took control. The principle of central direction orchestrated by rulers connected to divinity typically remained a Chinese political and intellectual ideal. By contrast, India seldom experienced central government rule by Indians. With the exception of two dynasties, the Mauryan (321–185 BCE) and the Gupta (320–540 CE), India either remained fragmented, governed by regional monarchs and lesser rulers—think of splintered Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire—or was ruled by foreigners until independence from Britain in 1947.
The Ongoing Influence of India and China in Asia
Yet whether Chinese central government or Indian regional rule, both centers of culture eventually provided guidance for those territories surrounding them. Indian culture remained the chief influence in Central Asia until the arrival of Islam in the eighth century CE and in most of Southeast Asia at least until the arrival of the Europeans. Chinese ideas and institutions served as both a broad outline and frequently a detailed agenda for civilization in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. From the concept of monarchy to writing systems and educational arrangements, religious attitudes and philosophical outlook, and secular observances and popular culture, India and China served as repositories of culture that adjacent peoples drew upon and modified to suit their particular needs. And by the eighteenth century, China began to influence those territories in Southeast Asia that initially embraced Indian practices. Chinese migrants made their way there in search of employment as least as far back as the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and carried with them cultural baggage from the homeland. They brought with them a distinctly Chinese way of looking at the world that competes with Indian practices even today.
Suggested Readings and Viewings
1 Thomas J. Barfield, The Nomadic Alternative (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1993).
2 Jean‐Pierre Bocqute‐Appel and Ofer Bar‐Yosef, eds., The Neolithic Demographic Transition and Its Consequences (New York: Springer, 2008).
3 K. C. Chang, The Archaeology of Ancient China, 4th ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986).
4 Joseph Hutchinson, Farming and Food Supply: The Interdependence of Countryside and Town (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009).
5 Christopher Isett and Stephen Miller, The Social History of Agriculture: From the Origins to the Current Crisis (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017).
6 Jonathan Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
7 Nayanjot Lahiri, ed., The Decline and Fall of the Indus Civilization (New Delhi: Ravi Dayal Publisher, 2000).
8 Mongol (2007), dir. by Sergei Bodrov.
9 J. R. McNeill and William H. McNeill, The Human Web: A Bird’s Eye View of World History (New York: W. W. Norton, 2003).
10 Dougald J. W. O’Reilly, Early Civilizations of Southeast Asia (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007).
11 Himanshu Prabha Ray, Sanghol and the Archaeology of Punjab (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2010).
12 Robert Redfield, The Primitive World and Its Transformations (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1953), especially chap. 1.
13 Robert Scarre, ed., The Human Past: World Prehistory & the Development of Human Societies, 4th ed. (New York: Thames and Hudson, 2018).
Notes
1 1 Ian Morris, The Measure of Civilization: How Social Development Decides the Fate of Nations (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013), p. 5.
2 2 Martin W. Lewis and Karen E. Wigen, The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), p. 3. The Association for Asian Studies, for instance, generally follows this geographical range.
3 3 D. R. SarDesai, India: The Definitive History (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2008), p. 23.
2 The Land and the People of Ancient China to 221 BCE: Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties
In order to understand a person, you must know his background. The same is true of nations. In order to understand a nation and interact with it successfully, you must know its history.
Introduction to the Study of Chinese History
China has attracted the attention of the West for many centuries. Its vast territory, large population, and long history are impossible to ignore. The Italian merchant‐adventurer Marco Polo (ca. 1254–1324) purportedly visited China and returned home to tell his story. He was among the first to stir the West’s imagination about the wealth and power of that distant civilization.
Until very recently, only a handful of Western missionaries, merchants, and scholars have taken a serious interest in China. But times have changed. Globalization has shrunk the world, and China’s rapid rise has made it a major player in world affairs. Consequently, the study of Chinese history has taken on a new relevancy, urgency, and intensity. It has become an essential part of any person’s education.
China is unique in that it has the oldest continuing civilization in today’s world. The ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indian Subcontinent all had their day of glory, but then each was superseded by other civilizations long before modern times. The Chinese civilization, however, has gone through repeated cycles of rise and fall and rise yet again. It resembles the legendary phoenix that would burn and rise again from its own ashes.
The study of China’s history is made easier by its rich store of historical information. The Chinese have had a deep reverence for history throughout the ages. They see history as a guide to current action, and believe that the lessons of history can point an individual or a nation in the right direction to avoid repeating past mistakes and move smoothly forward into the future. Thanks to this tradition, China has preserved more comprehensive records of its past than any other civilization.
Timeline: Ancient China
| 1500th century BCE–100th century BCE | Old Stone Age: “Beijing Ape Man” unearthed at Zhoukou Dian 700,000 years ago; hunters and gatherers |
| 100th century BCE–24th century BCE | New Stone Age: Banpo Village ca. 6000 years ago; farmers |
| ca. 2300–2100 BCE | Three ancient kings: Legendary Sage‐Kings Yao, Shun, and Yu |
| ca. 2000 BCE | Bronze Age: Bronze used to make weapons and ceremonial items |
| ca. 2000–1600 BCE | Xia Dynasty: No direct evidence but likely China’s first dynasty |
| ca. 1600–1100 BCE | Peak of China’s Bronze Age; first direct evidence for civilization in China unearthed at Anyang, Henan Province |
| 1046–221 BCE | Shang Dynasty overthrown by Zhou Dynasty, the first recorded dynastic change; China ruled by “Son of Heaven,” whose mandate provides future dynasties political legitimacy |
| 1122–770 BCE | Western Zhou Dynasty: Feudal political order presided over by the Zhou monarchs at Xian capital; introduction of iron upsets ancient political and social order; frontier barbarians force the Zhou rulers to move capital east to Luoyang |