China: prehistoric and ancient history to 221 BC

The fossil remains of the first known inhabitant of China, the famous Peking man, a form of Homo erectus who lived about 750,000-500,000 years ago, were discovered at Choukoutien, near Beijing (Peking), in 1927. In November 1998, however, Chinese archaeologists announced the discovery in Fanchang County in east China's Anhui Province of 180 stone tools dating back 2.4 million years. In Manchuria all stages of Stone Age culture from Palaeolithic to Mesolithic and Neolithic have been found; and Neolithic sites have been discovered in the whole range of the Huang He (Yellow River) valley from Gansu to Shandong provinces. There were farming settlements on these sites from around 4000 BC.

The painted-pottery culture of Yangshao (in Henan), from around the 4th-3rd millenia BC, was founded on agriculture and animal husbandry, and used stone and bone implements. It may have overlapped with the black-pottery culture of Longshan (in Shandong), which seems to have flourished around 1800 BC. This period marks the beginnings of petty states in China.

The legendary dynasties and the Shang Traditional history ascribes the beginning of the Xia dynasty to 2205 BC. While the deeds and political philosophies of the ‘legendary emperors’, in particular Yao, Shun, and Yu the Great, not to mention the promethean feats of their predecessors, are the creation of myth-makers, there do seem to have been nascent states in Shanxi province during this era.

Bronze was first used about 1800 BC, but is associated, especially in the manufacturing of ritual vessels, with the Shang dynasty (founded around 1500 BC). Those bronzes found at Anyang (Henan), the Shang capital in the 13th and 12th centuries BC, are engraved with distinctively Chinese motifs. They also carry short inscriptions that reveal an already well-developed writing system, as do the myriads of oracle bones found in the same area in the 20th century. The Shang kings controlled most of agricultural northern China. Their dynasty was overthrown around 1066 BC by the Zhou (Chou) invaders from the east.

The Zhou dynasty and the Warring States period The Zhou dynasty retained the loosely feudalistic structure that had characterized the Shang. The new dynasty had its centre in the area of present-day Xi'an in Shanxi province. In theory at least, many hundreds of petty states owed allegiance to the Zhou rulers. In the 10th century BC in particular the Zhou empire expanded rapidly. In time central power grew weaker, and a northern tribe was able to sack the capital in 771 BC. The capital was then moved east to Luoyang, ushering in the so-called Spring and Autumn period (c. 770-475 BC). During this period the power of the Zhou kings was further reduced, and the various states contended among themselves for hegemony.

During the subsequent Warring States period (c. 475-221 BC) the tendency was once again towards unification. Seven powerful states eventually emerged to rival each other. This was a period of intense intellectual ferment, and the ‘hundred schools of thought’ flourished between 500 and 250 BC. Confucius (Kong Zi) evolved his paternalistic theory of government and system of morality, by which ‘The father has absolute authority over his family and the emperor is the father of the state’ - but, according to Confucius, both father and emperor are to rule by force of example (see also Confucianism). The philosopher Mo Tzu (Mo Zi) advocated the resolution of strife through universal love, as opposed to clan allegiances. The writings of Lao Zi (Lao Tzu) and Chuang Tzu, the oldest Taoist works in Chinese philosophy, also date from this period (see also Taoism).

The Qin dynasty The school of thought that won the day was Legalism. Adopted by the rulers of the western state of Qin, it advocated strict centralization and ruthless severity in government. It was among other things the successful application of this policy that led to Qin's final victory over the other states by 221 BC and the establishment of the Qin dynasty over a unified China.

For subsequent events, see China: early imperial history 221 BC-AD 1279, China: late imperial history 1279-1900, China: history 1900-49, China, and Taiwan.