EASTERN ASIA — BISHOP 



439 



THE EASTERN CHOU PERIOD 



For some 300 years (ca. 1050-770 B. C.) the Cliou capital remained 

 in northwestern China, just at the eastern gateway of the steppe corri- 

 dor. The eighth century B. C. however, brought a fresh attack from 

 the west, by a people known as the Jungs. This forced the ruling 

 dynasty eastward, deeper into north-central China. It thus lost its 

 political power ; but its sacerdotal character kept it in place for some 

 600 years longer, until the third century before our era. 



In the Near East, by the end of the second millennium B. C, bronze 

 had begun to give place to iron. In eastern Asia the Bronze Age 

 lasted until considerably later; but it displayed from first to last a 



EQUATOff 



KNOWN OCCURRENCE 



-OF- 



BRONZE SWORDS 



-IN- 



ANTIQUITY 



Figure 3. 



character backward and undeveloped by comparison with those of the 

 Occident. Whole categories of bronze objects found on western sites 

 (particularly those of the Late Brone Age) are rare or entirely lacking 

 in China. Among such objects are bronze pails, sickles, hoe-blades, 

 fishhooks, razors, pins, fibulae, shields, trumpets, and many others. 



Of such "culture lag," the part played in ancient China by the bronze 

 sword provides an excellent illustration. In the Occident that weapon, 

 after undergoing a long and complex evolution from very primitive 

 beginnings, had reached a developed form by the second millennium 

 B. C. In China, on the other hand, the bronze sword does not occur 



