Table Of ContentTHE 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).
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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
