90 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

 

	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

 

	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

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.