Chinese and Harappan Civilization, the Two Different Rise of the State
Chinese and Harappan Civilization, the two different rise of the state
Gordon Childe, an anthropologist, had criteria for the civilization. Based on his theory, Civilization must meet the size and density of cities, full-time specialization of labor, concentration of surplus, class-structured society, and state organization. Essentially in the same way that the ancient Egypt rose from Nile River, and Euphrates and Tigris gave birth to Mesopotamia Civilization, Harapan Civilization took advantage of rich soil and fresh water of the Indus River, and Chinese Civilization took advantage of the Yellow River. As in Mesopotamia and Egypt, agricultural surpluses in India and China greatly increase the surplus of food and boosted the growth rate of population, and stimulated specialization of labor in religion, art, writing, and so on. These 4 civilizations rose from 4 different locations around the world. Hence, there is much difference in the ideology that they were based on. The ultimate sacred proposition, scapulimancy, Confucian philosophy dictated the Chinese society and the utilization of science and knowledge was the key point behind the rise of the two civilizations.
Chinese civilization formed its first state around 2,000 BC. During the developmental stages, the Chinese civilization had very limited interaction with other civilizations. Moreover, similar to the environment of Egypt, China has a far larger and more varied physical landscape than Egypt or Mesopotamia. And this and other factors made its civilization a rich amalgam of many diverse ethnic groups and cultures. By the formation of extensive network of chiefdoms in Lung-shan Era (3,000 – 2,000 BC), people created wide regional interaction network and multiple hierarchies started to develop. Ch’eng tzu cemetery shows there were apparently status differences within societies and burial in kin groupings show the importance of lineages. In addition, early Chinese believed in the heaven and ancestors.
Gordon Childe, an anthropologist, had criteria for the civilization. Based on his theory, Civilization must meet the size and density of cities, full-time specialization of labor, concentration of surplus, class-structured society, and state organization. Essentially in the same way that the ancient Egypt rose from Nile River, and Euphrates and Tigris gave birth to Mesopotamia Civilization, Harapan Civilization took advantage of rich soil and fresh water of the Indus River, and Chinese Civilization took advantage of the Yellow River. As in Mesopotamia and Egypt, agricultural surpluses in India and China greatly increase the surplus of food and boosted the growth rate of population, and stimulated specialization of labor in religion, art, writing, and so on. These 4 civilizations rose from 4 different locations around the world. Hence, there is much difference in the ideology that they were based on. The ultimate sacred proposition, scapulimancy, Confucian philosophy dictated the Chinese society and the utilization of science and knowledge was the key point behind the rise of the two civilizations.
Chinese civilization formed its first state around 2,000 BC. During the developmental stages, the Chinese civilization had very limited interaction with other civilizations. Moreover, similar to the environment of Egypt, China has a far larger and more varied physical landscape than Egypt or Mesopotamia. And this and other factors made its civilization a rich amalgam of many diverse ethnic groups and cultures. By the formation of extensive network of chiefdoms in Lung-shan Era (3,000 – 2,000 BC), people created wide regional interaction network and multiple hierarchies started to develop. Ch’eng tzu cemetery shows there were apparently status differences within societies and burial in kin groupings show the importance of lineages. In addition, early Chinese believed in the heaven and ancestors.