Early society in East Asia Worlds Oldest Continuous

Early society in East Asia

World’s Oldest Continuous Civilization

By 5000 B. C. E. we see neolithic communities

Rice and Millet were grown at first, then wheat and barley

Rivers: Yellow (Huang He), Yangzi (Chang Jiang)

Yellow: • Loess • Changes path • Floods • “China’s Sorrow”

Geographically Isolated by Mountain Ranges and Deserts

They created dynasties.

Xia Dynasty 2200 B. C. E

• Hereditary monarchical rule • Sage-king Yu • Flood control projects • Encouraged cities and metallurgy

Shang Dynasty 1766 B. C. E.

• First written records in China • Used bronze for weapons • Horse-drawn chariots • Large military

• Shang kings controlled over 1000 towns • Cities were important • City walls thick and tall • Kings’ tombs contain 1000 s of objects, animals, and people!

Zhou Dynasty 1122 B. C.

• Mandate of Heaven, Dynastic Cycle • Nobles given land for military service (like feudalism) • Rule was decentralized

Iron use and invasion led to the Period of Warring States= 403 -221 B. C. E.

Social Structure: 1. Royal Family and Nobles 2. Specialized labor 3. Merchants/Traders 4. Peasants 5. Slaves

Family and Patriarchy: • Veneration of Ancestors • Eldest male was head of household • At first women had some prominent roles, then completely overshadowed

Religion: • Organized religion not important • Didn’t have priests like other civilizations • Myths and legends • Shang Di=head god • Ancestor worship

Writing: • Secular • Oracle bones • Characters=Pictograph whole word/idea

• Books of poetry and history • Essays dealing with moral, religious, and political themes • Book of Changes, History, Etiquette, Rites

• Book of Songs: 311 poems, after 600 B. C. E. • Many works deteriorated or destroyed

Steppe Nomads: • Herders not farmers • Used horses • Intermediaries for trade • Fought with Chinese

Yangzi Valley: • “Long river” • complex irrigation systems for rice • Societies much like those on Yellow, State of Chu