UNIT ONE: EURASIAN ANTIQUITY

C C C 8 0 1 4 C H I N A I N W O R L D H I S T O RY

E A R LY H U M A N S A N D
F I R S T C I V I L I Z AT I O N S
HUMAN
200 CE
ORIGINS

Why study antiquity?

D I F F E R E N T N AT I O N S , D I F F E R E N T H I S T O R I E S
O V E R T H E S H O RT T E R M I N T H E M O D E R N P E R I O D
COMMON HISTORIES ACROSS DIFFERENT REGIONS
O V E R T H E V E RY L O N G T E R M I N A N T I Q U I T Y
O U R E A R L I E S T H I S T O RY M U S T B E T O L D A S A S I N G L E
S T O R Y , S TA R T I N G F R O M O N E P L A C E : A F R I C A
Where did we, human beings, come from?
First Humans
THE FIRST HUMANS

• Primates, an animal order that includes humans,

apes, monkeys, prosimians (e.g. lemurs), etc.

• Primates: ~ 65 million years ago in Africa

• Hominids (or humanoids), 4 to 5 million years

ago (in Africa).

• Humanoids, defined most importantly by

bipedalism, larger brain size, and eventually, the
creation and use stone tools.
Oldest stone tools, from 2.5 to 3.3.
million years ago, in Africa

A S T O N E T O O L U N E A RT H E D I N
K E N YA A N D T H O U G H T T O B E 3 . 3
MILLION YEARS OLD
• Humanoids: 4 - 5 million years ago, only
in the African continent

• Homo erectus: 1.5 million years ago, first

in Africa, then the first to migrate outside,
including China.
1 MILLION YEARS AGO
• Homo sapiens, 300,000 - 200,000 years
ago first in Africa, and then migrated to
the rest of the world. 2 MILLION YEARS AGO

3 MILLION YEARS AGO

4 MILLION YEARS AGO

F I R S T H U M A N S I N W O R L D H I S T O RY
๏ HOMO SAPIENS, FROM ABOUT 300,000 -
200,000 YEARS AGO IN AFRICA, WHO THEN
SPREAD TO THE REST OF THE WORLD.
 F I R S T H U M A N S I N W O R L D H I S T O RY
HOMO SAPIENS, FROM ABOUT 300,000 -
200,000 YEARS AGO IN AFRICA, WHO THEN
SPREAD TO THE REST OF THE WORLD.

S I M I L A R S TA G E S O F ( T E C H N O L O G I C A L )
DEVELOPMENT IN MANY DIFFERENT REGIONS,
INCLUDING CHINA.

• I N V E N T I O N O F A G R I C U LT U R E
• F R O M F O R A G E R S T O FA R M E R S , W I T H A G R E AT F O O D S U R P L U S .

• M A S T E R Y O F M E TA L L U R G Y
• B R O N Z E W E A P O N S A N D T O O L S C R E AT E D P O W E R F U L — A N D
I N C R E A S I N G LY V I O L E N T — E A R LY S TAT E S .

LASCAUX (SOUTHERN FRANCE), 20000 YEARS OLD.

 YELLOW RIVER

YA N G Z I R I V E R
PA L E O L I T H I C P E R I O D (3 MILLION YEARS AGO - 10,000 BCE)

1.
N EPAO LLI T
EHOILCI TP E
HRI C
I OP DE( 1R0 , I0 0O
0 BD
CE - 2000 BCE)

2. N E O L I T H I C P E R I O D
B R O N Z E A G
3. B R O N Z E A G EE (2000 - 200 BCE)
PA L E O L I T H I C P E R I O D (3 MILLION YEARS AGO - 10,000 BCE)

1. PA L E O L I T H I C P E R I O D
2. N E O L I T H I C P E R I O D
3. B R O N Z E A G E
FORAGING (I.E. HUNTING AND
G AT H E R I N G ) W I T H S I M P L E S T O N E T O O L S
NEOLITHIC PERIOD (10,000 BCE - 2000 BCE)

• Beginning of agriculture, namely the domestication of plants and

1. PA L E O L I T H I C PERIOD
animals, thanks to advanced stone tools.
2. N E O L I T H I C P E R I O D
• Food surplus and population growth in a permanent settlement (from
3. B R O N Z E A G E
small villages, to towns, and then to large fortified cities).
• State (or government) for resource organization and distribution.
• Emergence of political, economic, social inequalities.
• Emergence of patriarchy.
 NEOLITHIC PERIOD (10,000 BCE - 2000 BCE)

1. PAThe L E Emergence
O L I T H I C of
P ECivilization
RIOD
1.2. An
N urban
E O Lfocus:
I T HCities
I C Pbecame
E R I OtheDcentres for political, economic, social, cultural, and religious
3. development.
BRONZE AGE
2. New political and military structures: An organized government bureaucracy and organized armies.
3. A new social structure based on economic power: social hierarchy (class)
4. The development of more complexity in a material sense.
5. A distinct religious structure.
6. The development of writing.
7. New forms of significant artistic and intellectual activity.
NEOLITHIC PERIOD (10,000 BCE - 2000 BCE)

1. PA L E O L I T H I C P E R I O D
2. N E O L I T H I C P E R I O D Y
A
N
3. B R O N Z E A G E 50 GS
00 H
A
- O
30 C
00 U
LT
B
C UR
E E

H
O 5 IA 2
N 0
G 0
3

S - GZ -
H 2
L 3

A 50 U 0
N
N

C B U B
U C
0
LT E T E
00

H 23
C
L
0

U
L

C
O
N
30 GS
00 H
A
- N
20 C
00 U
LT
B
C UR
E
BRONZE AGE (2000 - 200 BCE)

1. PA L E O L I T H I C P E R I O D
2. N E O L I T H I C P E R I O D
3. B R O N Z E A G E

+ =
Tin Copper
BRONZE AGE (2000 - 200 BCE)

A PERIOD WHEN GROUPS WHO MASTERED TECHNOLOGY OF BRONZE

1. PA L E O L I T H I C P E R I
CASTING BECAME THE MOST POWERFUL
O D AND DOMINANT
2. N E O L I T H I C P E R I O D
3. B R O N Z E A G E

ERLITOU

SHANG

SANXINGDUI
 BRONZE AGE (2000 - 200 BCE) SHANG 1766-1045 BCE
• First historical Bronze Age dynasty in early China
•1.Oldest
PA L E O LinIearly
writing T H IChina:
C PE R I O D inscriptions
Oracle-bone
•2.Shang
N Epolitical
O L I Telite
HIC PE
were R I O D warrior class, with a
a powerful
3.sophisticated
B R O N Zreligion
E A Gcentered
E on a supreme deity Di 帝 .
• It was a political dynasty, with hereditary male rulers, working
closely with a small number of aristocratic families; wealth, offices,
and titles were almost always hereditary.
• Ancestral worship (patrilineal)
• Divination
 BRONZE AGE (2000 - 200 BCE) ZHOU 1045 - 221 BCE
• Zhou violently overthrew the Shang, and overtook its territory.
• 1. PAgovernment
Zhou L E O L Iwas
TH I Ca hereditary
also PERIO D
monarchy, with outer regions
2.delegated
N E OtoLrelatives
I T H I and
C close
P E Rassociates
I O D (feudal states).
• 3. B R Onorth
Expanded N Z towards
E A GwhatE is now Beijing and south towards the Yangzi
River valley.
• Patrilineal society: strict hierarchies for both men and women.
• Men and women had different roles in family and ceremonial life.
• Ruling elite worshipped “Heaven” (tian 天 ), and claimed to have received
the “Mandate of Heaven” (tianming 天命 ) to rule the world.
• The Book of Documents 書經 / 尚書 [Historical Document]
 BRONZE AGE (2000 - 200 BCE) ZHOU 1045 - 221 BCE
• Classic of Odes 詩經
1.• PA L E O L I T H I C P E R I O D
Popular songs and ritual hymns of the Zhou period
2.• N E O L I T H I C P E R I O D
“King Wen 文王 ,” “Rich Year 豐年 ,” and “Big Rats 碩鼠” [Historical
3. document]
BRONZE AGE
• What do they tell us about the Zhou period? What do we learn about the
people — both commoners and elite — of the Zhou?

• “Shao Announcement 召誥 ,” The Book of Documents 書經 / 尚書

[Historical Document]
• Mandate of Heaven
A monumental object of early China

• G R E AT A RT I S T I C A N D
TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENT

• CLEAR SIGN OF SOCIAL AND

ECONOMIC INEQUALITY
CONFUCIUS

LAOZI
MOZI

HAN FEI