The Birth of China - The Dawn of Inequality (5000 to 3000 BCE)

In the third episode of our series examining China's earliest societies, we explore the increasingly complex societies of the Middle Neolithic. Over the course of 2000 years we see the emergence of early rulers and religious figures throughout the cultures of Northern and Southern China, along with the appearance of ritual architecture and prestigous burials on an unprecedented scale.

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Big shout and thanks to @ARTiculations for helping me out with some of the Chinese name pronunciations! You can find her channel here:

Another shout and thanks to @Embracehistoria for his work on this video's map graphics! You can find his channel here:

#ancientchina #history #neolithic

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Temple Of Heaven by Rafael Krux
Creative Commons 4.0 License.

[TheHistocrat]

Hey folks, I had too many sources for this episode for the comment word count so I've put them on a google document linked below:

[supersunny]

It's very nice to see Fushanzhuang being mentioned! My dad is from there, and it is nowadays a village of not more than a couple thousand people. Never thought I'd hear it mentioned in any kind of interesting context.

[abigailsavage]

Oh I am so stoked to listen to this later when I'm off doing chores

[hanweiliu]

One thing I want to point out is that for some illustrations showing the burial of King (leaders) of Liangzhu or Lingjiatan, the king is shown naked with jade ornaments. This is not likely as there are already evidence showing intricate fabrics can be manufactured at that time. The king should be buried in glossy silk or other kind of fabrics with complex patterns that echo with the jade ornaments.

[gregb]

China has a fascinating history. I am enjoying this series of videos.

[Lwilight]

Just one more video before I start studying

[HenryElfin]

I was fortunate enough to see one of those "pig dragons" of Hongshan culture in a museum when visiting China. They claimed it to be the "first dragon of China" which simply went over my head. Didn't realize it was that far back in human history

[carlosfernandez]

This is amazing! Would be pretty cool if eventually there was a playlist for each of the cradles of civilization, which I’m addition to Mesopotamia and China would include Egypt, the Indus Valley, the Olmec, and the Norte Chico.

Would be cool to learn about my Olmec ancestors, though it would probably be best if it were left for last, along with Norte Chico, so by the time you get to it there will be a bit more information known about these relatively poorly understood civilizations.

[mitchyG]

Incredibly detailed, hats off to all the research and work done!

[ficklefingeroffate]

A new Histocrat, this has turned into a great Sunday.

[msteffphoto]

This channel has quickly become one of my favorites ever

[Game_Hero]

Neolithic history is the best and the music is just plain amazing!

[ahumpierrogue]

Im really loving this birth of china series! I hope it continues for a long time to come.

Curious about 2 main things, A) how much "traditional historiography" will be covered going forward. Im hoping very little personally. I hope/expect this video series to stick purely to the archaeology.

And B) how the next video(s) will be divided in terms of years covered. Will this next video cover the pre-erlitou culture or cover it itself? Personally, I think an entire video on the 3000BC-2000BC period is very possible, so I hope it takes that narrower focus. Leave the Erlitou culture for a video further down.

[AlexVictorianus]

Wow! Xian has a really rich (pre) history. It was not only a site from the earliest Chinese states, but even from the time before the states

[RangerGucci]

Cant wait to listen to this later today man im looking forward to it

[imperfectclark]

Perfect for my Sunday night chilldown -- thanks man!

[GL-ivrw]

You should have mentioned the identities of each culture, for instance Daxi being associated with the ancestors of the Miao, Dapenkeng being associated with the early Austronesians and Yangshao often associated with the long process of partition into the proto-Tibetics and proto-Sinitics.

[jonny-b]

It's wild to think how "small" their world's were. Their entire lives. So simple, yet complicated, the same emotions and what not. But just so much smaller in terms of perspective.

[patrickotis]

Thank you for the new vid! Glad to see more East Asian history out there.

[SammieMikros]

Love the topics on this channel, but I have to admit I fall asleep every time I watch a vid 😅😴. Maybe a bit more energy or engagement would help! 💡❤