1. Chapter 5
Early Society in East Asia
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2. The Yellow River
 3000 Miles: Tibet to the Yellow Sea
 Deposits fertile, light colored soil
 Periodic flooding: “China’s sorrow”
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3. Prehistoric Society: Yangshao
 5000-3000 BCE
 Banpo Village
 Painted pottery
 Bronze tools
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4. The Earliest Dynasties
 Xia
 C. 2200 BCE
 Organized through
village network
 Hereditary monarchy
 Flood control
 Shang
 1766-1122 BCE
 Zhou
 1122-256 BCE
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5. Shang Dynasty
 Bronze metallurgy from 1200 BCE
 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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6. Shang Dynasty Burial Practices
 Hierarchical social structure
 Live 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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7. Zhou Dynasty, 1122-256 BCE
 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
 Early money economy
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8. 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 8th c BCE
 Internal dissention: the Period of the Warring
States (403-221 BCE)
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9. Period of the Warring States (403-221
BCE)
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10. Social Order
 Ruling classes great advantage
 Palatial compounds, luxurious lifestyle
 Supported by agricultural surplus, tax revenues
 Defended by monopoloy on bronze weaponry
 Hereditary privilege
 Support class of artisans, craftsmen
 Evidence of long-distance trade, merchant class
 Large class of semiservile peasants
 Slave class
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11. 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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12. 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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13. Oracle Bone from Shang Dynasty
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14. Zhou Literature
 Confucius (discussed in chapter 8)
 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 BCE
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15. Nomadic Peoples of Central Asia
 Steppe nomads
 Poor lands for cultivation, extensive herding activities
 Horses domesticated c. 4000 BCE, bronze metallurgy
in 2900 BCE
 Extensive trade with sedentary cultures in China
 Tensions: frequent raiding
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16. 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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