Fuxi (Subduer of Animals)
Nüwa (Mother of Humanity)
Shen Nong (Divine Farmer)
Yellow Emperor
*The Three Sage Kings:
Yao
Shun
Yu
*Xia (?)
Trad. 2200-1766 BCE
*Shang
1554—1046 BCE (Li Feng)
ca. 1600—1045 BCE (Hansen)
*Zhou (1045-256 BCE)
Only historical dynasty by 1900
Near Luoyang in W. Henan
5 sq. kilometers
Population 18-30,000 at height around 1700
Few Burials
One large tomb empty except for dog skeleton
Scattered small-scale burial sites
Some with rich grave goods
Monumental buildings
20+ foundations
"Palace" #1 foundation, 16th c. BCE
108 x100 meters
Pounded earth foundation (hangtu)
Workshops
Pottery and bone manufacturing sites
Large-scale bronze works
2 dozen vessels and a few bells and weapons
Foundry covering 10,000 sq meters
Casting technology
Controversies over origins
Longshan Sites, 2600-2000 BCE
Copper objects
Seima-Turbino Culture, 2200-1700 BCE
Cast bronze spearheads
Qijia Culture in Gansu ca. 2000 BCE
350 sites yielding 50 small objects
"Xia" dynasty, Trad. 2200-1766 BCE
Settlements within 200 km of Erlitou
Similar material culture
Lack large bronzes
Potential suppliers of resources
Millet for food supplies
Timber for house building
Charcoal for fuel to make bronzes
Kaolin for elite white ceramics
Metal for making bronzes
Pebbles for palace foundations
Salt for diet
1. Where does Hansen begin Chinese history?
2. How does Xu interpret Erlitou society based on the burials?
3. How does Xu interpret the foundations of buildings?
3. How does Xu explain the origins of bronze metallurgy in China?
What is the significance of the casting technique, according to Xu and Hansen?
How does the quality of Erlitou bronze objects compare to later ones at Shang Anyang? (Hansen pp. 32-34)
4. Does Xu agree with the interpretation that Erlitou was the capital of the Xia Dynasty? Why or why not?
Erlitou (Xia?) decline 1600-1500 BCE
Erligang (Shang?) rise at Zhengzhou
Rapidly expands beyond Erlitou culture
6 km east of Erlitou
Theories
1st Erligang capital
Garrison to guard (Xia) Erlitou
20 sq. km vs. Erlitou 5 sq. km
Urban layout
City walls
Inner is 7 km
Palaces
Graveyards
Organized
Human sacrifice
Workshops
Bronze, Bone, Pottery
Dwarfs Erlitou (and Near East)
427 pieces of clay molds excavated
35% tool molds
Pickaxes, axes, awls, fishhooks
11% weapon molds
Adzes, dagger-axes, knives, arrowheads
17 % vessel molds
Remainder unknown
Erligang, Zhengzhou, Henan vs. Panlongcheng, Hubei
Similar bronze vessel types
Different pottery
What possible explanations are there for the similarities in bronze vessel design and differences in pottery?
Regional bronze styles emerge
Military expansion and retreat?
Interstate trade?
Bagley thesis
Transition from imperial unity to interacting regional states