89 World History Chapter 1
George L. Israel
4.1 CHRONOLOGY
Chronology |
China |
8000 – 2000 BCE |
Neolithic Cultures in China |
5000 – 3000 BCE |
Yangshao Culture |
3000 – 1900 BCE |
Longshan Culture |
c. 1900 – 1600 BCE |
Xia Dynasty |
c. 1600 – 1046 BCE |
Shang Dynasty |
1045 – 256 BCE |
Zhou Dynasty |
1045 – 771 BCE |
Western Zhou |
770 – 256 BCE |
Eastern Zhou |
551 – 479 BCE |
Confucius |
475 – 221 BCE |
Warring States Period |
221 – 210 BCE |
Qin Dynasty |
221 – 210 BCE |
First Emperor of Qin |
202 BCE – 220 CE |
Han Dynasty |
141 – 87 BCE |
Emperor Wu |
220 – 589 CE |
Period of Division |
220 – 280 CE |
Three Kingdoms Period |
155 – 220 CE |
Cao Cao |
265 – 317 CE |
Western Jin |
317 – 589 CE |
Northern and Southern Dynasties |
581 – 618 CE |
Sui Dynasty |
618 – 907 CE |
Tang Dynasty |
960 – 1279 CE |
Song Dynasty |
1271 – 1368 CE |
Yuan Dynasty |
1215 – 1294 CE |
Kublai Khan |
1368 – 1644 CE |
Ming Dynasty |
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Korea |
c. 400 BCE – 313 CE |
Early Historical Period |
313 – 668 CE |
Three Kingdoms |
c. 37 BCE – 668 CE |
Goguryeo Dynasty |
668 – 892 CE |
Silla Dynasty |
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Japan |
11,000 – 500 BCE |
Jōmon Period |
500 BCE – 250 CE |
Yayoi Period |
250 – 600 CE |
Mounded Tomb Period |
600 – 800 CE |
Asuka-Nara Period |
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4.2 INTRODUCTION
Figure 4.1 | Terracotta Soldiers | Excavated underground pit of the First Emperor of Qin, showing assembled infantry and horses pulling chariots.
Author: Aneta Ribarska
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
In 1974, farmers digging a well in a field located in northwest China uncovered fragments of a clay figurine. Little did they know, they had chanced upon what has turned out to be one of the most fascinating archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century. Subsequent excavation revealed that beneath the fragment lay a massive underground pit filled with over seven thousand terracotta figurines modeling archers, infantrymen, and charioteers. Another pit contained terracotta cavalry and infantry units that likely composed a military guard, while a third one contained high ranking officers and war chariots in what was perhaps a command post. These three pits are part of a much larger complex of underground vaults spread across twenty-two square miles. Most importantly, a large, forested burial mound towers over the neighboring fields containing these underground armies. This is where the First Emperor of Qin [cheen] was buried after he died in 210 BCE. Although it hasn’t yet been excavated, experts believe the tomb is a microcosm of the emperor’s palace, capital city, and empire. The pits, then, contained the army protecting his realm in the afterlife. With this discovery, our understanding of how China was unified under one empire after a long period of warfare was advanced immeasurably.
East Asia can be defined in two different ways. Geographically speaking, it can be defined as the eastern region of the Asian continent and the countries located there, principally China, North and South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. But historians also define East Asia as a broader cultural realm, and include countries that both shared close historical relations with China and were impacted by China’s political and legal institutions, and Confucian and Buddhist traditions. When defined in this way, Vietnam is also included. This chapter, however, as an introduction to the early history of East Asia, will focus on China, Korea, and Japan.
4.3 QUESTIONS TO GUIDE YOUR READING
During China’s Neolithic Age, how did Longshan culture differ from Yangshao culture?
What kinds of evidence do we have to reconstruct the first dynasties in Chinese history–the Xia and Shang Dynasties? What can we learn from this evidence?
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, how did Zhou kings justify overthrowing the Shang
Dynasty, and how did they govern newly-conquered lands?
During the Warring States Period, how did the nature of warfare change, and how did the demands of that changing warfare reshape Zhou feudal states?
Explain the major ideas of Confucius.
Explain the major ideas and practices of Daoism.
Why was the Qin Dynasty so important to the history of China? What did the First Emperor of Qin accomplish?
Describe prominent features of Han Dynasty society and governing.
How did Buddhism become a major religious tradition in China?
How was state development in Korea and Japan differently impacted by China?
What were the foundations of Tang Dynasty power in East Asia?
During the Song Dynasty, China was one of the most developed countries in the world. What features of that dynasty provide evidence supporting that judgment?
Describe the status of women during the Song Dynasty.
Explain the origins of the Yuan Dynasty and assess its impact on China.
4.4 KEY TERMS
Anyang
Asuka-Nara Period
Cao Cao
China proper
Civil service examinations
Commercialization
Confucius and Confucianism
Daoism
East Asia
Emperor Wu (Han Dynasty)
Empress Suiko
Equal fields system
Footbinding
Goguryeo Kingdom
Imperial Confucianism
Kublai Khan
King Wu (Zhou Dynasty)
Korean Peninsula
Legalism
Liu Bang
Longshan culture
Mandate of Heaven
Mounded Tomb Period
Neo-Confucianism
North China Plain
Northern and Southern Dynasties
Oracle Bones
Prince Shōtoku
Qin Dynasty
Scholar-officials
Secondary state formation
Shang Dynasty
Shang Yang
Shinto
Silk Roads
Silla Dynasty
Tang Law Code
Three Kingdoms period
Xia Dynasty
Yangshao culture
Yangzi River
Yayoi Period
Yellow River
Yellow Turbans
Yuan Dynasty
Zhao Kuangyin (Song Emperor Taizu)
Zhou Dynasty and Western Zhou Dynasty
Zhu Xi
4.5 GEOGRAPHY OF EAST ASIA
China’s early historical development long predated Japan’s and Korea’s, which is why a chapter on East Asian history logically begins in the second millennium BCE with China’s first dynasty. However, today’s nation of China is much larger than China was in ancient times. In earlier times, the bulk of the Chinese population lived in China proper, by which we mean the historical heartland of ancient China (see Map 4.1). To the east, China proper is bounded by the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea. To the south, it is bordered by the mountainous jungles of Southeast Asia. To the west and north, China is rimmed by a transitional frontier zone where land suited to agriculture gives way to mountains and plateau or vast expanses of steppe grasslands and desert. At times, the dynasties of China became actively involved in all of these neighboring areas, incorporating them directly into their expanding empires or indirectly as subordinate, tribute-paying states. Those areas include parts of the Korean Peninsula, Northeast China, Mongolia, Central Asia, and Vietnam. Within China proper, two rivers were particularly important to the formation of agricultural communities that served as the building blocks of Chinese civilization. Those were the Yellow River and Yangzi River. The Yellow River meanders through the northern half of China, where a cool, dry climate is well-suited to wheat and millet farming. Beginning far to the west, this river meanders over dusty plateau, becomes muddied with silt, and then deposits this sediment along its middle and lower reaches. The plains surrounding these reaches are collectively referred to as the North China Plain. Historically, this was the heartland of Chinese civilization. However, the Yangzi River was just as important. Located in south China where the weather is relatively warmer and wetter, its long basin provided fertile soil for rice-paddy agriculture. Over time, the early dynasties expanded into and included the settled agricultural communities in this region.
Map 4.1 | East Asia
Author: Larry Israel
Source: Original Work
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Japan is an island country consisting of four main islands and many smaller ones located off the Pacific coast of the Asian continent. At 400,000 square kilometers, Japan is slightly smaller than California, although the terrain is more rugged. Because Japan is covered by mountains and traversed by numerous rivers, only fifteen percent of the land is suited to agriculture. Much of that was concentrated in two plains–the Kinai Plain and Kanto Plain–making them particularly important to Japan’s early history. Japan is also located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates composing the earth’s crust frequently move and collide. That is why earthquakes and volcanic activity have been a constant threat to populations living on these islands.
The Korean Peninsula is the location of North and South Korea today. Prior to the twentieth century, however, it saw a long succession of Korean kingdoms. Extending roughly 1100 kilometers southward from the Asian landmass, the peninsula is bounded by seas to the east, west, and south, and defined by the Yalu River to the north. Beyond that lies Northeast China which was only periodically included in the territory of Chinese empires. Consequently, because the peninsula lies between China to the north and west and Japan to the east, Korean dynasties have been deeply impacted by these states’ histories and cultures. Like Japan, Korea is also mountainous, although coastal areas and plains located to the west and south were well-suited to agriculture.
The countries of East Asia share in the region’s temperate climate and summer monsoon season. During the summer months, warm and moist air originating from the Pacific flows from southeast to northwest, while during the winter months cold and dry air originating from Central Asia moves in the opposite direction. Thus, those areas of East Asia located further to the east and south are generally warmer and wetter, and for longer periods of time. That made them well-suited to rice-paddy agriculture, and rice consequently became the primary cereal crop in southern China, the Korean peninsula, and the islands of Japan. While growing rice is labor intensive, this grain also offers high yields per unit of land, so it has supported population growth in these countries and, therefore, the formation of vibrant civilizations.