Glossary
of Neolithic Chinese Archaeology
Neolithic
Chinese Cordmarked Vessel.
The
interpretive material was confusing, but this may be a jug for drawing water
from a well. That might explain the very restricted orifice and conic
form.
Apox.
35 cm.
Shang
Dynasty (Bronze/Initial Imperial age).
Jade
and nephrite weapons/tools and ceremonial objects (cong and bi, evidently male
and female emblems).
St.
Louis Museum of Art.
Neolithic
Chinese Chronology
Mesolithic: marked by microlithics (small blades from pyramidal cores)
used together to form composite tools.
Neolithic: marked by ground stone tools, ceramics, settled life and
agriculture
Bronze Age: three protohistoric ‘dynasties’ Xia, Shang and Zhou.
Fauna List
Bos
exiguus, domesticated cattle
Bubalus
mephistopheles, domesticated water buffalo
Canis
familiaris, domesticated dog
Ovis
changi Teilhard and Young
Sus sps.
Budorcas
taxicolor lichii
Elaphurus
menziesanus Sowerby
Hydropotes
Lepus
sps.
Pseudaxis
cf. hartulorum
Mammals
Deers,
badgers, foxes, tiger, rhino, leopard, elephant, tapir, monkeys, wolves, bears
Birds
Chickens
Fish
Reptiles
Testudo
anyangensis, tortoise whose shell was used in divination
Cowrie
Glossary
AnYang:
modern town near the site of the last Shang capital, known as TaShang, TaYiShang
or Yin. Large area or ruins including rectangular hangtu walls and platforms
aligned with cardinal directions. The site has famously produced many oracle
bone pits and, between 1927 and 1936, large cruciform, ramped kings’ pit tombs
with chariots and vast amounts of bronze and sacrificed soldiers and animals (Gernet
1972:41-42).
Henan
site dates ca. 1400-1050 BC, the complex includes areas XiaoTun (HsiaoT’un)
palace, HouJiaZhuang (HouChiaChuang) and XiBeiGang with 11 royal tombs,
WuGuanCun (WuKuanTs’un) tomb with sacrificial vicims, DaSiKingCun chariot
burials, and the ca. 1200 BC tomb of Fu Hao, an undisturbed royal tomb found in
1976 (Debaine-Francfort 1999:143).
The
late Shang dynasty (Shang IV and V) capital DaShang, ‘Great Shang’, was preceded
by ChengChou site. The city proper covered 290 m north-south by 143 m
east-west, lying in a bend of Huan River, at HsiaoT’un village, and was
heavily disturbed by pothunters. No wall was noted, and houses were hard to
distinguish. The location was long known as a source of ‘dragon bones’ used
in ground form in traditional medicine, recognized in the 19th
century by Fan Wei-ch’ing and Lin E as inscribed Shang oracle bones. Many
oracle bone storage pits were identified; they have entry strairways several
meters deep. Some 10,000 ox shoulder blades and turtle carapaces were recovered.
The northeast sector of HsiaoT’un had compacted earth house floorings up to 30
m long arranged around a rectangular patio. One building has river cobbles with
bronze cushions as pillar bases. Many dedicatory offering in buildings, gates
and tombs include slaughtered halberdiers and charioteers, as well as horses and
dogs. Tomb forms and placement of grave goods was standardized. Main royal tombs
about 7 m deep and square at base with two or four ramps have largely been
looted (Watson 1966: 45-51). Tomb M1001 of Houjiazhuang is the largest of the 11
of the royal necropolis. Many sacrificial victims were found in small associated
pits. Decapitated torsos and skulls were deposited in different
places. In 1976 the ca. 1200 BC tomb of Fu (Lady) Hao, consort of Wu Ding, ruler
of Shang, was uncovered near Xiaotun and identified based on inscriptions on
bronzes from the tomb. This tomb has an exterior structure for funeral rites, a
timber-lined deep pit, and human and animal sacrifices. It was the only one of
the complex that had not been plundered; it contained 200 bronze vessels, bronze
and jade weapons, 7000 cowrie shells, 750 jades, and 560 other stone and bone
items such as a turquoise inlaid ivory cup. This is the largest Shang bronze
vessel set (Debaine-Francfort 1999:53, 63-64).
Scientific
excavations begun by Dr. Li Chi in 1928 proved the authenticity of oracle bones.
One of the largest and most complex Bronze age sites, it is major cultural
resource for tourism. Much of the documentation and many samples were lost after
the final 1937 field season as the Institute fled the Japanese invasion. In the
Hsiao-t’un Shang occupation area at Anyang, the faunal assemblage dominated by
pig and deer. This dwelling area has produced a partial stone figurine showing a
squatting, tatooed figure interpreted as a Eastern I (Lungshao culture)
squatting barbarian as described in the Li Chi classic. More than a thousand
tombs at Hou-chia-chuang and Hsiao-t’un failed to produce oracle bones and
none of the tomb bronzes had inscriptions with more than a few characters.
However, to cite an exemplary oracle bone pit, E16 from 1931 was 9 m deep and
contained bronze tools and weapons as well as many scapulae and plastrons. The
Hsiao-t’un locality may be the capital, Yin-hsu, established by P’an Keng in
the 15th year of his reign, ca. 1384 BC by traditional chronology.
Numerous dedicatory sacrifices of human and animals as well as bronzes, pottery
and jades were found under the hangtu structures. Occupation seems to continue
at Anyang after the traditional fall of the Shang to the Chou, when the last
Shang king Chou burned himself with his palace. Sima Qian records that the elder
brother of King Chou, who surrendered and received a title from the new dynasty,
revisted the site of Yin and found grainfields over the destroyed palaces and
ancestral temples (Li 1957:33, 35, 40-44).
BanPo (PanP’o): Early Yangshao (ca. 4800-3600 BC) Neolithic village site
in southern Shaanxi (Shansi) near Xi’an, excavated 1954-1957. This site had
several periods of occupation, indicating swidden (slash-and-burn cultivation
followed by fallowing). The site was surrounded by a circular ditch and was
arranged in concentric zones of square and round houses with a central very
large house. Children were buried in jars close to houses, while pottery kilns
and adult cemeteries are located outside the village. The economy was based on
millet, fishing and raising dogs and hogs. Variations on a anthropoid face on
painted pottery with headdress and fish are interpreted as clan emblems. (Debaine-Francfort
1999:38-39, 143).
Houses
were based on low, round or rectangular earth walls, with sunken floors and
walls of wood stakes that with interior pillars supported a roof of thatch and
clay. Some house pillars already used cobble bases, but most were set in post
holes. Some floors had white clay coatings; clay also used to form interior
benches, ovens and cupboards. Large exterior bell-shaped or bag-shaped,
trash-filled storage pits for grain storage. Hand-made ceramics were fine red
and grey and coarse sandy incised, combed or mat-impressed wares, black on red
painted deep bowls and jars, with some black burnished and white-bodied wares.
Some painted motifs include schematized fish and frogs. Mostly chipped stone
tools with polished axes and arrowheads. Graves in rectangular pits, prone
interments with pots and other tools including stone millet-reaping knives
(Watson 1966:27-28, 37).
The
museum here is a major Xi’an tourist attraction.
BanShan
(PanShan): phase of northwestern Neolithic Majiayao culture (Debaine-Francfort
1999:143). The type site was excavated early and has been very important in
Chinese neolithic studies. Distinctive painted ceramics from west of the Central
Valley have large joined spirals in broad bands of black lined with dark
red/purple gourd-shaped figures or circles supported by swags. Design borders
sometimes are fringed with dog-tooth (saw-edge) lines known as the ‘death
pattern’ from occurrence on grave goods. Motifs resemble those of the zone
between Turkestan on the east and the Ukraine and Balkans on the west (Watson
1966:36).
Bi
(Pi): circular disks with a hole in the center. Their function remains
a mystery, but they are believed to have been used in religious practices during
the Neolithic period (Scarpari 2000:286). Generally jade, these large pierced circular discs, are sometimes engraved with bird, tiger and dragon patterns.
Chou and Han texts describe the use of such large jade objects by the emperor
when performing sacrifices to Tien, ‘Heaven’ (Watson 1966:31, 125).
Bixie:
fierce mythological animals resembling winged lions, believed to have the power
to ward off evil spirits; for this reason they were often placed in tombs for
protection (Scarpari 2000:286).
Chang Kwang-chih (K.C. Chang): Professor or Archaeology and Curator of
East Asian Archaeology, Peabody Museum, Harvard University. See Bibliography.
Cheng
Chou: Henan city giving its name to nearby complex of early Shang
dynasty (Shang I, II, III and early IV) sites excavated beginning 1953. The area
is about 100 miles south of Anyang. Stratified deposits made possible a relative
ceramic chronology, and the site also of extensive village and cemetery areas
over 9 miles long. This possibly is the San Dai palace city Hsiao (Ao) founded
by the 10th Shang king moving from east, into an area with earlier
Yangshao and Lungshan sites. Chengchou houses are smaller than those at Anyang,
but still laid out in regular plan, and are square or rectangular in shallow
pits 50 cm below ground level, some with white clay plastered floors. Shang II
hangtu wall 19-20 m wide at base was built of layers 7-10 cm thick, and was
perhaps 7-8 m high. The rectangular area enclosed is 1725 by 2000 m, with the
four sides to the cardinal directions, a pattern followed throughout Chinese
history. The Paichiachuang section of wall included
8 pits with 130 sacrificed dogs. Graves in complex pits with log burial chambers,
extended interments with ceramics, bronze vessels, arrowheads, axes, jades, and
horses with harness. Coarse wares were made on the potters wheel. Moulds for
axes and wheel parts have been recovered (Watson 1966:51-54).
ChengZiYai (Ch’engTzuYai): Longshan Neolithic site in Shandong (Debaine-Francfort
1999:143). The Chengziyai enclosing wall was built of hangtu layers 12-14 cm
thick with each layer receding about 3 cm to give a slight batter. Houses were
round, about 4 m in diameter, with a round central depression marking the
footing for a central roof-support pillar. Some floors and walls were coated
with white clay. Graves scattered among the houses were mostly extended
interments (Watson 1966:37-40). In addition to domesticated animals, deer bones
were also found, but wild game appears to be
an incidental resource for this sedentary farming population (Li 1957:22).
CiShan: Henan early Neolithic site, ca. 5500-4900 BC, discovered 1976, a
type site for the north central area (Debaine-Francfort 1999:143).
Cong
(Tsung): jade rectangular blocks, perforated by a tubular vertical
hole, often decorated with stacked human and animal motifs. Their function,
which remains a mystery, seems to be related to the religious and spiritual
practices of the Neolithic period (Scarpari 2000:286). The vertical pillar of
the tsung combines the square and the circle, and was later taken to be a symbol
of the earth (Watson 1966:121). The stacked rectangular elements typically have
taotie masks at each of four corners.
DaHeCun: Yangshao Neolithic site in Henan
excavated in 1970s (Debaine-Francfort
1999:143).
DaWenKou: A Shandong site discovered 1959, type site for eastern Early
Neolithic ca. 4500-2500 BC. Related sites have been found in Anhui, Jiangsu and
Henan, along the lower Huangehe valley, in the Huai valley, and north of the
Blue River. This is a bridging culture between Yangshao and Longshan cultures
discovered by research along the east coast, primarily known from graves. A hierarchical
society is indicated by distribution of grave goods. Some rich
tombs contain pig bones. A little jade, turquoise, and worked bone, horn and
ivory is found. Crania display ritual extraction of upper incisors. The ceramics
of these sites include Yangshao-like painted pots; southern-looking tripods and
cups with perforated stems; and fine-paste, grey, wheelthrown pottery
foreshadowing Longshan ceramics (Debaine-Francfort 1999:43-44,143).
Di
or ShangDi (Ti, ShangTi): the Lord of the Heavens, the most powerful
god of the Shang epoch, held by some to be the Supreme Ancestor of the royal
clan, and by others a deified totem figure (Scarpari 2000:286). An important
Shang royal sacrifice called ti or shanti seems to have given birth to the idea
of a supreme deity, guarantor of natural and political order, The term was
adopted later to denote the mythical sovereigns of the earliest ages and was
used by the First Emperor to create the new term Huang Ti at the end of the 3rd
cen. BC (Gernet 1972:49).
DongShanZui: Hongshan Neolithic site in Liaoning (Debaine-Francfort
1999:143).
ErCenTai: a terrace of beaten earth, built on different step-like levels
and set in one of the tomb walls, where, during the Shang period, a part of the
funeral treasure was placed (Scarpari 2000:286).
ErLiGang
(ErhLiKang): Shang II and III capital near ChengChou, Henan (Honan)
(Watson 1966:51) Hilltop fortified city dating ca. 1600-1400 BC, interpreted as
an early Shang dynasty capital (1500-1400 BC) post-Erlitou, pre-Anyang.
Excavated in 1950s. Work from the 1970s through 1990s revealed the geographical
extent. Everywhere from Laoning on the north to the Blue River on the south
towns similar to the Henan type site have been found. These centers of
civilization outside the Yellow River valley, often ideocyncratically different,
were not expected based on classic sources, but the spread of Erligang culture
stimulated relationships between very remote areas, such as the southern (Ningxian)
bronze industry and the early glazed stoneware in the 13th c. BC
Wucheng Bronze Age culture witnessed by the tomb of Xin’gan in Jiangxi. The
hangtu rampart of Erligang is 4 miles/7 km long. Bronze metallurgy was more
diversified than Erlitou and could produce ting up to a meter across and 90 kg.
The new forms focused on the procedure for warming, pouring and drinking
fermented grain beverages. Raised molded decoration includes mould lines made
into notched ridges and forerunners of the taotie mask, which gradually grew
more complex and was Anyang’s leitmotiv (Debaine-Francfort 1999:53,
58-62,143).
ErLiTou: ca. 1700-1500 BC site near Yanshi, Henan, with bronze vessels,
discovered 1958, excavated intermittently through 1983, attributed to Xia
dynasty. Thought to be directly ancestral to succeeding capital Erligang, also
with fortifications and palace, the outlines of which 4000 years ago contained
the seed of the modern Forbidden City: polar arrangement, with central palace
and ancestral temple of the ruling lineage, surrounded by colonnades and
supported on hangtu platforms. Villages, markets, workshops and cemeteries lay
outside the enclosure. Potters kiln and workshops and bronze foundries with
terra cotta moulds were found in distinct areas. Tomb 4 had a turquoise inlaid bronze plaque with monster face
and laquerware. Very early bronzes from Erlitou include such ritual items as the
small, thin, undecorated jue tripod spouted cups for warming beverages, the
earliest north China sites with bronze, ca. 1600 BC, are prototypes for the
remaining millennium of the Bronze Age (Debaine-Francfort
1999: 53-55, 143).
Fan Wei-ch’ing: 19th century epigrapher who recognized
‘dragon bones’ of traditional apothecaries as early writing (Watson
1966:50).
FanShan: Southeastern Liangzhu Neolithic site in Zhejiang (Debaine-Francfort
1999:143).
Fei-I: monster developed as decorative pattern with one head represented
tao-tie fashion and two intertwined bodies, possibly of Sumerian derivation. A
decayed wooden object in a Shang tomb at Hou-chia-chuang had such carving
(Li 1957:26-27).
Ge: battleaxes; axe or dagger with a handle found only in the Far East and
serving to hook on to the enemy and deliver the first blows (Gernet 1972:42,
44).
HangTu: embankment used as the foundations of palaces and houses since the
Neolithic period (Scarpari 2000:286). The construction and fortification of
urban sites by thick walls made of successive layers of rammed earth (Gernet
1972:41). The French term for tamped earth, also used in colonial America for a
similar technique, is pise’ (Watson 1966:40). Also rendered as ‘stamped
earth’. Form boards are laid to define the sides of the wall, filled with
clayey earth, and packed with pounding with poles. Each successive layer is
slightly thinner on large constructions, giving an aesthetic batter. Hangtu is
frequently plastered.
HaoBinHian: Early
lithic tradition of southernmost China and Indo-china, Burma and the Malay
Peninsula marked by roughly sharpened pebbles (Watson 1966:26).
HeMuDu: southeast Neolithic culture after Zhejiang type site. Excavations
1973-1978 documented Early Neolithic, ca. 5000-4770 BC, in the Hangzhou Bay
region. Caves, other camps and shell mounds used by hunter-fisher-gatherers ca.
10,000-5000 BC in Guangxi, Guangdong and Jiangxi appear to be ancestral to
Hemudu. Distinctive lakeshore pile dwellings were unknown in China until this
work, although they are common in Pacific societies to the south. Flooded field
rice agriculture used animal shoulder-blade hoes, indicating domesticated rice
in the Blue River basin ca. 5000 BC. Ivory and wood objects were recovered and
ceramics sometimes have naturalistic incised representations of
birds, plants and pigs. Pig, dog, and buffalo were domesticated, and the
faunal assemblage also included monkey, sheep, deer, rhinoceros, elephant,
tiger, bear, and various fish, reptiles and tortoises (Debaine-Francfort
1999:46-47, 143).
HongShan: Northeastern Neolithic culture, ca. 3800-2700 BC, after type
site Hangshanhou excavated by Japanese archaeologists in 1938. Finds of early
jade in Inner Mongolia and Liaoning cist graves are assigned to this culture.
Jade work began in the region by 5000 BC, and jades, generally pendants, often
form the only grave goods. These include ‘hooked clouds’, tortoises or birds
with spread wings, perforated discs, ‘pig-dragons’ and ‘horse-hoof
shaped’ objects. 1981 excavations at Dongshanzui and Niuheliang in Liaoning
uncovered complex structures interpreted as ‘temples.’
(Debaine-Francfort 1999:143).
HouKang: Deeply stratified site, with early Painted Pottery (Yangshao
culture), Black Pottery (Longshan culture), and Yin or late Shang dynasty
components, near Anyang. Provided early (pre-radio carbon) evidence of relative
chronology for San Dai north China (Li 1957:13-15).
Hsiao-t’un: area of
Anyang.
JiaGuWen (Chia-ku
wen):lit. ‘inscriptions on bone oracles’, the
profetic instrument used by the court shamans of the Shang period to consult
divinities and ancestory of the royal family in the Other World (Scarpari
2000:286).
Chia-ku
wen, ‘inscriptions on shells and bones,’ also known as pu-tz’u. Engraved
after the fire test with commentary on the result of the divination, archived
and forming a precedent for royal activity in worship, military activity,
appointments of officials, construction, journeys, illnesses, dreams, weather
and to predict the future in general. Many of the ca. 5000 engraved charcters
are ancestral to the modern characters, both wen and tzu
(Gernet 1972:46).
The
procedure consisted of forming a pit
in one surface of the bone, applying heat, and ‘reading’ the resulting
cracks on the other face, ideally a long crack with a spur. They have Lungshan
culture antecedents; Shang examples had the question and result incsribed or
sometimes brush-painted on after the divinatory act. Large pits with thousands
of specimens have been excavated and described as ‘archives.” About 1500 of
the 5000 characters can be clearly interpreted. The formation of characters by
paired elements, one element denoting the class of object and the othet
suggesting pronounciation, dominant in the modern language had begun by Shang
times (Watson 1966:55-59)
‘Scapulimancy’
and ‘plastromancy’ in wider anthropological comparisons. ‘Shell-bone
writing’ remains an important school of study for linguists.
Ko
(Kou-ping): roughly, ‘halberd’. The main Shang cast bronze weapon,
with a blade 15-25 cm long and about 5 cm wide, slightly curved, with a tang
fitting at a right angle into the haft or a ferrule for a wood haft. Shang
handles were about a meter long,indicating use as a battle axe, later it was
about 1.5 m long indicating use as a pike/halberd,later examples have a spear
blade as well. There are Neolithic antecedents and some Shang ritual examples
were of polished jade (Watson 1966:74-76, 126-127).
The
development of the weapon from the stone prototype has been thoroughly
documented. The initial stone form is tabular, with a point at one end and a
perforated rectangular tang at the other. The most primitive type, completely of
stone, was by Shang times reserved for officers when soldiers used bronze ones.
The initial examples had jade blades set in bronze sleeves. The blade is yuan;
the hafting part or tang, the nei; and the ferrule or necking, hu. The form of
the yuan itself was very conservative, retaining Neolithic form through the San
Dai. A hole at the root of the yuan was for binding the ko into the wood haft.
The nei was elongated so that it formed a hook projecting from the haft opposite
the yuan. The hu was elongated downward and reinforced in later Shang and Chou
examples to strengthen and protect the haft. Finally, the ko (halberd) was
combined with the mao (spear) to form a chi (pike), the weapon used by the Qin (Ch’in)
to unify China and the Han to conquer the far west (Li 1957:54-58)
Kuei: strangely shaped vessel form originating in the
Lungshan culture (Watson 1966:38).
LeiWen: spiral
geometric motifs used mainly during the Shang and Zhou
periods, found predominantly in the decorations of bronzes, laquerware and
ceramics (Scarpari 2000:286).
Li: tripod vessel form originating in Lungshan culture sites (Watson
1966:38).
Li
Chi: Classic of historical accounts.
Li Chi: First academic excavator at Anyang, 1928-1937. 1923 Harvard
anthropology PhD, Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at Tsinghua Research
Institute, after 1928 Fellow and head of the Archaeology Section, Institute of
History and Philology, Academia Sinica, after 1950 head of the Department of
Archaeology and Anthropology, National Taiwan University; editor of Archaeologia
Sinica, Chinese Journal of Archaeology, and Bulletin of the Department of
Archaeology and Anthropology, National Taiwan University.
LiangZhu: final Neolithic culture of southeast coastal China (Zhejiang,
Jiangsu, Shanghai), ca. 3000-2000 BC, after type site discovered 1936.
The sites produce Longshan black wheelthown ceramics and an extensive
jade industry. Jade objects became codified ritual objects, ultimately deposited
in elite graves. Tomb 3 at Sidun contained over 200 objects covering the body of
a 20 year-old partially cremated man, primarily cong and bi, also burned, and in
Tomb 12 at Fanshan, Zhejiang, decorated with masks resembling later taotei
bronze vessels. (Debaine-Francfort 1999: 47-49, 143).
Lin E (1857-1909): identified the oracles bones brought to his attention
by his friend Wang I-jung as Shang dynasty documents (Gernet 1972:45).
LiuWan: Majiayao Neolithic site in Qinghai, excavated 1974-1978 (Debaine-Francfort
1999:143).
LongShan
(LungShan): One of the two initially defined Neolithic cultures
of north China, being identified by Andersson in 1928. Longshan dates ca.
2500-1700 BC in eastern China and the Central Plain where hundreds of sites
representative of regional and chronological variations of the Longshan culture
have been recorded. The culture can be seen as the result of the meeting of
coastal and Yellow River traditions during a time of increasing wealth and
status differences (Debaine-Francfort 1999:42-43, 143).
Originally
designated the ‘pre-Yin Black Pottery culture’, at Houkang site evidence was
recovered of Lungshan materials lying between Yangshao and Shang deposits. The
fine black ware of the Longshan culture was not continued in later Shang
deposits at this site, but distinctive vessel forms were transfered to bronze.
They may be the ethnohistorical long-haired, tattooed Eastern I, the Squatting
Barbarians (as opposed to Shang kneeling) as represented in a stone carving
found at the Hsiao-T’un (Anyang) site (Li 1957:14, 16, 21, 35).
The
distinctive polished, wheel-made black pottery is very thin, sometimes less than
a mm, or ‘eggshell.’ Forms can be very complex, but there are many goblets.
Slender and pure forms, without other colors, use ribbed, incised or cut-out
decoration, similar to that used on regional jades. Hand-building of pottery
declined and grey impressed pots for common use were also produced on the
potters wheel. The eastern Neolithic is known in particular for the abundance of
jade objects, with elaborate cut-out patters such as the long-tailed, crested
bird. Wheat, barley and millet were cultivated (Debaine-Francfort 1999:43).
Type
site for Shandong (Shantung) and eastern Neolithic at Ch’engTzuYai in west
Shandong, the culture later spread north into Manchuria and south into coastal
Kiangsu. It is marked by a fine hard black pottery made on a spinning wheel.
Sites lie on hills or knolls over plains; ChengZiYai (Ch’eng-tzu) in Shandong
had a hangtu rampart. Bone artifacts including arrowheads common, as well as
polished stone axes and sickles. Domesticated animals include dog, pig, cattle,
and sheep; used for fire-cracked bone divination (Gernet 1972:38-40).
Sites
on knolls and low foothills of mountains; houses excavated in Shensi similar to
those at Yangshao culture Banpo site. Deep deposits indicate long-tern
occupations. Stratified Henan sites showing a sequence of Yangshao, Longshan and
Shang occupations early indicated chronological differences at least in the
Central Plain. Lacks a painted pottery tradition. The rare angular, wheel-made
blackware include li, ting, carinated bowls, tou shallow bowls on pedestals, and
kuei foreshadow bronze forms; black, grey, reddish and whitish coarse wares are
common. Crescentic stone sickles contrast to Yangshao culture oblong knives.
Bone
artifacts include leaf-shaped cylindrical and prismatic arrowheads, spearpoints
and chisels. Some axes oval as Yangshao types, others rectangular with blade on
one face as an adze (Watson 1966:37-43).
MaChang: phase of northwestern Majiayao culture ca. 3500-1500 BC (Debaine-Francfort
1999:143).
MaJiaYao
(MaChiaYao): This early excavated site produced painted urns
unlike those of central China (Watson 1966:36)
This
Yangshao-related Neolithic culture of northwest China dates ca. 3500-1500 BC.
Also, Majiayao designates a phase of this culture (see also Banshan and Machang
phases). The type site produced vast necropolises and tombs full of painted
pots. The cemetery of Liuwan in Qinghai had 1500 tombs. Early ceramics have
black-on-buff spirals around ‘bullseyes.’ Some later vessels have circles
alternating with anthropomorphs interpreted as deities, shamans, or tribal
chiefs linked to an old agrarian cult. This painted pottery tradition continued
in the west while the Bronze Age began in the east. The economy, which is more
pastoral than agricultural, is the forerunner of later nomadic cultures of the
northern and western borderlands. (Debaine-Francfort 1999:40, 143).
MingQi: lit. ‘numinous articles’, manufactured artifacts of great
symbolic value, mainly made of terracotta or wood but occasionally also of
metal, placed inside the tomb to recreate a familiar atmosphere for the deceased
and to satisfy his or her needs in the afterlife (Scarpari 2000:286).
NiuHeLiang: Hongshan Neolithic site in Liaoning, discovered 1981 (Debaine-Francfort
1999:143).
PingLiangTai: Longshan Neolithic site in Henan, discovered 1979 (Debaine-Francfort
1999:143).
PengTouShan: Hemudu culture site in Hunan with cultivated rice ca. 6000 BC
(Debaine-Francfort 1999: 47, 143).
PeiLiGang: north-central China (Hebei) Early Neolithic culture ca.
5500-4900 BC, antecedent to Yangshao, after type site in Hebei excavated in
1970s. Cishan is another important site in Henan. The sites are marked by early
domesticated millets, toothed sickles and footed millstones (metates) with
roller manos. Grain has been found in the pits dug around the semi-subteranean
houses, and the sites have produced domesticated dogs, pigs and chickens (Debaine-Francfort
1999:44-45, 143).
SanDai: lit. ‘Three
Dynasties’, referring to the semi-legendary,
protohistoric pre-imperial dynasties or kingdoms: Xia (Hsia), Shang and Zhou
(Chou) (Scarpari 2000:286). The royal dynasties are traditionally dated
2000-1600 BC (Xia), 1600-1050 BC (Shang), and 1050-221 BC (Zhou) or to the
Yellow River Bronze Age civilization thenceforth cited as the origin of
civilization. The most famous archaeological manifestation is the later Shang
royal city at Anyang (ca. 1300-1050 BC). (Debaine-Francfort 1999:52).
SanXingDui: Sichuan basin bronze age site discovered in brickworks in
1986, contemporary with Anyang. More than 700 gold-leaf objects, distinctive
bronze heads and masks, and jades associated with carbonized animal bone, cowrie
shells, and elephant tusks represent the remains of a large sacrifice burnt and
buried in two large pits. This ritual and the bronzes such as a 1.7 m human
statue indicate rites quite different from the Shang, although some items appear
to indicate hybrid Shang-Sanxingdui forms. The pits were part of a fortified
site with remains stretching over 10 km/6 miles (Debaine-Francfort 1999:64-67).
Shang: the first dynasty of the bronze age archaic monarchy, preceeded by
the mythic Xia (Hsia) dyanasty. The period of the development of an elaborate
metal casting technology, and as witnessed at the last capital, near AnYang (14th-11th
ce. BC), also possesed of the chariot and writing used on bronzes and oracle
bones. Also know as Yin (Gernet 1972:41).
Shang
potters discontinued the Neolithic wares, both the fine black Longshan wares and
coarse wares, but began to use kaolin to produce white pottery. In contrast to
the minor representation of deer bones in the agricultural villages of the
Neolithic, Shang assemblages from Hsiao-t’un include 29 species: monkeys,
bears, tigers, leopards, tapirs, elephants, rhinoceroses, deer, foxes, badgers,
whales, etc. In addition to 2 kinds of pigs, dogs, sheep and goats, cattle and
buffalo, and horses. Hunting was also a major preoccupation of the oracle bones,
and their expeditions ranged as far as Mongolia and Manchuria. Shang culture
appears to have very composite roots fusing various Neolithic cultures (Li
1957:16, 22-23, 38).
Main
‘royal’ sites Cheng Chou (early Shang) and Anyang (later Shang).
Shih: ‘corpse’, also, shamans as the representative of the dead man in
the funerary ritual of the Chou period (Gernet 1972:49). A ‘corpse’ who
impersonated the deity in Shang functions (Watson 1966:69).
Shih-chi
(Historical Records): Sima Qian’s masterpiece of history,
compiled in the early Han dynasty, preserving traditions of the first dynasties
(San Di) (Gernet 1972:45).
Sima Qian (Ssu-ma Ch’ien,
Se-Ma-Ts’ien): The Grand Historian, elder and younger, of the 1st
century BC Han dynasty, compiled Shih Chi (‘Historical Records’) (Gernet
1972:45).
TaoTie
(T’aoT’ieh): iconographic motifs found mainly in the bronze
decorations of the Shang and Zhou periods, consisting in the face of
a mythical animal seen from the front, characterized by large eyes and a
body which, split in two, spreads out symmetrically on either side of the head (Scarpari
2000:286).
This
“mask” also seen in materials such as ceramic vessels,
ivory handles, bronze socketed axes and ko halberds. Elements of the
design include quill or plume, ‘C” horn, tail, crest, eye, forehead, snout,
lower jaw, beak or fang, trunk and leg. Later interpretation of the monster-mask
was a glutton as a warning against greed (Watson 1966:55,57, 106).
A
bone handle from the 1929 season at Hsiao-t’un at Anyang has them stacked as
in a totem pole. The pattern and arrangement is on the same principal as other
Pacific art styles, with piling of similar design elements, animal bodies split
into symmetrical halves, rigid symmetry, and regular rhythm. It is an attempt to
render a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional background by cutting the
head into two profiles and joining them together symmetrically. These principals,
enunciated by Franz Boaz in his 1927 Primitive Art, govern Shang art (Li
19547:30-32)
Tian: lit. ‘Heaven’, the greatest divinity from the Zhou period
onwards. Its will was known as Tian Dao, ‘the Way of Heaven,’ or Tian Ming,
‘the Law or Mandate of Heaven’ in the cases where great power and
responsibility was conferred on those deemed worthy and deserving of it. Tian Zi,
‘Son of Heaven’ was one of the emperor’s names (Scarpari 2000:286).
Ting: tripod vessel form originating in the Lungshan
culture, originaly
ceramic, later bronze (Watson 1966:38, 54). A cooking vessel with feet to hold
it above fire. This ‘kettle’ also has two loop handles above the rim.
Tou: an open serving vessel form originating in ceramics the Lungshan
culture, later cast in bronze; a shallow bowl on a stem. In the Neolithic, it
was manufactured in coarse gray ware as well as the thin black ware with pedestals
of varying height (Watson 1966:38, 54). This vessel form, in steel, is
still in common use in restaurant service.
Tz’u:
characters that are signs formed by association, already being
formulated for Shang oracle bone inscriptions (Gernet 1972:47).
Wang: noble title, roughly translated as ‘king.’ The
prerogative of the
first king of Zhou, the title was usurped by the royalty of the principalities
into which China was divided before the founding of the empire (Scarpari
2000:286).
Wang I-jung:
(1845-1919) epigraphist who, along with Lin E, began oracle bone studies (Gernet
1972:45).
Wen:
characters that are simple signs, many established by the Shang and
used on oracle bones and bronzes (Gernet 1972:47).
Wu: sorcerers (Gernet 1972:49), village shamans (Watson 1966:60).
Wu Gin-Ding (G.D.
Wu): graduate of Tsing Hua Research Institute, who in
1930 discovered the Lungshan Neolithic “Black Pottery culture”, 1938 London
publication Prehistoric Pottery in China states early research topics in
Neolithic studies (Li 1957:13).
Xia (Hsia): mythical first ‘dynasty’, of the transitional
Neolithic-Bronze Age (2000-1600 BC).
Neolithic kingdom whose archaeological definition is based on the type site
ErLiTou (Debaine-Francfort 1999:143).
This
preimperial period is attributed to culture heroes who invented the elements of
civilization, including the sages Yao and Shun, who selected their successors by
merit rather than birth, Shun choosing Yu, who controlled floods and founded the
Xia dynasty. Early historical narratives and modern antiquarians agreed that they
were the first to cast bronze. Chou compilations indicate that they practiced
totemism (wu) (Li 1957:20).
YangShao:
Site in Henan discovered 1921. One of the two initially-defined Neolithic
cultures of north China. The culture was first noted by Andersson’s ceramic
studies; it dates ca. 4500-2500 BC. Now over 1000 sites are assigned to several
diverse Yangshao ‘regional facies’ or phases (Debaine-Francfort 1999:38,
142).
Type
site for the neolithic of western Henan (Honan) and the Wei valley in Shensi,
later in Kansu, characterized by pottery painted with geometric designs and
stylized birds and fish an red and black, made without the use of the potters
wheel. Occupation sites on river terraces have produces arrows, polished axes,
and domesticated millet, dogs and pigs (Gernet 1972:37, 39).
‘Painted
Pottery culture’ (in contrast to the Longshan or ‘Black Pottery culture’)
reached as far as Manchuria in the east and Sinkiang in th west, but is
particularly concentrated in the Yellow River valley between T’ung Kuan and
Taihong Shan. Early sites of the Hou-kang cultures around Anyang produce simple
prototypes of later Shang forms. Deer bones are sometimes found, but hunting was
secondary to domesticated animals (Li 1957:12-13, 22).
Sites
are found on low river terraces and open flat ground sites with densely
concentrated occupation of up to one million meters square and up to 12-15m
depth. One of earliest excavated villages was BanPo. Painted fine wares use
curvilinear figures and abstract fish and birds, with designs forming narrow
bands with straight parallel sides filled with oval, triangular and dot designs.
Sites extend west from the central valley of the Yellow River up the Wei River
to the low divide with the T’ao river basin; several regional styles are
defined. Central China Honan sites produce red wares with simple exterior
designs, some using white slip. In Shensi red ware amphorae with pointed bases
and distinctive spiral motifs include animal motifs. In the far west in Kansu
distinctive urns and amphorae are found (Watson 1966:27-37).
Yue: bronze ceremonial axes used for Shang human and animal sacrifice (Debaine-Francfort
1999:53). In form it resembles a widened ko with flaring blade and typical
perforations near the hafting element.
Zhou
(Chou): Third and last of traditional San Dai, found to be of late
bronze age date, importantly the time of Kong Futzu (‘Confucius’) and other
philosophers.
ZhuJiaZhai: Majiayao Neolithic site discovered 1936 (Debaine-Francfort
1999:143).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chang
Kwang-chi
1977 The
Archaeology of Ancient China [3rd revised edition]. Yale University
Press, New Haven CT.
The old standard university text, by the famous late Harvard instructor.
He gives considerable attention to the paleolithic and mesolithic, as well as
extensive coverage of what was then known of the origins of agriculture, and
Neolithic sites excavated in the early and mid 20th century, with
about half the book devoted to the bronze age. Includes the radiocarbon
chronolgy to 1976 and English-Chinese index for authors, sites and terms. Uses
Wade-Giles.
1983
Art, Myth and Ritual: The path to political authority in ancient China. Harvard
University Press, Cambridge MA.
This study examines the role of kinship, shamanism, art, and writing in
the development of Shang concepts of moral authority and coercive power. Very
well illustrated, with king lists for first three dynasties.
Debaine-Francfort,
Corinne 9trans. Paul G. Bahn)
1998
[1999] The Search for Ancient China [La redecouverte de la Chie ancienne]. Harry
N. Abrams, Inc., New Yrk NY/Thames and Hudson Ltd., London, England.
A pocket size full-color survey,
summarizes current debate on the multiple origins of
the Chinese Neolithic.
Elvin,
Mark
The
Retreat of the Elephants: an environmental history of China. Yale University
Press, New Haven CT.
This is a very interesting book, with a broad overview of
environmental change (primarily the result of deforestation and cultivation) backed by a group
of detailed local studies based on gazetteers and poetry, that demonstrate the
pressure on resources reached by late imperial times. Extensive notes and
bibliography.
Gernet,
Jacques (trans. J.R. Foster)
1972
[1982] A History of Chinese Civilization [Le Monde chinois]. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, England.
This survey text gives a short chapter (pp. 37-50) to the Neolithic
through the Shang (“The Archaic Monarchy”). Outline of environments, Han and
minorities, outline of history and writing systems covered in introduction.
King,
F.H.
1911
Farmers of Forty Centuries or Permanent agriculture in China, Korea and
Japan. Rodale Press, Emmaus Penn.
An extensive description of methods in all types of agriculture, compiled
during the final dynasty. Profusely illustrated with plates of considerable
ethnographic interest. Yields, cultivation techniques, implements used with many
crops and food/fiber industries..
Li Chi
1957 The
Beginnings of Chinese Civilization: Three lectures illustrated with finds at
Anyang. Washington Paperbacks on Russia and Asia WPRA-6. University of
Washington Press, Seattle WA.
Very heavily illustrated with photos and line drawings of Shang dynasty
finds, especially marble and jade figures and bronze vessels. Li was the
Harvard-trained original excavator of Anyang, so while some views (Painted
Pottery vs. Black Pottery as roots of the Shang) are out-of-date, this small
volume is still of interest.
Linduff,
Katheryn M. And Yan Sun, editors
2004
Gender and Chinese Archaeology. Alta Mira Press/Rowman & Littlefield,
Lanham MD.
These collected University of Pittsburg seminar papers mostly deal with
bronze age and later China. Almost all are mortuary studies.
Relevant papers include: Gideon Shelach, Marxist and Post-Maxist
Paradigms for the Neolithic; Yan Sun and Hongyo Yang, Gender Ideology and
mortuary Practice in Northwestern China; Jui-man Wu, The Late Neolithic cemetery
at Dadianzi, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; Ying Wang, Rank and Power among
Court Ladies at Anyang
Scarpari,
Maurizio (trans. A.B.A., Milan)
2000
Ancient China: Chinese Civilization from its origins to the Tang Dynasty. Barnes
& Noble/White Star, Vercelli, Italy.
This is a large format color plate art history book, but it includes some
Neolithic artifacts (jades and ceramics). It focuses on early imperial (bronze
age Shang dynasty) through mideval (Han and Tang dynasties) art and artifacts.
Watson,
William
1966
Early Civilization in China. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York NY.
Out-of
date, but with good environment descriptions, with color, black-and-white and
line illustrations. Neolithic (pp. 27-44) discusses early opinions on
relationship between Yangshao and Lungshan cultures. Map of archaeological site
locations.
Yang
Xiaoneng
1999 The
Golden Age of Chinese Archaology: Celebrated discoveries from the People’s
Republic of China. Yale University Press, New Haven CT.
An oversized color plate exhibit catalog that also has considerable
description of doing archaeology in China. The Late Prehistoric (ca. 5000-2000
BC) is well illustrated with materials from Banpo and Majiayao
sites (Yangshao culture), the Hongshan culture, the Dawenkou and Shandong
Longshan cultures, the Taosi Longshan culture, and the Liangzhu culture. The
bronze age (ca. 2000-771 BC) is also well-represented by Erlitou, Anyang and
later sites. English-Chinese index of sites and geographical locations.
