Natural Conditions

p China differs from the countries of the Middle East even more than India as regards natural conditions. China can be divided into three clearly defined regions: 1) the valley of the Yellow 46 River or the great plain of China; 2) Central China consisting of mountain regions and the Yangtze valley; 3) mountainous Southern China.

The annual flood of the Yellow River makes the Chinese plain extremely fertile. The soil of Central and particularly Southern China is much less so, but these regions are rich in mineral resources (copper, tin and lead) and valuable stone such as nephrite. The population of ancient China was extremely heterogenous.

China in Earliest Times

p The earliest period of Chinese history is referred to as ShangYin period (1765-1122 B.C.). The unification of Chinese tribes in the Yellow River basin in the interests of waging a common struggle against the northern nomads, the Hsiung Nu, and developing the existing irrigation system resulted in a brilliant sedentary culture and later a whole state. The tribes who were the chief instigators of this unification were the Yin and the state which they set up was called the Shang, after the dynasty.

p Excavations carried out in the nineteen thirties on the territory of the Shang-Yin state revealed the remains of an ancient town, with a royal palace, a temple, houses and workshops. More than 300 tombs were unearthed, four of them indisputably royal burials which contained an enormous quantity of gold, nephrite and mother-of-pearl ornaments.

p The chief occupation in the Shang-Yin state was the cultivation of cereals (barley, millet and wheat) and later rice. It was for the rice fields that the first primitive irrigation devices were evolved. Work tools of this period were also primitive in the extreme: hoes and wooden ploughs were all that were used. However, at this early period the Chinese had started to grow mulberry trees and make silk. The technique of silk making was kept a strict secret, the betrayal of which was punishable by death. As a result the Chinese succeeded in keeping this secret to themselves for almost 2,500 years before it eventually spread to Japan and Iran. Other occupations were cattle-breeding for meat (but not for milk since the Chinese never drank it) and fishing.

p Various crafts were well developed: woodwork (bows, arrows, chariots, boats), stonework and pottery. Excavations have also revealed evidence of primitive bronze-working. Trade was already practised at this time and developing steadily, but still took the form of primitive barter in kind.

p The king’s power still retained patriarchal features, since he was assisted by a council of clan or tribal elders, and combined the functions of military leader and high priest.

p In Yin society a clearly defined property hierarchy existed and a hereditary nobility, in whose hands were concentrated the land and the slaves. Slavery was of a patriarchal variety. The vast mass of the population was made up of peasants living in communes. A written language was developed at this early period. The characters were evolved from primitive picture-writing and the script was extremely complicated: about 3,000 characters of this ancient script have been identified.

In the twelfth century B.C. long and bitter hostilities with the Chou tribes began and the latter eventually succeeded in capturing the Shang capital (1124) and setting up their own state.

The Chou and Ch’in Dynasties

p Under the Chou dynasty (1122-771 B.C.) a centralised Chinese state grew up. The kings started to be revered as gods (the kings had titles such as son of the heavens and deputy of the heavens) and the special office of King’s Grand Chancellor was inaugurated. Serving under him there were three elders in charge of the three main branches of state affairs: finance, military matters and social administration, the latter mainly involving the organisation of irrigation works. The number of administrative divisions was to grow gradually and eventually included commissions to supervise the royal house and treasury, the court of justice, and the worship of the king’s ancestors.

p The mass of the population was meanwhile subjected to increasingly severe exploitation. The peasants were obliged to pay a tenth of their harvest in taxes. This intolerable state of affairs led to an uprising in 842 B.C. and the king’s fall from power. Soon after this the centralised Chou state was to be divided up into a number of independent princedoms.

p In the seventh century B.C. five states emerged in China that were continually warring among themselves. From the fifth to the third century B.C. the fighting was so fierce that the whole period came to be known as Chan Kuo, "the contending states”. The fourth century saw the rise of the Ch’in principality. For over a hundred years the Ch’in princes were to fight for supremacy throughout China.

p The apogee of the Ch’in dynasty was the reign of Shih Huang Ti, "First Ernperor of the Ch’in Dynasty" (246-210 B.C.).

p This emperor succeeded in conquering the remaining Chinese principalities and also part of Manchuria and Mongolia. During his reign the country was divided into 36 commanderies and a large administrative apparatus was set up. The irrigation network was extended and a number of highroads was built. Shih 48 Huang Ti reorganised the army so that the cavalry became its main striking force. A number of economic and cultural reforms were also introduced, including a unified system of weights and measures and a standardised and somewhat simplified hieroglyphic script. Work was also begun on the building of the Great Wall of China in order to defend the empire against attacks from neighbouring nomads.

However, the despotic nature of the regime set up by Shih Huang Ti was to call forth discontent amongst a wide section of the population. This discontent was fanned by the adherents of the religious and philosophical school of Confucius who, basing themselves on various historical books and documents, stressed the positive merits of earlier dynasties in contrast to the existing one. The repressive measure taken against the followers of Confucius was cruel in the extreme: 460 Confucian scholars were buried alive and all historical writings burnt. However, soon after the death of Shih Huang Ti the Ch’in dynasty was overthrown.

The Han Dynasty

p The rule of the early Hans (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) was somewhat less despotic: the death penalty was applied less generously, taxes were reduced to a thirtieth of a man’s income and freedom was restored to those who had sold themselves into slavery. The rulers of the Han dynasty renounced the title Huang Ti and Confucianism was declared the state religion.

p During the reign of Wu Ti (140-87 B.C.) many large estates were set up and the landowners made use of the labour of free lease-holders and slaves. A number of measures were introduced to encourage the development of trade and crafts. This can be inferred from the increased scale of the production and export of silk, china, ivory and horn work.

p Wu Ti led several military expeditions against Eastern Turkestan and Ferghana. The first trade routes to Rome were established leading across Sogdia and Parthia. From Central Asia the Chinese brought back vines, walnut trees and various vegetables which they began to cultivate at home.

p By the beginning of the first century A.D. China was racked by mounting class conflict.

p In the year 8 A.D., the regent Wang Mang deposed the child emperor, took over the reins of power and proceeded to introduce a series of interesting reforms. For example, he declared that all land was state property, forbade its sale and purchase and laid down a fixed limit for the landed estates of the rich and the aristocracy, confiscating all surplus land. Slaves were also declared 49 state property. In addition he introduced a state monopoly of iron, salt and wine and attempted to lay down a set market price for basic necessities. These reforms were met with violent opposition on the part of the wealthy and the aristocracy. Quite apart from anything else these plans were pure Utopia since private ownership of land had already taken firm root.

p In the year 18 A.D. a wide-scale peasant uprising under the leadership of Fang Chung, known as the "uprising of the red brows" (the distinctive characteristic of the participants) began in Northern China. The peasants gained a victory over Wang Mang’s troops in 25 A.D., but soon afterwards the movement was to change in character: the ranks of the peasants were swelled by detachments led by representatives of the aristocracy and used to restore the Han dynasty.

p The rulers of the Later Han dynasty spared no effort to consolidate centralised power and restore the country’s economy which had been severely undermined in the course of the struggle against Wang Mang’s reforms. However, the contradictions existing between the big landowners and farmers on the one hand and the lease-holders and slaves on the other became more and more acute. The old society based on the principles of slaveownership suffered a major crisis and as a result the forms of labour exploitation changed: slaves were given land and allowed to cultivate their own plots, while at the same time the gradual emancipation of the free lease-holders began.

In the year 184 A.D. a peasant uprising broke out and assumed enormous proportions. "The rising of the yellow headbands”, as it was called, led by Juang Shao and his brothers, had as its 50 main slogan a call for universal equality. The insurgent army numbered several hundred thousand and a bitter struggle lasted for twenty-five years. Although the uprising was eventually crushed, the empire broke up and China was once again divided into a number of separate kingdoms.

Religion and Culture of Ancient China

p The early religion practised in China was linked with nature worship, in particular worship of the earth and mountains, but religious concepts gradually became more complex. Confucianism was to take root during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. The founder of this religion Confucius had been a high official at a prince’s court. Loyalty to tradition and the ways of the ancients and mistrust of all innovation were the most characteristic features of his religious and philosophical teaching. Confucius idealised the patriarchal monarchy and the moral code of the patriarchal family. He attributed tremendous importance to moral education and called for moderation and the individual’s acceptance of his lot. Typical Confucian maxims include the following: "To keep to the middle path is to uphold virtue”, "Fathers shall always be fathers, sons shall always be sons and wangs wangs”, "Insubordination of the common people is the root of all disorder".

p In addition to Confucianism another religious and philosophical system also took root in China, that of Taoism, and in the first century Buddhism started to spread from India.

p Science and philosophy were highly developed in ancient China. Another philosopher worthy of note is Wang Chung (first century A.D.) who upheld various materialist principles (inter alia he denied the immortality of the soul). Important advances were made in astronomy: maps of the heavens were charted and eclipses and the appearance of comets were forecast. Chinese mathematicians established the properties of the right angle triangle. Geographical and agronomical treatises of interest have also come down to us. The ancient Chinese also invented gun-powder, paper, the compass and the seismograph.

p The most famous of the classical Chinese historians was Ssuma Ch’ien (writing about 100 B.C.), author of the monumental Historian’s Records; literary works of these times which have come down to us include: Shih Ching (the Classic of Songs)—a collection of ritual hymns and folk songs, Shu Ching (Classic of Documents)—speeches, instructions and exhortations of the ancient emperors, and Ch’un Ch’iu (Springs and Autumns)—a work attributed to Confucius, a chronicle of his native state of Lu.

Finally, mention should be made of the remarkable achievements of ancient China in art and crafts in the medium of china, bronze, wood and ivory.