Art History 370/East Asian 355: Arts of China

Study Sheet #1: Neolithic China

Map marking ancient sites, modern cities and provinces

The term Neolithic (or New Stone Age) is applied in China to the last period of a long prehistory. It began in ca. 5000 BCE and lasted about 3000 years. For this entire period, which predates written language, it is anachronistic to speak of "China" or "Chinese civilization." Neolithic characteristics include settled habitation, agriculture, domesticated animals, polished stone tools, pottery, textiles, and jade-working.

Traditional accounts from a much later period locate the emergence of "Chinese civilization" in the North China central plain and credit mythological individuals with advances such as the introduction of agriculture. However, recent archaeological excavations show that significant cultural elements evolved gradually in a series of regional cultures, not only in the central plain but also along the east coast, and in the south as well as the north.

Many important sites representing different phases of the Neolithic era have been and continue to be discovered. The inland and coastal sequences are classified separately, and further subdivisions are made within the two major groupings. Those listed below are of particular interest for this class.

INLAND (Yellow River Valley):

...Yangshao (or Painted Pottery) Culture

North-central area (Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi provinces):

The early phase is represented by the Banpo site, whose remains date to the early 5th millennium BCE. Subsequent phases continue to evolve through the 4th millennium BCE. The pottery is characterized by painted designs on simple shapes.

Northwest (Gansu and Qinghai provinces):

A later extension of Yangshao culture into China is represented by the Banshan site, late 3rd millennium (ca. 2000) BCE.

 

 

EAST COAST:

Northeast (Liaoning province):

Hongshan culture (ca. 3500 BCE) is represented by the Niuheliang site. Finds include pottery "fertility figures" and jade ornaments.

 

North-central (Shandong and northern Jiangsu): 

Dawenkou culture (3rd millennium BCE). The pottery often has a complex shape but unpainted surface. Personal ornaments are made of bone, shell, and stone.

 

Shandong Longshan culture (late 3rd - early 2nd millennium BCE, sometimes called the "Black Pottery" culture). Pottery made in a great variety of intricate shapes and in several types of ware, including thin-walled, black-burnished ritual vessels. Jade and hardstone are used for ritual implements and personal ornaments.

 

South-central (Zhejiang and most of Jiangsu):

 

Liangzhu culture (3rd millennium B.C.). Pottery similar to that of Shandong Longshan. Abundance of polished jades, sometimes found in graves of important individuals; shapes include axes, perforated disks (bi), and tubular prisms (zong or cong); a few display finely incised linear designs.

 

In the later centuries of the Neolithic era, sites in the North China central plain combine characteristics from inland and coastal cultures, setting the stage for the eventual emergence of "Chinese" civilization. The first dynasty mentioned in later histories, the Xia, is said to have ruled this area from a capital in what is now Henan province. Many Chinese archaeologists identify the Xia with remains at Erlitou (see Study Sheet #2) and date it to ca. 1900-1600 BCE, but conclusive proof is still lacking.