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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  This 
  practice 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  originated 
  in 
  northeastern 
  China. 
  At 
  

   first 
  it 
  took 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  miniature 
  models 
  of 
  domestic 
  utensils 
  — 
  knives, 
  

   spades, 
  and 
  hoes 
  — 
  cast 
  in 
  copper. 
  (See 
  fig. 
  7.) 
  This 
  innovation 
  

   fundamentally 
  altered 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  wealth, 
  and 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  per- 
  

   mitted 
  its 
  accumulation 
  in 
  a 
  form 
  other 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  land. 
  It 
  thus 
  

   deprived 
  the 
  nobles 
  of 
  that 
  monopoly 
  of 
  the 
  power 
  and 
  prestige 
  that 
  

   accompany 
  riches, 
  and 
  played 
  an 
  important 
  — 
  perhaps 
  even 
  the 
  de- 
  

   cisive 
  — 
  part 
  in 
  undermining 
  the 
  old 
  feudal 
  system 
  and 
  causing 
  its 
  

   disintegration 
  and 
  ultimate 
  downfall. 
  

  

  This 
  process 
  became 
  accelerated 
  toward 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  Chou 
  period, 
  

   and 
  was 
  of 
  course 
  accompanied 
  by 
  the 
  disappearance 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  Figure 
  7. 
  — 
  Ancient 
  Chinese 
  token 
  money 
  of 
  copper. 
  

  

  barriers 
  that 
  had 
  formerly 
  separated 
  different 
  classes 
  of 
  society. 
  

   Traces 
  of 
  these 
  however 
  still 
  survive 
  in 
  both 
  the 
  Confucian 
  and 
  the 
  

   Taoist 
  beliefs 
  and 
  practices, 
  as 
  we 
  shall 
  see 
  in 
  a 
  moment. 
  

  

  Arts 
  and 
  crafts. 
  — 
  What 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  said 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  arts 
  

   and 
  crafts 
  of 
  Shang 
  times 
  will 
  apply, 
  in 
  most 
  cases 
  with 
  increased 
  force, 
  

   to 
  those 
  which 
  flourished 
  under 
  the 
  Chous. 
  

  

  While 
  few 
  actual 
  remains 
  of 
  the 
  technical 
  skill 
  and 
  esthetic 
  talent 
  

   of 
  the 
  Chous 
  have 
  come 
  down 
  to 
  us 
  aside 
  from 
  their 
  work 
  in 
  bronze 
  

   casting 
  and 
  carving 
  in 
  jade 
  (for 
  examples 
  of 
  their 
  work 
  in 
  bronze, 
  see 
  

   pi. 
  10, 
  and 
  figs. 
  8, 
  9, 
  and 
  10), 
  we 
  know 
  that 
  their 
  work 
  ranked 
  very 
  

   high 
  indeed. 
  The 
  subject 
  is, 
  however, 
  too 
  vast 
  a 
  one 
  to 
  receive 
  detailed 
  

  

  