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Pre-History in China

Prehistoric China

The history of China can be dated back to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors around 5,000 years ago. As per the traditional historical records, the historic China can be related to the 16^th century BC. No doubt, China is considered one of the oldest civilizations of the world. During 1500 BC, turtle shells were marked with old Chinese scripting from the Shang Dynasty. The civilization of China emanated in the Yellow River valley with city-states. Later in 221 BC, China became a unified nation ruled by a large kingdom. During that period, it was Qin Shi Huang who first joined China, as a result of which the consecutive dynasties in ancient China established bureaucratic systems. This facilitated the Chinese Emperor to control the entire territory largely.

The modern Chinese history states that China is a country that underwent various changes in its ruling systems in terms of political unity and non-integrity, and between the periods of domination by foreign rulers, who later got absorbed into the Han Chinese population. The Chinese culture is a blend of immigration, expansion and assimilation influenced by cultural and political values from various regions of Asia. The prehistoric period of China can be divided into three different ages, namely, Palaeolithic Age, Neolithic Age and Bronze Age.

In Palaeolithic Age, Chinese population consisted more of Homo erectus for over a millions of years ago. As per the recent study, certain stool tools some 1.36 million years old were found in East Asia. In the province of Shanxi, it was recorded that Xihoudu was the archaeological site where fire was used by Homo erectus, some 1.2 million years ago. Early habitation was found in the minings of Yuanmou and Lantian. Peking Man was discovered as the most popular form of Homo erectus found in China in 1923. Later, two pottery pieces during 16,500-19,000 BC were discovered at Liyuzui Cave in the province of Guangxi.

The Neolithic Age was traced to have consisted of proto-Chinese millet agriculture during 7,000 BC and is related to the Jiahu site, the site of the old playable musical instruments. During this period, the first Chinese language was scripted and is considered the worlds earliest wine production era. Agriculture brought in more population, ability to crop restoration and upliftment of craftsmen and administrators. The Yellow River valley was converted into a cultural centre with setting up of first villages at Banpo in Xian.

In the Bronze times, archaeological sites like Sanxingdui, Wucheng and Erlitou were discovered. The first bronze knife was found around 3,000 BC at Majiayao in Gansu and Qinhai. The Records of the Grand Historian and the Bamboo Annals were semi-mythical sage kings and moral exemplars of that period. The Yellow Emperor was considered the ancestor of the Han Chinese populace. The Xia Dynasty gave birth to the inherited system of ruler-ship and came into effect during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The historical China came alive during the period of these Three Dynasties.

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