MAIN FEATURES OF BRONZE AGE CIVILIZATION IN CHINA
1 Bronze Age
Objects and Bronze Technology
The largest collection of bronze objects anywhere in the world are to be found in China. Scholars find it difficult to put an end date to the Bronze Age civilization in China because bronze objects continued to be produced and utilized for ritual and other purposes in significant quantities even after the use of iron technology commenced there.
The bronze objects produced in China in this period were mainly vessels and weapons. After the introduction of the horse drawn chariot into China around 1200 BCE, bronze fittings for the chariots were also made. The great majority of bronze vessels found were associated with wine: either wine warming or pouring vessels, or goblets for drinking. Another very typical bronze vessel found was the ding or tripod cooking vessel. That these were often used for ritual or ceremonial purposes can be seen from the size of some of the vessels found. The largest of these weighed over one ton!
Another distinctive
feature of the bronze vessels from China is that they had intricate designs all
over the surface. These give the bronzes a strong aesthetic appeal beyond their
utilitarian functions. Recent excavations in central China have led to the
discovery of bronze objects very distinct from those in the north, representing
an altogether different culture. These include ceremonial bells in the lower
Yangzi river region. The most remarkable bronze objects, however, were
discovered at Sanxingdui in southwestern China. These include bronze masks, and
human and animal figures, including the world’s earliest life-size standing
human figure made of bronze.
Despite variety in the style of bronze objects found, they all employed a common technique of production: bronze casting using ceramic moulds. In this method, first a model of the object was made in clay. After this was fired, another layer of clay was laid over the original model and this layer was then cut into sections and removed. A thin layer was shaved off between the two clay models to leave a small gap between them when the outer layer was reassembled. The molten metal (some variant of copper-tin-lead mix) was then poured into the gap. After it cooled, the outer layer was removed section by section, revealing the bronze object, which was then polished. An interesting feature was that the design was not etched onto the surface of the bronze after it was cooled. Rather, it was made on the interior of the mould itself, so that it was cast along with the object.
Bronze casting as
practiced in China was a more sophisticated and complex process than that of
hammering the metal into shape practiced elsewhere, such as in Ancient Greece.
According to an archaeologist and art historian, Robert Bagley, this showed
both the abundance of metal ores and of labour available (Bagley, 1999:141). It
also permitted a more efficient division of labour and the production of bronze
on a large scale. Since copper ore was mined in central China, it had to be
transported a great distance to north China using the many waterways in the
region. This fact, plus the fact that all the bronze producing cultures of
China shared a common technology of bronze casting, is evidence of the
considerable interaction among them even at this very early stage.
2) Walled
Settlements
Recent
archaeological discoveries have unearthed more than fifty walled settlements
spread across vast regions of China, dating back to the late Neolithic period.
At the time of the Erlitou culture, such walled settlements were still confined
mainly to the north and northeast regions. The largest covered area is about
100,000 sq. metres, and probably contained about 600 houses. By the time of the
later Erligang culture, these settlements contained palaces, temples, large
burial grounds, warehouses, granaries and some workshops as well.
A special feature of these settlements is that the walls and the foundations of main buildings were made of pounded earth. First, a bamboo framework would be erected, within which mud would be deposited in layers. One layer of mud would be pounded down hard and then left to dry before another layer was deposited.The same process was repeated until the desired height of the wall or foundation was reached. This process resulted in walls and structures that were extremely hard and durable. Interestingly, it was the same pounded earth process that was used centuries later to build the Great Wall of China.
The existence of
large walled settlements, especially from the Erligang period onwards, points
to the capacity of the social and political organization in that age to
mobilize the huge amount of labour needed to build them. It also shows
necessity of the communities or incipient states of those times to defend
themselves from enemies.
3) Burials
Our primary evidence on Bronze Age civilization in China comes from thousands of burial sites. The Chinese of that period not only buried their dead, but they placed in the graves and tombs either real or symbolic objects that they believed would be needed by the departed after death. The wealthier or prominent a person who died, the more goods were found in their graves. From this tradition we get a good picture of the material culture of the people of those times, their social organization, their political structure, and even their belief systems.
Across the river
from the palace zone at the archaeological site at Anyang are the remains of a
royal cemetery. Eight tombs of Shang kings and one incomplete one, have been
found. These were deep shaft burial pits, with complex structures, which would
have required tremendous resources and skills to engineer, perhaps not very
different from those of the Egyptian Pharaohs (title given to the political and
religious leader of the Egyptian people. However, practically all of the tombs
have been looted by grave robbers over the centuries, leaving little of
importance. However, from Anyang one royal tomb has been found intact. This is
the tomb of Lady Hao, the consort of the Shang king Wu Ding (1250-1192 BCE).
This tomb, though smaller than those of the Shang kings, is one of the most
stunning finds of modern Chinese archaeology. Apart from hundreds of bronze
objects, her tomb contains a large number of goods made of jade, bone, ivory,
pottery and stone, besides thousands of cowry shells. Some of these appear to
be goods used or collected by Lady Hao in her lifetime, while others were
symbolic items to accompany her in her afterlife. In the burial pit have also
been found the skeletons of 16 humans and 6 dogs. Inscriptions on some of the
bronze artefacts have enabled experts to positively identify the tomb as
belonging to Lady Fu Hao. Incidentally, Lady Hao was no ordinary woman or royal
consort. There is ample evidence that she was a military general who commanded
troops in battles.
Apart from the royal tombs, at least 3000 other burial sites have been found from the Shang period, although only some of them have been excavated. The differences in the quantity and type of burial goods found testify to the existence of different social strata. From the burials, we can understand that the people of those times had great veneration for their ancestors. They believed that the dead needed the same things to sustain them in their afterlife as they needed during their lifetimes. For the kings and other members of the elite, this also meant that they had to be accompanied in death by other humans who were sacrificed and buried along with them. These could be consorts and close retainers, they could also be slaves or prisoners, as many skeletons found in the graves were found to have been decapitated or otherwise mutilated. The Shang burial sites also contain objects with writing on them. Overall, these graves have been a major source of information about Bronze Age civilization in China.
4) Social Strata
and Lineages
As we can see from the discussion above on burial sites, Shang society was highly stratified. The differences found between the palaces and other kinds of residences also show the existence of sharp class distinctions. There was an elite, consisting of the royal family and lesser nobility. Some of the elite were residents in the Shang capital, while others seem to have been dispersed among smaller settlements. There were distinct occupational groups, such as bronze casters, potters, butchers, shepherds, and so on. There were also an indistinct group of commoners referred to in some inscriptions as ‘the multitude’. There has been much scholarly discussion, without any consensus about the status of these common people – whether they were slaves, or some kind of serfs, or just peasants, is not clear from the records so far. Clearly, they would have provided much of the labour required for monumental walls, buildings and graves of the Shang kings, along with perhaps captured prisoners from other places.
From the available
written and archaeological evidence, we know that great importance was attached
to the common descent groups, or lineages. Lineage was accorded importance not
only among the elites, but it seems to have held importance for artisans and
various occupational groups as well. Clan solidarity was cemented by the
practice of ancestor worship or veneration. The clan ancestors continued in a
very real sense to influence and exercise control over the actions of later generations,
even long after their death. Shang society could in some sense be considered to
be a confederation of lineage groups.
5) Nature of
Kingship
The Shang kings were patrimonial rulers. What this means is that the state was considered to be in some sense a large family, or a group of linked lineages, of which the king was the head of the dominant or royal lineage. Succession to the throne was hereditary, though not necessarily from the king to the eldest son. The king commanded absolute obedience over his subjects, with powers of life and death over them.
The Shang kings directly ruled over a core zone which was not very large, covering a part of the north China region. Around this core zone was an area consisted of smaller states or principalities which were ruled by other members of the royal lineage or allies of the Shang king. The Shang kings moved frequently within this area. Beyond this, there was yet another zone controlled by hostile peoples, with whom the Shang periodically waged wars. The large number of decapitated sacrificial victims found in the Shang tombs were most likely prisoners captured during such battles. The Shang king did not maintain a standing army, but relied on his relatives, smaller nobility and allies to provide him with manpower to fight his wars as needed.
Inscriptions dating
back to this period show that the Shang kings were concerned about many aspects
of governance including war, the success of harvests, building cities and so
on. However, the most unique feature of kingship during the Shang period was
that the king was both a political and religious head. The Shang state could be
considered a theocracy of some kind. As the head of the royal lineage, only the
Shang king could communicate directly with the ancestors of the royal line and
with the gods, including the supreme deity called Di. We will see in the next
Section how this was done through a process known as divination. By the later
Shang period, the kings did not use the services of other diviners, but themselves
communicated with the spirits. The fact that the Shang king was the only
channel of communication between the world of gods and spirits and that of
human society must have greatly enhanced his authority over his people.
6) Divination
and Sacrifice
The Shang believed in a wide array of gods and spirits. The foremost among these was known as Di, or Shang Di. They also had a number of nature gods, including gods of rain, thunder, wind, the sun, moon, etc. The Shang also worshipped the spirits of their ancestors. The more remote the ancestors, the more powerful they were believed to be. A major activity of the kings was presiding over elaborate rituals to please the spirits of their ancestors and other gods. Excavations have uncovered the remains of huge palace-temple compounds where the kings must have conducted these rituals.
The kings not only worshipped the spirits and gods, but also communicated with them on a regular basis on a variety of matters, including relations with other states, the condition of the harvest, childbearing of the royal consorts, illness, natural calamities, and so on. This was done through a process known as divination using ‘oracle bones’.
First, the
questions or concerns of the kings were inscribed in brief phrases on bones.
These were always the flat shoulder bones (scapula) of oxen or the shells on
the underside of turtles (plastron). A diviner (later usually the Shang king
himself) heated the bone or shell until it cracked. The resulting cracks were
then interpreted, usually in the form of an answer to the question asked or a
prediction. This answer was then also written on the bone, as well as the
actual outcome of the matter which was being considered.
The oracle bones containing writing were first identified as relics of an ancient civilization in 1899. Since that time, more than 200,000 fragments of oracle bones have been found. These have opened up to archaeologists and historians a vivid picture of the world of the Shang, about which till then no primary evidence had been found. The names of the kings and other notables have been identified through the oracle bones, and by and large these match the later historical records. Although the oracle bone inscriptions relate exclusively to the activities and concerns of the kings, they nevertheless shed much light on various aspects of the political, social and religious life of those times.
Apart from divination, a major ritual activity was to make sacrifices for pleasing the gods and the spirits of the ancestors. Since it was believed that these spirits had a direct bearing on the wellbeing of the living, it was believed to be necessary to make elaborate offerings to please them. This could take the form of both animal and human sacrifice. The burial sites described earlier in this Unit provide ample evidence of the importance of notions of obligation and sacrifice in the religious beliefs of the Shang people.
7) Writing
A great importance of the oracle bones is that they are the earliest evidence of writing in China that we have. With the discovery of writing from this period, the Shang can be said to be the period in China when all the major attributes of civilization emerged.
The written symbols
found on the oracle bones as well as on some bronze objects of the same period
are clearly the forerunner of the later Chinese script. Chinese writing is
logographic. A single written character represents an idea or an image and has
meaning in itself. For instance, the Chinese word for ‘child’ is a single
character written as 子, the word for ‘man’ is written as 人,
and so on. This is unlike scripts based on phonetic symbols, like English or
Hindi, where the written symbols represent sounds but do not represent meaning
in themselves. The Shang writing that has been found is clearly logographic.
Although a little different in style from modern Chinese writing, they can be
read and understood by scholars of Chinese.
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