Ancient China
Ancient China includes the Neolithic period (10,000 -2,000
BC), the Shang dynasty (c. 1500-1050 BC) and the Zhou dynasty
(1050-221 BC). The Xia dynasty, alleged to precede the Shang, is
not fully documented so its existence is still speculative. Each
age was distinct, but common to each period were grand burials for
the elite from which a wealth of objects have been excavated.
The Neolithic Period, defined as the age before the use of
metal, witnessed a transition from a nomadic existence to one of
settled farming. People made different pottery and stone tools in
their regional communities. Stone workers employed jade to make
prestigious, beautifully polished versions of utilitarian stone
tools, such as axes, and also to make implements with possible
ceremonial or protective functions. The status of jade continues
throughout Chinese history. Pottery also reached a high level with
the introduction of the potter’s wheel.
The Shang dynasty was notable for casting bronze using ceramic
moulds, a system that required advanced technology and control over
labour. Bronze vessels enjoyed high status as ritual vessels to
offer food and wine to the spirits of ancestors, whose veneration
is a keystone of Chinese culture. Writing was first introduced in
the Shang dynasty, cast in bronze or engraved in oracle bones used
in divination.
The Zhou dynasty was long and divided into the Western Zhou (c.
1050 – 771 BC), with its capital to the west in Xi’an, and the
Eastern Zhou (771—221 BC), with its capital to the east in Luoyang.
This period witnessed economic expansion, political struggles, and
courtly displays of sumptuous material goods. This is the age
when Confucius and Laozi promulgated philosophies (Confucianism and
Daoism), which along with Buddhism (arrived in China by the first
century AD) were known as the Three Teachings—the cornerstone of
Chinese thought and culture.
Image caption: Bronze zun (ritual
wine vessel)
Possibly from Hunan province, southern China. Shang dynasty,
13th-12th century BC