Asia 320 / History 378

History of Early China

 Today
• Part One
• Course Introduction
 Today
• Part Two
• The Story of China
 Today
• Part Three
• Primary Sources

• Oracle Bones
 Part One:
Introduction to the Course
 Introductions
• Your Instructor

• Clayton Ashton

• Lecturer in Chinese Thought

• Program Chair of Interdisciplinary Studies

• I specialize in early Chinese philosophy and history

 Introductions
• Your Teaching Assistants

• Lisa Ren

• Connie Cheung
 Introductions
• Meeting your classmates

• Chat with 1 or more people sitting nearby… for about 3-5

minutes

• What is your major?

• Why are you taking this class (you can be honest…)?

• Any previous interest in or knowledge of Chinese history?

• What TV/Netflix series are you addicted to right now? (For

example)
 Course Syllabus
• Available on the course Canvas website
Course Introduction:
The Story of China
 The Story of China
• “China is the world’s oldest continuous civilization!”

• What is a civilization?
 Civilization
• It might be better to call it “complex society”

• This story begins with agriculture, and is continuing today

 Complex Society
• Relies on agriculture

• Develops clear class distinctions (social hierarchy)

• Requires specialization
 Complex Society
• Technology

• Social organization

• Laws, ethics

• Culture
 The Story of China
• “China is the world’s oldest continuous civilization!”

• What makes it “continuous?”

 Sources of historical
knowledge
• Archaeology

• Contemporaneous documents

• Early Historiography
 Sources of historical
knowledge
• Archaeology
• Pottery and bronze vessel typologies
• Structures and city foundations
 Sources of historical
knowledge
• Contemporaneous documents
• Oracle bones and archaeological texts
• Transmitted texts
 Sources of historical
knowledge
• Early Historiography
• (Writings about history)

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji 史記)

• By Sima Qian 司⾺遷 of the Han Dynasty

 History as “Narrative”
• This will be one of our major course themes!

• Knowing and telling history always requires a narrative

(story)

• We use these narratives to construct meaning

 Discussion: Part One
How do we know history?
• Alone or in a small group:

• Choose a famous historical event

• Provide a 1-2 sentence description of what transpired
in this event
• Explain how we know that this actually happened the
way you say it did
 Discussion Part Two:
How do we tell history?
• Discuss:

• How do we first learn about this event?

• What is the ‘story’ of this event?

• Are there good guys and bad guys?

• Is there a ‘lesson’ to this event?

The Story of China
Pre-Imperial China
The Three Ages

Xia 夏: trad. 2205 - 1766 BCE

Shang 商: trad. 1766 - 1122 BCE

Zhou 周: trad. 1122 - 256 BCE

Beginning of Agriculture
Neolithic period - c. 10-12,000 years ago
Early Chinese Civilization
• Agriculture —> small farming communities
Early Chinese Civilization
• Agriculture —> small farming communities

• Towns —> organized, small urban areas

Early Chinese Civilization
• Agriculture —> small farming communities

• Towns —> organized, small urban areas

• State(s) —> large urban centres, complex social stratification

 Two theories
1. “Nuclear” model

2. “Multiple Origins” model

 Two theories
• “Nuclear” model
• “China” begins at Yellow River Valley
• Spreads gradually outwards
 Two theories
• “Multiple Origins” model
• Multiple cultural spheres interacting
• Gradually combine to form “China”
Yellow River Valley
Centre of “Nuclear” model
Interaction Spheres
Multi-region theory
Early Farming Communities
• “Yangshao” culture in Yellow River region

• Simple pottery

• Millet and rice agriculture

• Small communities
Neolithic Pottery
Yellow River Valley region
 Longshan and Liangzhu
“town” culture
• Larger settlement networks

• Population centres with fortified walls

• Clear hierarchies
• Walls separating elites from others
 Early town culture
• Developing simple metallurgy

• High quality pottery and jades

• Maybe writing??
 Erlitou/Erligang:
The First “State”
• C. 1900-1600 BCE, first Chinese “state” emerges

• Formed in the Yellow River Valley

• Verifies elements of the “nuclear model”?

 Erlitou/Erligang:
The First “State”
• Larger political organization
• Very clear hierarchies
• Large palatial complex surrounded by rectangular wall

• Military presence
 Erlitou/Erligang:
The First “State”
• Large mining, metallurgy operation
• Ability to organize and employ large labour force
 Part Three:
Oracle Bones
Primary and Secondary
Sources
 Primary Sources
• Sources from the time period you are studying

• Primary objects of examination and interpretation

• Often (but not always) written texts

• What are some examples of primary sources?

 Secondary Sources
• Writings and interpretations about history

• Usually journal articles, monographs, book chapters, etc.

 Using Primary Sources
• The primary texts we look at are all written in ancient or
classical Chinese

• We will need to rely on translations, footnotes, and academic

notations

• BUT you must be careful to distinguish the “primary” text

material from these academic notes!
Turtle plastrons
Cow scapulae
Western Zhou

Bronze Vessel
Inscriptions
 Discussion:
Using Primary Sources
• Part 1: Reconstructing the past

• Select three aspects of history that we can

understand through these sources

• (e.g. politics, economy, religion, society, gender,

family dynamics, personal concerns, diet,
military/war, etc.)

• Find at least one example from the texts that

shed light on each of these aspects, and provide a
claim about Shang history
 Discussion:
Using Primary Sources
• Part 2: Limitations

• Based on your experience, provide 2 warnings for future

historians:

• Whose voices are missing from these sources?

• Which aspects of history can not be known from

them?