﻿ORIGIN 
  OF 
  FAR 
  EASTERN 
  CIVILIZATIONS 
  

   A 
  BRIEF 
  HANDBOOK 
  1 
  

  

  By 
  Cakl 
  Whiting 
  Bishop 
  

   Freer 
  Gallery 
  of 
  Art, 
  Smithsonian 
  Institution 
  

  

  [With 
  12 
  plates] 
  

  

  INTRODUCTION 
  

  

  AIMS 
  AND 
  METHODS 
  OF 
  STUDY 
  

  

  Anthropology 
  is 
  that 
  science 
  which 
  studies 
  man 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  

   his 
  environment, 
  physical, 
  social, 
  and 
  economic. 
  But 
  to 
  this 
  end 
  we 
  

   must 
  also 
  lay 
  under 
  contribution 
  many 
  of 
  its 
  sister 
  sciences, 
  notably 
  

   those 
  of 
  geology, 
  climatology, 
  biology, 
  and 
  history 
  ; 
  for 
  these 
  too 
  can 
  

   throw 
  light 
  on 
  various 
  aspects 
  of 
  our 
  problem 
  — 
  the 
  career 
  of 
  mankind 
  

   in 
  ancient 
  eastern 
  Asia. 
  The 
  cultural 
  significance 
  of 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   globe, 
  moreover, 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  every 
  other, 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  rightly 
  under- 
  

   stood 
  if 
  we 
  view 
  it 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  cultures 
  of 
  neighboring 
  areas; 
  

   while 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  civilization 
  there 
  must, 
  as 
  always, 
  be 
  interpreted 
  

   in 
  terms 
  both 
  of 
  time 
  and 
  of 
  space. 
  

  

  CHINA 
  

  

  Physical 
  envirorwnent. 
  — 
  As 
  a 
  preliminary 
  survey, 
  we 
  need 
  to 
  know 
  

   in 
  at 
  least 
  its 
  main 
  outlines 
  the 
  geography 
  of 
  China 
  ; 
  since 
  it 
  was 
  there 
  

   that 
  our 
  particular 
  phase 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  human 
  drama 
  began 
  (Cressey, 
  

   1934, 
  passim; 
  Latourette, 
  1934, 
  vol. 
  1, 
  ch. 
  1). 
  

  

  As 
  a 
  glance 
  at 
  a 
  map 
  or, 
  better 
  still, 
  a 
  terrestrial 
  globe 
  will 
  show, 
  

   the 
  area 
  in 
  question 
  occupies 
  a 
  position 
  marginal 
  or 
  peripheral 
  to 
  

   the 
  Near 
  East 
  — 
  the 
  region 
  where, 
  as 
  we 
  now 
  know, 
  civilization 
  first 
  

   developed. 
  Ever 
  since 
  fairly 
  remote 
  geologic 
  times, 
  however, 
  these 
  

   widely 
  sundered 
  areas 
  have 
  been 
  linked 
  by 
  two 
  great 
  land 
  routes 
  or 
  

   thoroughfares 
  of 
  migration 
  and 
  travel, 
  vegetable, 
  animal, 
  and 
  human. 
  

   (See 
  map. 
  fig. 
  1) 
  . 
  These 
  pass 
  in 
  a 
  generally 
  east-and 
  west 
  direction 
  to 
  

   the 
  north 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  south, 
  respectively, 
  of 
  the 
  lofty 
  tableland 
  of 
  Tibet. 
  

   The 
  former 
  route, 
  that 
  on 
  the 
  north, 
  has 
  in 
  general 
  played 
  far 
  the 
  more 
  

  

  1 
  Reprinted 
  from 
  Smithsonian 
  War 
  Background 
  Studies, 
  No. 
  1, 
  Publ. 
  3681, 
  June 
  10, 
  1942. 
  

   The 
  author 
  died 
  June 
  16, 
  1942. 
  

  

  463 
  

  

  