China, one of the four oldest civilizations
in the world, has a recorded history of 4,000 years and boasts rich
cultural relics and historical sites. The compass, paper-making,
gunpowder and printing were invented in this great nation. The Great
Wall, Grand Canal and Karez irrigation system are three remarkable
ancient engineering projects built 2,000 years ago. They now represent
the symbols of the rich culture of the Chinese nation. China has
undergone a long history as a primitive society, slavery society,
feudal society and semi-feudal semi-colonial society up to the present
socialist society.
DYNASTIES
| Xia (c. 2200 - c. 1750 BC) |
 Not
much is known about this first Chinese dynasty; in fact,
up until fairly recently, most historians thought that it
was a myth. But the archeological record has proven them
wrong, for the most part. What little is known indicates
that the Xia had descended from a wide-spread Yellow River
valley Neolithic culture known as the Longshan culture,
famous for their black-lacquered pottery mastered over the
centuries. Even though no known examples of Xia-era writing
survive, they almost certainly had a recording system that
was a precursor of the Shang dynasty's "oracle bones." |
| Shang (c. 1750 - c. 1040 BC) |
The three most notable facts from the Shang dynasty:
first, they were the most advan ced
bronze-working civilization in the world; second, Shang
remains provide the earliest and most complete record of
Chinese writing (there are Neolithic pots that been discovered
with a few characters scratched on them; however, a few
characters do not represent a complete writing system) branded
on the shoulder blades of pigs for oracular purposes and
third, they were quite possibly the most blood-thirsty pre-modern
civilization. They practiced human sacrifice. If a king
died, he would be joined by more than one hundred slaves
in the grave to accompany him to the afterlife. Some of
them would be beheaded first. Some of them were just thrown
in still alive. Later dynasties replaced the humans with
terra-cotta figures, resulting in precious mementoes still
enjoyed to this day, such as the underground army in Xian.
They also conducted human sacrifice rituals for something
as trivial as building consecrations and other ceremonial
events. The Shang had a very odd system of succession: different
than the patrilineal system where power was passed from
father to son, the kingship passed from elder brother to
younger brother and when there were no more brothers, then
to the oldest maternal nephew. |
| Western Zhou (c. 1100 - 771 BC) |
Most scholars think that the Zhou had many more "Chinese"
characteristics now practiced today. First, they used a
father-to-son succession system. Also, they condoned human
sacrifice. However, they weren't as skilled at working
with bronze as the Shang yet, it would be centuries before
the West was able to cast bronze as well as the Zhou. Some,
though not all, scholars theorize that the Xia, the Shang,
and the Zhou actually were three different cultures that
emerged more or less at the same time in different areas
of the Yellow River valley. Historical records indicate
this theory that the 
Shang were conquered from outside by the Zhou, as the Xia
had been conquered from the outside by the Shang.
The Zhou actually didn't rule all of what was then China.
China was then made up of a number of quasi-independent
principalities. However, the Zhou were the most powerful
principality and played the dominant role in the area. They
were centrally located in the middle of the principalities,
giving rise to what the Chinese now refer to their country
as the Middle Kingdom. The Zhou were able to maintain peace
and stability through the hegemony system for a few hundred
years; then in 771 BC, the capital was invaded by barbarians
from the west. |
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