Information
Time:(1.7 million years - the 21st century BC)
Emperors: Shun, Yao, Yu
Replaced by:Xia Dynasty
Introduction:
Xihoudu in Shanxi Province is the earliest recorded use of fire by Homo erectus, which is dated 1.27 million years ago. The excavations at Yuanmou and later Lantian show early habitation. Perhaps the most famous specimen of Homo erectus found in China is the so-called Peking Man discovered in 1923-27. Three pottery pieces were unearthed at Liyuzui Cave in Liuzhou, Guangxi Province dated 16,500 and 19,000 BC. Neolithic See also: List of Neolithic cultures of China The Neolithic age in China can be traced back to between 12,000 and 10,000 BC. Early evidence for proto-Chinese millet agriculture is radiocarbon-dated to about 7000 BC.
The Peiligang culture of Xinzheng county, Henan was excavated in 1977. With agriculture came increased population, the ability to store and redistribute crops, and the potential to support specialist craftsmen and administrators. In late Neolithic times, the Yellow River valley began to establish itself as a cultural center, where the first villages were founded; the most archaeologically significant of those was found at Banpo, Xi'an.
1. The Neolithic Age:
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age. The Neolithic followed the terminal Holocene Epipalaeolithic period, beginning with the rise of farming, which produced the "Neolithic Revolution" and ending when metal tools became widespread in the Copper Age (chalcolithic) or Bronze Age or developing directly into the Iron Age, depending on geographical region. The Neolithic is not a specific chronological period, but rather a suite of behavioral and cultural characteristics, including the use of wild and domestic crops and the use of domesticated animals.
New findings put the beginning of the Neolithic culture back to around 10700 to 9400 BCE in Tell Qaramel in northern Syria, 25km north of Aleppo.Until those findings are adopted within archaeological community, the beginning of the Neolithic culture is considered to be in the Levant (Jericho, modern-day West Bank) about 9500 BCE. It developed directly from the Epipaleolithic Natufian culture in the region, whose people pioneered the use of wild cereals, which then evolved into true farming. The Natufians can thus be called "proto-Neolithic" (12,500–9500 BCE or 12,000-9500 BCE.
2. Banpo Culture:
Banpo is an archaeological site first discovered in 1953 and located in the Yellow River Valley just east of Xi'an, China. It contains the remains of several well organized Neolithic settlements dating from approximately 4500 BCE. It is a large area of 5-6 hectares and surrounded by a ditch, probably a defensive moat, five or six meters wide. The houses were circular, built of mud and wood with overhanging thatched roofs. They sat on low foundations. There appears to be communal burial areas.
Banpo is the type-site associated with Yangshao Culture. Archaeological sites with similarities to the first phase at Banpo are considered to be part of the Banpo phase (5000 BC to 4000 BC) of the Yangshao culture. Banpo was excavated from 1954 to 1957 and covers an area of around 50,000 square metres. The settlement was surrounded by a moat, with the graves and pottery kilns located outside of the moat perimeter. Many of the houses were semisubterranean with the floor typically a meter below the ground surface. The houses were supported by timber poles and had steeply pitched thatched roofs.
3. Huangdi Culture:
In legend, his wife Léi Zǔ taught the Chinese how to weave silk from silkworms, and his historian Cāng Jié created the first Chinese characters. His conception was supposed to have been signaled by a thunderclap on a clear day by the Heavens. Legend says that Huangdi became the leader of his tribe which bore the totem of a bear (Youxiong lit. possess bears). His tribe went to war with a neighboring tribe bearing the totem of a bull, headed by Yandi. Huangdi, through his superior military and leadership skills won the war and subdued Yandi's tribe. The two tribes united and became one. Legend then says that the Chinese civilization began with these two tribes. Some sources name Yandi as a brother or half-brother. Huangdi's people were then threatened by a tribe under the leadership of Chi You, who was said to have magical powers and had 81 brothers, each having 4 eyes and 8 arms wielding terrible sharp weapons in every hand. Huangdi called upon 8 neighboring tribes to join forces with him and sent the combined army to meet Chi You and his brothers. The two great armies fought for days without a clear winner. Just as Huangdi's army began to turn the tide of battle, Chi You breathed out a thick fog and obscured the sunlight.
Huangdi's army fell into disarray and could not find its way out of the battlefield. At this critical moment, Huangdi invented the South Pointing Chariot, and ordered its construction on the battlefield. With the South Pointing Chariot, Huangdi was able to lead his army out of the fog. Chi You then conjured up a heavy storm. Huangdi then called upon the gods who blew away the storm clouds and cleared the battlefield. Huangdi then was able to defeat Chi You and his tribe once and for all. With this great victory, Huangdi not only safeguarded his own tribe, but the tribes of his allies.
4. Paleolithic Age:
Paleolithic age in China's historyThe Paleolithic (from Greek: (paleo-) "old" + (lithos) "stone") Age, Era, or Period, is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human technological history. It extends from the introduction of stone tools by hominids such as Homo habilis 2.5 or 2.6 million years ago, to the introduction of agriculture and the end of the Pleistocene around 12,000 BP. The Paleolithic era is followed by the Mesolithic.
During the Paleolithic, humans grouped together in small societies such as bands, and subsisted by gathering plants and hunting or scavenging wild animals.The Paleolithic is characterized by the use of knapped stone tools, although at the time humans also used wood and bone tools. Other organic commodities were adapted for use as tools, including leather and vegetable fibers; however, due to their nature, these have not been preserved to any great degree. Surviving artifacts of the Paleolithic era are known as Paleoliths. Humankind gradually evolved from early members of the genus Homo such as Homo habilis — who used simple stone tools — into fully behaviorally and anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) during the Paleolithic era. During the end of the Paleolithic, specifically the Middle and or Upper Paleolithic, humans began to produce the earliest works of art and engage in religious and spiritual behavior such as burial and ritual.
5. Yangshao Culture
Farming The Yangshao people mainly cultivated millet but some settlements grew rice. They also grew vegetables like turnips, cabbage, yams and other vegetables. The Yangshao people domesticated chickens, ducks, pigs, dogs and cattle. Millet and rice was made into gruel for the morning while millet was made into dumplings.Meat was only eaten on special occasions and rice was ground in to flour to make cakes.Most of the meat was gotten by hunting or fishing. [edit] Clothing The Yangshao culture produced silk to a small degree and wove hemp. Men wore loin cloths and tied their hair in a top knot. Women wrapped a length of cloth around themselves leaving the shoulders bare or wore a skirt and took the front end between the legs and tied it in the back. Women tied their hair in a bun. The wealthy could wear silk.
Houses were built by digging a rounded rectangular pit few feet. Then they were rammed and a lattice of wattle was woven over it.Then it was plastered with mud.The floor was also rammed down. Next a few short wattle poles would be placed around the top of the pit and more wattle would be woven to it. It was plastered with mud and a framework of poles would be placed to make cone shape for the roof. Poles would be added to support the roof.It was then thatched with millet stalks.
6. Longshan Culture:
The distinctive feature of the Longshan culture was the high level of skill in pottery making, including the use of pottery wheels. The Longshan culture was noted for its highly polished black pottery (or egg-shell pottery). This type of thin-walled and polished black pottery has also been discovered in the Yangzi River valley and as far as the southeastern coast of China proper.
It is a clear indication that neolithic agricultural sub-groups of the greater Longshan Culture had spread out across China proper. Life during the Longshan culture marked a transition to the establishment of cities, as rammed earth walls and moats began to appear; the site at Taosi is the largest walled Longshan settlement. Rice cultivation was clearly established by that time. Small-scale production of silk by raising and domesticating the silkworm Bombyx mori in early sericulture was also known. Remains found at archaeological sites suggest that the inhabitants used a method of divination based on interpreting the crack patterns formed in heated cattle bones. The Neolithic population in China reached its peak during the Longshan culture. Toward the end of the Longshan culture, the population decreased sharply; this was matched by the disappearance of high-quality black pottery found in ritual burials.
7. Yu The Great:
Yu the Great was the legendary founder of the Xia Dynasty.[1] Occasionally identified as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, he is best remembered for teaching the people flood control techniques to tame China's rivers and lakes. Yu established his capital at Yang City. According to the Bamboo Annals, in the second year of his reign, Mi, the prime minister of the previous king of Shun died. In the 5th year, he held the first meeting with all the leaders of the states at Tushan. In the 8th year, he held a second meeting with all the leaders of states at Kuaiji, and in order to reinforce his hold on the throne, killed one of the northern leaders, Fangfeng .Yu is the only Chinese ruler posthumously honored with the appellation "the Great,".
According to the legend of China's Great Flood, Yu's father, Gun, was assigned by King Yao to tame the raging waters. In 9 years, Gun had built earthen dikes all over the land in the hope of containing the waters. But during a period of heavy flooding, the earthen dikes collapsed everywhere and the project failed miserably. Gun was executed by King Shun ), to whom Yao had handed the rulership. Shun recruited Yu as successor to his father's flood-control efforts. Instead of building more dikes, Yu began to dredge new river channels, to serve both as outlets for the torrential waters, and as irrigation conduits to distant farm lands.
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