﻿484 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  The 
  rulers 
  of 
  these 
  city-states 
  were 
  constantly 
  trying 
  to 
  throw 
  off 
  

   the 
  sway 
  of 
  their 
  titular 
  suzerian 
  ; 
  and 
  now 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  sought 
  the 
  

   aid 
  of 
  a 
  group 
  called 
  the 
  Chous, 
  who 
  lived 
  on 
  the 
  northwestern 
  fron- 
  

   tiers 
  of 
  China, 
  along 
  the 
  border 
  between 
  what 
  are 
  now 
  the 
  provinces 
  

   of 
  Shensi 
  and 
  Kansu 
  (see 
  map, 
  fig. 
  21). 
  

  

  These 
  Chou 
  people 
  had 
  been 
  in 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  Shangs 
  for 
  several 
  

   generations 
  at 
  least. 
  When 
  we 
  first 
  hear 
  of 
  them 
  they 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  in 
  process 
  of 
  exchanging 
  a 
  pastoral 
  for 
  an 
  agricultural 
  mode 
  of 
  

   life. 
  In 
  some 
  ways 
  they 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  less 
  civilized 
  than 
  the 
  

   Shangs, 
  but 
  to 
  have 
  had 
  a 
  better 
  organization 
  for 
  war 
  and 
  more 
  effec- 
  

   tive 
  leadership. 
  In 
  certain 
  particulars 
  their 
  civilization 
  appears 
  to 
  

   have 
  had 
  a 
  closer 
  resemblance 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  Near 
  East 
  than 
  to 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  Shangs. 
  Examples 
  of 
  this 
  are 
  : 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  a 
  7-day 
  week 
  

   instead 
  of 
  the 
  one 
  of 
  10 
  days 
  employed 
  by 
  the 
  Shangs 
  ; 
  possession, 
  by 
  

   the 
  Chou 
  rulers 
  at 
  least, 
  of 
  regular 
  harems, 
  with 
  eunuch 
  attendants, 
  ap- 
  

   parently 
  unknown 
  among 
  the 
  Shangs; 
  and 
  succession 
  in 
  the 
  kingly 
  

   line 
  from 
  father 
  to 
  son. 
  Lastly, 
  the 
  bronze 
  sword 
  (Janse, 
  1930a, 
  

   pp. 
  67-134; 
  Karlbeck, 
  1925, 
  pp. 
  127-133), 
  long 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  Occident 
  

   (where 
  in 
  fact 
  it 
  was 
  already 
  being 
  replaced 
  by 
  much 
  more 
  effective 
  

   swords 
  of 
  iron), 
  reached 
  China 
  either 
  with 
  the 
  Chous 
  or 
  early 
  in 
  

   their 
  period. 
  

  

  The 
  overthrow 
  of 
  the 
  Shangs 
  is 
  not 
  known 
  to 
  us 
  through 
  con- 
  

   temporary 
  accounts; 
  but 
  it 
  seems 
  pretty 
  surely 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  

   result 
  of 
  a 
  concerted 
  attack 
  on 
  them 
  by 
  some 
  of 
  their 
  subject 
  city- 
  

   states 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  Chous. 
  The 
  latter 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  had 
  with 
  

   them 
  as 
  subject-allies 
  eight 
  peoples 
  occupying 
  parts 
  of 
  western 
  and 
  

   northwestern 
  China, 
  mainly 
  in 
  the 
  central 
  and 
  upper 
  Yangtze 
  basin 
  

   (Bishop, 
  1932c, 
  pp. 
  236 
  et 
  seq.). 
  

  

  The 
  Shangs 
  collapsed 
  perhaps 
  as 
  much 
  from 
  lack 
  of 
  unity 
  and 
  

   cohesion 
  among 
  the 
  various 
  and 
  heterogeneous 
  elements 
  under 
  their 
  

   rule 
  as 
  from 
  external 
  force. 
  Their 
  conquest 
  by 
  the 
  Chous 
  did 
  not 
  

   however 
  take 
  place 
  as 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  a 
  single 
  battle, 
  as 
  the 
  "orthodox" 
  

   account 
  states. 
  On 
  the 
  contrary, 
  it 
  required 
  a 
  long 
  time, 
  and 
  was 
  

   not 
  completed 
  for 
  half 
  a 
  century 
  at 
  least 
  after 
  the 
  initial 
  invasion 
  by 
  

   the 
  Chous. 
  

  

  Perhaps 
  the 
  Shangs 
  were 
  too 
  strong 
  to 
  be 
  wholly 
  crushed 
  by 
  the 
  

   newcomers; 
  for 
  they 
  were 
  allowed 
  to 
  retain 
  the 
  nuclear 
  part 
  (called 
  

   Sung) 
  of 
  their 
  former 
  territory, 
  as 
  vassals 
  of 
  the 
  Chous. 
  The 
  princes 
  

   of 
  this 
  remnant 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  Shang 
  kingdom, 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  belonged 
  to 
  

   the 
  Shang 
  royal 
  line, 
  were 
  granted 
  the 
  title 
  of 
  hung 
  (duke), 
  which 
  

   no 
  other 
  feudal 
  prince 
  was 
  permitted 
  to 
  hold. 
  

  

  The 
  historical 
  Chinese 
  civilization 
  that 
  we 
  know 
  had 
  its 
  roots 
  

   firmly 
  implanted 
  in 
  the 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  culture 
  of 
  the 
  Shang 
  period, 
  

   and 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  no 
  serious 
  break 
  with 
  the 
  past 
  until 
  recent 
  and 
  

  

  