﻿506 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  the 
  gradual 
  substitution 
  of 
  one 
  metal 
  for 
  another 
  as 
  the 
  superiority 
  

   of 
  iron 
  over 
  bronze 
  for 
  certain 
  purposes 
  became 
  slowly 
  apparent. 
  

  

  Iron 
  had 
  been 
  well 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  Near 
  East 
  for 
  something 
  like 
  a 
  

   thousand 
  years 
  before 
  it 
  appeared 
  in 
  China, 
  first 
  perhaps 
  in 
  the 
  

   Yangtze 
  Valley. 
  The 
  balance 
  of 
  probability 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  that 
  the 
  

   knowledge 
  of 
  how 
  to 
  smelt 
  and 
  work 
  iron 
  reached 
  China 
  from 
  northern 
  

   India. 
  The 
  route 
  it 
  followed 
  was 
  apparently 
  the 
  one 
  traversed 
  by 
  

   rice, 
  the 
  domestic 
  fowl, 
  and 
  other 
  culture 
  traits 
  almost 
  certainly 
  of 
  

   Indian 
  origin 
  — 
  in 
  other 
  words, 
  the 
  same 
  region 
  through 
  which 
  passes 
  

   the 
  highly 
  strategic 
  Burma 
  Road. 
  

  

  At 
  all 
  events 
  we 
  find 
  domestic 
  utensils 
  and 
  agricultural 
  imple- 
  

   ments 
  being 
  made 
  of 
  iron 
  around 
  500 
  B. 
  C. 
  In 
  both 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River 
  

   and 
  the 
  Yangtze 
  basins, 
  however, 
  that 
  metal 
  only 
  very 
  slowly 
  sup- 
  

   planted 
  bronze 
  as 
  the 
  material 
  for 
  weapons. 
  A 
  similar 
  phenomenon 
  

   aJso 
  occurred 
  in 
  Homeric 
  Greece, 
  where 
  bronze 
  continued 
  to 
  be 
  

   employed 
  for 
  weapons 
  of 
  war 
  long 
  after 
  iron 
  was 
  being 
  used 
  for 
  

   domestic 
  utensils. 
  

  

  Superior 
  iron 
  ores 
  and 
  abundant 
  wood 
  for 
  charcoal 
  encouraged 
  pro- 
  

   duction 
  of 
  steel 
  in 
  the 
  Yangtze 
  Valley 
  ; 
  but 
  in 
  northern 
  China, 
  where 
  

   wood 
  was 
  scarcer, 
  coal 
  came 
  to 
  be 
  used 
  in 
  the 
  reduction 
  and 
  manufac- 
  

   ture 
  of 
  iron. 
  

  

  Long, 
  straight, 
  steel 
  swords, 
  often 
  double-edged 
  and 
  far 
  superior 
  to 
  

   the 
  old 
  short 
  ones 
  of 
  bronze, 
  appeared 
  in 
  China 
  toward 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  

   Chou 
  period. 
  Weapons 
  apparently 
  very 
  similar 
  are 
  shown 
  on 
  the 
  

   Assyrian 
  monuments 
  of 
  something 
  like 
  500 
  years 
  earlier, 
  and 
  were 
  

   probably 
  carried 
  both 
  east 
  and 
  west 
  by 
  the 
  steppe 
  peoples; 
  in 
  the 
  

   Occident 
  this 
  type 
  eventually 
  developed 
  into 
  the 
  "Crusader's 
  sword." 
  

  

  Swords 
  of 
  this 
  type 
  may, 
  too, 
  very 
  possibly 
  have 
  aided 
  the 
  warlike 
  

   northwestern 
  state 
  of 
  Ch'in 
  in 
  its 
  conquest 
  of 
  all 
  China, 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  

   third 
  century 
  B. 
  C. 
  These 
  blades 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  come 
  into 
  general 
  use 
  

   in 
  China 
  (save 
  in 
  the 
  extreme 
  south, 
  where 
  bronze 
  still 
  lingered), 
  

   shortly 
  before 
  the 
  commencement 
  of 
  our 
  era. 
  

  

  FALL 
  OF 
  THE 
  CHOUS 
  : 
  FIRST 
  CHINESE 
  EMPIRE 
  

  

  During 
  these 
  conquests, 
  Ch'in 
  brought 
  to 
  an 
  ignominious 
  end 
  the 
  

   very 
  ancient 
  Chou 
  Dynasty, 
  long 
  since 
  lapsed 
  into 
  powerlessness 
  and 
  

   insignificance. 
  In 
  its 
  stead, 
  toward 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  third 
  century 
  

   B. 
  C., 
  the 
  reigning 
  king 
  of 
  Ch'in 
  established 
  a 
  real 
  Chinese 
  Empire. 
  9 
  

   This 
  he 
  erected 
  on 
  bureaucratic 
  foundations 
  of 
  which 
  traces 
  survive 
  

   even 
  today. 
  As 
  its 
  absolute 
  ruler 
  he 
  assumed 
  the 
  title 
  "Shih 
  Huang 
  

   Ti" 
  — 
  "First 
  Emperor." 
  (For 
  a 
  view 
  and 
  plan 
  of 
  the 
  enormous 
  grave 
  

   mound 
  of 
  this 
  man 
  of 
  genius, 
  see 
  pi. 
  1, 
  and 
  fig. 
  18.) 
  

  

  • 
  From 
  the 
  name 
  Ch' 
  in 
  almost 
  certainly 
  comes 
  our 
  own 
  for 
  China. 
  Those 
  who 
  dispute 
  

   this, 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  that 
  the 
  latter 
  name 
  appears 
  (in 
  India) 
  before 
  the 
  founding 
  of 
  the 
  

   Chinese 
  Empire, 
  forget 
  that 
  the 
  state 
  of 
  Ch'in 
  had 
  previously 
  annexed 
  the 
  eastern 
  terminal 
  

   of 
  both 
  the 
  two 
  transcontinental 
  routes 
  linking 
  China 
  and 
  the 
  Occident 
  (see 
  map, 
  fig. 
  1). 
  

  

  