This volume examines the role of objects in the region north of early dynastic state centers, at the intersection of Ancient China and Eurasia, a large area that stretches from Xinjiang to the China Sea, from c.3000 BCE to the mid-eighth century BCE. This area was a frontier, an ambiguous space that lay at the margins of direct political control by the metropolitan states, where local and colonial ideas and practices were reconstructed transculturally. These identities were often merged and displayed in material culture. Types of objects, styles, and iconography were often hybrids or new to the region, as were the tomb assemblages in which they were deposited and found. Patrons commissioned objects that marked a symbolic vision of place and person and that could mobilize support, legitimize rule, and bind people together. Through close examination of key artifacts, this book untangles the considerable changes in political structure and cultural makeup of ancient Chinese states and their northern neighbors.
Author(s): Katheryn M. Linduff; Yan Sun; Wei Cao; Yuanqing Liu
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2017
Language: English
Pages: xiv+278
City: Cambridge
Ancient China and its Eurasian Neighbors. Artifacts, Identity and Death in the Frontier, 3000–700 BCE
Contents
List of Figures
List of Charts
List of Maps
Introduction: The Inner Asian Frontier Reconsidered
The Reconsidered Inner Asian Frontier
1 Shaping the Study of Inner Asian Artifacts and Mental Boundaries
Past Scholarship
Materialization of Identity in Metal on the Inner Asian Frontier: Artifacts in Action
Frontiers or Contact Zones
Artifacts as Classificatory on the Inner Asian Frontier
Methods and Objectives
Technoscapes, Individualscapes, Regionscapes and Lineagescapes
2 Technoscapes and the Materialization of Ideas in Metal on the Inner Asian Frontier (c. 3000–1500 BCE)
The Emergence and Distribution of Early Metal Use: The Scholarship
Inner Asian Frontier Technoscapes
Area I: The Western Region Manifest in Gansu and Xinjiang (c. 2500–1500 BCE)
Area II: The Central Inner Asian Frontier Manifest in Western and Southern Mongolia, Shaanxi and Shanxi (c. 2800–1500 BCE)
Area IIa: Southern Mongolia: Afanasievo and Elunino/Chemurchek (Late Fourth to Second Millennium BCE)
Area IIb: Inside China: In Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces
Area III: Northeastern Region: Eastern Inner Mongolia, Northern Hebei, and Western Liaoning
Area IV: The Eastern Area: The Shandong Peninsula
Consequences of These Early Technoscapes: Artifacts in Action
3 Identity and Artifacts on the North Central and Northeastern Frontier during the Period of State Expansion in the Late Second and the Early First Millennium BCE
The Northeastern Region
The Jing, Jin and Tang Alluvial Plain
The Liujiahe Tomb: Early Use of Shang Capital-Style Bronze Vessels
Tombs in the Upper Chaobai and Luan River Valley
Keeping the Local Tradition Alive in Mortuary Practice
Local Choice of Bronze Ding and Gui Vessels
The Yan Mountainous Region: Ritualized Display of Frontier Identity
Bronze Caches at Chaodaogou and Xiaohe’nan
Tombs at Baifu
The Xibozi Cache
The Northern Slopes of the Yan Mountains
The Daling and Xiaoling River Valley: The Weiyingzi Culture and Shifting Cultural and Political Landscapes
Bronzes in Tombs of the Weiyingzi Culture (c. Late Second to First Millennium BCE)
Caches at Kazuo
The Shifting Cultural Landscape
Southeastern Inner Mongolia: The Upper Xiajiadian Culture (c. 1000–600 BCE)
The Rise of Shared Cultural Identity: The Longtoushan Type (c. 1000 to Mid-ninth Century BCE)
Formation of Regional Cultural Identity: The Nanshan’gen Type (c. Mid-ninth to Eighth Century BCE)
Abundance and Diversity of Bronze Weapons and Horse Ornaments
Use of Zhou Capital-Style Bronze Vessels
Production of Indigenous Bronze Vessels
Variations in Identity Construction in the Northeastern Region
The North Central Region
The Xicha Culture (c. Eleventh to Mid-tenth Century BCE)
Settlements of the Lijiaya Culture (c. 1400–1100 BCE): Lijiaya and Gaohong
Bronze Findings on the Jin–Shaan Plateau – Fusion of Central Plain and Frontier Identity in Elite Culture
The Selection and Use of Anyang-Style Bronze Vessels
Northern-Frontier-Style Bronzes: Similarities and Differences between Bronze Groups
Identity in Transition: The Tomb at Linzheyu
Assemblages of Bronze Weapons and Tools: Rise of a Distinctive Frontier Identity
Northern Identity Redefined: The Peng Lineage and Their Acceptance into the New Zhou Regime in the Linfen Basin
Different Modes of Identity Construction in the Central Region of the Inner Asian Frontier
4 The Rise of States and the Formation of Group Identities in the Western Regions of the Inner Asian Frontier (c. 1500 to the Eighth Century BCE)
The Jing and Wei River Valleys
The Rise of a Mixed Economy, Including Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, in Western Guanzhong
The Upper Jing River Valley – The Nianzipo Site (1300–1000 BCE)
The Lower Jing River Valley
The Sunjia Type (Early Phase, Late Second Millennium BCE)
Intermingling of Local and Shang Groups: Duanjing Phase II and the Heidouzui Type (Late Second Millennium BCE)
Duanjing Phase II Remains
The Heidouzui Type
The Lower Western Wei River Valley (Baoji Area) – The Liujia Culture (c. Fifteenth Century to c. 1000 BCE)
The Upper Wei River Valley – The Siwa Culture (c. 1400–700 BCE)
The Qiang- and Jiang-Surnamed Groups
Formation of Lineage Groups in the Wei River Valley during the Western Zhou Period
A Powerful Northern Enemy of theWestern Zhou – Xianyun
Local Communities in Western Gansu and the Qinghai Region
The Eastern Hehuang Region – The Xindian Culture (c. 1700–600 BCE)
The Western Hehuang Region – The Kayue Culture (c. 1600–500 BCE)
The Qaidam Basin – The Nuomuhong Culture (4000 BCE–300 CE)
The Hexi Corridor – The Shajing (c. 900–400 BCE) and Shanma Cultures (c. First Millennium BCE)
5 Final Statements/Conclusions and Future Challenges
The Inner Asian Frontier: A Cultural Crossroads
The Formation of Technoscapes on the Inner Asian Frontier
Individualscapes, Regionscapes and Lineagescapes from the Late Second to the Early First Millennium BCE
The Fluidity of the Scapes
Final Summation
Glossary of Terms
Bibliography 参考书目
Index
