

 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

 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.

 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

 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