#Xia Dynasty

[tenth-sentence]

All three of China's first three dynasties, the Xia and Shang and Zhou Dynasties, arose in North China in the second millennium B.C.

"Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years" - Jared Diamond

[yesthatsatumbler]

TBF the Chinese also tried writing everything on (bone, in their case) tablets and hoarding them in their basement. Then some early-modern folks stumbled on that basement with a giant pile of bones in it and started grinding the bones down to sell as medicine. It was a miracle that enough of them actually survived long enough to be researched by modern archaeologists.

Unfortunately bones are also a lot less convenient than clay for writing really tiny symbols on, so a typical Chinese bone text is something like a dozen characters long.

(Also this still doesn't get us to the Xia, just [their successors] the Shang. Which is already much more than was known to be attested before that one pile of bones was discovered.)

The problem with ancient history is that ancient historians were not all that great from separating rumors from facts.

Like, you learn that China’s first dynasty was the Xia Dynasty, and at first that seems pretty solid.

But then you realize that all the knowledge we have about the Xia Dynasty’s existence can be traced to like twoish books from multiple dynasties later, which talk about how the Xia Dynasty was founded by Yu the Great, who had a pet dragon and defeated nine-headed monsters, because this is all knowledge that has been handed down in a giant game of Telephone and no one knows which part is even real.

And a lot of knowledge we have about ancient history is like this. Did Sun Tzu (creator of Sun Tzu’s Art of War) really exist? Or was The Art of War just a collection of common knowledge from the Warring States Period? Did Lao Tse (founder of Taoism) really exist? Or was the Tao Te Ching just a collection of Taoist thought?

Anyway, whenever we tell stories about things that happened in Whatever BC, remember to mentally add “according to this one guy from like 500-1500 years later, who learned it from bedtime stories”.

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 16: Ancient History VII and Earlier

These Questions are the result of suggestions from the previous iteration.

This category may include suggestions made too late to fall into the correct grouping.

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration.

I am particularly in need of more specific non-European suggestions in particular, but all suggestions are welcome.

[ah-xun]

中華一族族譜 Chinese family genealogy

[a-modernmajorgeneral]

獨奏：謝從馨 Solo: HSIEH Tsung-Hsin 指揮：任燕平 Conductor: JEN Yen-Ping 錫穗國樂團 Xisui Chinese Orchestra   / xsco2012   《錫穗風采》2020-08-13 於臺北市國家音樂廳

打擊樂協奏曲《商銅》王辰威 作曲 Concerto for Chinese Percussion «Bronze Age of Shang» Composed by Wang Chenwei https://wangchenwei.wordpress.com/

Three thousand years ago, the Shāng Dynasty bequeathed two cultural treasures to China: the oracle bone script and Chinese bronzeware. The exquisite craftsmanship and design of Shāng bronzeware bear witness to the illustrious history of ancient China. Inspired by an exhibition of Shāng Dynasty ritual objects and musical instruments at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, this concerto exclusively features Chinese percussion instruments. It evokes the grandeur of the Shāng Dynasty through three movements, each themed after a type of bronzeware.

First Movement: Yuè – Battle Axe of Kings

The Yuè was a weapon that doubled as a ceremonial object, symbolising a king’s military command. This movement depicts King Tāng of Shāng rallying his vast army to campaign against the ruthless King Jié of Xià in 1600 BCE.

The soloist performs on the Jiàngǔ (mounted drum) and Páigǔ (arrayed drums) while the wind instruments carry the melody. To evoke the clash of weaponry, the orchestra musicians strike with wooden sticks and stomp their feet to portray infantry drills.

Second Movement: Jué – Wine Vessel of Aristocrats

The Jué was a wine vessel used by rulers and aristocrats on occasions such as forging alliances, going out to war and celebrating victories. This elegant and relaxed movement conjures images of a palace banquet with intermingling winecups and graceful dancers.

The soloist plays rhythmic figures with relative pitches on suspended Chinese cymbals and gongs. Bamboo clappers are used in the middle section. At the beginning and end, the soloist presses a cymbal on a gong while playing tremolo on the gong to imitate the sound of pouring wine. Plucked string instruments are featured for the melody, incorporating techniques like slides, pitch bends and harmonics.

Third Movement: Dǐng – Ritual Cauldron of Sovereignty

The Dǐng, a cooking vessel, became a ritual and ceremonial object symbolising a country’s sovereignty and was adorned with ancient Chinese characters engraved in the bronze script. The movement’s main motif, “D-G-A”, comprises three notes separated by the musical interval of fourths, symbolising the ancient three-legged and four-legged Dǐng.

The soloist plays the Biānzhōng (pitched bells), Yúnluó (pitched gongs), Huāpéngǔ (low drum), Xiǎochǎ (small cymbals) and Fēngluó (thin gong). Some segments involve one hand playing pitched notes on the Yúnluó and the other hand simultaneously playing unpitched rhythmic accompaniment on the drum. The main theme, presented by the bowed string instruments, is stately and dignified, portraying the vast and prosperous lands of the Shāng dynasty.

A highlight of this movement is the recitation by the orchestra of a verse from the poem The Swallow from Poetry Classics: Shāng Odes using Old Chinese pronunciation (a scholars’ reconstruction of Chinese pronunciation two millennia ago). The meaning of the verse is as follows:

Heaven mandated the swallow, To descend and give birth to the Shāng, Dwelling in Yīn, a vast state. God appointed the martial Tāng, To secure the kingdom great.

Commissioned and premiered by the Taipei Chinese Orchestra in 2019, this piece has since been performed by several other orchestras, including the Taoyuan Chinese Orchestra, Kaohsiung City Chinese Orchestra, and Beijing Chinese Orchestra.

[moononmyfloor]

Homage to Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage in Young Blood 2 (大宋少年志2)

From the show's Weibo

Western Xia Bald hairstyle, Taoist Lotus Crown, Men wearing zanhua, Song dynasty pearl makeup and Su embroidery

.

More posts by me

[shanghuuo]

good news! i’ve been hammering away at longwei’s timeline and i’ve made it up to the shang dynasty!! the bad news is that is only two dynasties out of eighty three :,)

[tenth-sentence]

Our archaeological knowledge of China's emerging cities and states then becomes supplemented by written accounts of China's first dynasties, going back to the Xia Dynasty, which arose around 2000 B.C.

"Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years" - Jared Diamond

[thessidy]

Xian raptor owners: take note!! In Maurya it’s standard practice to Snood (snood, snooded, snooding) your Raptor during any thunderstorms or festivals. I know the fireworks and chistonworks every year are new and exciting and signal a grand new age under the Tang, but please make sure to keep in mind your pets as well!

Putting your dromaeosaur in a Snood is a great way to keep them warm in winter AND keep calm during firework displays or thunderstorms!!***

*** we take no responsibility for any injuries sustained while trying to put a dromaeosaur in a Snood

[chinemagazine]

Les dynasties Xia et Shang au centre d'un nouveau centre de recherche

Un nouveau centre de recherche archéologique dédié aux dynasties chinoises Xia et Shang sera créé à Luoyang, dans le Henan

Un nouveau centre de recherche archéologique dédié aux dynasties chinoises Xia (environ 2070 avant JC-1600 avant JC) et Shang (environ 1600 avant JC-1046 avant JC) sera créé à Luoyang, dans la province du Henan, selon le gouvernement local. Le centre sera situé à proximité du parc du site archéologique d’Erlitou, l’un des plus importants de Chine. Ce site était autrefois l’emplacement de la…

[aire1111]

Phoenix headed konghou harp, Sui Dynasty (581-618 A.D.). Mogao Caves, cave 327, of which Chang Dai-chien would paint a replica. That painting was titled "中的飞天" Flying Sky or Flying Feintian.

[aphemorpha]

ech. might consolidate #arthuriana and #the mabigonion under #ancient britannia or #ancient britain to match my other tags of #ancient egypt, greece, italy, and china.

[niteshade925]

Saw these tags in a reblog of my Chinese museum posts, and thought I have to make a response just so everyone is clear on how archaeological studies are carried out in China:

^Well, the Shaanxi Archaeology Museum is a Chinese museum displaying artifacts found in China, it's not the British Museum lol.

But anyway just so everyone knows, modern Chinese archaeology has a rule, which is that unless it's absolutely necessary, an ancient tomb/mausoleum should not be disturbed. This means that many of these artifacts in the museums are found in a few main ways:

Tombs that absolutely had to be excavated because there were clear signs of grave robbing present, for example when tunnels left by grave robbers were found near a known tomb. This is called "excavating to rescue" (抢救性发掘), it's done by teams of archaeologists, the artifacts found will then be studied and eventually find a home in museums in China. In comparison, actual grave robbers would steal artifacts and sell them for money; many stolen artifacts would end up in auctions, mostly outside of mainland China. This is why there is no "general positive sense" in the phrase "grave robbing with grant money" when it comes to archaeology in China. Modern Chinese archaeology and grave robbing are simply not comparable in any way whatsoever.

Tombs that absolutely had to be excavated because new infrastructure will be built in that location. Such exacavations are also included in excavating to rescue. Examples include tombs in Xi'an city that had to be excavated because a metro was being built. Since Chinese people and Chinese culture are native to China, there are no ethical problems whatsoever, this simply a question of what matters more, the welfare of living Chinese people or the abstract afterlives of ancient Chinese people. Obviously, the welfare of living Chinese people is a more important matter. As for the argument of "but this goes against traditional culture", first, a culture is only alive if the people of that culture is alive and doing well, otherwise that culture is as good as dead; second, a major part of traditional Chinese culture IS focused on the welfare of descendants (ex: the belief that the spirits of ancestors will protect their descendants), so I'm sure our ancestors would be proud to see us doing well.

Tombs that were excavated because archaeologists were absolutely sure that artifacts discovered within would make major contributions to the study of Chinese history. This is pretty much the only exception to the rule of "excavating to rescue", and it is very rarely allowed. An example is the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project (夏商周断代工程), where the main focus is to gain a clearer picture of the timeline of ancient Chinese history, when dynasties began/ended, when major events may have happened, etc.

Artifacts that were found when arresting grave robbers. These are called "recovered artifacts" (追回文物).

Artifacts that returned to China from foreign countries, these are called "returned artifacts" (回归文物). A big portion of these artifacts ended up in foreign countries precisely because of grave robbers, and another big portion were and are still lost for the same reason as why the British Museum has so many artifacts from around the world.

Artifacts that were discovered scattered throughout China. There are three facts to consider here: 1) China has a long history and as a result, there are vast amounts of existing artifacts; 2) tombs are material things and thus are subject to the elements; 3) not everyone is an archaeologist. Combine these, and you have situations were valuable artifacts were found in places like the chicken coop of a farmer (this is how the eagle-shaped pottery ding was found).

Donations. Some artifacts were family heirlooms that were donated to museums.

[marzennya]

Notification: The peerless jade fairy of Cang Qiong's Mountain Sect is smiling! Looks like he's easily amused by his disciples' antics...!!! What a surprise!!! +300 Overwhelming Beauty Points!

Ok now for my silly little notes in fashion and other nonsense about this piece:

This is specifically Shen Yuan during the pre-abyss arc, mostly because I have a very, very different interpretation of him when he's already married to Binghe- Empress Shen is a whole other, much more decked out beast I will one day tackle.

His clothes are based on late Qin to early Han dynasty clothes for women, mostly because I can, and it seemed perfect for him; it's completely covered, and thus respectable and elegant! Nothing wrong to see here. It's also tight-er around the legs, which leaves things to the imagination...half of the mountain is definitely thinking about his long, slender, lily-white legs at any given time.

Is it technically crossdressing? Yeah, but it is a shitty Xia-Xia world, who's gonna stop me? Airplane? That guy would be on my side, actually.

The see-through outer robe is a flex, look at all that expensive fabric...just hanging off of him...a rich kid in one life a rich kid in all of them.

Binghe does his hair because he's terrible at it and can only do half-updo's or ponytails, he's too distracted by the mere thought of touching Shizun's hair to stop and think why Shen Qingqiu can't do it all of a sudden thankfully.

The hair, on a more serious note, is a bit more realistic to ancient-Chinese hair than an actual half-updo. Though it is more similar to late Han or Tang dynasties hairstyles than anything. Again, shitty Xia-Xia, don't play with me.

There's a little turtle in his fan because I think he'd be like awn that's so cute and either Liu Qingge or Yue QingYuan would be immediately like. I'll buy it!!! He acquires many-a-thing by simply looking cute and staring at it until one of them gets it for him I'm sure.

[fateandloveentwined]

wuxia and confucianism

Hey. Thought I'd answer the wuxia-confucian question very briefly. I did suggest wuxia being closely knitted to confucianism, but I do understand the other perspective of wuxia being anti-confucian. Quick answer only because I've got little time right now -- might add on to it later!!

confucianism

First the central themes of confucianism:

常 (cháng): Virtues of compassion and courtesy. 仁 (rén)、义 (yì)、礼 (lǐ)、智 (zhì)、信 (xìn)、忠 (zhōng)、孝 (xiào)、悌 (tì) (there are more). These in order in crude translation mean compassion, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, integrity, loyalty, filial piety, and respect to one's older siblings. These are the main ideas Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, wished to spread through his philosophy.

纲 (gāng): Order. This is about the relationships between people, the filial piety of child to their parents, the relationship between significant others, between friends and teachers, and expanding outwards in the sphere of influence in our circle of life, the patriotism and loyalty of a liege to his lord.

Understand that Confucius came up with these ideas in a time of war. He lived his life traversing different kingdoms and establishing his prominence by getting emperors to trust him as a consultant and employ his school of ideas. As such, these beliefs are very much centred around creating harmony and order in society, and of course entails the respect of commoners and lieges to their lords (because why else would kings employ his beliefs over other schools of philosophy if not so?).

wuxia

Moving on to the wuxia genre, the 侠 (xiá) in wuxia emphasises righteousness. xia, as people, are itinerants and rebels in the fictitious pugilistic society who tire of the power of the aristocracy and seek to use their own, often unlawful ways, to help others through 锄强扶弱 (chú qiáng fú ruò) -- helping the needy and going against the strong (the morals are debatable but that's me trying to sum up wuxia in 5 minutes off the top of my head rip).

conclusions

So I guess that's enough information for you to form your own conclusions, and here's what I think, at the very least.

Against Confucianism -- Subverting the power pyramid. Many of the heroes/xia's in wuxia are lawless rebels. They aren't good, upstanding citizens of the society. Hell, xia was first popularised from 游侠列传 (yóu xiá liè zhuàn) in the Han dynasty records, talking about how a "xia" went against the officials and helped the commoners in the name of righteousness. This goes against the confucian beliefs of respecting your lord and serving the kingdom.* That's why I can understand why some would consider wuxia going against confucianism.

Align with Confucianism -- Righteousness. Ultimately, however, wuxia is about righteousness and nobility and honour, defined by society and commoners and not by royal blood. These values of etiquette, decorum, and nobility were long ingrained in the hearts of all these chinese characters, from when the courtesy and etiquette rules were defined in the Zhou dynasty, and afterwards, from the Han dynasty on, when emperors heavily employed Confucian beliefs in education and throughout society because it helps in rebuilding a harmonious society.

Confucianism is about compassion and righteousness, the staples permeating and defining chinese culture in the last two thousand years, and it is these values that serve as the central impetus of the xia and wuxia genres. People are born into these values; as such they fight against the injustice they see, and thus engenders the lost xia's of every dynasty.

*And well, even Confucius wasn't that dead set on fealty to lords. Confucian highly venerated loyalty, but when the court is corrupt, they acknowledge insurgence over the mindless following of an emperor. This is a story for another day, one I would have to back up with more quotes and citations, but I hope this answered your questions, or even better, let you form some conclusions of your own :)

Confucian philosophy is only one aspect that has correlations/influences over the "xia" genre, there are many other interesting things to say about Taoism and Buddhism as well (e.g. Jin Yong's wuxia classics have quite a bit of Buddhist values in the characters owing to author preferences), it's definitely worth looking up on these things if you're interested!

initially reblogged under the original meta post on wuxia, xianxia, and cultivation differences, but i realised it was too long and would bury the reply, so please don't mind me opening a new post for this again.

feel free to ask and discuss!!