Knight J. ancient civilizations rl. vol. 2. almanac, History(2)
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Civilizations
Almanac
Ancient
2
China–Rome
Civilizations
Almanac
Judson Knight
Stacy A. McConnell and
Lawrence W. Baker, Editors
Ancient
China
8
meters) larger than the United States, a difference smaller
than the area of San Bernardino County in southern Califor-
nia. It is enough of a difference, however, to make China the
world’s third-largest nation, in terms of area, surpassed only by
Russia and Canada. China and eastern Russia make up the
majority of Asia, the world’s largest continent. Before the
breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the two
nations shared a long border, but now they adjoin primarily in
the Far East, where northern China meets Siberia. To the
northeast is the Korean peninsula, the Sea of Japan, and Japan
itself. Farther down the coast lies the island of Taiwan, an inde-
pendent Chinese state; farther still lies Hong Kong, which
became part of China in 1997. South of China is a string of
nations, from Vietnam in the southeast to India in the south-
west. To the west lie a number of Central Asian republics,
including Kazakhstan. China’s broad expanse encompasses a
variety of climatic zones, from the cold north and vast tracts of
desert in the west; to plains and mountain areas in the central,
western, and northern regions; to lush river basins and tropi-
217
C
hina is only about 20,000 square miles (51,800 square kilo-
RUSSIA
SIBERIA
0
miles
500
0
250
kilometers
500
MONGOLIA
ASIA
Sea
of
Japan
JAPAN
N
China
a
INDIA
TA I WA N
PACIFIC
OCEAN
Hong
Kong
Greatest extent of
Ch’in Empire
Great Wall of China
All present-day countries
shown in gray
Map of China.
XNR Productions.
The Gale Group.
cal lowlands in the east and south. A number of rivers cut
across China from east to west, most notably the Yangtze, the
Huang He (or Yellow River), and the Xi Jiang.
Why China is important
As with India, China’s population alone would make it
worthy of study. It is the most populous nation on earth, with
more than a billion people; in fact, two out of every five peo-
ple on earth live either in China or on the Indian subconti-
nent. As with India, the reasons to study its ancient history go
far beyond the size of its present-day population. China gave
the world two of its greatest philosophers, Confucius and Lao-
tzu, whose followers developed religions on the basis of their
teachings. The numbers of Confucianists and Taoists, how-
ever, are dwarfed by the adherents of Chinese folk religions.
These religions, which originated in ancient times, are not
218
Ancient Civilizations: Almanac
250
viewed as a single faith, but if they were, they would have
more believers than all faiths except Christianity, Islam, and
Hinduism.
Ancient China also gave the world one of its most
splendid civilizations, a center of art and learning seldom sur-
passed by the empires of the West. Its gifts include paper, silk,
and a particularly delightful treat: ice cream. The ancient Chi-
nese discovered such advanced notions as crop rotation in
agriculture and the octave in music. They also left behind the
most impressive physical structure ever created by human
beings: the Great Wall of China. Even the pyramids of Egypt
look insignificant beside this vast creation, the only man-
made object visible from the Moon.
Prehistoric China (c. 7000–1766
B
.
C
.)
People lived in the area of China as far back as half a
million years ago. It appears that a
Stone Age
culture developed
in parts of northeastern China, as well as in the southeast of
China, in about 7000
B
.
C
. The first culture known to archaeol-
ogists was the Yang-shao (yahng-SHOW), which flourished in
the western part of the country between about c. 3950 and
about c. 1700
B
.
C
. Though they were a Stone Age people, the
Yang-shao grew wheat and other grains; made relatively
advanced tools out of polished stone, as well as
glazed
pottery;
and even domesticated animals such as pigs, cattle, and dogs.
To the north was the Lung-shan (loong-SHAHN) cul-
ture, which developed between 2000 and 1850
B
.
C
. The Lung-
shan appear to have been related to the Yang-shao; but in the
northwest part of China, archaeologists have uncovered evi-
dence of an entirely different group. Bodies discovered in the
deserts there, where the hot, dry climate preserved them, sug-
gest an invasion by peoples from as far away as the Ukraine.
It is not known who these people were, or whether they were
related to the Indo-Europeans who invaded Europe, Iran, and
India.
Aside from the knowledge gained by archaeologists,
there are legends concerning China’s origins. These legends
recount that Pangu (pahng-OO), creator of the universe, origi-
nated Chinese civilization in the region of the Huang He
China
219
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