Origin and Early and Development in China

In the last thirty years field archaeology in China has uncovered the remains of the Shang dynasty, datable to the middle and the latter part of the second millennium B.C. It has been found that Chinese civilization as represented by these remains, located in the northernmost part of Honan province and north of the Yellow River, was very advanced and had already attained maturity, with a complete mastery of the technique of casting bronze, the possession of an independent writing system, and an efficient and complicated military and political organization; it was also characterized by an abundance of material well-being,a remarkable manifestation of a highly sophisticated decorative art, an exacting social system, and a theocratic religion dominated by an excessive devotion to ancestor worship. It was a civilization full of vitality and vigor; although not without elements of cruelty and monstrosity, it had nevertheless adequately prepared the ground for the coming of a humanistic philosophy that found its ablest exponents in Confucius and his schoolin the following Chou dynasty.

Is the civilization of the Shang dynasty homogeneous, autochthonous, and entirely independent of outside influence? My answer to this question is an emphatic no. Let me discuss it in some detail.

It is a well-known fact that, at the close of the Neolithic age, North China was divided into at least two cultural zones, with a possible third one which still needs further clarification by more archaeological evidence. In a paper which I read before the Eighth Pacific Science Congress in 1953,I pointed out the fact that during this period: In the northwest and along the Sino-Mongolian border was the culture first developed by the Painted Pottery people, and most probably further elaborated by the Hsia, the first of the Chinese dynasties, which preceded the Shang. To this dynasty the earliest Chinese bronzes and bronze foundry were usually attributed both according to the historical

narratives and the antiquarian’s account.Most probably also，the people of this dynasty believed in and practiced totemism，in the light of some recent interpretations of certain folk literature that survived in the various compilations of the Chou philosophers.1The center of the second tradition is to be located near the Eastern Coast and was represented by the Black Pottery folk who survived in the historical time as the Eastern I，also known as the Squatting Barbarians in the early document……

But the forerunners of the Shang dynasty could not，by any historical or archaeological evidence，be positively identified with either of the above traditions.The founders of the Shang dynasty were probably the earliest Chinese who developed the kneeling posture into a sitting habit，known later among the Japanese as seiza.Whether they learned this from the Egyptian scribes or developed it independently remains to be investigated.It seems to be pretty certain that at first the ancestors of the Shang dynasty conquered the Eastern I and absorbed some of their art tradition；in return，they also taught them a new technique of warfare，on the condition，of course，that they should fight under their leadership.With this newly trained army，the Shang conquered the Hsia further west，and subsequently learned from the Hsia whatever was worth their while learning.

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