Knight J. ancient civilizations rl. vol. 2. almanac.pdf

Civilizations

Almanac

Ancient

2 China–Rome

Civilizations

Almanac Judson Knight

Stacy A. McConnell and

Lawrence W. Baker, Editors

Ancient

China

meters) larger than the United States, a difference smaller

than the area of San Bernardino County in southern Califor-

nia. It is enough of a difference, however, to make China the

world’s third-largest nation, in terms of area, surpassed only by

Russia and Canada. China and eastern Russia make up the

majority of Asia, the world’s largest continent. Before the

breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the two

nations shared a long border, but now they adjoin primarily in

the Far East, where northern China meets Siberia. To the

northeast is the Korean peninsula, the Sea of Japan, and Japan

itself. Farther down the coast lies the island of Taiwan, an inde-

pendent Chinese state; farther still lies Hong Kong, which

became part of China in 1997. South of China is a string of

nations, from Vietnam in the southeast to India in the south-

west. To the west lie a number of Central Asian republics,

including Kazakhstan. China’s broad expanse encompasses a

variety of climatic zones, from the cold north and vast tracts of

desert in the west; to plains and mountain areas in the central,

western, and northern regions; to lush river basins and tropi-

217

C hina is only about 20,000 square miles (51,800 square kilo-

RUSSIA

SIBERIA

miles

500

250

kilometers

500

MONGOLIA

ASIA

Sea

Japan

JAPAN

China

INDIA

TA I WA N

PACIFIC

OCEAN

Hong

Kong

Greatest extent of

Ch’in Empire

Great Wall of China

All present-day countries

shown in gray

Map of China.

XNR Productions.

The Gale Group.

cal lowlands in the east and south. A number of rivers cut

across China from east to west, most notably the Yangtze, the

Huang He (or Yellow River), and the Xi Jiang.

Why China is important

As with India, China’s population alone would make it

worthy of study. It is the most populous nation on earth, with

more than a billion people; in fact, two out of every five peo-

ple on earth live either in China or on the Indian subconti-

nent. As with India, the reasons to study its ancient history go

far beyond the size of its present-day population. China gave

the world two of its greatest philosophers, Confucius and Lao-

tzu, whose followers developed religions on the basis of their

teachings. The numbers of Confucianists and Taoists, how-

ever, are dwarfed by the adherents of Chinese folk religions.

These religions, which originated in ancient times, are not

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Ancient Civilizations: Almanac

250

viewed as a single faith, but if they were, they would have

more believers than all faiths except Christianity, Islam, and

Hinduism.

Ancient China also gave the world one of its most

splendid civilizations, a center of art and learning seldom sur-

passed by the empires of the West. Its gifts include paper, silk,

and a particularly delightful treat: ice cream. The ancient Chi-

nese discovered such advanced notions as crop rotation in

agriculture and the octave in music. They also left behind the

most impressive physical structure ever created by human

beings: the Great Wall of China. Even the pyramids of Egypt

look insignificant beside this vast creation, the only man-

made object visible from the Moon.

Prehistoric China (c. 7000–1766 B . C .)

People lived in the area of China as far back as half a

million years ago. It appears that a Stone Age culture developed

in parts of northeastern China, as well as in the southeast of

China, in about 7000 B . C . The first culture known to archaeol-

ogists was the Yang-shao (yahng-SHOW), which flourished in

the western part of the country between about c. 3950 and

about c. 1700 B . C . Though they were a Stone Age people, the

Yang-shao grew wheat and other grains; made relatively

advanced tools out of polished stone, as well as glazed pottery;

and even domesticated animals such as pigs, cattle, and dogs.

To the north was the Lung-shan (loong-SHAHN) cul-

ture, which developed between 2000 and 1850 B . C . The Lung-

shan appear to have been related to the Yang-shao; but in the

northwest part of China, archaeologists have uncovered evi-

dence of an entirely different group. Bodies discovered in the

deserts there, where the hot, dry climate preserved them, sug-

gest an invasion by peoples from as far away as the Ukraine.

It is not known who these people were, or whether they were

related to the Indo-Europeans who invaded Europe, Iran, and

India.

Aside from the knowledge gained by archaeologists,

there are legends concerning China’s origins. These legends

recount that Pangu (pahng-OO), creator of the universe, origi-

nated Chinese civilization in the region of the Huang He

China

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