The Archaeology of Chinese History

The Orient is a by-word for the Far East, comprising the countries lying to the east and southeast of Europe but now usually understood to refer to the regions and countries of eastern Asia such as China, Korea, Japan and others.

A large amount of Far Eastern Philosophy can be traced to China, which has an impressive and complex history. Later Chinese historians were accustomed to the notion of one dynasty succeeding another, but the political situation in early China was much more complicated, and it appears that some early dynasties existed alongside each other for some time.

A Brief (lol who am I kidding, I can't do brief) Outline of Chinese History

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert on Chinese stuff (my home turf is Greek, Israelite & Egyptian), but I did take a few classes on Chinese history during my World Archaeology modules in college, so this is basically that to give you an overview of the region. Any mistakes or issues where I might have messed up a date or something, please let me know and I'll amend it :) Edit: this was supposed to be a short introduction but apparently I have 0 self control when it comes to history and Ancient Immortal Emperors with Ghost Armies, so here we gooooo

The beginnings of Ancient Chinese Civilisation were centred around cities such as Longshan, Erlitou and Erligan around 2100-1700 B.C. A lot of the early developments mostly took place in Eastern China around the Yellow & Yangtze rivers.

The above were massive cities when compared to other Urban sites in the world at the time, ranging from 20 hectares to over 1000 in later Erligan periods.  

Erlitou

Beginning as a small Neolithic Longshan settlement, Erlitou was probably urban by 2000BC and was around 100+ hectares in size. It had a palatial or temple area at centre of site that was at least 7.5 hectares in size, mostly made of rammed earth and wattle and daub, but large enough for audience of several thousand people.

A bronze casting area also seems to have grown near the palace complex with crucibles and clay moulds for blacksmiths. We also have evidence of bone and pottery workshops as well as evidence for long distance trade in the form of jade objects (believe it or not, later officials even had jade but plugs... hey, they all thought your Chi could flow out of any hole after death... so they had to plug everything, don't judge).

From what we can tell, networks for regional sub-centres funnelled goods, up to Erlitou, thereby making it the centre of China's first state. However, this was all before writing emerged.

Erligan 

Erligan was a city-centered polity and the successor to Erlitou. Before the Shang dynasty it was the only major network for bronze production in China. Its expansion was linked to centralizing craft specialists and amassing the raw materials for its pyro-technical industries.

The growth of subsidiary supply centers and the unwieldiness of growing urban production centers led to break away kingdoms and competition for control of resources. K.C. Change has argued the control of bronze production was central to the independence of cities.

Now for the confusing part....

The Xia

The Xia dynasty of China (from around 2070 to 1600 BC) is the earliest of the Three Dynasties described in ancient historical records such as Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian and the Bamboo Annals. Interestingly, the dynasty is usually considered mythical or invented by Western scholars, but in China it is usually associated with Erlitou that was excavated in Henan in 1959. 

Since no writing has been excavated at Erlitou or any other contemporary site, there is no way to prove whether the Xia dynasty ever existed outside of those later references by Chinese historians. However, naturally the idea must have come from somewhere, and sites like Erlitou and Erligan do seem to have had a level of political organisation that would not be incompatible with the legends of Xia recorded in later texts. More importantly, the Erlitou site has the earliest evidence for an elite who conducted rituals using cast bronze vessels, which would later be adopted by the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. So the Xia "Dynasty" is probably just a poetic later reference to the two cities mentioned above and the loose coalition of tribes living there.... but it was probably never a "dynasty".

Following tradition though, the resident Huaxia were the ancestral people of the Han Chinese. According to various ancient Chinese texts, before the Xia dynasty was established, battles were frequent between Yellow Emperor's tribe and Chi You's tribe (again perhaps cultural stories handed down from the Neolithic villages). The Records of the Grand Historian and the Classic of Rites say that Yu the Great, was the founder of the Xia dynasty and was the grandson of Zhuanxu, who was the grandson of the Yellow Emperor himself. But there are also other records, like Ban Gu's, that say Yu's father is a fifth generation descendant of Zhuanxu.

The Shang

Following the Xia period, we find the earliest concretely documented dynasty of China, the Shang Dynasty. They are attested mainly from bronze materials and casts, pottery and their early writing system that was written on oracle bones (hollowed out animal shells that were used for divination and magic, or to record things). Think of them like that episode of Avatar the Last Airbender when the Gaang goes and visits Aunt Wu and she predicts their fortune by throwing dragon bones on a fire and reading the cracks, it's basically that.

A series of at least twenty-nine kings reigned over the Shang dynasty, and throughout their reigns, according to the Shiji, the capital city was moved six times. 

The most important sites seem to have been Erligan in the early Shang Period and Anyang (in modern day Henan) in the later, which was the last capital of the Shang. 

They seem to have had a very sophistical political structure that was hierarchal. A royal family would coordinate local or regional supervisors. The Chung (the "many") are the farming peasantry at this time, which provide the centre of the "empire" with an agricultural foundation and also provide military power (mainly through conscription).  The "Jang" captives are slaves.

The Shang is also the first time writing is invented in China. Despite what the records say, we know from excavation that there was not a direct succession down one family. There was a circulation of power among different elite and noble lineages. There appears to have been around 10 families (known as the Kang), who were tied to administering different rituals at different times of the year. Kingship would go between these 10 families.  and prime officials would be drawn from the opposite clans.

The Shang Dynasty largely operated through client polities, and created a network of subordinate lords which were tributary to the centre. The location of its subordinate lords can be reconstructed by inscriptions ((i.e "on x day, we sent mr x to this place and he was 👌").  

Ritual and Religion in Shang China

The core spiritual focus in Shang period China is ancestral veneration, however this is supplemented by a range of nature and celestial spirits or deities. That said, the ancestral altar seems to have been of paramount importance, especially among those 10 ruling families.

When we break it down, there was a kind of 3 pillared religion:

The High God (known as Shangdi): who seems to have been associated with the stellar hollow in the northern night sky.  Perhaps an ultimate divine power. He was prayed to for rain and harvest –but not sacrificed to.

Nature/Landscape spirits: Primarily Earth and Wind spirits, some inhabiting natural features like lakes, rivers or forests –the Shang did indeed make animal sacrifice to these spirits.

Royal Ancestors & the Imperial Cult: These are the spirits of the ancestors and departed rulers, and were thought to be jealous and malign, and would cause bad fortune or stir sh*t up if you didn't appease them. To do so, there was a schedule of sacrifices throughout the year –wine, animals and human, all accompanied by performances. The Royal Ancestors must be appeased because they are constantly watching you and can influence your life events... and destroy the village, so make sure you don’t piss them off.  Human sacrifice was probable for these kind of spirits.

How do we know this? Well... from Shang Royal burials unfortunately. The big tombs of Shang Kings or Emperors are in a cruciform shape. You need ramps to get inside them. They are also often surrounded by smaller mass graves, filled to the brim with sacrificial victims, put out progressively.  This is where individuals are sacrificed to dead kings to appease the spirit –often they were sacrificed and then decapitated.

Much of what we know about Chinese history comes from incrptions on bronzes or pottery or oracle bones from this period.  Bronze formed the material focus of ancestral or earth spirit rites, but was later often endowed by patrons to commemorate appointments, conquests or feasts. Oracle bones seem to have been a strictly Shang thing too, as the later Zhou Dynasty doesn't seem to use them.

Thankfully, things calm down a big as we reach China's Golden Age, the Zhou Dynasty.

The Zhou

The Zhou dynasty (1046 BC to approximately 256 BC) is the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history, though its power declined steadily over the almost eight centuries of its existence. In the late 2nd millennium BC, the Zhou dynasty arose in the Wei River valley of the modern western Shaanxi Province, where they were appointed Western Protectors by the Shang. 

A coalition led by the ruler of the Zhou, King Wu, defeated the Shang at the Battle of Muye. They took over most of the central and lower Yellow River valley and put their relatives and allies in semi-independent states across the region. Several of these states eventually became more powerful than the Zhou kings themselves, which led to their downfall.

The kings of Zhou were pretty big on the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to legitimise their rule, a concept that was influential for almost every succeeding dynasty. Like Shangdi (that big head honcho god from the Shang), ruled over all the other gods, he also decided who would rule China. It was believed that a ruler lost the Mandate of Heaven when natural disasters occurred in great number, and when, more realistically, the sovereign had apparently lost his concern for the people. In response, the royal house would be overthrown, and a new house would rule, having been granted the new Mandate of Heaven.

The Zhou established two capitals Zongzhou (near modern Xi'an) and Chengzhou. This time is the Golden Age of China, and is the most idealised of China’s ancient states, later scholars have long held up its practices as exemplars. It was a great literary and philosophical period during which we see the beginnings of three major Chinese philosophies: Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism.

The Zhou developed a sophisticated administrative structure and political system. Where Shang was based on ritual and spooky ancestors, Zhou was based on bureaucracy and correct governance.  They had solid notions of government and record keeping scribes.

We can see a massive difference in the bronze work too. In Zhou, bronzes are more of a reward of merit as oppose to a record of sacrifices. The famous Xiaochen Lai bronze is a record of its creators triumphs in battle and his rewards of cowries.

The Spring & Autumn Period

Around 771 BC, the Western Zhou Dynasty collapsed after internal dissent and arguments between states that reached a peak with the Battle of Mount Li. The rebels established a new ruler, King Ping, in Luoyang, which began the second major phase of the Zhou dynasty: the Eastern Zhou period, which is divided into the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. 

While the foundations and prototypes of the Chinese Philosophical systems were laid in the Zhou period, many famous individuals such as Lao tzu, Confucius and Sun Tzu lived during this crazy time and helped progress their respective schools, partly in response to the changing political world.

The Time of Warring States

The decline of central power from the fall of the Zhou left a vacuum. China at this point consisted of hundreds of tiny states, some of them only as large as a walled town with surrounding land. These states began to fight against one another and vie for power. The more powerful states tended to conquer and incorporate the weaker ones, so the number of states declined over time. 

By the 6th century BC most small states had disappeared by being annexed and just a few large and powerful principalities remained. Some records even state that the bigger states had armies of over 100,000 soldiers that would march on towns.

This is really the first time when China starts to build walls and fortifications. During the last century of the Warring States Period, the Qin Dynasty grew to prominence and became one of the biggest of all of them. Eventually, the Qin kingdom became China's first territorial Empire.

Imperial China

The Qin were pretty brutal at first, especially around 260 BC where, after conquering the Chu in the Chengdu Plain, they not only took captives but buried them alive. By 221 BC, the Qin, lead by Qin Shi Huang, had conquered everyone, and he proclaimed himself the First Emperor of a unified China.

Qin China was largely militarised, and had garrisons in most of its cities, but the infrastructure was great, with over 8km of roads being built. To give you an idea here, the Qin empire was twice the size of the Roman Empire at the height of its power, so the world has never seen anything like it of its scale.   

The First Emperor & His Immortal Army

Now, Qin Shi Huang is a pretty whacky dude, so I have to talk about him a bit. He grew up as a captive Qin prince in the kingdom of Zhao, but went on to unify the whole of China within 5 years of acending to power. 

Later Chinese historians have pained a dark and tyrannical picture of him and his deeds, and seem to depict him as a megalomaniac and tyrant. But don’t believe all the stories you hear. Later Chinese people evidently admired his power.... all press is good press right?

The First Emperor's most heinous atrocity is said to be his widespread burning of historical texts so no one could compare him against past rulers... because he thought he was the best.  He then went even more crazy and went around burying historians alive.

Throughout his life he was obsessed with Taoist Immortality and becoming an everliving Sage so he could rule China for ever. It's possible that the Emperor's book burning, which exempted alchemical works, could be seen as an attempt to focus the minds of the best scholars solely on the Emperor's quest of becoming immortal. Some of those buried alive were alchemists, and this could have been a means of testing their death-defying abilities.

He frequently left his palace for months on end to travel all over China on tours, assisted by Sages and Priests with mystical insight into the various heavens or mountains. He frequently pursued magic and tried to commune with Taoist immortals to learn their secrets. He spent months visiting sacred shrines or places associated with doorways between the spirit world and earth, as well as holy areas linked to secrets of Taoist immortality.  

In one case, he sent Xu Fu, a Zhifu islander, with ships carrying hundreds of young men and women in search of the mystical Penglai mountain, a spiritual hidden land where the immortal spirits and sages supposedly lived. 

He tasked them with finding Anqi Sheng, a thousand-year-old magician who had supposedly invited Qin during a chance meeting during his travels.

The expedition never returned.

Some later legends claim that they reached Japan instead and colonised it and then just never came back.

The Emperor also built a system of tunnels and passageways to each of his 200 palaces, because traveling unseen would supposedly keep him safe from evil spirits.

In 211 BC a large meteor is said to have fallen in Dongjun in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and someone apparently took it as an opportunity to troll the hell out of him and inscribed the  words "The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided" on it.

Our immortal ego boi was shook. He sent an imperial secretary to investigate this "prophecy", but no one would confess to the writing, so naturally... he did the only logical thing any sane person would do...

He had everyone living in the nearby villages put to death, and the stone pulverised so he could ignore the whole thing and went back to travelling

During his fifth tour of Eastern China, he became seriously ill and died sometime around July or August the next year at the age of 49. The cause of his death is unknown. It was later alleged that he was poisoned after drinking an elixir of immortality containing mercury, given to him by his court alchemists.

The Terracotta Army

Even if you haven't heard of Qin, you've probably heard of his army. Or at least... the one built to protect and serve him. 

The famous Terracotta Army was designed to protect the First Emperor from spirits in the afterlife, and forms only an external small part of his main tomb. I say small... but there are over 6000 statues in there, so small is relative since this dude was crazy. 

The main tomb, thought to contain the Emperor himself has yet to be opened and there is evidence suggesting that it remains relatively intact. It is currently the most sought after site in all Chinese Archaeology.

Sima Qian's (a later Han Dynasty historian) description of the tomb says it includes replicas of palaces and scenic towers, "rare utensils and wonderful objects", 100 rivers made of mercury, representations of "the heavenly bodies", and crossbows rigged to shoot anyone who tries to break in. 

The tomb was built at the foot of Mount Li, 30 kilometers away from Xi'an. We have located the tomb, and have inserted probes and drones deep inside it. All our readings have indeed revealed abnormally high quantities of mercury (about 100 times the naturally occurring rate), suggesting that some parts of the legend are true, there really does seem to be rivers of mercury in there.

Secrets were maintained, as most of the workmen who built the tomb were killed. 

I'll be the first to admit, I want in. But this is also how every end of the world movie starts, I'd rather not release the spirit of some immortal ancient tyrant and have to put him down. I get enough drama from demons already. Please don't go awakening some ancient spirit. Please.

On the more rational side of things, there are a number of reasons why it hasn't been opened. China's current technology is not able to deal with the large scale of the underground palace yet. When the Terracotta Army was first unearthed, the archaeologists were unable to preserve the coat of paint on the surface of terracotta figures, which resulted in the rapid shedding of their painted decoration when exposed to air.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage has indicated that research and evaluations should be conducted first so they develop a protection plan for the underground palace, and have rejected a proposal by archaeologists to excavate another tomb close by thought to belong to the Emperor's grandson over fears of possible damage to the main mausoleum itself. But it's hopefully just a matter of time and getting better technology.

Han Dynasty

You thought we were done? Hahahah. No no. 

Moving on, only a few years after the death of the First Emperor, growing waves of revolt happened.  Eventually people coalesced into the Han Empire around from 202 BC – 220 AD

The Han Empire even had knowledge of the outside world.  They were aware of Rome, but Rome was not aware of them. There is even a description of Rome on a Chinese tablet. The dynasty saw an age of economic prosperity and witnessed a significant growth of the money economy first established during the Zhou dynasty.

Science and technology during the Han period saw significant advances, including the process of papermaking, the nautical steering ship rudder, the use of negative numbers in mathematics, the raised-relief map, the hydraulic-powered armillary sphere for astronomy, and a seismometer employing an inverted pendulum that could be used to discern the cardinal direction of distant earthquakes.

While there were more minor dynasties and kingdoms, Modern China's majority ethnic group refers to themselves as the "Han people", the Sinitic language is known as "Han language", and the written Chinese used today is referred to as "Han characters".