Welcome to the mystery and wonder that is ancient China. Chinese culture developed differently from any other ancient civilization, and as historians have found, Chinese history is a lesson in paradoxes. Their past is full of natural disasters and wars; yet some of the most beautiful art, literature, and architecture have been created and preserved through the 13 dynastic periods, spanning 4,000 years into the 20th century. These trends are reflected by three of the most influential dynasties of China: the Shang, Han, and Tang.
Written language began in China with the oracle bones and tortoise shells of the Shang dynasty, and the beauty of their bronze work was unrivaled for hundreds of years. The Han dynasty will always be remembered for opening up to the Western world through its use of the Silk Road. Ideas such as Buddhism were exchanged as freely as silk and spices with lands as far west as India and the Roman Empire.
An Impenetrable Land
The Chinese are the longest continuous civilization in the world, spanning 7,000 years of history. How could Chinese civilization survive when so many other cultures have come and gone? One possible answer lies in the physical geography of the region.
With vast mountain ranges including the Himalayas standing imposingly to the southwest, the Gobi Desert to the north, and the Pacific Ocean stretching out to the east, the Chinese were in relative isolation from the rest of the world until the 1800s. In fact, because they believed they were in the middle of the world, surrounded by natural barriers on all sides, the Chinese thought of themselves as "Zhong Guo" — the Middle Kingdom.
Foreign invaders had great difficulty reaching China, and many of the most important discoveries, inventions, and beliefs of the West remained unknown. In the early years of their civilization, the Chinese developed a unique writing system, began using bronze for both tools and art, and created folk religions that later evolved into the philosophies of Taoism and Confucianism. These discoveries enabled the Chinese to develop a culture unlike any other the world has ever known.
Shang Dynasty — China's First Recorded History
Recorded history in China begins with the Shang dynasty. Beginning somewhere between the mid-18th to the mid-16th century B.C.E, the Shang dynasty ushered in the Bronze Age.
It was during the Shang dynasty that bronze working became common. Thousands of artifacts were unearthed in the late 1920s and '30s. Bronze vessels for drinking were used in ritual ceremonies, while bronze chariots and axes were used in battle. As the metal was associated with royalty, the tombs of Shang kings contained hundreds of small bronze objects, even including hairpins.
One of the few undisturbed tombs was that of the legendary Fuhao, wife of Wu-ting. Her tomb by itself contained 468 works of bronze and 775 pieces of jade. Some of the bronze objects found contained the first Chinese characters ever written. Very simple in nature, these characters often represented the name of the object's owner.
In addition to bronze, examples of the early Chinese writing system can be found on oracle bones, another type of artifact characteristic to the Shang dynasty. Ancient Chinese priests commonly used tortoise shells and cattle bones to answer questions about the future. They interpreted the cracks formed by holes punched in the bones. Oracle bones also served as a way for the priests to write down the history of the dynasty and the timeline of kings. Today, over 150,000 oracle bones have been recovered
Shang Society
From what has survived archaeologists and historians have learned much of the Shang culture. The Shang were skilled workers in bone, jade, ceramics, stone, wood, shells, and bronze, as proven by the discovery of shops found on the outskirts of excavated palaces. The people of the Shang dynasty lived off of the land, and as time passed, settled permanently on farms instead of wandering as nomads.
To guard against flooding by the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the ancient Shang developed complex forms of irrigation and flood control. The farming of millet, wheat, rice, and barley crops provided the major sources of food, but hunting was not uncommon. Domesticated animals raised by the Shang included pigs, dogs, sheep, oxen, and even silkworms.
Like many other ancient cultures, the Shang created a social pyramid, with the king at the top, followed by the military nobility, priests, merchants, and farmers. Burials were one way in which the social classes were distinguished. The elite were buried in elaborate pit tombs with various objects of wealth for a possible use in the afterlife. Even an elephant was found among the ruins of an ancient tomb. The people who built these tombs were sometimes buried alive with the dead royalty. The lesser classes were buried in pits of varying size based on status, while people of the lowest classes were sometimes even tossed down wells.
All of the classes however had one thing in common — religion. The major philosophies to later shape China — Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism — had not yet been formed. Folk religion during the Shang dynasty was polytheistic.
Ancestor worship was also very important to the Shang. It was thought that the success of crops and the health and well being of people were based on the happiness of dead ancestors. If the ancestors of a family were pleased, life for that family would be prosperous. If the spirits were not pleased however, great tragedies could occur.
The last king of the Shang dynasty, Shang Chou, was a cruel man known for using torture. The dynasty had been weakened by repeated battles with nomads and rivaling tribes within China, and in 1111 BCE, he was ousted by rebel leader Wu-wang
Han Dynasty — Cultural Heights
After the fall of the Shang dynasty in 1111 B.C.E., the succeeding dynasties of the Chou (1111-221 B.C.E.) and the Ch'in (221-206 B.C.E.) continued the great advances made by the early Chinese. Building techniques improved, and the use of iron became common. A system of hydraulics was used to dig riverbeds deeper, reducing the number of floods that destroyed farmland and endangered lives.
However, during these dynasties there were also times of great disunity. Feudalism became popular during the Chou dynasty, a practice in which the king shared his power with lords, who in turn paid the king for their lands and titles. As the Chou dynasty weakened, lords fought among themselves. This Warring States period (403-221 B.C.E.) only ended when all of northern China was united under the Ch'in regime.
Although the Ch'in created needed change in China's government, they were harsh leaders. They supported the idea of Legalism, which taught that human nature could not be trusted, and only with strict laws and severe penalties could society be successful. After only fifteen years, the Ch'in dynasty collapsed, replaced by Liu Pang of the Han. It was he who gained control over the border states, and established one of the most successful periods in Chinese history, the Han dynasty, in 202 B.C.E.
The Rise of the Han
Under the Han dynasty the Chinese people prospered in peace once again. Paper and porcelain were invented during the Han dynasty, as was the wheelbarrow.
The major achievements of the early Han dynasty revolve around the first emperor to reign under the Mandate of Heaven, Wu Ti. Emperors were under “heaven's rule” according to the mandate. Their success was based on the opinion of the gods. If the gods became unhappy with an emperor's rule, it was believed that signs would be sent to the Chinese people, usually in the form of natural disasters. In this event, the emperor lost the Heavenly Mandate, and was usually overthrown.
The gods must have looked upon Wu Ti favorably, as he reigned for 54 years from 140-87 B.C.E, expanding the borders of China into Vietnam in the south and Korea in the north. However, it was his westward expansion that most influenced what became the Han Empire.
Westward Ho!
Wu Ti had heard rumors of powerful and wealthy lands to the west. In 138 B.C.E. the emperor sent the explorer Chang Ch'ien with a party of 100 men to search the western frontier. Thirteen years later, Chang Ch'ien returned with only one of the original 100 men and told amazing stories of capture and imprisonment in central Asia. Although he did not succeed in reaching the lands of Persia, Arabia, or the Roman Empire, Chang Ch'ien did learn plenty about them.
Wu Ti sent Chang Ch'ien to central Asia again a few years later, this time to make alliances using gifts of cattle, gold, and silk. Chang Ch'ien's journeys began the widespread use of the trade route known as the Silk Road. Reaching as far west as the Caspian Sea, goods such as ivory, glass, wool, tapestries, exotic fruits and vegetables, precious metals and stones, even animals such as elephants and lions were imported into China. In return, foreign traders received furs, spices, jade, iron, ceramic, and bronze objects, as well as the much sought after silk. By the 1st century C.E., silk clothing became the style and obsession of Roman citizens.
Another Brick in the Wall
Arguably the greatest achievement in all of Chinese history continued during the Han dynasty — the construction of the Great Wall of China. Originally begun during the Ch'in dynasty, Wu Ti restored the wall, and continued it another 300 miles into the Gobi Desert to protect against attacks from central Asia. The Gobi Desert section was made with stamped earth and reinforced with willow reeds.
Yet the Great Wall has survived 2,000 years of invasion and erosion, spanning over 4,500 miles through northern China at the time of its completion. It is now regarded as one of the wonders of the world. The Great Wall came at a high price. At the height of its construction, one mile of wall was created each day, at an average cost of 10 lives per mile.
Highs and Lows
Acupuncture, the piercing of needles into the skin, became popular in the 2nd century C.E. along with herbal medicine as a treatment for common illnesses. The Han also studied in astronomical matters. They believed comets, eclipses, and other unusual celestial events were ominous signs that could be used to predict future disasters. They created atlases depicting the shapes of 29 different types of comets as well as the accurate positions of Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. Sunspots and exploding stars called nova were also first discovered during the Han dynasty.
The Han dynasty lasted for well over 400 years, but by the beginning of the 3rd century C.E., corruption in the government signaled decline. This corruption combined with political struggles and an increasing population, making a unified China impossible. The Han dynasty of China finally lost its Heavenly Mandate in 220 C.E., beginning nearly 400 years of political chaos.
Tang Dynasty — The Golden Age
In the chaos that reigned after the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 C.E., no one knew if a unified China would ever again be possible. Warring clans, political murders, and foreign invaders characterized the next four centuries.
The rise of the Tang dynasty in China mirrored the rise of the Han over 800 years earlier. Like the Han dynasty before them, the Tang dynasty was created after the fall of a ruthless leadership. And like the Han before them, the Tang dynasty had their own powerful leader, Emperor Tai-tsung.
Tai-tsung maintained many of the political policies already in place. He granted equal amounts of land to each adult male in return for taxes and continued the trend of local government rule. He continued the use of a monetary system of copper coins and silk ribbons. He wrote a set of laws, revised every two decades that lasted into the Ming dynasty of the 14th century. He shrank the government at both the central and state levels. The money saved by using a smaller government enabled Tai-tsung to save food as surplus in case of famine and to provide economic relief for farmers in case of flooding or other disasters. Civil exams based on merit were used once again and resulted in wise court officials.
Meanwhile, the borders of the Tang dynasty expanded far into Korea and central Asia. China became even larger during the Tang dynasty than it had been during the Han. The Chinese regularly communicated with lands as far west as Persia, present-day Afghanistan, and the Byzantine Empire. Goods and, more importantly, ideas continued to be exchanged on the Silk Road.
The Melting Pot Boils Over
The cities of the Tang dynasty became melting pots to many cultures and a large number of beliefs such as Zoroastrianism and Islam, and it was during the Tang dynasty that Buddhism reached its height of popularity in China
However, a decline of the dynasty increased during the second half of the 9th century as factions within the central government began feuding. These feuds led to political plots and scandals, with assassinations not uncommon. The dynasty split into ten separate kingdoms as the central government weakened. After a series of collapses beginning around 880 C.E., northern invaders finally destroyed the Tang dynasty. The Golden Age was over.
1. How many ancient Chinese dynasties existed? Over what span of time?
2. According to historians, which three dynasties have been the most influential?
3. Explain why China is the longest lasting, continuous civilization on earth.
4. Cite some of the cultural advancements of the Shang dynasty.
5. Cite some of the agricultural advancements of the Shang dynasty.
6. What did the social hierarchy look like during the Shang dynasty?
7. How did people living during the Shang dynasty look at ancestor worship? What role did ancestor worship hold in everyday life?