﻿476 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  Thus 
  in 
  Babylonia, 
  writing, 
  wheeled 
  vehicles, 
  the 
  ox-drawn 
  plow, 
  

   wheat, 
  and 
  all 
  the 
  common 
  domestic 
  animals 
  except 
  the 
  horse, 
  with 
  

   a 
  complete 
  mastery 
  of 
  bronze 
  working, 
  all 
  existed 
  well 
  before 
  3000 
  

   B. 
  C. 
  In 
  China, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  there 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  no 
  knowl- 
  

   edge 
  of 
  the 
  metals 
  before 
  around 
  2000 
  B. 
  C. 
  Yet 
  only 
  something 
  like 
  

   500 
  years 
  later 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River 
  basin 
  occupied 
  by 
  an 
  already 
  

   well-developed 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  civilization 
  which 
  had 
  most 
  (though 
  not 
  

   quite 
  all) 
  of 
  the 
  elements 
  known 
  to 
  the 
  Near 
  East 
  a 
  thousand 
  years 
  or 
  

   more 
  earlier. 
  This 
  civilization 
  must 
  therefore 
  have 
  appeared 
  in 
  north- 
  

   ern 
  China 
  during 
  the 
  first 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  second 
  millennium 
  B. 
  C. 
  

  

  Thus 
  not 
  only 
  did 
  the 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  begin 
  in 
  China 
  many 
  centuries 
  

   later 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  Near 
  East, 
  but 
  it 
  survived 
  there 
  nearly 
  a 
  thousand 
  

   years 
  longer. 
  Moreover 
  the 
  Chinese 
  form 
  had 
  from 
  the 
  first, 
  ap- 
  

   parently, 
  a 
  well-developed 
  system 
  of 
  writing, 
  a 
  very 
  skilled 
  knowledge 
  

   of 
  bronze 
  working, 
  and 
  the 
  same 
  domestic 
  animals 
  and 
  food 
  plants 
  

   (though 
  not 
  yet 
  the 
  ox-drawn 
  plow) 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  Near 
  East. 
  Also 
  it 
  had 
  

   wheeled 
  vehicles 
  and 
  animal 
  traction, 
  including 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  horses 
  to 
  

   draw 
  the 
  chariot. 
  The 
  latter 
  object, 
  moreover, 
  was 
  used 
  in 
  exactly 
  the 
  

   same 
  way 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  Near 
  East, 
  for 
  pagentry, 
  ceremonial, 
  hunting, 
  

   and 
  war. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  in 
  China 
  the 
  local 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  lacked 
  certain 
  

   traits 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  cultural 
  stage 
  in 
  the 
  Near 
  East. 
  Thus 
  

   the 
  Chinese 
  had 
  no 
  dairy 
  economy 
  or 
  weaving 
  of 
  woolen 
  fabrics 
  ; 
  and 
  

   it 
  was 
  not 
  until 
  around 
  the 
  fourth 
  century 
  B. 
  C. 
  that 
  the 
  ox-drawn 
  

   plow 
  finally 
  appeared 
  there 
  (Laufer, 
  1914-1915 
  passim). 
  

  

  CHINESE 
  ORIGIN 
  LEGENDS 
  

  

  Chinese 
  legends 
  about 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  their 
  civilization 
  (the 
  only 
  one 
  

   of 
  which 
  they 
  knew 
  in 
  antiquity) 
  have 
  come 
  down 
  to 
  us 
  in 
  late 
  form, 
  

   and 
  do 
  not 
  represent 
  genuine 
  folk 
  recollections, 
  at 
  least 
  as 
  they 
  stand. 
  

   They 
  are 
  not, 
  however, 
  mere 
  inventions 
  or 
  fictions, 
  but 
  preserve, 
  albeit 
  

   in 
  distorted 
  form, 
  the 
  real 
  beliefs 
  held 
  by 
  their 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  ruling 
  

   classes 
  about 
  the 
  beginnings 
  of 
  their 
  civilization 
  (Latourette, 
  1934, 
  vol. 
  

   1, 
  pp. 
  37^0; 
  Bishop, 
  1934, 
  p. 
  297). 
  

  

  The 
  oldest 
  traditions 
  cluster 
  about 
  northwestern 
  China, 
  especially 
  

   southwestern 
  Shansi 
  and 
  central 
  Shensi. 
  This 
  localization 
  is 
  signifi- 
  

   cant; 
  for 
  the 
  area 
  in 
  question 
  is 
  again 
  — 
  like 
  the 
  one 
  just 
  cited 
  as 
  that 
  

   where 
  the 
  Neolithic 
  painted 
  pottery 
  and 
  traces 
  of 
  the 
  earliest 
  knowl- 
  

   edge 
  of 
  metals 
  in 
  China 
  occur 
  — 
  near 
  the 
  eastern 
  terminus 
  of 
  the 
  "cor- 
  

   ridor 
  of 
  the 
  steppes." 
  (See 
  map, 
  fig. 
  1.) 
  Archeologically 
  and 
  cul- 
  

   turally, 
  this 
  region 
  is 
  by 
  far 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  in 
  eastern 
  Asia. 
  

  

  THE 
  HSIA 
  DYNASTY 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  the 
  orthodox 
  Chinese 
  accounts, 
  the 
  first 
  dynasty 
  was 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  Hsia, 
  but 
  of 
  this 
  we 
  have 
  neither 
  contemporary 
  records 
  nor 
  

  

  