ANC: Lesson - Yellow River: Geography, Religion, and Technology

Yellow River: Geography, Religion, and Technology

Yellow River Civilization Geography

One of the main things you should remember about the previous civilizations covered in this unit is the concept of Cultural Diffusion. It is a sociological term that means the spreading out of culture, cultural traits, or a cultural pattern from a central point. The Mesopotamians, both Nile River groups, Bantu, Persians, Hebrews, and both Indus River groups benefited from their locations and the ease of cultural diffusion between them. That is not the case for our next civilization: the Yellow River civilization in modern-day China. It was relatively isolated because it was surrounded by the Himalayan Mountains and the Taklamakan and Gobi Deserts. This means it was harder for their culture to diffuse.

Also, the natural environment presented its own challenges: the Loess Plateau produces large dust storms, which are hard on most plants and leads to erosion. The Yellow River flows through the Loess Plateau and all the dust makes it flood. The area also experiences monsoons like the Indus River Valley civilizations. When looking at an average over the past 2,000 years – this area experiences either a drought or a flood just about once a year! All in all, this sometimes harsh geography also did not easily allow for domesticated animals. (At least, at first.) This is why it took a long time for the Longshan Culture to develop this area into a distinct group from about 4000-3000 BCE.

The Shang and Zhou Dynasties: Religion and Technology

The first well-documented dynasties in China were the Shang and the Zhou. The Shang and the Zhou Dynasty were polytheistic and practiced ancestor worship. The Shang Dynasty used Oracle bones (bone fragments with carved words, tossed like dice for prophecy) to understand their gods’ desires. Archaeologists have uncovered over 3,000 words on these oracle bones! The Shang dynasty invented even more – they introduced a solar calendar with roughly 360 days, leap months, and musical instruments. This dynasty also produced unique white pottery and manufactured silk.

When the Zhou dynasty took over the Shang, the excess Shang priests turned to scribe work. The Zhou dynasty produced important written works, including the poetry of the Book of Songs and the Art of War by Sun Tzu. This latter book on warfare is still influential today and reflects how the Zhou were highly ritualized, even in war. The Zhou also further developed the Shang Dynasty’s metalwork. They invented cast iron and the plow (which you will see inadvertently weakened the Zhou Dynasty). This led to further agricultural innovation, including crop rotation and an increased harvest of soybeans.

We can trace a path of change, as one innovation led to another. In metalwork, the early Shang dynasty relied on copper, but eventually, as other Bronze Age cultures did, they discovered that they could combine copper with tin to form bronze. Because of this, the Shang dynasty led the Yellow River civilization into the Bronze Age. As they continued to advance, these tools, for both agriculture and war, became more ornate.

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