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Routledge Handbook of Early Chinese History

Paul R. Goldin

The Bronze Age before the Zhou Dynasty

Publication details https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315773605-4 Robert Bagley Published online on: 17 May 2018

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As thebest-dated and evidence isavailable.neither radiocarbonnorwritten A date fortheXingantombcan only be Anyang. tombdiscovered For animportant afew decadesagoatXingan inJiangxi, forexample, culture of culture withthematerial onlyby theirmaterial correlating sequence itterminates have there. constructed Othersitescanbeconnected withtheconquestdateandpottery end ofthe Anyang sequencethatarchaeologists settlementandhencefortheendofpottery record,in thematerial adateforanevent atonecity. Itis adateforthesupposedlypunctual century Zhou civilization, are oursubject. tze valley aswell. These societies, whoseachievements were by millennium thefirst inherited middle Yellow River valley, throughout but the by offspring 1200bcthey hadflourishing Yang- stages. direct ourattentionaroseThe civilized societiestowhichmetallurgyandwriting inthe ment. may haveWriting beeninvented ataboutthesametime, thoughwe have notraceoffirst Chinese Bronze Age, vessels, cast bronze bells and ritual was a new and consequential develop- however, ofadistinctive therise metalindustry, ofthe artifacts andwithitthecharacteristic the Yangtze isanobvious deltaregion candidate. Toward themiddleofsecond millennium, lier history, andacaseforearlierstatescouldbemade. The third millenniumLiangzhuculture of residues ofhighlystratifiedsocieties. Someofthesefeatures, city walls forexample, have anear- large-scale metalproduction, typestobematerial eliteburials, artifact andwidelydistributed remains:social organizationfrom material we take citywalls, imposingbuilding foundations, and Yangtze river valleys inthesecondmillenniumbc In East Asia theearlieststate-level societiesthatwe know much aboutare those ofthe Yellow endorsed byendorsed thestate-sponsored XiaShangZhouChronology Project is1046bc figures prominently in the texts, andthencountgenerationsbackward from it. The conquestdate tion taken from latertexts. We tofixthedateofZhouconquestShang, try an event that on theorder ofoneortwo centuries. Toward- we torely oninforma begin theendofperiod radiocarbon measurements, which give absolute dates – calendar dates – but have uncertainties Bronze Age (EBA). thedatingofarchaeological sitesdependson oftheperiod For theearlierpart The period of concern tous, ofconcern The period roughly 1800–1000bc THE BRONZE AGE BEFORETHE bc” mightbemore realistic, but whichever we prefer, adate fortheZhouconquestis, ZHOU DYNASTY Preliminaries: scope, aims, andsources Robert Bagley 3 61 . Incallingthemstates, we are diagnosing , willforconvenience becalledtheEarly ROBERT BAGLEY THE BRONZE AGE BEFORETHEZHOUDYNASTY . 1 “ Ca. eleventh Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 earlier than, laterthan, orsimilarto Anyang anditsartifacts. best-explored EBA site, Anyang isourreference point: tobe we judgeothersitesandartifacts author’s purposes, knowledge, andperspective. biases: have authors reasons forwriting; interpret. editors ortextisshapedby Any its inscription recensions) by theactive andscribes. intervention ofeditors record alsohasinnate The written survive by doessopartly accident, (inthecaseoftransmittedtextsknown partly onlyinHan too have apreservation bias: thebulkhasnotsurvived, ofwhatwas written andwhatdoes the practicalities ofsalvage archaeology). or later,Whether contemporary sources the written do notfossilize)andasamplebias(accidentsofdiscovery, agendasofarchaeological exploration, kinds. record has both a preservationThe material of history, bias (the soft parts we might say, and the history oftechnology,and thehistory tomentiononlytwo. preoccupied thatcanbeinvestigated withmatters through it–theprocess ofstateformation picture oftheEBA isincreasingly culture, dominatedby material are andscholars increasingly change, thereason isthat thearchaeological record hasproved absorbinginitself. Ourmental of a kind beyondto narrative history the reach of the prehistorian. If this is now to beginning was from motivated thestart andguidedby millenniumtexts, latefirst andithasattimesaspired mention kings’ names known from transmitted texts, the archaeology of the second millennium cantly from archaeology. prehistoric from But this is far being the case. Because the inscriptions king divined about–we mightsuppose thatthestudyofEBA stateswould notdiffersignifi- corpus issmall corpus fromshakily inferred mentionsoflunareclipsesinsomethem. Becausetheoracleinscription withthefirstbegins Anyang oracleinscriptions, forwhichadatearound 1200bchasbeen single physically continuous site, onstratigraphy. These give relative dates. record. All ofarchaeology’s or, comparisons detailedreasoning rests eitheronartifact withina a royal inorder oralignanewly cemetery discovered sitewithalevel inthe Anyang stratigraphic not have outdevelopments theresolution tosort withintheEBA. They cannotputthetombsof them, forexample, at intheCaucasuspre-date tosay chariots thatchariots Anyang. Butthey do some purposes. They enable ustocompare unrelated orwidelyseparatedcultures. We dependon texts. owed lesstosecondmillenniumevidence thantopreconceptions absorbedfrom transmitted themselves “the one man”? The answers have scholars given to questions like these have always “I, the oneman.” How calledhimthat?How many many ofhiscontemporaries insteadcalled poses represented himasadivinely sanctioneduniversal ruler? The Anyang kingcalledhimself view orstanding, himashaving specialauthority whofortheirown orwas pur- itlaterwriters rule? What other polities, large or small, near or distant, existed in his time? Did those neighbors second millennium or even about everyday life at Anyang. did the AnyangWhat territory king him. They donotanswer ofthe ourmostbasicquestionsaboutChinainthe lasttwo centuries only avague idea oftheking’s view oftheworld andnoideaatallofhow saw hisneighbors places they mentioncanseldom beconnectedwitharchaeological findsandsites,give they us to the king’s is sacrifices concern ancestors.their principal Because the names of the people and they touchonmany othermatters, forinstance, interactionswithenemies andtradingpartners world through the Anyang king’s eyes, ofitthathedivined about. andonlythatpart Though almost theonlydocumentsthatsurvive from theEBA, have avery narrow bias. They seethe andtransmittedtexts.bronzes millenniumbronze andfirst inscriptions Theoracleinscriptions, ness ofallthesebiases. The sources relevant and written. to our subjectare both material All The time of concern to us is the end of prehistory.The time of concern recordAt present the Chinese written The written sources for our period are second millennium inscriptions onoraclebonesand are secondmillennium inscriptions sources forourperiod The written 3 and restricted inprovenance andrestricted andcontent–onecitymainly, thatits andmatters Robert Bagley 62 4 Our inferences should be informed by Ourinferencesaware shouldbeinformed - 2 Absolute datesare indispensable for have biases of several Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 too often, assumptionsthatwe are notconsciousofmaking. instance thatthecitywas sacked in Mycenaeantimesby invaders from Greece, andincluding, all The momentwe callthesiteHomer’s Troy, however, we ahostofbeliefsaboutit, import for stratified moundin Anatoliaasthesiteofanancientcitycalled Troy may rest ongood evidence. naming ofsitesandcultures canbeespeciallyinsidious. deeply The identificationofacertain and archaeological findsforeclose options, toalternatives. blinding both reader andwriter The destroyed by Joshua? Mostancientwalls are now inruins. between Hastycorrelations texts walls ofsuitable datewere discovered atJericho, thatthey couldarchaeologists confirm were inatextcouldhavedescribed happenedisnotthesameasproving thatitdidhappen. Ifruined had nowalls. narratives Butitsabilitytoverify ofhumanactionislimited. Proving thatanevent showing thatatthetimeJoshua issupposedtohave destroyed Jericho’s walls, ancientJericho without ever arriving ataclearsetofrules. without ever arriving nineteenth century, worlds studentsofthebiblical have andHomeric wrestled withthisproblem contradictory, sometimesincommensurable. Ever ofscientificarchaeology sincethebirth inthe a reasoned way ofcombiningbodiesevidence thatare sometimes complementary, sometimes of pre-Zhou timesthatprevailed before theadvent ofarchaeology. cludes by examiningsomekey pointsofcontactbetween archaeological findingsandtheimage by atextualagendaandmorefrom by itsown questionsarising discoveries. The chaptercon- peoples andplacesunmentionedinany text. Intheprocess ithasslowly cometobedriven less of thecitywhosekingsproduced theinscriptions. As itcontinued, however, itbegantouncover Archaeology andthenasanexploration inChinabeganasasearch formore oracleinscriptions remainsfrom –apicture lessschematic, material more complicated, andmuch more spacious. show how a picture of the past derived from way transmitted texts is giving to a picture inferred the present chapter. Instead, by sketchingofEBA archaeology, thehistory to thechaptertries archaeology conductedinignoranceofthetextsmighthave toldusis beyond theambitionsof undertheguidanceoftexts,and interpreted thetwo are noteasytoseparate. To suggestwhat by evidence unearthed archaeologists.material evidence hasbeengathered Butasthematerial viction thatasaguidetotimesbefore theZhouperiod, thetextsare lesstrustworthy thanthe invokes theBronze Age ratherthanpeoplesorpolitiesnamedintransmittedtextsreflects acon- wasfor Chinacouldbeconstructed textstransmitted from theHanperiod. A chapter titlethat ology cametoChinainthe1920s. Before 1900, theonlybasisonwhichanancienthistory pretative optionsopenandmakingtransparent thebasisonwhichany conclusionrests. two lines of investigation separate to the extent possible, with the double aim of keeping inter- where itsdistinctive assemblage was foundanddescribed. first artifact name. modern an arbitrary The Liangzhuculture, forexample, village isnamedafterthemodern Shang. When asitedoesnotyieldsuchevidence, culture itisadvisable by torefer toits material evidence justifiesconnectingtheepigraphic Anyangfamily thatlatertextscall ruling sitewitha recognized the writing on them as an archaic form oftheChinese script. onthemasanarchaicrecognized immediately form Scholars thewriting oracle bones, cametotheattentionofBeijingantiquarian Wang Yirong (1845–1900), who In 1898or1899, ox plastrons, scapulasandturtle inscribed we now material callthe Anyang When we study a period for which both material and written evidence are available, andwritten forwhichbothmaterial When we studyaperiod we need The Anyang were oracleinscriptions discovered around 1900, andwesternscientificarchae - The Anyang oracle inscriptions connect the traditional written AnyangThe written thetraditional connect oracle inscriptions A short history of early Bronze early of Age archaeology history A short The Bronze Age before theZhou dynasty record with material remains record material with 5 Archaeology cancontradicttexts, forinstanceby 63 6 Bestpracticeaccordingly keeps the 8 7 Clear Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 groups, theaverage group containingfifty victims, thelargest consistingofforty-seven pitswith a singleway. In1976careful excavation ofanother191pitswas able todistinguishtwenty-two etons orheadlessskeletons orskulls, in performed asthougheachgroupwas asinglesacrifice neatly ineast-west rows indistinctgroups, allthepitsofagroupcontaining onlycompleteskel- offered later. In1934–35LiJi’s teamexcavated pitslaidout more thanathousandsacrificial victimswereFurther depositedinpitsaround themouthoftomb. headless bodiesandrows ofheadswere orrampsleadingdown laidoutonstairs into thetomb. have several dozen. The anonymous victims were beheaded as the tomb was filled. Rows of for exampleguards withtheirchariots. drivers withweapons orchariot Of theseatombmight with grave indicatingthefunctionthey goodsoftheirown served inthetomb, orwithartifacts viduals orservants andanonymous humancattle. were incoffinsor The former victimsburied shafttombswerenear thegreat oftwo kindsthat sacrifices we mightdistinguishasspecificindi- antiquarians, vessels bronze above ritual all, with theShangperiod. did notidentifytheoccupants, oftypeslongknown but itwas to enoughtoconnectartifacts ancientandmodern,ers thetombswere surely royal. What littleremained oftheirfurnishings shafttombs. ofmore thanadozenenormous cemetery by Though theyloot- hadbeenstripped tion. In1934, by oftombrobbing alerted reports across theriver, thearchaeologists found a hundred ofthese, many- very large,construc madeduring humansacrifices someincorporating Little survived foundations, ofthebuildings besidesrammed-earth but there were more thana kings lived at Anyang. therefore datefromoracle inscriptions thereigns ofthelastnineShangkings, andthose nine asrecipients ofsacrifice,mentioned intheinscriptions but onlythelast nineaskquestions. The Qian. genealogyThe reconstructed containstwenty-nine kings. All but thetwenty-ninth are andhadshown almostexactlywiththeShangkinglistgiven ittoagree information by Sima By 1917 Wang Guowei thegenealogy (1877–1927)hadreconstructed ofthekingsfrom this are namedandsometimesalsoaddressed assacrifice “father/uncle” or “grandfather/ancestor.” predecessors. The kingwhoasksthequestionisnever named, but thekingswhoare toreceive court. are tohis questionsasked Mostoftheinscriptions onbehalfofthekingaboutsacrifices previously known atits onlyfrom objectsusedandinscribed transmittedtextswithtangible toadynastycalledShangor ascribed Yin. Taken together, Luo’s discoveries connectedadynasty already knew fromthat historians akinglistgiven inSimaQian’s Shiji(ca. 100bc)andthere published ofadozenorsonames two years intheinscriptions laterLuonotedtheoccurrence Henan at a village on the Huan Riverup in near northern Anyang called Xiaotun. In an essay ers. In1908LuoZhenyu (1866–1940)discovered thedealers’ source. The boneswere beingdug began collectingandstudyingthebones, whichatfirst were suppliedtothem by antiquedeal- the deserted capital,the deserted itiscalledDa but intheoracleinscriptions Yi Shang, Great CityShang. and goesontoday. Archaeologists callthesite Yinxu, the Waste ofYin, from anoldnamefor the Sino-Japanese war haltedthem in1937. Work resumed in1950underanew government under thedirection ofLiJi(1896–1979), aHarvard-trained anthropologist, andcontinued until oracle-bone scholar, DongZuobin(1895–1963). Systematicexcavations beganthenextyear sored archaeological excavation inChina. Work beganin1928withareconnaissance ledby an madethe The oracleinscriptions Anyang siteanobvious government-spon targetforthefirst - Sacrifices in and near the tomb were made during the burial ceremony. inandnearthetomb the burial wereSacrifices madeduring Victims were also At theroyal scale. onafrightening theexcavators cemetery foundhumansacrifice Inand At Xiaotun, source oftheoraclebones, Li Ji’s teamfoundanarea ofpalacesandtemples. Excavations atAnyang, 1928–37, 1950–present 9 Robert Bagley 64 10 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 system thatinhis timewas already fullydeveloped, could at hiscourt inthesensethatascribe victims).sacrificial Itis to Wu Ding, therefore, that we owewriting knowledge our first ofa comesfrom hisreign corpus the known (andmore thanhalfthehuman oracleinscription bones andtohave beenthemostenthusiasticdiviner amongthe Anyang kings. More thanhalf in histime. He also seemstohave on divination inscriptions instituted the practice of carving at struction Yinxu, andattheroyal both inthepalacedistrict cemetery, seems tohave begun Wu Ding, kingwhosepresence the first at Anyang isattested by oracleinscriptions. Majorcon- abandoned anditsinhabitantsmoved across theriver tobuild thecityat Yinxu. down.city burned The excavators believe that after a fire destroyed its palaces, Huanbei was time justbeforewas the occupied foronly a brief Yinxu occupation. The buildings ofitsinner buildings, two of themenormous. To judge from typology andafew pottery bronzes, Huanbei square outerwall 2 kmonaside. An innerwall about500by 800m enclosestheremains ofsixty excavators call Huanbei. Yinxu had no city wall. Huanbei is a very large city with an unfinished belong tothefirst Anyang reign. Clearlythebronze hadalongpre-Anyang art history. outto of asophisticationthathadbeenthoughtpossible onlyattheendofdynastyturned tomb, above allinjadesandbronze vessels, tospecialists. cameasasurprise Spectacularbronzes Fu Hao, LadyHao, ofWuDing, aconsort thefirst Anyang king. Theimmense wealth ofher the royal but atXiaotun, cemetery nearthepalaces. bronzes identifytheoccupantas Inscribed canbeassignedto oneofthesestages. tum thatcontainspottery typology have divided theoccupationofsiteintofourstages, Yinxu 1–4. Any tomborstra- andworkshops forpottery,eteries stone tools, bronze, jade, and carved bone. Studies of pottery and theroyal across cemetery theriver, excavations have revealed lessersettlementsandcem- known aboutit. Remainsare scattered over about30sqkm. BesidestheXiaotunpalacedistrict that datesfrom thelastnineShangreigns) isstillvery unevenly explored, but dealis agreat itwas immensely productive.those boundaries The Yinxu site (meaning everything at Anyang of China. political boundaries both practically and imaginatively within the modern Within mechanism.acceptable explanatory For several decades Chinese archaeology was to be confined it didsoinanew politicalandintellectualclimateinwhichoutsideinfluence was nolongeran stimulus from outside. into beingfull-grown cultures indigenoustoEast whenprehistoric Asia received afertilizing elsewhere were inspired by culturalcontact, sohespeculatedthatthe Anyang civilization sprang had taughthimthatcivilization hadonebirthplace, theancientNearEast, andthatcivilizations discoveries afew years earlierattheUrroyal inMesopotamia. cemetery Li’s western training of types native to the Eurasiansteppe, that calledto mind Leonard and human sacrifice Woolley’s features thatseemedtopointwestern connections: horse-drawn chariots, knives anddaggers precursor. systemandabronze industry, Ithadawriting bothhighlysophisticated, andithad revolved totheking’s around humansacrifice ancestors. forty-seven pitswere offered by thefirst Anyang king). Royal intheShangperiod religion made itattheroyal cemetery, even iftheancestorwaselsewhere buried (the339victimsin to several jointly. ancestors they requiredWhen theoffering was humansacrifice, he evidently tohisancestors, thekingasksconstantlyaboutofferings sometimesaboutofferings inscriptions or cut into as many asten pieces, and a few children were alive. bound and buried In the oracle more than339victims. Mutilationofvictimswas common. Somewere cutinhalfatthewaist If thisiscorrect, thekingwhooversaw themove may well have been LadyHao’s husband discoveryAnother startling was madein1999across theriver from Xiaotunataplace the majorpostwarThe first discovery at Anyang was anintact royal tombfoundin1976not In the1950s, when Anyang archaeology resumed afterthefoundingofPeople’s Republic, At Anyang LiJifoundaspectacularBronze Age civilization thatseemedtohave nolocal 11 The Bronze Age before theZhou dynasty 65 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 logical findsinplacesotherthanlogical Anyang. the wholeofcivilized China. This was anassumptionwithimmediateimplicationsforarchaeo- taken to be what Sima Qian believed it to be, ruled of dynasties that each in turn one of a series dynasty must alsobereal, anditscapitalstoomust befound. The Shangdynastywas confidently to vindicateawholetraditionofclassicallearning. IftheShangdynastywas real, thentheXia ofSimaQian’sconfirmation listofShangkingsandthediscovery ofaShangcapitalseemed whoweregeneration ofscholars not, theneedtofindlocalantecedents was urgent. Second, the origins. Liwas willingtomake stimulus from oftheanswer, outside apart but forayounger ways. First, asLirecognized, thesophisticationof Anyang civilization posedaproblem of probably modelledontheadministrative documentsofawell-developed bureaucracy. honor ofthefamily. type, ofatransaction,This inscription toasuperior report thewritten was of theinscription, himthathisdescendantwas doing hisdutyandmaintainingthe informing offered in the vessel,the food or drink was no doubt addressed to the ancestor named at the end an award received from thekinginacknowledgment ofloyal service. The announcement, like dynasty have announcingthattheowner madethebronze longerinscriptions tocommemorate sacrifices, madeaboveground atintervals afterthefuneral. Halfadozen vessels castlateinthe totheirancestors. weredrink Offerings putintothetombandpresumably also, like theking’s it was thatthe dedicatedto–they foodand vessels confirm were foroffering used by aristocrats –littlemore thanthenameof examplesarethe first brief vessel’s owner oroftheancestor king’s pointofview. onbronzes seetheworld Onlytheinscriptions through othereyes. Though tions. The oracleinscriptions, thebulk ofthe Anyang corpus, epigraphic from are the written Anyang inwriting. in Shandong show that there were there who could have scribes at communicated with scribes records,times onotherwritten however, oraclebonesfoundatan andinscribed Anyang colony cal extentofliteracyareuncertain. correspondingly obviously drawThe oracleinscriptions at ofwriting, served at earlier history therangeoffunctionswriting Anyang,- andthegeographi durable objects(jades, potsherds), noactualslipssurvive from thesecondmillenniumbc bone characterthatmeans “document,” are known inkinscriptions onafew andbrush-written andinkonslipsofwooddone withbrush orbamboo, but whileslipsare depictedintheoracle- probably have anything he wished. written As in laterperiods, everyday at writing Anyang was wooden forms andhammeredwooden untilit rings, forms the operationbeingrepeated until thedesired for walls andfoundationsthroughout theBronze Age, athin layer ispoured between ofearth Upper Erligangsherds. technique, In therammed-earth invented inNeolithictimesandused it contains Lower Erligang potsherds and its sloping base is overlapped by deposits containing city wallearth 500 mfrom themoundshowed thewall tobeaLower Erligangconstruction: the bronzes tooare predecessorsof Anyang types. Inthesameyear investigation ofarammed- pottery, but earlier. In1955fourmodestgraves containingbronze vessels were excavated, and bc centuries fourteenth tion levels, Lower andUpperErligang, whichare now thoughttobelongthefifteenthand mound calledErligang. In1952–53 they excavated themoundanddistinguishedtwo occupa- south of Anyang. In1950afindofpotsherds there drew theattentionofarchaeologists toa Zhengzhou, thecapitalofHenanprovince, islocatedinthemiddle Yellow River valley 160 km The successofLiJi’s excavations shapedthefuture ofChinesearchaeology intwo important It seemsalsotohave beenin Wu Ding’s timethatbronze- vessels begantobecastwithinscrip A local antecedent for the AnyangA localantecedent excavations civilization: . Typological was studysuggestedthatErligangpottery related to Yinxu at Zhengzhou, 1950-present Robert Bagley 66 12 . The Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 between Erligang and Yinxu typeshave beenfoundatZhengzhouand elsewhere. Eventually the clear thatUpperErligangwas notcontinuous withearly Yinxu. Bronze vessels intermediate population having moved to Anyang. As findsaccumulated, however, itbecameincreasingly uncontested universal onanarchaeological record rule thatshows nothingofthekind. continuity stratumatonesitetothelowermost from atanother, theuppermost anditimposes of anotherandinwhichtheShangkingshadnorival capable ofbuilding amajorcity. Itassumes of successive ofonecitycoincideswiththedeclineorabandonment capitalsinwhichtherise moved to Anyang. archaeological sitesintoanarrativeThis seeminglyinnocent statement inserts be anearlyShangcapital, we declare thatitwas by ruled kingswhosedescendantsatsomepoint thatdoesnotemergefromting ourselves toastoryline archaeology. When we declare asiteto new royal house. These speculationsare notidle. They ofcommit- highlightthehiddendangers not kings, whomighteven have beenfictions, ofthe perhapsgodsclaimed asultimateancestors throne andby way ofjustificationinvented who theShang king list–aof ancestors were the perhaps theShangdynastywas foundedbyoftheErligangkingwhousurped acourtier that theearlyShangkingslived elsewhere andthatthey were rivals ofthekingsErligang. Or pre-Anyang Shangkingswhosenameswe know from theShangkinglist, but itisalsopossible sibility thatZhengzhouwas notShangatall. itispossible thatthecitywas by Certainly ruled identification, have scholars never beenable toagree. They have alsonever considered thepos- typology tohelpthemchoose,Counting onpottery an toconfirm but withnoinscription Shang dynasty, Zhengzhoumust beanearliercapital. Butwhich?Received textsnameseveral. by theroyal namesinthe Anyang oracleinscriptions. Since Anyang was thelastcapitalof identity,torical thatis, tofititintothe received that history was taken tohave been verified cated predecessor. This established, archaeologists soughttogive thecityatZhengzhouahis- it withthesteppe. that may slightly postdate Upper Erligang. As for the chariot, Li Ji was to connect surely right character or two,a brush-written were found at Xiaoshuangqiao, a ing system was an Erligang invention, however, and in the 1990safew potsherds, each bearing oracle bones(itsarchaeological contextisunclear). There isgoodreason tobelieve- thatthewrit onadivination bonefragmentthatmayZhengzhou istengraphs benoearlierthanthe Anyang system.forms, or the Chinese writing though not for the chariot yet found at The only writing local antecedentsfor Anyang building technology, humansacrifice, bronze casting, and burial required to explain it. The Erligang finds dispelled the appearance of abruptness by supplying 22 height isattained. Citywalls built inthisway are majorconstructions. The Zhengzhouwall is made elsewhere. surely the major city of the Erligang civilization, culture is betterknown its material from finds ing royal scale. oftheancientcityisdeclared chiefly The importance by itssize. Thoughit was up atintervals over but onlyafew tombs, thelasthalf-century bronze-bearing noneapproach- of an Erligang king has been found.No burial Three major caches ofbronze vessels have turned outside it. isin evidence, Humansacrifice thoughnotonthescaleof Anyang royal cemetery. wall, andworkshops, habitationareas, cemeteries, andasecondstretch ofwall have beenfound vation impossible, twenty building foundations are rammed-earth known inside the ancient hectares. ZhengzhouandHuanbeiare thetwo largestwalled citiesyet known from theEBA. area ofabout400hectares (100hectares =1 sqkm). The outerwall atHuanbeiencloses470 Archaeologists at first supposedthatZhengzhou Archaeologists atfirst was abandonedafterUpperErligang, its The Erligangfinds were aclear demonstration thatthe Anyang civilization hadasophisti- To LiJitheChineseBronze thatoutsidestimulus was soabruptly Age seemedtobegin Though the modern cityofZhengzhousitsatoptheancientone,Though themodern makingsystematicexca- m thick at the base and in places survives to a height of 9 13 14 The Bronze Age before theZhou dynasty 67 m. It is 7 site 20 km long and encloses an km from Zhengzhou Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 undisputed. For arguedthatErlitouwas atimesomeobservers aXiacapital, that thefirst others Erlitou “Early Shang” andErligang “Middle Shang,” but theseidentificationsdidnot longgo some caseshave played arole. or exchange, followed sometimesby localimitation, but somekindofcolonizationmightin middle Yangtze (thePanlongcheng region site). are likely Suchartifacts tohave spread by trade Sanxingdui site), (theLower Liaoninginthenortheast Xiajiadianculture), and Wuhan inthe typesreached placesasremote asSichuaninthewest andartifact that area (the Erlitouartifacts a three- orfour-tiered settlementhierarchy thatthey take tosignifyaunifiedpolity. Outside reaches ofthe Yellow River valley. Inthesitesfrom whichitcomessomearchaeologists detect picture ofthepastonit. To do otherwiseis to remove theambiguity of the archaeological record by imposing a Han ofcultures artifacts. defined archaeological terms bymaterial later texts–andspeakinstrictly we far shouldforgopoliticalidentificationsofsites–withnamesfoundonlyin oftheseplaces. namesoftherulers establish thefamily evidence Intheabsenceofepigraphic and Huanbeiare today asequenceofShangcapitals. taken toform Yet typology cannot pottery sion) to which Xiaoshuangqiao and Huanbei were later assigned. Zhengzhou, Xiaoshuangqiao, difficulty was dealtwith by defining a “transitionperiod” is always (thisterm asignofconfu- Erlitou settlementshrank, it hadbeenabandoned. andby theendofErligangperiod the newly by conquered Xiaheartland akingwhoresided atZhengzhou. After phasefourthe to be the capital of the founder of theShang dynasty, planted in it as a fortress interpret others Yanshi, resembles from because its pottery pottery the Zhengzhou site. take Some scholars it phase. thefourth Erlitou during The excavators callthis Yanshi Shangcheng, theShangcityat Puzzlingly, anew citywithpalatialbuildings andawall around themwas built just6 kmfrom totalfromthe current Erlitouisonlyeighteen, cupsofthetypejue. ofthemtripod thirteen sels have phase, beenfoundinthefourth remains but saidtocover despitefoundry onehectare, Zhengzhou and Anyang vessels inshapeandprobably ritual alsoinfunction. A few more ves - constructed. The castbronze vessels thatappearingraves ofthisstageare of primitive ancestors third phase, whichadditionallargebuildings by wall surrounded arammed-earth were during this phase, asdoesalargeturquoise workshop. typecomesfrom the A bronze knifeofnorthern long‑distance trade. A bronze steppe belongs to ax likely from to be an import the northern shells, andobjectsinlaidwithturquoise. were materials obtainedbyAll ormostoftheseluxury within thecourtyards, (royal?) rich containingjades, burials smallbronze clapper‑bells, cowry settlement grew to300hectares. Remainsincludebuilding compoundswithcourtyards and, as yet no evidence before for domesticated horses Anyang times. the second phase the During vehicle inChina, wheeltracksameterapart, halftheaxlelengthofan Anyang chariot. There is implements suchasknives. From thisphase comestheonlypre-Anyang evidence forawheeled already covered 100 hectares, but metallurgy did not yet go beyond the manufacture of small evidence. Pottery typology distinguishesfourphases. Bytheend ofthefirst, thesettlement settlement yet known from itstime, about 1800to1500 Zhengzhou 85 near Luoyang calledErlitou, ofatypeknown whichhadyieldedpottery alsofrom earlystrataat In 1959anarchaeological survey asite searching forcapitalsoftheXiadynastybeganexploring In material culture ErlitouisclearlyaprecursorofErligang.In material Itsexcavators called atfirst Pottery more orlessresembling thatofErlitouhasbeen foundthroughout themiddle km to the east. Excavations that continue to the present have revealed the largest Bronze Age beginnings: excavationsBronze atYanshi Age beginnings: Erlitou, 1959-present Robert Bagley 68 bc accordingradiocarbon tocurrent 15 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 archaeology inrecent decadeshas begun toremedy. credibility ofthemodelhasdependedchieflyonignoranceperiphery, anignorancethat once ithasbeen, thenarrative hasanappealthatmakes discrepancies easytooverlook. Butthe is mute, scanty, tobeeasilyread andambiguousenoughforsuchaninterpretation intoit, and with an active king at the center and passive subject peoples on the margins. record The material ofparamount dynasties. inaseries the first model Thisamountstoadoptingacenter-periphery Erlitou stateasaprocess thatbrought adisorderedrule of NeolithicChinaundertheunified China.ond millenniumpoliticalorder innorth We are ofan invited tothinkoftheformation would behard tofind. obvious urgencyofkeeping illustrationofthemethodological textsandarchaeology separate from evidence. because noneof them has any support shift back and forth epigraphic A more “Early Shang,” and “Middle Shang” now meanstheHuanbeisite. These politicalidentifications thattraditionassignstotheShangdynasty.the sixcenturies tobeing Erliganghasreturned of China’s dynasty” first –becauseradiocarbondateshave shownfall within ittobetooold two strataare Xiaandthelasttwo Shang. Itisnow universally regarded asXia–itis “the capital in anetwork that Zhengzhou dependedonfor copper. Panlongcheng and other Erligang settlements inHubei and southern Anhui were way-stations copperdeposits, hasrich region several ofwhichwere minedinantiquity, anditispossible that of civilization,rise however, and in the south the mostobvious resource is metal. The Yangtze motivated theErligang presence. isaregular forexoticraw symptom ofthe A thirst materials Hubei. Mostofthesesiteshave notbeenexcavated, andatmostofthemwe canonlyguesswhat dong, Hebei, andBeijing, southeastto Anhui, andsouthtoPanlongcheng andotherplacesin of Zhengzhou, theremainder are scattered west intothe Wei valley, toShan- eastand northeast are nowsites withErligangartifacts onrecord, andwhileabouttwenty clusterwithin100 km recognized hintof what istoday andthefirst known astheErligangexpansion. More thansixty back home. they needed,with themalltheexperts from tobronze builders casters, toreplicate theirlives conquest by Zhengzhou. Like invaders ofothertimesandplaces, brought theErligangsettlers argues foranintrusive indigenous commoners, eliteruling inotherwords, forcolonizationor Erligang type; someofitislocal. The combinationofErligangeliteculture andlocalpottery unlike thebronzes items, andotherluxury foundatPanlongcheng thepottery isnotallof sels, bronze forty weapons andtools, jades, pottery, andglazedstoneware. Itissignificantthat, yet Erligang burial known,richest victims, contained three sacrificial twenty-three bronze ves- vessel typeshadby theendofErliganggrown tomore thantwenty. One ofthetombs, the and jadesofthehighestquality. They reveal thattheErlitouinventory offourorfive bronze but largerandmore lavishly inform furnished,cal toZhengzhouburials containingbronzes Zhengzhou site 450 buildings insidethewall, tombsoutside–isindistinguishable from andthirty-eight thatofthe city wallculture – a rammed-earth 1 modern Wuhan inthemiddle Yangtze region. They foundasmallcitywhoseelitematerial tions ofanancientwall, archaeologists excavated ofasitecalledPanlongcheng portions near In 1963and1974, by alerted repeated chancefinds ofpotsherds, metalartifacts, and sec- Calling the Erlitou culture “Xia” attaches to it a set of preconceptions about the early sec- Panlongcheng placeoutsidethe is the first Yellow River valley where Erligang remains were Erligang wasErligang anempire: Panlongcheng, excavated km to the north. of the Panlongcheng tombs wereThe richest identi- 16 The Bronze Age before theZhou dynasty in 1963and1974 km long enclosing 7 hectares, foundations of three large 69 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 Age changedfrom phenomenon. alocaltoregional andcentralChina.north Itwas, asonescholarputsit, themechanismby whichtheearlyBronze disseminated thenew civilization ofthemiddle Yellow River valley area of toanenormous sudden andshort-lived, lastingperhapsonlyafew generations, but itsimpactwas colossal. It branches; othersmall bronzes andjades foundinthepitmay have beenattachedtoit. Ifthe trees, thelargestofwhichhasbeenrestored andstands4 mhigh. Birds perch onitsflowering of thepits. objectsinPit 2were Butthemostextraordinary thefragmentsofthree bronze downriver,Sanxingdui anditsneighbors andthey alsohelpsecure the twelfth date century sels are obvious imports, mostfrom themiddle Yangtze region. They attesttotradebetween unlike thebronze heads, thatthey whoseclay confirms were core locallycast, material the ves- Pit 2 theonlybronze vessels were adozenofsinglevase-like typecalled zun orlei. Moreover, At Erligangand Anyang, centered onsetsoffunctionallydistinct bronze ritual vessels, but in were fittedonto wooden bodies(dressed insilk robes?) tomake statueslike thebronze one. Among thebronzes headsandalife-sizedstatueonpedestal. are forty-one Perhaps theheads small itemsatthebottom, largebronzes inthemiddlelayer, andsixtyelephanttusksontop. features thatlookdistinctlyextraterrestrial. heads withfacial or Anyang, are oftypesnever andmany oftheartifacts seenbefore, includinglife-sizedbronze ken, andeverything andburied. thenburned The ceremony hasnocloseparallel atZhengzhou the product ofaceremony inwhichanimalswere sacrificed, bronzes andjadesdeliberatelybro- contents ofthepitallshowed whilethepititselfdidnot, signsofburning thedepositlookslike of bronze, jade, andgold, animal bonesand wood andthree ofburnt ash. cubicmeters Sincethe of somesort, themselves are very but andthemanneroftheirburial strange. boththeartifacts Close intimebut somewhat different incontents, they areassacrifices mosteasilyinterpreted deposits thatwere stillmore astonishing. The pits, 30 archaeologists were atwork insidethewalled city, brickyard workers outsidecameupontwo pit cultural backwater untilmuch laterperiods, was anastonishingdiscovery. Butin1986, whilethe city wall from athousandkilometers Zhengzhou, universally inaregion assumedtohave beena the wall proved toberoughlywiththeZhengzhoucitywall. contemporary An Erligang‑period ofChengduinSichuan.north 40 mthickatthebaseandenclosing350hectares, Measuring In 1980archaeologists beganinvestigating anancientcitywall atSanxingdui, avillage40 km was closelyreplicated. culture of Anyang –tombforms, humansacrifice, bronze vessels, oraclebones– andinscribed At theShandongsitesofJinanDaxinzhuang, Teng XianQianzhangda, and Yidu Sufutun, the ruled. Western Shandongmay betheonlyErligangconquestthatwas alsoan Anyang possession. not onebut many bronze-using cultures. caused Erligangtoretreat orcollapse. controlled The lands itbriefly were afterwards hometo encounter, new powers arose ontheErligangfrontiers. Perhaps itwas pressure from themthat region. of EBA archaeology istheimpact oftheErligangexpansioninmiddleandlower Yangtze throughout the Yangtze valley. The major, slowly unfoldingrevelation ofthelasthalfcentury The ErligangexpansionseemstobeaphenomenonoftheUpperperiod. Itwas Pit 2was much richer. Itscontentswere foundinthree layers: ahundred jadesandother Pit 1, slightly earlier than Pit 2, contained cowry shells, elephant tusks, thirteen 300 objects At its peak the Erligang empire must have occupied a larger territory than the At its peak the Erligang empire must haveAnyang occupied a largerterritory kings 19 Civilized aliens in the Sichuan Basin: the Sanxingdui pits theSanxingdui intheSichuan Basin: aliens Civilized 18 In the south, by contrast, the Anyang kings had culturallydistinctrivals discovered in1986 Robert Bagley 70 m apart, date from the twelfth bc century 17 As indigenoussocietiesreacted tothe . Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 world revealed by archaeology. less dangerous thanitsomissions. thanthe lessvaried The world smallerandfar ofthetextsisfar teaches usalsothatthetextualrecord isnever somisleadingaswhenitissilent: itsfictionsare middle Yellow River valley hadby 1200 bcinspired localdevelopments over alargeregion. It it impossible any longertodoubtthatthebronze-using before civilization 1500bcinthe born distinctive culture intwelfth Sichuan. material century The discovery ofSanxingduihasmade would remain thatreceived textsleftuswhollyunprepared foracivilized citywithawildly Anyang-centered picture of EBA China. Even if the equation were correct, however, the fact discovery astartling ataremotebone Shuhastheappealthatitincorporates locationintoan attack onthecityatSanxingdui1100 kmtosouthwest. EquatingSanxingduiwithoracle- onthe Sanxingduipitsaccordingly suggestedthatThe first report Wu Ding was meditatingan thatmay charactershu,with agraph berelated tothemodern anoldnameforSichuanprovince. of real ones. the sacrifice inPit2involvedritual ofbronze trees, thesacrifice perhapsthe wood ashinPit1 was from resumed. Butperhaps the mostremarkable thingabouttheXingan bronzes is the highquality was atthetime of theErligangretreat,ing thatifcontactwiththenorth disrupted ithadbeen bronzes withFuHao’s are contemporary tomb, andafew ofthem are obvious imports, suggest- copied from local pottery. patterns standing atop handles and surface little tigers The latest of the and they show Erligangtypesmodifiedtosuitlocaltaste by theadditionofsuchoddfeatures as date andsource fortheXinganbronze usastarting giving industry. Mostare abitlater, however, lization inthesouth. They have acleartimespread. A small number are standard Erligangtypes, where inthemiddleandlower Yangtze region. will seeinthenextsection, they connect Wucheng/Xingan withbronze-using cultures else- bells inthetomb. They are largerandfinerthanany bellofsimilardateinthenorth, andas we Wucheng culture. outpostofnorthern was notasouthern The pointisunderlinedby thefour is enoughtoestablish thatthetomb’s occupantwas notanortherner. Unlike Panlongcheng, vessels,forty-eight forcookingfood(dingandli). thirty-five are tripods This difference alone sinceErligang times, ritual butnorthern intheXingantombthey donotappearatall. Ofits ofthe typesjia, containers Most revealing istheinventory ofbronze vessel types. Fully105ofFuHao’s vessels are wine Xingan tomb’s hadmore occupantbut prestige alsothatpottery inthesouththannorth. 150 jades, and356piecesofpottery. testifythatFuHaowasThe numbers wealthier thanthe gan tombcontained48bronze vessels, 4largebronze bells, over 400bronze toolsandweapons, contained 195bronze vessels, 273smallerbronzes, 756jades, and11piecesofpottery. The Xin- about 1200bc the Anyang royal FuHao. consort To judgeby theircontentsthetwo tombsare closeindate, south ofthe Yangtze yet EBA burial found, itisthesecondrichest secondonlytothetombof ofincisedsignsthatlooklike writing.pots withstrings As forthetomb, despiteitslocationwell stoneware, aspecialtyofthelower Yangtze thatwas region traded tothenorth, aswell asafew at Qingjiang(now Zhangshu) Wucheng, excavated in1973. The Wucheng siteyieldedglazed than Panlongcheng. Pottery connectsthetombwithasmallwalled settlement20 kmaway tomb was foundataplacecalledXinganincentralJiangxi,In 1989a rich south 300 kmfarther In the Anyang oracleinscriptions Wu Dingdivines aboutattacking apeopleorplacewritten The Xingan tomb is most important forthelightitsbronzeThe Xingantombismostimportant ofcivi vessels- shedontherise , but theiroccupants hadvery ritual. different ideasaboutfunerary FuHao’s tomb The Xingan The tomb (1989):bronze-using cultures arise jue, andgu. These three typeshadbeenindispensable componentsof The Bronze Age before theZhou dynasty beyond the Erligang frontiers theErligang beyond 20 71 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 tions inthesouthfrom following ofdevelopment. very different trajectories lower Yangtze region. Contactwith Anyang, occasionalorcontinuous, didnot prevent civiliza- design. must haveThe same scenario repeated itself many times throughout the middle and vessel typesattests, andthevessels themselves show that localtastequicklymadeitselffeltin technology. ItsembraceofErligangculture was selective, however, astheXinganinventory of or primitive. Itsceramicsprove otherwise, toadoptErligangmetal asdoitsabilityandeagerness however, thatbefore itsencounterwithErligang the Wucheng/Xingan culture was backward andcouldhaveErligang ritual adoptedmuch else, forexample. writing We must notsuppose, record, whousedErligangbronze ruler vessels but asouthern hadalsoadoptedsomethingof Erligang settlementlike Panlongcheng. Xingan must surely have acquired from itsbronze ofskilledcasters an technology intheform made inthenorth. oftechnology transferistheofexperts,The mostefficientform and of thelocalcastings. theequalofanythingThe bestofthemare bothtechnicallyandartistically found on the art market.found ontheart worker atametalrecycling station, forexample, orsomethinglooted from anunknown siteand destruction. And sometimeswe have –anancientbronze recognized onlyanartifact by analert must collectwhatever they canfrom objectsandinformation peoplewhowere present atthe hasdestroyedBut sometimesconstruction atombbefore archaeologists are calledin, andthey case oftheSanxingduipits, anaccidentaldiscovery becomesthefocusofongoingexcavation. sible from asitefoundbycrew aconstruction andabouttobedestroyed. Sometimes, asin the in Chinatoday isunplanned. Oftenitissalvage archaeology asmuch aspos- aimedatlearning chosen forinvestigation by anarchaeological survey seekingXiacapitals. Butmostarchaeology excavators choseasitethey already knew tobethecapitalofnine Shangkings. Erlitouwas At majorsiteslike Anyang andErlitou, archaeology isplannedandongoing. The first Anyang are trifles by comparison with southern bells, withsouthern withher areby comparison also andthey trifles are by comparison trifles small, rare, indecoration. andperfunctory The onlybellsfound inthe Anyang tombofFuHao priorities. Naoare occasionallyfoundin sal ofnorthern Anyang tombs, but at Anyang they are rather thanvessels must have ritual, been thedominantapparatusofsouthern acompleterever- but formusic,using bellsnotforsignallingpurposes atleastasearly the twelfth century. Bells and lower Yangtze region. Moreover, were tunedsets ofnao, southerners forming and therefore pole. Bells are more common and more imposing than bronze vessels throughout the middle less bell mounted mouth-upward on a hollow on the outside with a mallet or stem and struck type unites theentire from region Hunan toZhejiang.artifact This isthebronze nao, aclapper- naturalistically. Vessels inanimalshapeare foundlessoftendownriver from Hunan, but one are largeandfinelycastobjects ofextravagantly inventive design, andmostdepict animals very a Provincial Museum, and atiger-shapedyou adrum province, for example, comeanelephantintheMuséeGuimet inParis, aboarintheHunan lower Yangtze region. Among themare celebrateditemsinmuseum collections. From Hunan becausetransmittedtextsdonotmentionthem. suspected by historians withthe societies inthesouthcontemporary Anyang kings. Their existencehadnever been It was chancefindsaccumulating overgradually revealed decades that civilized bronze-using been hugelyimportant, fortwo reasons: onavast itoccurs scale, allover anditoccurs China. whose shape incorporates a quartet oframsintheNationalMuseumBeijing. aquartet zun whoseshapeincorporates All five Metal technology is the part of the Erligang impact that has survived best in the material oftheErligangimpactthathassurvivedMetal technology isthepart bestinthematerial Over unusual bronzes thepastcentury have upatmany placesinthemiddleand turned The YangtzeThe archaeology unplanned region: 23 In all these forms unplannedarchaeology from isfar Inalltheseforms ideal, but ithas 21 Robert Bagley 72 intheSumitomoCollectionKyoto, and 22 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 phy of theNilevalley below the cataractsuniquely favors politicalunity. Egypt isprobably theonlyreal instanceoftheEgyptianmodel, probably- becausethetopogra of disunity). periods with occasional short opinion holdsthat under one rule Current normally independent politiesoccasionallyunitedby short-lived empires) withan “Egypt model” (aland refugees, Anyang fleeingtheZhouconquest. aristocrats inHunanaspossessionstakenology inBeijingexplainednaounearthed there by northern site, atanorthern unearthed thedirector ofthenationalInstitute ina1972article Archae - themtothenorth. toattribute this hasmadeitnecessary Though nolargenaohasever been societiesthat produced and used thesebells. about the southern information For many scholars Yangtze region. Lackingarchaeological context, evidence, nottomentionwritten we have no none of the local features of his other bronzes and may from be imports elsewhere in the lower the Xingantombprobably camefrom thenearby Wucheng settlement, but histhree naoshow sets were theproducts ofcities, notvillages, but thecitieshave yet tobefound. The occupantof known weighs 220 kg. Casting such a bell was not a small undertaking. Massive bells and tuned in pits,typically found buried by themselves, and they are often enormous. The largest so far bells have orincompany withbronze beenfoundinburials vessels. InHunan, atleast, naoare culture but comparable insophisticationexistedalltheway from Sanxingduitothesea. record.missing from thewritten Bythetwelfth bcsocietiesdistinctfrom century Anyang in accept. evidence, Butmaterial however haphazardly acquired, hasrevealed wholecivilizations site,so much asanametoattachsouthern canbehard thetestimony to ofmute artifacts attestedonlyatthe family of aruling Anyang allover site–tositesandartifacts China. Without Anyang-centered world isabettedby thecareless habitofapplyingthelabel “Shang” –thename tion withlocalpottery. The instincttoattacharchaeological findstoatext-basedpicture ofan likewise despite weretheir obvious imports connec- explained by a few as northern scholars few setsofsmallclapperbells. from thecivilization ofthenorth, anddistinctalsofrom Sanxingdui, whichhasonlyyieldeda nao tocultures inthemiddleandlower Yangtze definesa region vast province distinct sharply vessels.ritual They cannothave necessitiesforher. beenritual oflarge The centralimportance distributed overdistributed anarea much largerthanthe Anyang kings hadruled. Many ofthemmoreover territory. Impressive bronze vessels ofconsistentdesignare foundalltheway across China, north ofthereasonably Shang swiftthe imprint creation former of a Zhouempire thatincorporated Zhouking. first virtuous Thearchaeological record shows notraceofmagic, but itdoesbear was themomentwhenHeaven from shifteditssupport the degenerate last Shangkingtothe nificance (dependingonthe writer, acataclysmicbattleor bloodless transferofallegiance): it valley. For Warring StatesandHanwriters, theZhouconquestwas anevent sig- ofmagical Traditional says history thatthe Anyang kingswere overthrown by invaders from the Wei River which unity was the norm andthedisunityoftheirownwhich unitywas timewas the norm theexception. restore theperfectgovernment ofearlyZhou. wereTheir purposes betterserved by apastin resemblingBut ahistory Mesopotamia’s hadlittleappealfor Warring anxiousto Statesauthors by theErligangempireopotamia ofcompetingstatesunitedbriefly andtheearlyZhouempire. model if itwere notfiction. Thearchaeological record shows Chinainsteadtohave beenaMes- without hiatusformore thana millennium, would be theultimateinstanceofEgyptian inreceiveddescribed texts, passedfrom rule XiatoShang toZhou alandinwhichlegitimate Students ofearlycivilizations have oftencontrasteda “Mesopotamia model” (alandofmany Xingan and two modest Zhejiang finds are the only instances yet known in which southern Predynastic Zhou: statesmen orbarbarians? Zhou: statesmen Predynastic The Bronze Age before theZhou dynasty 24 73 25 Two decadeslatertheXinganbronzes 27 The ancient China 26 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 vessels from the Yangtze andfrom region tothenorth. nomadicneighbors The pre-conquest Wei valley acquired weapons, other small bronze items, and occasional bronze five agoentitledyears “StatesmenorBarbarians?” ontheside ofbarbarians. camedown firmly neighbors, innoway comparable toSanxingdui, forexample. twenty- An assessmentwritten statesmen, record amongthemore but putstheirforbears backward thematerial of Anyang’s to castingtechnique, are at Anyang. Transmitted ofZhouaswise textsportray the founders The precedents, ineverything from ceremony, calligraphytocourt andfrom ancestorritual it clearlyhadsomethingtodowiththeking’s claimtothethrone. the expression meantanything closetowhat ittomean, understood Warring Stateswriters but that we hearmentionofHeaven’s first mandate. Thecontextsare toolimitedtotelluswhether to whichHeaven appointsthekingtooffice. ofthethird Itisinbronze Zhouking inscriptions subordinates. Perhaps itwas even theinspirationformandateofHeaven ideology, according of award and/orappointmenttooffice was afixture oftheZhouking’s transactionswithhis are longer,but theZhouinscriptions andwe have many more ofthem. Evidentlytheceremony food init. have Suchinscriptions late Anyang precedents, asdotheawards they commemorate, ing thevessel totheancestorwhowillreceive (andthusaddressing of itsinscription) offerings eightdays after Li dateshisinscription “King Wu attacked Shang” andconcludesitby dedicat- on himby Zhoukingin thefirst recognitionrendered ofservice atthetimeofaShangdefeat. their king. A bronze castby anofficernamedLi, forexample,gift bestowed commemoratesa mentioninghonors,have inscriptions posts, finelywritten granted toZhoulords orlands by restricted function(Erligang bookkeeping?) expandeditslinguisticcapabilities asit restricted gradually say, development impliesaprior inwhichasimplenotationalsystem invented toserve some ness ofthesystem, inthesensethatan Anyang couldprobablyanything hecould scribe write systemthatmust havewriting andwider uses. had anearlierhistory The evident complete- Though smallandnarrowly focused, exhibitsafullydeveloped corpus theoracleinscription more pressing. Let usconcludewithafew questions thatthediscoveries ofrecent decadeshave raisedormade seem tohave gonedeepandtohave foravery longtime. beenimportant and theSichuanBasin. Zhouconnections withthesouthare very inadequatelyknown, but they at SuizhouinHubeiitintensifiedimmediatelyafter. Traffic also wentduesouthtoSanxingdui ably alongthe HanRiver, is apparent before theconquest, but ontheevidence ofrecent finds froma radical departure Anyang ritual. Communication with the middle Yangtze region, prob- south thatthey obtainedtunedsetsofbells, was andtheadoptionofbellmusic intoZhouritual civilization. from legitimacy Shangsuggestsasmuch.Their claimtoinherit Yet itwas from the totheirhomeland. andscribes founders Nodoubtthey much appropriated more ofthe Anyang bronzes,fully inscribed theofficerLi’s forexample, arguethattheZhoutransplanted Anyang but alsotheadoptionofShangrituals.Shang technicalexpertise Technically virtuosic, beauti- in thefullrangeof Anyang vessel types, achangethatsuggestsnotonly theacquisitionof wine vessels). acquired onlytwo bronze orthree ofthesimplestanddreariest vessel types(foodvessels, not In thepre-conquest Wei River valley we bronzes. findnoprecedent forearlyZhouinscribed Soon aftertheconquest, however, theZhoucasttechnically impressive bronzes inscribed Writing andextent functions andliteracy: Some questions Robert Bagley 74 29 From Anyang it 28

Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 If so, ongoing changeintherepertoire ofbronze vessel typessuggeststhatthedebatecontinued thatfavoreda party wholesaleadoption ofShangofferings, inwhichwinehadalargerplace. offerings, that favored topreparty ‑conquest Zhouritual whichcentered adhering onfood, and allude toadebateover somethingthat they didconnect withlegitimation, adebatebetween a reason forthe Anyang king to losethe mandate. And perhapsreferences to excessive drinking culture? ofancienthistory.The latterprocess operatedintheconstruction certainly they enjoyed intheHanperiod, orwas earlierdiversity eliminatedby adominant gradually ferent languagefamilies. always DidtheChineselanguage andscript have themonopolythat but Egyptian, wrote butatleastseventeen Mesopotamiancuneiform languagesfrom several dif- record.of theknown written was hardlyThe Egyptianscript ever any language usedtowrite record.second millenniumthatwe donotseeinthewritten Chinesespeakers have amonopoly from theonewe know at Anyang? recordThere ofthe late inthematerial isculturalvariation ofsignsonafew Sanxingdui? Dothestrings Wucheng systemdifferent potsbelongtoawriting in many otherplaces, orwiththeirown agentsinthoseplaces. ley. But it iseasy to imagine with counterparts Anyang communicating in writing functionaries Anyang colony inShandongandalateShangorearlyZhouhoard atFengchu inthe Wei val- Erligang bronze oracleboneshave technology did?Inscribed beenfoundatwhatlookslike an How many citiesbesides spread to all the placesthat Anyang Did Erligangwriting had writing? texts otherthandivination andplacesotherthan Anyang leaves many questionsunanswered. such thingsasincomingraw materials, enemy deadandcaptured, lands. andagricultural often draw onotherrecords thatmust have –bookkeeping beenkept thattracked inwriting fined tothediviner’s office, more detailed records forbesidessummarizing of divinations they spread to new functions. was also testify abundantly not con- that writing The oracle inscriptions officials.” senior officers “becamelaxthrough wine-drinking. Therefore,failed indisciplineamongits Yin of the third Zhouking, seems to say that Yin (i.e. Shang)lost the mandate because its vassals and drunkenness, nothuman sacrifice. ofthe The inscription to beearlyZhouexplaintheShangdynasty’s lossofHeaven’s mandate, they reproach itwith express disapproval ofit. andtransmittedtextsthatpurport When Zhoubronze inscriptions ably suppliedthevictims. Yet itisnot mentionedinany Zhousource. Nowhere dotheZhou must havecemetery beenever‑present intheconsciousnessof Anyang’s neighbors, whoprob- accounts give some idea of the terror inspired.Aztec sacrifice on the scaleof the Sacrifice royal did notcopy them, aswe asfar know, but they cannothave beenunaware ofthem. EarlySpanish authority, but itmust have beenjustifiedtotheminotherterms. king’s monopolyofviolenceatatimewhenthepopulacewas stillbeinghabituatedtocoercive do noteven mentionthevictims at theroyal cemetery. may have Sacrifice helpedadvertise the Aztec society. But Anyang sources give noclue tothebeliefsof Anyang viewers, andlatersources known about Aztec cosmology tosuggesthow theking’s tosustain sacrifice subjectsunderstood human victimswere onascalethatexceeded even sacrificed the Anyang king’s, enoughis in its own time. Royal ideology. serves a legitimating normally religion In Mesoamerica, where ofpeoplelike cattletoakinglistpresentsThe sacrifice several problems. isitsrationale Thefirst Perhaps becausethey didnotseeitasa theearly Zhou donotmentionhumansacrifice Were there citieswhere languagesotherthanChinesewere written? Was inuseat writing Nevertheless, from con- andofwriting thealmostcompleteabsenceofearlierinscriptions A secondproblem istheirdisappearancefrom posedby memory. thesesacrifices TheZhou 31 The Bronze Age before theZhou dynasty Human sacrifice 75 u ding,Da Yu abronze cast in thereign 30 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 because hedidnotknow enoughaboutShang. Hisestimateofhisknowledge was correct. the Shangkingswere but said that hefollowed paragonsofvirtue theinstitutionsofearlyZhou Anyang kings, are clearlyunaware ofit. Confucius, whodeplored humansacrifice, assumedthat Late ZhouandHanwriters, includingthosewhoprofess torecount theevil deedsofthelast for much ofthe Western Zhouperiod. Meanwhile, Anyang fellfrom memory. humansacrifice of XiaandShangrests ofSimaQian’s solelyontheagreement Shangkinglistwiththe The consensusthatsecondmillennium archaeology hasvalidated millennium accounts first init? it ororiginated anddiscarding thecivilized require textsthatmentioned southoutofhistory legitimacy writing ideologytexts? How of culturalanddynastic didthey disappearfrom Didanorthern memory? isatbestanoversimplification.passive periphery The vassals were not plantedinemptylands. vassals enfeoffedby theearlyZhoukings, narrative but ofactive thisall-too-familiar centerand Zhou coloniesoracombinationofthetwo? Intransmittedtexts, as statesinvariably originate states asChu, Wu, and Yue localdevelopments from secondmillenniumpredecessorsor Western statesthatfigure prominentlythe southern in the Warring Statestextualtradition? Were such nuity was ofErligang–and there between cultures –theoffspring secondmillenniumsouthern we amixture ofZhoucoloniesandlocalpolitiesinthis region? imagine And how much conti- Zhou types, but someoftheE bronzes are localreinterpretationsofZhoutypes. bizarre Should Zeng andonewithvessels namingmarquises of E. The Zengbronzes are mostlystandard early Hubei, bronzefound atSuizhouinnorthern vessels onewithinscribed namingmarquises of frometers theSanxingduisite. More have recently 25 kmapart two earlyZhoucemeteries been hoards ofspectacularearlyZhoubronzes founddecadesagoinSichuanwere only a few kilom- evidence foraZhoupresence inthesouthisincreasing but notalways easytointerpret. Two accompanied by musicians whoknew how toplay themandthemusic themusicians knew. The trade orexchangewiththenorth, withsetsofbells, foritsuppliedearlyZhoucourts nodoubt a monopolyofanything else. Anyang documentsshouldnotlullusintosupposingthat monopolyofsurviving Anyang had but durably recorded by bronze artifacts. Trading stationsmust have beeneverywhere. The ingly sketchy, but thesketch shows trafficspottily by alandscapecrisscrossed interregional of the second millennium south is almost wholly dependent on chance finds, it is tantaliz- middle Yangtze region, notbellsbut vessels type. ofoneparticular Becauseourknowledge Yangtze different was from sharply cultures downriver, bronzes but itdidimport from the interaction among otherwise diverse local cultures. The Sanxingduicivilization of the upper occupation withbellsthroughout themiddleandlower Yangtze arguesforsignificant region exchanged forit. Traffic upanddown the Yangtze must have beenequally busy. A shared pre- the bronzes wereandwhatever tradeinraw material incidentaltoanenormous thenorth and south, but ifthe Yangtze was region thenorth’s mainsupplierofmetals, asseemslikely, bronzes foundinthe south andsouthern Wei valley give usglimpsesofcontactbetween north The Anyang-period Yangtze isurgentlyinneedofstudy. region Anyang bronzes foundinthe Finally, why are theearlycivilizations ofthe Yangtze missing from region thetransmitted The southinthe Western isalsopoorlyknown. Zhou period Itclearlyhadrelations of King listsandroyal legitimation Robert Bagley The south The 76 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 list ofreal kings. from thesecondmillennium –orthatthelistitselfisanaccurate he possessedotherinformation anything elsehesays aboutShang. We cannottake hispossessionofakinglisttoguaranteethat Qian’s Shangkinglistwiththeused by Anyang onthecredibility of divinershasnobearing seen it–andisaself-containeddocument. From thisitfollows ofSima thattheagreement transmission ofany otherinformation. We have ofhislist–countlesstourists possesstheoriginal the kingatleast, itwas aboutthepast. theoneessentialfact ofafullerchroniclegenerations notaspart but by itself becauseitwas initself. important For unity, of the whole land, rule of continuous legitimate an assertion and it was transmitted to later to makeKing List or rearranged them sequential.) Sety’s list is the embodimentof a fictitious tamia too, dynasties that in reality were were contemporary either omitted from the Sumerian by ofdivided dynastiessequential. rule makingconcurrent lists dealwithperiods InMesopo - disunity, whenUpperEgyptwas by ruled oneroyal houseandLower Egyptby another. (Other Akhenaten forexample, anditomitswholedynasties offoreign rulers. of Italsoomitsperiods sors, in several ways. Itomitskingsdeemedillegitimate, theeighteenthdynasty “heretic king” cultures.) As other sources reveal, however, Sety’s list has been edited, by him or by his predeces - thelandfrom gods.kings inherit Divine remoteare ancestors afeature ofkinglistsinmany of history. even (OtherEgyptianlistsbegin earlier, withthenamesofgodsandspirits: earthly thelandofEgyptfrom anunbrokeninherit sequenceofkingsstretching backtothebeginning tothekingsofhis own dynasty.not confinehisofferings Hisclaimtothethrone isaclaimto is known inwhichthekingvenerates akinglist.)Several pointsdeserve noticehere. Sety does seventy-six dynasty. kingofthefirst kingsgoingbacktothe first (In Mesopotamiatooaritual We see Sety, second king of the nineteenth dynasty, to a list of his predecessors, making offerings known from multiple copies madeby schoolboys. whenkingshipwasThe list begins handed amply documented history ofkinglistsinMesopotamia andEgypt. amply documentedhistory fore, hissequenceofXia, by considering Shang, andZhoukinglistsinthelightofmore fromreconstructed the Anyang oracleinscriptions. There may besomethingtogained, there- nationale, 1869–1880). Source:Mariette, Auguste Figure 3.1 In Mesopotamia a text called the Sumerian KingList(SKL),In Mesopotamiaatextcalled the Sumerian composed around 2000bc As thelistonwall ofSety’s templeshows, transmissionofakinglistneednotentailthe The listshown inFigure 3.1 was carved onthewall ofanEgyptiantemplearound 1300 bc Ramesse revering alistoftheir predecessors Stone relief in the Temple of Sety at Abydos, 33 Abydos, desfouillesexécutées surl’emplacementdecetteville . description The Bronze Age before theZhou dynasty 77 ca.1300 bc , showing Sety I 32 . and . (Paris: his son Prince his son Prince Imprimerie Imprimerie , is . Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 inscriptions give nohintthatroyalinscriptions was legitimation inthe handsofmoralphilosophers. In Xia declinedinvirtue.” “Zhou overthrew Shang because Shang declined in virtue, just as Shang overthrew Xia when posed to have existed, and they mention it only to give the Zhou conquest a moral precedent: oreditedmore thanathousandyearsmentions ofXiaare afterthetimeitissup- intextswritten the Xiadynasty. speaksofadynastybefore Shang. NoShangorZhouinscription similar. required from any othervirtue him. What Heaven required from theZhoukingmay have been of state depended on his sacrifices; do not seem to havesuccess in all the affairs his ancestors we besaying “he”?) looksforinaking. To judgeby theoracleinscriptions, the Anyang king’s unconditionally. fromApart soberrituals, however, there is nomentionofwhatit(orshould the relationship suggestedby thetitle “Heaven’s son,” Heaven adynasty seemsnottosupport rituals?). of performance Despite Shang becauseofthedrunkenness ofShangofficials(incorrect A Zhou defeatofShangismentioned, andwe read alsothatHeaven withdrew from itssupport the word), itsmandateorcommandappointment(ming), andthetitle “Heaven’s son” (tian zi). Anyang oracleinscriptions, usedtowrite onetojudgeby andan anthropomorphic thegraph we mentionsofHeaven encounterthefirst inscriptions (tian, adeitynotmentionedinthe inscriptions, toexplainhow them. understood but theirauthors inpassagestoobrief Inthese weceded theformulations know from transmittedtexts?Key occurinearlyZhoubronze terms to substantiateanideology, thestory, like theideology, ofcomposition. hasahistory What pre- by humanswithhuman motives. To theextentthatreceived editedorinvented isastory history ancient Chinadriven by Heaven. Onthecontrary, bothHeaven anditsmandatewere created predecessors. things have always been so, exclusive from isaclaimtoinherit legitimacy equallyexclusive toonethatisworthier.has declinedinvirtue A linear sequenceofkinglists, whichshows that comes from Heaven, universal from which judgesa dynasty and transfers rule a royal linethat dynasties Xia, Shang, andZhou, of civilized China. ruler legitimate each in turn Legitimacy goes underthename “mandate ofHeaven,” itisthesequence of thatsupports andthehistory mulations from are of both the ideology familiar transmitted texts. and the history The ideology roborates it, thatshows ahistory “this isindeedtheway theworld works.” In China, latefor- mate dynastyby thegods. down from heaven. Kingshiprotates amongcities,- madetheseatofsolelegiti eachinturn The other element missing from the inscriptions is anethicalconceptofroyalThe otherelementmissingfrom theinscriptions virtue. The Two key are not visible elements of later formulations in the bronze inscriptions. One is thewholeofcivilized China,But noShangorZhoukingruled norwas politicalchangein The parallelswithancientChinaare evident. thatcor- needsahistory An ideology ofrule polities. state isprojected intothepast, ofsmallindependentcontemporary erasingthehistory as adisinterested depictionofthepast. politicsofthepresent ratherthan oflegitimating forthepurposes of theusehistory in the land,than an accurate state of affairs andtherefore constitutesaperfectexample king whobelongedtoaspecificdynasty. of Mesopotamia as a single, unified polity that was alwaysruled from one city by one are concerned, periods rooted inthefictionalnotion becausethisisatextthatfirmly of hegemony andpower. source itisoflittlevalue,As ahistorical asearly atleastasfar Although itissimplyalist, theSKL . 34 Robert Bagley . . locatesthepresent inalongmundane stream . . . . . The notionofasingleunifiedhegemonic 78 . idealrather animperial The SKLdescribes 35 The earliest The Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4

ble transformation ofitsmission. ble transformation andamplify,confirm but whathashappened over isanalmostimpercepti - thelasthalf-century past. Archaeology inChinabeganasanexplorationofatraditional narrative, whichitsought to and badlastones, the “consensus history” ofthetransmittedtexts? complexities ofthesecondmillenniumworld kings reduced ofgood first toamoralizingfable fromofhistory? Shangelaboratedintoacyclictheory claim toinherit When andhow were the to the god at some point hijackedthe king but service by ministers? When was an early Zhou kings. exhorting king but forministers Was required nothingfrom anideology thatoriginally the well-being ofthecommonpeople. theideology seemsdesignednotforthe Inthisform (de),virtue isdefinedinmoralterms, andvirtue for forinstanceasbenevolentrule orconcern transmitted texts, by contrast, continued possession of the mandate is contingenton the king’s

archaeology’s ofancientChina. tothehistorian gift thewiderworld thatproducedto exploring thetexts. thatis Itisthisratherthanverification 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Such questionswere noteasytoaskbefore archaeology gave usglimpsesofan alternative and archaeology: orsamplecangive nosummary theflavor hequotes. oftheparagraphs Parallels inthe Moorey (1991: 93–4)gives aspectacularexampleofcomplete fusion, andconfusion, ofbiblical text accepts thenarrative andgoestoarchaeology wall). onlyforillustrations (apicture ofaruined Of course, forthereader whobelieves the text, archaeological proof isnotreally required. The believer separate the offact”“kernel from the “fictional embellishments,”give they cannot rule fordoingso. usa (Baines 2011isinstructive here, especiallypp. els, befictionssetinplacesthatare real andelaboratedaround thenamesofpeoplewho really existed (Jablonka is sobering 2011).scholarship can, to be factual Ancient texts that purport nov like modern - ofHomer, claimsforthetruth offervid more thanacentury thecoolagnosticismof mostrecent to the ground more than once; archaeologists the cause of a fire. are seldom able to determine After See M. I. Finley responding andthe scholars tohiminFinley et al. 1964. Mostancientcitiesburned Schaberg 2001and, onthearchaeologist’s forhumannarratives, longing Wang Haicheng2013. P.R.S. Moorey’s ofBiblical A Century Archaeology (Moorey much foodforthought. 1991)offers Seealso would have? on the bronze as wellthat our anonymous the inscription Han editor understood as, say, Chen Mengjia of pre-Han added determinatives to the characters texts,editors they were interpreting. Can we be sure have perfectly?Couldwe hischoiceofcharacterforms? trust theinscription understood When Han for which we have no evidence – that the editor’s intention was exactfidelity, could himto we trust inscription, of a now lost bronze the inscription vessel for instance. Even if we make the assumption – have noway of estimating. Supposethatwe hadaHaneditor’s ofanearly transcription Western Zhou texts transmitted to us from the Han period, they have been altered by to an extent that we Han editors archaeological situationsdo notpossess” (H.J. Franken, quotedinMoorey 1991: 134). As forreceived it: events“The Bible presents historical inthelightofaveryinterpretation, specific religious which all itsshortcomings, record isfree thematerial ofsuchagendas. As adistinguishedbiblical scholarput comesfrom atreatiseest accountoftherationaleanimalsacrifice advocating vegetarianism.” For orphilosophicalposition.keen theological toargueforaparticular Notoriously, forexample, ourfull- example: “Such accountsaswe have of[Greek] asa religion ‘system’ almostallstemfrom philosophers oftenforget. embarrassingly (2003: thathistorians Osborne This isatruism 623)reminds uswithan published from oftheUrIIIdynasty alone(2112–2004bc). theonecentury volume of moderate size. In Mesopotamiamore than 80,000 administrative documentshave been diverse incontentandauthorship. The entire inone Anyang canbetranscribed oracle-bonecorpus By comparison, forexample, from Mesopotamia, corpus withtheearlycuneiform whichisalsomore Anyang toassumingderivation from Anyang. of Anyang as the source of the things being dated. slope from with It is a slippery making correlations In thispracticethere lurksthedangerthatusing Anyang asour standard fordatingtemptsustothink vol.East AsianArchaeology of 4(2002). devotedarticles toitinthe Journal Seealso 2006:Thorp 23–5. Something oftheflavor ofthisproject, whichannounceditsconclusionsin2000, canbegotfrom six The Bronze Age before theZhou dynasty 37 From exploring the world described inthetextsithasshifted theworld From described exploring 68–9). oftenclaimtobeable to Though textualscholars Notes 79 36 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10

9 8 oft-repeated claimthat bronzes cannot have beencastinthesouthbecauseclay moldsforthemhave not haltwork becauseanexceptionallyobservant worker hasnoticedsome clay moldfragments. The Notice thatallthesemechanisms are biasedinfavor ofspectaculardiscoveries: crews construction do On theXinganfindanditsimplications seeBagley 1999: 171–5; 2004;Peng Shifan Steinke 2014b. north, where didit come from? and technology theyErligang art display did not come from a place like Panlongcheng, 300 in thearchaeological record. Some ofthefinestXingancastingsare indisputably local. of Ifthemastery an inference from evidence. At nopointintheBronze Age isamonopolyofmetaltechnology visible its spread beyond thecapitaltoplaceslike Panlongcheng, conviction, but thisseemstobeanapriori not haveSome scholars insistedthattheZhengzhoukingkept bronze castingaroyal monopoly, prohibiting successor. declined around theeleventh bc century On SanxingduiseeBagley 1999: 212–19; Bagley 2001; SunHua2013. The cityisbelieved tohave 1986. Lin Yün pp. bycially thechapters ZhangChangping, Wang Haicheng, andJohn Baines(and, forcoppermines, On thePanlongcheng siteandtheErligangexpansion seeBagley 1999: 168–71; Steinke 2014a, espe- On ShandongseeFangHui2013; LiuandChen2012: 363–7; Bagley 1999: 219–21. Wang Haicheng2014b: 68. 2014. dynasties oftextualtradition. Onthedynasticmodelinsecondmillenniumarchaeology seeLi Yung-ti view;remains aminority theXiaShangZhouChronology Project hasgiven state sanctiontothethree Liu andChen(2012: 271)have recently advocated detachingErlitouarchaeology from Xia, but this 278–80; 2006:Thorp 22–3, 67–73. 2014: 38–40. On Yanshi Shangchengsee Yuan Guangkuo2013: 325–6, 328–9; LiuandChen2012:2013; 2006:Thorp chapter 1. OntheErlitoubronzeanditsrelation toErligangseeBagley industry On theErlitousiteandcivilization seeBagley 1999: 158–65; LiuandChen2012: chapter 8; XuHong domesticated horses, Bagley 1999. systemseeBagley 2004andBagley 2014: oftheChinesewriting On theorigin 43–5; and onchariots Liu andChen2012: chapter 8; 2006:Thorp chapter 2. On theErligangsiteandcivilization seeBagley 1999: 165–71; Steinke 2014a; Yuan Guangkuo2013; iswelldisplay known. inscriptions Wang Haicheng2015: 154. for InEgyptandMesopotamiatheuseofadministrative aspatterns forms 127–30 andBagley 2014. ofChinesecivilization.it torepresent totheformation anindigenouscontribution SeeBagley 1999: wasWhen distinctlydifferent pottery foundatasiteontheeastcoastin1931, took LiJiandothers in theearly1920s, itwas widelytaken tobeofwestern origin; someequateditwiththeXiadynasty. thatresembled frompainted pottery Neolithicpottery theNearEastwas foundinnorthwest China Cultural contactwas underdiscussionalready whilethe Anyang excavations were goingon. When 2006; Liu &Chen2012: chapter 10; Wang Haicheng2015. vations seeBagley 1999: 180–208. SeealsoJingZhichunet al. 2013(especiallyforHuanbei); Thorp the1928–37excavationsLi Jidescribes inLiChi1977. accountofthoseandlaterexca- For asummary seeKeightleyto theinscriptions 1999. oforacle-bonestudiesseeLiChi1977:For theearlyhistory 1–2. chapters For ageneralintroduction culture. bling thatoftheLiangzhusiteisfoundatanothersite, thenew siteissaidtobeaoftheLiangzhu archaeologists speakof “cultural remains” they oftenmeannomore than “potsherds.” resem- Ifpottery indestructible, tobeasensitive oftimeandplace. register andfabric andvariable enoughinform When forms,to burial isthearchaeologist’s but inpracticepottery mostreliable typefossil, foritisubiquitous, taken todefinetheculture. anassemblage caninclude everything Inprinciple from jadesto buildings cal parlance, Liangzhuisthetypesiteofculture, assemblage is thesitewhoseartifactual group orapolity, see Trigger 1974; Wang Haicheng2014b; Li Yung-tito pottery, 2014: 139–41. insocialterms, expression anditsinterpretation ofanethnic Inarchaeologi forexampleasthematerial - traitsthatoccurtogether consistentlyatdifferent sites.”rial Onthearchaeological culture, itsrelation What archaeologists call a culture oran assemblage is generally defined as “a constellationofmate- what form ofevidence,what form statements–would liesbehindparticular beeasytofind. literature ofChinesearchaeology –passagesinwhichitisimpossible toguesswhatevidence, oreven 166–8 inthechapterby Steinke); andLiuChen2012: 284–90. see OnErliganginthenorth . Chengduisthoughttobea A site calledJinshainmodern Robert Bagley 80 km to the Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 Bagley, 1999. Robert “Shang Archaeology.” Chapter 3(pp. Bagley, 1987. Robert ShangRitualBronzes inthe M.Arthur Collections . Sackler Cambridge, MA: Harvard Shaughnessy, eds., of History TheCambridge Ancient China (Cambridge: University Press). Cambridge University Press. On changesinthethinkingofarchaeologists seeLi Yung-ti 2014. Whether we tooshouldbelieve itisaquestionbestkept separate. thatitwas Knoblock liesinthefact reconstructs widelybelievedstory by lateZhouandHanwriters. the heavens really – though only in Chinese history). do intervene in history The usefulness of the by astronomy: ofthemandatecoincidedwithcelestialevents claimsthattransfers seemtoacceptthat ofittobevindicatedby parts archaeology by ismarred (andeven hisenthusiasmfordeclaring history of thepastthatwas taken by lateZhou andHanwriters. forgranted ofthat Hishandyreconstruction See Wang Haicheng2014a: chapter 2. Knoblock 1990usestheterm “consensus history” forthestory around analready established culture hero, inChinese thiswouldmythologizing. familiar pattern fita Yu, whointransmittedtextsfigures asthefounderofXiadynasty. was elaborated IftheXiastory One middle Western Zhoubronze inscription, thatoftheBingongxu, mentionsthecontroller offloods Michalowski 2011: 15. Schaberg 2011. like akinglistembroidered withinvented anecdotesofthedidactic/argumentative kinddiscussedin the flavorgreat ofgenuinely‑event early annalsor year names(cf. Postgate 1994: 40). Itreads more Baines 2011: 57–9). recounted intransmittedtextsdoesnotseemtomehave Buttheancienthistory event notationsfoundinbronze inscriptions” (onlistsofyear namescompare Bagley 2004: 223, and royal speechesand “sagas,” including “a year-by-year similartothegreat- withentries annalistichistory existed. Shaughnessy(2011: 391)speculatesthat Western Zhouroyal archives mighthave contained In otherwords, SimaQian’s possession of akinglistdoesnot tell us whether otherchronicles ever eral see Wang Haicheng2014a: 1 and2. chapters On king lists in Mesopotamia and Egypt see Michalowski 2011 and Baines 2011. On king lists in gen- Wang Haicheng2014a: 50, Text 2.6. works justcited, thiscannotbeso. used onlyat Anyang andonlyfordivination. For reasons suggestedearlierandlaidoutindetailthe was invented iscomplete–thatwriting that oursampleof earlywriting inthereign ofWuDingand record andunaware ofwhatisinvolved inthedevelopment have offullwriting sometimessuggested Postgate 1994: chapter 3; Bagley 2004. inattentive Scholars tothepreservation biasof thearchaeological Haicheng 2015. Ontherole offunctionalcontextintheinvention seeDamerow ofwriting 1999; On thefunctionsof Anyang see writing Wang Haicheng2014a, 4 and6, especiallychapters and Wang Jiangxi, seeBagley 1999: 178–80. For connectionsbetween the Wei valley, Shaanxi, ofsouthern the Hanzhongregion andXinganin Rawson 1989. SeealsoBagley 1999: 226–31. 2014. Baines 208–12; seealsoSteinke 2014b. zation ofthenorth. Herwork isupdatedinBagley 1987, introduction, section 1.12, andBagley 1999: drew attentiontothelargebellsthatconnectthemallanddistinguishfrom particular thecivili- The recognition ofcivilized Anyang-period cultures inthesouthisowed to Kane(1974),Virginia who toaccountforadramaticincrease insize.time seemsnecessary assumed thatthey descendfrom Anyang andthatthey by ancestors postdatethoseancestors whatever nao outoftheexhibition. Even castingshave whobelieve scholars naotobesouthern usually southern scholar exhibitedthecontentsofXingantombatShanghaiMuseumin1992, heleftthethree bc–becausehecouldseenoplacefortheminthesecondmillennium.fifth century When thesame As lateas1997, –i.e. aseniorbronze specialistassignedHunannaototheChunqiuperiod eighthto 67–73. On thelower Yangtze seeSteinke region 2014b; ontunedsets, Bagley 2005: 79–83andBagley 2015: that they were castnowhere? bronzes have thatmoldsforsouthern either.observing inthenorth notbeenunearthed Doesthismean not been found in the south is the most dubious of arguments The Bronze Age before theZhou dynasty Works cited 81 124–231) inMichaelLoewe andEdward L. ex silentio. It could be countered by Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 04:28 27 Sep 2021; For: 9781315773605, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315773605-4 Feldherr, Andrew andGrantHardy (eds.)2011. TheOxford ofHistorical History Writing, Volume I: Beginnings Fang, Hui2013. “The Eastern Territories oftheShangand Western Zhou: ExpansionandCultural Military Damerow, Peter 1999. of TheOrigins Epistemology asaProblem. ofHistorical Writing 114. Preprint Berlin: Jablonka, Peter 2011. “Troy Context.” andInternational inRegional InSharon R. Steadmanand Gregory Finley, M. I., J. L. Caskey, G. S. Kirk, andD. L. 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