How Old is Chinese Civilization?

Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:

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There’s a common saying that China is one of the oldest continuous civilizations on Earth. While that’s true in many ways, the people who lived in the earliest periods of Chinese history would be practically unrecognizable to the modern Chinese person. Ancient language, religion, and customs were all quite different from what China became later. Today, we’re going to explore the oldest origins of Chinese civilization, focusing on the early Shang and Zhou dynasties, and diving into just how far back in time we can trace something that we would call recognizably Chinese.

Throughout Chinese history, no story resonates as powerfully as that of Yu the Great. Yu was said to have tamed the raging Yellow River, ushering in Chinese civilization as we know it around 4,000 years ago. According to legend, a catastrophic flood washed out everything around the Yellow River. Yu spent over a decade dredging the river to divert its waters, aided by animals and spirits, demonstrating his semi-divine status in these early myths. His ability to control the river became the defining feature of his rule, and his success was seen as a signal that he had the divine right to lead. Yu was said to have established the Shang Dynasty, traditionally regarded as China’s first ruling family. However, the Shang largely exists in myth, and for centuries, it was thought that they were the founders of Chinese civilization, passing their power down through a hereditary system. Yet, the Shang remain elusive in the archaeological record. Ongoing excavations have not found much evidence to confirm their existence as an actual political entity. The Shang narrative was passed down through oral traditions and later recorded in historical texts like the “Shiji” or “Records of the Grand Historian” by Sima Qian.

For the ancient Chinese, the Shang represented the importance of the divine in shaping China’s early understanding of its origins. They were not merely a relic of the past but a critical example of the importance of divine favor in governance. Yu’s ability to tame the flood symbolized a kind of harmony between heaven and earth, an idea that would later evolve into the concept called the Mandate of Heaven.

The Shang Dynasty might be more legend than historical fact, but the cultural importance of these stories cannot be understated. They represent early attempts of a civilization to define its identity and establish the idea that political power comes from divine authority. Even though the Shang Dynasty may never be definitively proven, their influence on Chinese history through stories like that of Yu the Great is undeniable.

In 1899, what amounted to a medical malpractice incident led to one of the biggest discoveries in the history of archaeology in China. An outbreak of malaria in Beijing prompted people to seek treatment using the bones of “dragons.” Farmers in Henan Province began excavating ancient ox bones and turtle shells, selling them to villagers as dragon bones. These relics were sold to folk doctors, who crushed them to form a powder for medicinal use. However, the villagers failed to realize that the bones they were digging up weren’t from dragons but belonged to the Shang Dynasty, one of the earliest civilizations in China. Among these bones were peculiar carvings that attracted the attention of local scientists. These carvings were found to be one of the early systems of writing in China, now known as Oracle bone script. Oracle bones were used by the people of the Shang Dynasty about 3,200 years ago to communicate with the spirits of their ancestors and the spirit world. The process involved writing a question on the bone or shell and then applying heat until it cracked. The patterns formed were considered answers given by the spirits. The questions could range from trivial matters, like whether a family would have a boy or a girl, to strategic decisions, like when to go to war.

The discovery of these Oracle bones revolutionized our understanding of early Chinese history. Before their discovery, many details about China’s early history were based on myths and legends, and the existence of dynasties like the Shang was still debated. The Oracle bones provided written evidence that the Shang Dynasty indeed existed, along with insights into the people’s way of life, their religious and political systems. They indicated that the Shang had a well-developed method of divination, an administrative structure, and a strong concern for the spiritual world of their ancestors. The writings on these bones represent the earliest form of Chinese characters and are directly related to modern script. This continuity of language over such a long period provides scholars with a chance to study the development of civilization from the Shang Dynasty to the present.

In studying Oracle bones, historians gradually gained a clearer understanding of the early Chinese state, characterized by the close interconnection of rituals, religion, and politics. Founded around 1600 BC, the Shang Dynasty was one of the most significant dynasties in China and one of the first centralized states in East Asia. However, the culture and lifestyle of the Shang people were not what many people equate with modern Chinese culture. The Shang Dynasty was comparatively less expansive, with their core region being the Yellow River Valley, yet they dominated regions much farther away through trade, conquest, and cultural assimilation.

One of the main aspects of the Shang Dynasty was its strong relationship with the spirit world and ancestor worship. As China’s earliest recorded dynasty, the Shang believed that their ancestors controlled the well-being of the living. This belief permeated every aspect of Shang society, especially politics and governance. Shang kings relied on divination and communication with their ancestors to make critical decisions. Oracle bones, inscribed with questions for the ancestors and heated to produce cracks, provided answers from the spirit world. These bones, some of the earliest examples of Chinese writing, reveal a society deeply concerned with the will of their long-dead forbearers.

The Shang religion wasn’t limited to ancestor worship; they also worshipped nature deities and a supreme god whose name shares the same character as the later term for “Emperor.” This religious framework set the foundation for later Chinese concepts of governance, where the ruler’s legitimacy was tied to their ability to maintain harmony between heaven and earth.

The Shang Dynasty also had a unique political structure. It was ruled by a hereditary monarch, but power was shared with a complex bureaucratic system. While later Chinese dynasties would develop a highly centralized state, the Shang resembled more of a loose confederation of clans and local lords. These lords were often responsible for their own territories but were expected to remain loyal to the Shang king.

One of the most intriguing figures from the Shang Dynasty is Fu Hao. She was a warrior and landowner who held significant power in a society predominantly dominated by men. We didn’t know much about her until archaeologists unearthed her tomb a few decades ago. Fu Hao was one of the 64 consorts of King Wu Ding. While Wu Ding had many women, Fu Hao stood out. Oracle bone inscriptions reveal that she led several military campaigns against neighboring tribes, commanding thousands of soldiers and achieving significant victories that expanded Shang influence. Her military leadership was so respected that she was granted a sizable territory to govern, something rarely given to women during this period. Fu Hao’s influence extended beyond the battlefield; she managed her own estates, controlled lands outside the Shang capital, and likely had a say in matters of state. This level of autonomy was highly unusual for women in ancient China, especially in later dynasties where Confucian ideals confined women to more subservient roles. In the Shang era, women like Fu Hao could hold significant political and military power, demonstrating that gender roles during this early period were far less rigid than they would become in later centuries.

Her tomb, discovered in 1976, is one of the most well-preserved royal burials from the Shang Dynasty. It is a massive tomb filled with various treasures, including over 1,600 artifacts, jade statues, bronze vessels, weapons, and jewelry. There were also human remains, including 16 individuals and six dogs. The Shang frequently performed mass human sacrifices, sometimes involving hundreds or even thousands of captives taken during military campaigns. These sacrifices were a core part of Shang rituals, intended to appease the spirits and maintain good relations with their ancestors and the gods.

Around 1050 BC, the Shang were overthrown by the Zhou. While the Shang Dynasty was focused on ancestor worship, the Zhou introduced a different idea that would shape Chinese governance for the next couple of thousand years: the Mandate of Heaven. Initially, the Zhou were just one of the Shang’s vassal states, semi-nomadic people without much power. However, their influence grew, and during the reign of King Wen, the Zhou became strong enough to rebel against their Shang rulers. After King Wen’s death, his son, King Wu, continued the struggle and led an all-out war against the Shang. The decisive battle occurred at Muye, where the Zhou army defeated the Shang army. According to Sima Qian’s records, King Wu’s forces slaughtered over 500,000 Shang soldiers in a single morning during the battle. While that number is likely an exaggeration, it was still a massive victory for the Zhou. After the battle, the defeated Shang king, Di Xin, retreated to his palace, set it on fire, and took his own life rather than be captured by Zhou forces.

However, conquering the Shang was only the first challenge. The Zhou needed a way to legitimize their rule over the former Shang territories and its vassal states. To do this, they introduced the concept of the Mandate of Heaven, a divine principle that would become central to Chinese political thought. The Zhou rulers claimed they had been chosen by heaven to replace the corrupt Shang kings who had lost the favor of the gods due to their misdeeds. This idea shifted the justification for rule from ancestry and religious authority, as it had been under the Shang, to moral virtue and the ability to maintain order.

The Mandate of Heaven was a dynamic concept; it wasn’t just a one-time divine blessing. It was contingent on the ruler’s behavior. If a king ruled justly and maintained harmony between heaven, earth, and the people, he would continue to enjoy the Mandate. However, if the king became evil or cruel, heaven would no longer support him, meaning he had no right to rule. Various events could indicate that a king had lost the Mandate of Heaven, such as droughts, famine, military defeat, or natural disasters. If something went wrong, it could be attributed to the Mandate. This meant that when a ruler was overthrown, it wasn’t viewed as a rebellion against authority but as the will of heaven. This was revolutionary, as it offered a moral basis for why certain dynasties came to power and why others fell.

The Zhou Dynasty firmly believed that their right to rule was conditional, unlike the Shang, whose power was seen as hereditary and rooted in their ancestors. The Mandate of Heaven could be earned or lost, depending on the leader’s virtue. This concept would be used throughout much of Chinese history whenever a new dynasty overthrew the previous one. The new rulers would claim they had the Mandate of Heaven and that the previous dynasty had lost it due to corruption or ineptitude.

Beyond its political implications, the Mandate of Heaven also influenced Chinese culture and society. It reinforced the importance of moral behavior for both rulers and the people, aligning the political realm with the cosmic order. The Zhou rulers maintained their legitimacy not just through conquest but by promoting a highly centralized and bureaucratic state. They appointed officials to oversee various aspects of governance, extending their control over vast territories.

The Zhou Dynasty’s use of the Mandate of Heaven marked the beginning of a new era in Chinese history, where governance became the foundation of political authority. This idea would be invoked time and again by successive dynasties to justify their rule and explain the fall of their predecessors, making the Mandate of Heaven one of the most important legacies of the Zhou Dynasty.

With the Zhou Dynasty, the Mandate of Heaven opened a new period in the history of China, where the morality of the sovereign became the source of power. This concept would be used by subsequent dynasties to justify their rule and explain why previous dynasties were overthrown, making the Mandate of Heaven one of the Zhou Dynasty’s most significant contributions.

Despite their differences, the Shang and Zhou dynasties left a profound mark on Chinese civilization. The Zhou, in particular, played a crucial role in shaping what we now think of as traditional Chinese culture, from the Mandate of Heaven to the early forms of Confucianism.

So, how old is Chinese civilization? It depends on what we mean by civilization. If we’re talking about writing and political systems, we can trace it back to the Shang. But if we mean a civilization that is self-aware with a distinct cultural identity that has persisted to this day, we might have to look at the Zhou as the true beginning. Either way, one thing is certain: China’s history is incredibly old, complex, and still evolving.

Thanks for watching! What other origins of civilization do you want to learn about? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, hit the bell, share this video with a friend, and all that good stuff to stay up to date on all the fascinating stories from human history.

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This version removes any informal language and maintains a more neutral tone while preserving the essential content and structure of the original transcript.