From Yao to Mao: A Thematic Overview of Chinese History

Prof. Shana J. BrownDepartment of HistoryUniversity of Hawaii

Tactics in studying Chinese history…• Appreciating the extraordinary

degree of geographical, cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity

• Countering the myth of “eternal China” by defining historical units and themes that acknowledge growth, change, influences by outside world

• Looking for historical themes that enrich our understanding of contemporary problems, without reducing them to stereotypes

China to the Modern Period(5000 BC – 1308 AD)

True or false?

• China has always been ruled by ethnic Han Chinese

• The geographical boundaries of China have remained constant for thousands of years

• The cultural makeup of China shows remarkable degrees of consistency

Early Cultures

Yangshao (5000-3000 BC)Pit houses; painted pottery; domesticated animals; sericulture?

Longshan (3000 – 2000 BC)Black pottery; divination on bones; rammed-earth cities; rice cultivation

Hongshan (3700-2250 BC)Jade artifacts; temple and

city builders

Liangshu (3400 – 2250 BC)Jade artifacts; slab tombs; silk and lacquer production

Historiographical issues…

• What is the difference between a culture and a dynasty?

• Why and how are these cultures and / or dynasties defined as Chinese?

“Early Civilization in China: Reflections on How it Became Chinese”• Hierarchical social distinctions• Massive mobilization of labor• Emphasis on the group, rather than

the individual• Emphasis on ritual in all dimensions

of life• Formal boundaries and models• Ethic of service, obligation, and

emulation• Little sense of tragedy or irony

Chinese myths of origins: the sage kings• More significant than

myths focusing on semi-human or divine figures

• Yao: 95-year reign• Succeeded by son-in-

law Shun, who ruled for 40 years & established laws and penalties

• Yu controlled floods and thus improved agriculture; founded first dynasty, the Xia

The Shang (1600-1046 BC)

Shang culture & society

What’s wrong with the Shang?Slave society; ancestor worship; corrupt rulers

The Zhou (1122-221 BC)

Zhou culture & society

• Zhou invade Shang • Establish new dynasty, claim

mandate of heaven allows them to rule

• Duke of Zhou establishes proto-Confucian ethical principals

Zhou feudalism and decline

• Feudal: central king & subservient fiefdoms

• Central state loses authority as kings become corrupt

• Last Zhou king is defeated by vassal, allied with “barbarian” forces

• Fiefdoms devolve into independent states

Warring States (481-221 BC)

• Age of Confucius and the philosophers

• How to create effective political & social structures to attract population, rule effectively

• Government based on moral persuasion and elite cooperation, not force

Empire unified under Qin (221-206 BC)

• Qin Shi Huang built the wall and burned the books; unified the writing system

• Rise of Legalism as a political philosophy

• Is tyranny the price of efficient government?

Qin conquered by Han (206 BC – 220 CE)

• Imperial rule strengthened by bureaucracy and imperial examination system

• Confucian texts become orthodox

• Age of literature and art