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THE MUSEUM of FAR EASTERN ANTIQUITIES (Östasiatiska Museet) STOCKHOLM Bulletin No. 73 Stockholm 2001 ! ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THE BMFEA GRATEFULLYACKNOWLEDGES THE SUPPORT OF VETENSKAPSRÅDET, THE SWEDISH RESEARCH COUNCIL The prehistoric human figure which decorates the BMFEA's cover since its first issue in 1929 is one ofthe most famous and intriguing items in the Museum ofFar Eastern Antiquities (no. K11038: 5). It is fashioned asthelid ofa painted ceramic vessel,with tattoo-like patterns,truncated“horns” that may once have held plumes, and on the back, a serpent, “which covers the neck in graceful coils” (Johan GunnarAndersson,“Researches into the Prehistory ofthe Chinese,” BMFEA 15, 1943, 240; plate 187). The dragon, the traditional logo ofthe Museum, is derived from a series ofthree dragons found on the back ofa bronze mirror from theWarring States period ofancient China, also in the collection ofthe Museum (K10599: 550; see Bernhard Karlgren,“Early Chinese Mirrors,” BMFEA 40, 1968, 85-86; plate 35). ISSN0081-5691 Printedby Fälth&Hässler,Värnamo,Sweden Table of Contents Li Liu and Xingcan Chen: Cities andTowns:The Control ofNatural Resources in Early States, China ... л о Magnus Fiskesjö: Rising from Blood-Stained Fields: Royal Hunting and State Formation in Shang Dynasty China 48 Philippe Forêt: Mapping “Ancient” Chinese Antarctica 193 Carine Defoort: Ruling theWordWith Words:The Idea ofZhengmingin the Shizi. 217 Editor's Afterword Natural Resources and their Exploitation 243 Journal advertisements 248 Bulletin ofthe Museum ofFarEasternAntiquities editorial information 250 3 4 Cities and Towns: The Control of Natural Resources in Early States, China by Li Liu and Xingcan Chen I. Introduction The emergence ofthe early state in China is marked by the development ofa large urban center,Erlitou (300 ha; the typesite ofthe Erlitou culture), in theYi-Luo River valley, western Henan.' The Erlitou culture (1900–1500 B.C.) is further divided into four phases, and most ofit is both temporally and spatially coincident with the Xia dynasty (c. twenty-first - sixteenth century B.C.), as traditionally dated. The Erlitou site, therefore, is usually regarded as a capital city ofthe late Xia dynasty. The glory ofthis first Chinese city came to an end in the Erlitou Phase IV, when a walled enclosure (80 ha; known as theYanshi small city, Xiaocheng) was construc ted 6 km . northeast of Erlitou. This change is generally believed to relate to the political transition from the Xia to the Shang dynasty, and the enclosure at Yanshi have been the earliest Shang capital built after the conquest, or a special gar may rison established by the Shang for preventing a rebirth ofthe Erlitou state. During the late part ofthe Early Shang period (the Erligang phase), a series ofwalled cities and towns were constructed: the Yanshi small city was enlarged into a big walled enclosure, known to archaeologists as theYanshi Shang city (200 ha); an even larger city was erected at Zhengzhou (300 ha for the rammed-earth enclosure, and 2500 ha for the entire site), which perhaps replaced Yanshi as the capital; small walled 1 Institute ofArchaeology, Yanshi Erlitou (Beijing: Zhongguo da baike quanshu Press, 1999); ErlitouWorking Team, InstituteofArchaeology CASS,“Erlitou yizhitianyegongzuo de xinjinzhan (Newprogress in the field work at the Erlitou site),” Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan Gudai Wenming Yanjiu Zhongxin Tongxun 1 (2001): 32–34. In this paper,a state is defined,following Marcus and Feinman (“Introduction," in Gary Feinman and Joyce Marcus, eds.,ArchaicStates (Santa Fe: School ofAmerican Research Press, 1998), 4), as a society"with (minimally) two class...strata (a professional ruling class and a commoner class) and a government that was both highly centralized and internally specialized.” The Erlitou culture (at least a part ofit) represents the firstsocial entitythat meetsthesetwocriteria. Itwascharacterized by acentralized andinternally specialized government,indicatedbyagreatconcentrationofpalatialfoundationsandvariouscraftproductionworkshops in an urban center (Erlitou), and rapid cultural expansion over a large region.The second criterion, marked socialstratification,isindicatedbyburialdifferentiation. 2 Du Jinpeng et al.,“Shilun Yanshi Shangcheng xiaocheng de jige wenti (Regarding some issues related to the small city inside the Yanshi Shang city),” Kaogu 1998.2: 35-40; GaoWei et al., “Yanshi Shangcheng yu Xia Shangwenhuafenjie(TheYanshiShangcityandthedemarcationbetweentheXiaandShangcultures),”Kaogu 1998.10: 66–79; Zhao Zhiquan,“Erlitou wenhua yu Erligang wenhua (The Erlitou culture and Erligang cul ture).”InTheeditorial committee,ed., QingzhuSu Bingqikaogu wushiwu nianlunwenji(Beijing:Wenwu Press, 1989) 273–79. BULLETIN OFTHE MUSEUM OF FAR EASTERN ANTIQUITIES 73 · 2001 · 5-47 5 LI LIU AND XINGCAN CHEN towns were constructed, among which were Yuanqu (13 ha) and Dongxiafeng (13 ha), both in southern Shanxi, and Panlongcheng (7.5 ha) in Hubei.These five walled cities/towns, however, were abandoned one after another during the Upper Erligang phase.The abandonment ofthese cities/towns was followed by a period ofpolitical instability, indicated by the emergence ofmultiple regional centers, including Xiao shuangqiao near Zhengzhou, Caoyanzhuang in Xingtai, Hebei,4 and Huanbei in Beijing N ВОНАТ BAY River 9 8 River 10 n e F Yellow YELLOW SEA River Han River Huai Cyshangha) River m o Yangtze 12 13 200 km Figure 1. Major sites and locations mentioned in the text. 1. Erlitou in Henan; 2.Yanshi in Henan; 3. Yuanqu in Shanxi; 4. Dongxiafeng in Shanxi; 5. Zhengzhou in Henan; 6. Xiaoshuangqiao in Henan; 7.Anyangin Henan;8. Xingtai in Hebei;9. Lijin in Shandong; 10. Daxinzhuangin Shandong; 11. Pan longchengin Hubei; 12.Tonglushan in Hubei; 13.TonglinginJiangxi. 3 Henan Provincial InstituteofCultural Relics,“Zhengzhou Xiaoshuangqiao yizhi dediaocha yu shijue (Survey andtrialexcavationoftheXiaoshuangqiaositeinZhengzhou).”InHenanProvincialInstituteofCulturalRelics, ed.ZhengzhouShangchengkaoguxinfaxianyuyanjiu (Zhengzhou:ZhongzhouGuji, 1993),242-71. 4 ZouHeng,XiaShangZhoukaogulunwenji, (Beijing:Wenwu Press, 1980), 207. 6 BMFEA 73 · 2001 THE CONTROL OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN EARLY STATES, CHINA Table 1.Chronology ofthemajorsitesmentionedinthetext Dynasties Estimated Archaeolo Erlitou Yanshi Yuanqu Dongxiafeng Zhengzhou Anyang Panlongcheng Tonglushan Tongling North DatesBC gicalphase Henan Henan S.Shanxi S.Shanxi Henan Henan Hubei Hubei Jiangxi Shandong Late 1250-1046 Yinxu XV X Shang ХО (Phase1) Transitional XIV Middle period Huayuanzhuang X1 X : *X Shang 1450-1250 Late X X X XV(?) XI. X X Upper Xiaoshuangqiao Erligang Early X XI. X XI. XE Upper V 1500-1450 Erligang Lower Х XI X1 X1 XI. X Early Erligang V Shang X 1600-1500 ErlitouIV V ErlitouIII Xia(?) 1900-1600 Erlitou11 V Erlitou1 PresenceoftheErlitouculture. х PresenceoftheShangculture. Presenceofwalledenclosure. Presenceofbronzemetallurgy(mining,smelting,orcasting). V Locationofprimarycenterorcapital. •DatesarebasedonQiuShihuaetal,“YouguansuoweiXiawenhua'detanshisiniandaicedingdechububaogao,”Kaogu1983.10:923–28;TangJigenetal,“Thelargestwalled ShangCity,"andXiaShangZhouChronologyProjectTeam,cd.XiaShangZhouduandaigongcheng1996-2000nianjieduanchengguobaogao.Beijing:Shijietushu,2000. Anyang. This phenomenon suggests either the relocation of capitals to new sites or a decentralized political scenario.The capital was finally established atYinxu (not walled, 2000 ha), nearAnyang in northern Henan? (Figure 1;Table 1). The cultural affiliation of the Erlitou site (as either the Shang capital or the Xia capital) has been a matter of debate for several decades, and no consensus has been reached among Chinese archaeologists. In recent years the majority ofChinese scholars have come to an agreementthatthe Erlitou site, or mostoftheoccupational period ofthe site, belongs to the Xia dynasty. However, no hard evidence has been presented to link the Erlitou with Xia. In this article, therefore, we use the term “Erlitou polity” to refer to the earliest state developed in the Central Plains centered at the Erlitou site, and designate “early Shang” to the Erligang culture, which coin cides in time and space with the early phase of the Shang dynasty as traditionally believed. Similarly, there is no consensus among Chinese archaeologists on either the chronology or periodization ofthe Erlitou and Shang cultures, or which city was the first Shang capital (Yanshi or Zhengzhou). In this article we follow Gao et al.,' rep resenting the opinion ofexcavators ofthe Yanshi Shang city, regarding the relation ship betweenYanshi and Zhengzhou.Table 1 thus provides only a rough chronology and periodization, which are by no means to be taken as authoritative, but are made for the convenience ofthe discussion here. The rise and fall of these political centers were not isolated occurrences, but 5 Institute ofArchaeology,“HenanAnyangshi Huanhebei Huayuanzhuangyizhi 1997 nian fajuejianbao (Preli minaryreportoftheexcavationattheHuayuanzhuangsitein Huanbei,Anyangcity,Henan),”Kaogu 1998.10: 23–35;InstituteofArchaeologyetal.,“Huanheliuyu quyukaoguyanjiuchububaogao(Preliminaryreporton regional archaeological research in the Huan River valley),” Kaogu 1998.10: 13-22;Tang et al.,“The largest walledShangCitylocatedinAnyang,China,”Antiquity74 (2000):479–80. 6 Tang Jigen. “Zhong Shang wenhua yanjiu (Study of the Middle Shang culture),” Kaogu xuebao 1999.4: 393-420. 7 LiChi,Anyang(Seattle:University ofWashington Press, 1977). 8 GaoWeiet al.,“Yanshi Shangchengyu Xia Shangwenhua fenjie (TheYanshi Shangcityand thedemarcation betweentheXia andShangcultures),"Kaogu 1998.10:66–79. 9 GaoWei,op.cit. BMFEA 73 · 2001 7 LI LIU AND XINGCAN CHEN involved large-scale demographic changes relatingto the populations residing inside the cities/towns and settlements in the surrounding areas.The underlying dynamics ofthese changes in settlementsystem are importantfactorsrelevantto the processes ofearly state formation in China. This article focuses on political and economic activities oftwo walled towns, Dongxiafeng and Yuanqu — in southern Shanxi, from the perspective of a center periphery system ofinteraction in earlystates. Special attention is paid to the control and flow of vital natural resources on an interregional level. The discussion is con 3 ducted from several aspects, including regional settlement patterns, demographic variations, internal structure ofthe cities/towns, distribution offeatures and artifacts associated with craft specialization, and the locations of natural deposits of copper and salt in relation to the settlement distribution of the Xia and Early Shang. We argue in this study that the change in settlement patterns, especially the rise and fall ofcities and towns, needsto be understood from the perspective ofthe political-eco nomic system.The changing patterns ofdemography and urbanization were affected by changing strategies in the procurement ofvital resources from peripheral regions by the political centers in the core areas during the early dynastic period in China. II.The Centers: Erlitou,Yanshi, and Zhengzhou cities The three early cities at Erlitou, Yanshi and Zhengzhou seem to share some similar elements in city planning.Temple/palatial structures and craftworkshops formaking bronze, bone, and ceramic objects constitute major components of urban areas.10 These early cities were apparently political, ritual, and economic centers of the region, with a great concentration ofpopulation engaged in craft production of vari ous types. It is especially notable that bronze metallurgy was one of the most significant state industries in early Chinese civilizations. Among bronze products, ritual vessels are the most prominent. These were used as sacrificial offerings by the elites for ancestral worship rituals. The development of state-controlled bronze metallurgy and other types ofcraft production greatly contributed to the growth ofurban cen ters. This raises a long-standing question: where did early states obtain metals to sustain such massive bronze production?The locations ofcopper sources have been suggested either in northern China," or in southern China.12 Geographically, theYiluo plain, where the two earliest cities (Erlitou andYanshi Shang city) are situated, is a vast fertile alluvial basin. It is surrounded by theYellow 10 For Erlitou, see RobertThorp,“Erlitou andthe search for the Xia.” Early China 16 (1991): 1–38; forYanshi, seeWangXuerong,“Yanshi Shangchengbuju detansuohesikao (Inquiryintotheplan ofYanshiShangcity)," Kaogu 1999.2:24–34;forZhengzhou,seePeiMingxiang,“ZhengzhouShangdaiwangchengdebujujiqiwenhua neihan (Plan andcultural contents ofShangcapital city at Zhengzhou),” in Henan Provincial InstituteofCul tural Relics,ed.,ZhengzhouShangchengkaoguxinfaxianyuyanjiu (Zhengzhou:Zhongzhou Guji, 1993), 7-14. See, e.g., Shih Chang-ju,“Yindai de zhutong gongyi (Bronze manufacture in theYin dynasty),” Bulletin ofthe InstituteofHistoryandPhilology,Academia Sinica 26 (1955): 95-129; K.C. Chang, TheArchaeology ofAncient China (New Haven:YaleUniversity Press, 1986 ),367. 12 Liu Shizhong. “Zhongguo zaoqi tongkuang chubu yanjiu (Preliminary research on early copper mines in China),” in Zhongguo kaogu xuehui di ba ci nianhui lunwenji (Beijing: Wenwu Press, 1991), 197–207; Liu Shizhong et al., "Jiangxi Tongling tongkuang yizhi de fajue yu yanjiu (Excavation and study ofthe copper miningsiteatTongling,Jiangxi),”Kaoguxuebao 1998.4:490-94. 8 BMFEA 73 · 2001 THE CONTROL OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN EARLY STATES, CHINA River to the north and mountain ranges on the other three sides. Such an environ mentally circumscribed region may have been chosen as site ofthe primary center by the Erlitou due to its military defensibility and agricultural potential. The Early Shang city atYanshi was apparently established for conquest and control ofthe def eated population at Erlitou. For the later part ofthe Early Shang period, the capital at Zhengzhou is situated in the north ofthe Huang-Huai plain, which is also fertile and suitable for agricultural production. These alluvial plains, however, lack raw material resources—such as copper,tin / lead, and salt—which are crucial for bronze casting and for supporting large popu lations in the capital cities. These resources are available in mountainous regions within a radial distance ofmore than 200 km from Erlitou and Yanshi, or 300 km from Zhengzhou. Notably, these resources occur in especially high concentration in the southern Shanxi region,13 which is the northwestern peripheral area of the Erlitou and Early Shang cultural distributions (Figures 2, 3). It is in this region that two walled Shang towns, Dongxiafeng andYuanqu, were located. In order to ensure the supply ofthese natural resources, early state rulers appear to Z iang River - LülMts Shanxi hang TaiMts River Ganjuncun Yellow Emei Mts Mengzhuang Shaanxi Z h o n g t i a o M t s Dongxiafeng Nanguan Yellow River YellowJi River Xiao Mts ucun Erlitou Shaochai LuXoiong'er Mts River River HuSihziudiaAA YingXinzQhualiian.g River walledsite Donglongshan majorcentre(300ha) minorcentre(100-40ha) FuniuMts O lpaorsgseibvliellmagieno(r39c-e1n5trhea) A possiblelargevillage smallvillage(<15ha) Henan copper 0 50km leadandzinc salt Figure2.Distributionofimportantnaturalresources (copper,lead,andsalt;afterHuangheRiverValley Atlas,116-122) and settlement patterns of the Erlitou culture in the middle Yellow River Valley. Notingthatthedensedistribution ofsiteseastto Erlitouin theYiluo regionisbased on afull-coverage survey project (Liu et al. in press), while other areas arebased on traditional archaeological surveys. 13 HydraulicMinistry,HuangheRiver Valley Atlas(Shanghai:ChineseMapPress, 1987), 116–22. BMFEA 73 · 2001 9 LI LIU AND XINGCAN CHEN g n a LüliMts Shanxi ang Huanbei N ihs TaMt Anyang River E mei Mts MengzhuanWgei Shaanxi Fucheng Dongxiafeng Yuangue River Z h o n g t i a o M t s Yellowo:::: Xiaoshuangqiao River Qian XiaozMhtusangO Yanshi Zhengzhou 1 LuoXiong'er Mts River River YingRive walledcity Donglongshan city walledtown FuniuMts rpeogsisoinballecreengtiroenal centre settlement Henan copper 0 50km leadandzinc salt Figure3.Distributionofimportantnaturalresources(copper,lead,andsalt;afterHuangheRiverValley Atlas, 116-122) andsettlementpatternsof theShangculture in the middleYellow RiverValley (note: the Shang sites marked on the map are not all contemporary, and the two small walled towns in northern Henan-Mengzhuang and Fucheng-are notdiscussedhere). have extended their political and military powerto these peripheral regions in order to obtain the resources directly.The establishment ofwalled towns in the resource rich regions in southern Shanxi may have been related to the formation ofregional networks, which were controlled by the states to procure the raw materials to serve the needs in the capital cities. This proposition can be examined by analyzing the settlement patterns and development of two regional centers, Dongxiafeng and Yuanqu. III. The periphery: Southern Shanxi The southern Shanxi region is composed of three basins, Yuncheng, Yuanqu, and Linfen, all surrounded by mountains, the Zhongtiao, Emei, Lüliang, and Taiyue Mountains. Possessing a wide range of geographic features— mountains, alluvial plains, river systems, and lakes—this region is environmentally rich not only for its fertile soil in the alluvial areas, but also for various natural resources available in both lowlands and highlands. Abundant copper deposits and a few lead deposits are distributed in the mountains.According to modern geological investigation, Shanxi's copper resources are the fifth largest among Chinese provinces. The quantity of 10 BMFEA 73 · 2001