﻿FAR 
  EASTERN 
  CIVILIZATIONS 
  — 
  BISHOP 
  

  

  479 
  

  

  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  domestic 
  horse 
  in 
  China 
  in 
  Neolithic 
  times 
  is 
  wanting, 
  

   just 
  as 
  it 
  is, 
  practically, 
  in 
  Europe 
  during 
  the 
  same 
  cultural 
  phase. 
  

   That 
  the 
  Shangs 
  had 
  it, 
  however, 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  doubt 
  ; 
  but 
  they 
  did 
  not 
  

   ride 
  it, 
  using 
  it 
  instead 
  to 
  draw 
  their 
  chariots. 
  For 
  in 
  China, 
  as 
  in 
  

   most 
  ancient 
  lands, 
  the 
  horse 
  was 
  driven 
  long 
  before 
  it 
  was 
  ridden. 
  

  

  Shang 
  inscriptions 
  reveal 
  that 
  cattle 
  were 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  do- 
  

   mestic 
  animals. 
  They 
  were 
  offered 
  in 
  sacrifice, 
  their 
  flesh 
  was 
  eaten, 
  

   and 
  their 
  hides 
  made 
  into 
  leather 
  ; 
  but 
  milk 
  was 
  not 
  used. 
  Oxen 
  were 
  

   probably 
  employed 
  to 
  draw 
  carts 
  and 
  carry 
  packs. 
  

  

  Sheep 
  and 
  goats 
  were 
  also 
  kept. 
  They 
  seem, 
  however, 
  not 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  derived 
  from 
  native 
  wild 
  forms 
  but 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  western 
  

   ones 
  as 
  the 
  domestic 
  sheep 
  and 
  goats 
  of 
  the 
  Occident. 
  Sheep 
  were 
  

   sacrificed 
  by 
  the 
  Shangs, 
  though 
  not 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  extent 
  as 
  cattle; 
  

   and 
  mutton 
  was 
  an 
  article 
  of 
  diet. 
  Wool, 
  however, 
  was 
  not 
  spun 
  or 
  

   woven, 
  either 
  then 
  or 
  later. 
  

  

  Figure 
  5. 
  — 
  Country 
  oxcart, 
  a 
  primitive 
  survival. 
  

  

  Swine 
  were 
  bred 
  in 
  large 
  numbers, 
  just 
  as 
  in 
  Neolithic 
  times 
  ; 
  and 
  

   dogs 
  were 
  both 
  sacrificed 
  and 
  eaten. 
  The 
  domestic 
  fowl 
  was 
  known, 
  

   and 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  reached 
  China, 
  probably 
  by 
  the 
  Burma 
  Koad 
  

   (see 
  map, 
  fig. 
  1) 
  from 
  Indo-China, 
  during 
  the 
  "dark 
  age" 
  which 
  fol- 
  

   lowed 
  the 
  Neolithic 
  period, 
  for 
  its 
  remains 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  identified 
  

   from 
  sites 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  cultural 
  phase 
  in 
  China. 
  

  

  Trade 
  and 
  transportation. 
  — 
  A 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  civilization 
  always 
  pre- 
  

   supposes 
  a 
  considerable 
  amount 
  of 
  trade, 
  both 
  domestic 
  and 
  foreign. 
  

   The 
  northern 
  Chinese 
  plain 
  was, 
  however, 
  deficient 
  in 
  many 
  kinds 
  of 
  

   raw 
  materials, 
  especially 
  metals. 
  And 
  since 
  these 
  played 
  an 
  im- 
  

   portant 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  time, 
  they 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  imported 
  from 
  

   other 
  regions, 
  particularly 
  from 
  the 
  Yangtze 
  Valley, 
  then 
  and 
  for 
  

   long 
  afterward 
  not 
  regarded 
  as 
  part 
  of 
  China. 
  

  

  Some 
  transportation 
  was 
  carried 
  on 
  by 
  water 
  ; 
  but 
  mainly 
  it 
  seems 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  by 
  land, 
  probably 
  in 
  oxcarts 
  (for 
  a 
  modern 
  but 
  primi- 
  

   tive 
  survival, 
  see 
  fig. 
  5) 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  backs 
  of 
  oxen, 
  for 
  the 
  horse 
  

   seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  reserved 
  for 
  the 
  uses 
  of 
  war, 
  the 
  chase, 
  and 
  

   religion. 
  

  

  