V1 Neolithic China, Mythic Origins, and Proto-Dynastic Developments

Modern Homo sapiens were present in many parts of China before and during the Neolithic (“New-Stone-Age”) revolution.
Worldwide shift: hunting–gathering → settled agriculture.
Earliest archaeological evidence for Chinese farming communities: $\approx 7500\ \text{BCE}$ .
Because no writing survives for the long span $\approx 1700\text{–}1500\ \text{BCE}$ , historians rely almost entirely on archaeology (sites, layers, graves, artifacts).
Scholars usually group more than a dozen regional Neolithic cultures into four broad "culture-spheres," each named after its first-excavated village site:
1. Pei Ligang (北李岗)
2. Yangshao (仰韶)
3. Longshan (龙山)
4. Liangzhu (良渚)

Site first located $1977$ in Pei Ligang village, Xinzheng County, Zhengzhou.
Settlement pattern: scattered, relatively small villages.
Economy & diet
- Multi-crop millet agriculture; nuts & fruits gathered.
- Domesticated pigs, dogs, chickens; supplemented diet by hunting deer.
Technology & tool materials: stone, bone, shell
- Crafted spears, arrowheads, needles (likely for net-making).
Architecture
- Round and square houses, $\approx 6\text{–}10\ \text{ft}$ in diameter/width.
- Sunken-floor dwellings; plastered floor surface.
- Walls of mud + straw; thatched roofs.
Mortuary practices
- Individual extended (“stretched-out”) burials.
- Sparse grave goods (1–2 pots or tools).
- Archaeology shows no clear social stratification.

Geographic spread: Middle Yellow River → eastern Qinghai/Gansu.
Agriculture & subsistence
- Millet = primary crop; hunted wild game & gathered edible plants.
- Hemp cultivated for fiber; earliest evidence of sericulture (raising silkworms).
- Domesticated dog, pig; also sheep, goat, cattle.
Pottery
- Famous red-fired vessels with black & white painted motifs: fish, birds, geometric patterns, “rows of dentures.”
- Common forms: bowls, water bottles, jars; mostly flat-bottomed due to low firing temperature.
Burial customs
- Practiced secondary burial: body first temporarily buried; after decomposition bones cleaned & re-interred.
- Large, well-furnished graves vs. small, plain pits → clear evidence of wealth/status differences.
- Grave goods: decorated pottery, stone tools, ornaments.

Pottery technology
- Thin-walled, unpainted gray → later black ware (“egg-shell pottery”).
- Shapes elevated on circular stands or tripod legs; produced on the potter’s wheel.
- Decoration: incised lines, cut-outs, highly polished surfaces.
Social organization & burial evidence
- Cemetery divided into clan clusters.
- Grave types range:
1. Shallow earth pits
2. Medium coffins with some goods
3. Large wooden-coffin chambers packed with jade, musical stones/chimes, fine pottery.
- Status pattern:
- Elite graves larger, far richer.
- Adults > children in elaboration; males > females of same class.

Core area: present-day Zhejiang & Jiangsu provinces.
Economy
- Wet-rice agriculture = staple.
- Supplemented by fishing & hunting.
- Domesticated pig, duck, sheep, water-buffalo (multi-purpose draft & protein source).
Jade craftsmanship (signature trait)
- Produced bi (discs), cong (square tubes), axe-blades, pendants.
- Jade working requires abrasion with quartz sand; attests to advanced skill & social investment.
- Jade objects carried ritual, elite, possibly theocratic significance.

Instructor will show images of artifacts and ask students to match each to its correct culture (Pei Ligang, Yangshao, Longshan, or Liangzhu).

Timeline covers the legendary Xia (夏), historically attested Shang (商), and Western Zhou (周) states.
Period marks:
- Creation of the earliest Chinese writing system.
- First compilations of Chinese literature.
- Emergence of organized religions / philosophy / political structures.

Function of myth:
- Explain origin of universe, humanity, Chinese culture & rulers.
- Transmitted orally for centuries; written down in the Han dynasty (secondary sources).
- Integral to family education & school curricula; foundational to self-identity.

Nüwa (女娲)
- Repairs torn sky with five-colored stones.
- Cuts giant tortoise legs to prop up the heavens.
- Fashions humans from yellow clay; breathes life → ancestors of all peoples.
Pangu (盘古)
- Emerges from cosmic egg; separates sky & earth over $18{,}000$ years.
- Upon death: breath → wind, voice → thunder, eyes → sun & moon, blood → rivers; body mites → black-haired Chinese ancestors.
The Yellow Emperor (黄帝·Huángdì)
- Culture hero & putative ancestor of Han Chinese.
- Conquers rivals; innovates bureaucracy, writing, sericulture, medicine, boat-building.
The Three Sage Kings
1. Yao (尧)
2. Shun (舜)
3. Yu (禹/大禹) – famed for flood-control; said to initiate dynastic succession by passing throne to his son → beginning of Xia.

Ancient texts place Xia capital near modern Luoyang.
Large site at Erlitou (二里头) excavated; radiocarbon dates overlap legendary Xia timeframe.
Controversy: Is Erlitou
- (a) the Xia capital?
- (b) an early Shang center?
- (c) a pre-dynastic Shang settlement?
Lack of contemporary writing keeps Xia in the gray zone between myth & history. Future finds may confirm or refute its historicity.

Short animation screened in class: “补天女娲” ("The Goddess Mends the Heavens") depicting Nüwa myth.
Instructor recommends popular series "If History Were a Bunch of Cats" episode on sage kings & Xia; link provided via Canvas.

Students asked to email a myth from their own culture; submission earns participation credit.