Asia In Ancient Times - Prehistoric China

ASIA IN ANCIENT TIMES HIST 1301 | History Prehistoric China China during the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods may have supported many unique cultural complexes that evolved apart from one another and showed clear regional differences in agriculture, social structure, language, and religion. More than a million years have passed since the first humans set foot on the Chinese subcontinent. There is evidence for the existence of an extinct member of the human ancestry known as Homo erectus, which translates to "upright man." One such instance is the well-known Peking Man, a Homo erectus subspecies discovered in northern China in 1929 based on fossil remains. Around 100,000 years ago, the species Homo sapiens, which translates to "wise man" and includes all modern humans, first arose. These hunter-gatherer groups ventured into northern China along the paths used by the moose, elk, and mammoth, which provided them food. Later on, they discovered how to fish China's vast rivers and coastline, and they added to their food reserves by gathering food from a wide range of plants, such as many grasses, beans, yams, and roots. Based on archaeological evidence, these groups evolved symbolic language during the Palaeolithic period (c. 100,000–10,000 BCE) in China's prehistory. This allowed them to evolve concepts about abstractions like kinship and an afterlife, laying the groundwork for a common culture and society. Their rudimentary implements, like the plant grinders, were made mostly of stone but also of bone and wood. Although they were not homogeneous, early people travelled to China in waves from western Asia and Africa spaced hundreds of years apart. As a result, they ultimately gave rise to early cultures that were able to cultivate crops independently of one another, spoke a variety of languages, and had different spiritual beliefs. Regional differences in these early cultures were further strengthened by China's varied topography, temperature, and geology. Located in a temperate zone dominated by the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, the nation spans around a thousand kilometres from east to west and north to south. There are mountains, deserts, grasslands, high plateaus, jungles, and a range of temperatures, such the subtropical environment near Hong Kong in the south and the icy surroundings around Harbin in the north. Within a group of provinces bordered by the outer regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet, and situated along the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, was concentrated the majority of the early civilizations and subsequent dynasties that gave rise to Chinese civilization. These provinces, which are nearly exclusively inhabited by Han Chinese, the main ethnic group in China, now comprise the most densely populated regions of the People's Republic of China. Many religious and ethnic minorities, like the Manchus, Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Mongolians, who were not assimilated into the earliest Chinese dynasties, have historically called the periphery home. Early Chinese settlers discovered that obtaining food, housing, and security presented both advantages and difficulties depending on the locale. China is home to more than twenty locations that generated distinct Neolithic cultures. The Nanzhuangtou culture (8500–7700 BCE) in the northeastern province of Hebei was the first known example of this type of civilization, while the Yueshi culture (1900–1500 BCE) in the coastal province of Shandong in the east was the final known example. They could all produce textiles and pottery, domesticate animals, and engage in farming. The Neolithic civilizations of China are remarkable for their geographical variety, autonomous development, and divisions between the northern and southern regions. For instance, a site dating to around 8000 BCE was home to people who farmed rice, utilised boats, built standing dwellings, and created ceramics with geometric shapes in the southeast of the nation, close to Shanghai. Calling them "Chinese" is debatable because evidence shows their language was more closely linked to that of the peoples residing in Southeast Asia today. Early people in what is now Hebei province were forced to rely on millet, a different crop, as their main food source due to the colder temperature to the north. These farmers stored their grain in crude jars and using stone implements like sickles. While both the north and the south domesticated dogs and pigs, the north tamed grazing animals like sheep, while the south harnessed the force of water buffalo. The south also used wooden spears and hoes more frequently than stone implements. China's eastern and western Neolithic cultures were different from one another. The Dawenkou civilization, which flourished from around 4100 to 2600 BCE close to Shandong in the east, was distinguished by the production of fine ceramics and the usage of jade, ivory, and turquoise. Over time, the Dawenkou's funeral customs evolved into increasingly complex ones, which included the use of wooden coffins and the construction of earthen ledges to around the graves. Subsequent eastern societies displayed a growing level of skill in the ornamental arts by bestowing wealth upon the dead and burying them with necklaces and beads. The Yangshao civilization, which dates back to 5000 BCE, was located to the west. Its members cultivated millet and excavated dwellings into the ground to shield themselves from the cold. In Yangshao, burial customs were more laid-back, although ceramics were adorned with elaborate geometric patterns and painted motifs by artists. There aren't many instances of painted jars, cups, or bowls to the east. Rather, the artistic endeavours of eastern cultures were focused on the laborious and gradual sculpting of jade. For spiritual rites, the Hongshan culture of Liaoning province and the Liangzhu complex of Jiangsu crafted exquisite jade talismans, decorations, and treasures. The vast differences between these two cultures—Hongshan, which is located far to the northeast, close to the modern border with North Korea, and Liangzhu, which is situated in the southeast, near the Yangtze River delta—illustrate the extent of jade's effect over China's eastern shore. Jade remained a more rarer item in the west. These local cultures were later linked by networks of interchange, and as a result, change, innovation, and collision were accelerated as they borrowed more from one another. China's Neolithic cultures, which flourished between 3000 and 2000 BCE, produced and exchanged new culinary tools and creative forms, such geometric patterns on pottery. But with interaction also came increasing warfare, as evidenced by the archaeological record, which describes the development of metallurgy and the defence of settlements with rammed earth walls. These societies probably had to undergo political evolution in order to organise defence and build such barriers, which led to the emergence of an elite military class commanded by chiefs. Following that, spiritual rites involving human sacrifice—possibly that of captured soldiers interred beneath buildings at locations around northern China—were practiced among the military's upper classes. The predominance of conflict and increased intercultural interchange throughout the Neolithic period may have contributed to increased social difference. Elite burial sites provide evidence of ever-more-complicated rituals performed to appease the gods or ancestors, honour the departed, and signify their position. Women were frequently buried in the same positions and with the same amount of belongings as males. A great number of Neolithic Chinese settlements appear to have been matrilineal societies, with kinship tracing back via the mother's lineage, based on archaeological artefacts including tombs, figurines, tools, and other items. Even though it became a popular career for many women, the division of labour was much less strict at this time. Many of the civilizations had carvings that show goddesses, fertility symbols, and women's genitalia. These carvings seem to indicate that women were equal to males throughout the Neolithic era, especially when contrasted with subsequent eras in Chinese history.