﻿FAR 
  EASTERN 
  CIVILIZATIONS 
  — 
  BISHOP 
  507 
  

  

  SPREAD 
  OF 
  IRON 
  TO 
  NEIGHBORING 
  LANDS 
  

  

  Into 
  many 
  adjacent 
  regions, 
  such 
  as 
  southern 
  China, 
  Manchuria, 
  

   Korea, 
  and 
  western 
  Japan, 
  iron 
  was 
  introduced 
  from 
  northern 
  China, 
  

   during 
  the 
  early 
  centuries 
  of 
  the 
  Christian 
  Era. 
  In 
  certain 
  of 
  these 
  

   regions, 
  as 
  we 
  have 
  just 
  seen, 
  bronze 
  had 
  already 
  begun 
  to 
  be 
  used; 
  

   but 
  there 
  iron 
  soon 
  overtook 
  and 
  superseded 
  it. 
  In 
  other 
  areas, 
  as 
  for 
  

   example 
  eastern 
  Japan, 
  where 
  bronze 
  had 
  not 
  yet 
  been 
  adopted, 
  the 
  

   transition 
  was 
  direct 
  from 
  the 
  Stone 
  Age 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  iron, 
  without 
  the 
  

   interposition 
  of 
  a 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  at 
  all. 
  This 
  is 
  in 
  fact 
  what 
  has 
  taken 
  

   place 
  in 
  most 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  world. 
  

  

  The 
  seaboard 
  region 
  of 
  northern 
  China 
  was 
  still 
  in 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  

   non-Chinese 
  peoples 
  until 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  millennium 
  B. 
  C. 
  For 
  

   example, 
  the 
  birthplace 
  of 
  Mencius, 
  about 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  fourth 
  

   century 
  B. 
  C, 
  had 
  less 
  than 
  200 
  years 
  earlier 
  (i. 
  e., 
  in 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  

   Confucius) 
  still 
  been 
  in 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  "barbarians." 
  The 
  assimilation 
  

   of 
  the 
  coastal 
  populations 
  of 
  northern 
  China 
  by 
  the 
  Chinese 
  civiliza- 
  

   tion 
  seems 
  indeed 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  cultural 
  rather 
  than 
  a 
  military 
  

   conquest. 
  

  

  The 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  extreme 
  southern 
  China, 
  perhaps 
  of 
  the 
  Mon- 
  

   Khmer 
  linguistic 
  stock, 
  were 
  yet 
  in 
  the 
  Bronze 
  Age 
  at 
  the 
  beginning 
  

   of 
  the 
  Christian 
  Era; 
  but 
  they 
  soon 
  thereafter 
  came 
  under 
  the 
  in- 
  

   fluence 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese 
  civilization, 
  already 
  in 
  its 
  Iron 
  Age, 
  pushing 
  

   down 
  from 
  the 
  north. 
  

  

  Southern 
  China. 
  — 
  The 
  numerous 
  waterways 
  and 
  the 
  bold, 
  deeply 
  in- 
  

   dented 
  coast 
  line 
  of 
  southern 
  China 
  naturally 
  invited 
  the 
  development 
  

   of 
  an 
  esentially 
  aquatic 
  mode 
  of 
  life 
  (Bishop, 
  1934, 
  pp. 
  316-325; 
  

   1938b). 
  Probably 
  even 
  before 
  knowledge 
  of 
  metals 
  had 
  appeared, 
  

   large 
  dugout 
  canoes 
  were 
  being 
  made. 
  (See 
  fig. 
  15.) 
  These, 
  propelled 
  

   by 
  paddles 
  alone, 
  were 
  nevertheless 
  capable 
  of 
  long 
  voyages 
  along 
  

   the 
  Asiatic 
  coast. 
  Not, 
  however, 
  until 
  the 
  sail 
  had 
  appeared 
  could 
  

   penetration 
  of 
  oceanic 
  areas 
  begin. 
  

  

  This 
  southern 
  culture 
  had 
  before 
  the 
  (local) 
  dawn 
  of 
  history 
  spread 
  

   as 
  far 
  as 
  southern 
  Korea, 
  western 
  Japan, 
  and 
  the 
  East 
  Indian 
  islands. 
  

   Today 
  it 
  survives 
  in 
  purest 
  and 
  least 
  modified 
  form 
  (though 
  it 
  knows 
  

   iron) 
  in 
  parts 
  of 
  Borneo 
  and 
  of 
  Indo-China. 
  

  

  Indo-China. 
  — 
  The 
  civilization 
  of 
  Indo-China, 
  though 
  resting 
  

   basically 
  on 
  a 
  strong 
  aboriginal 
  foundation, 
  was 
  greatly 
  affected 
  by 
  

   the 
  more 
  advanced 
  ones 
  of 
  both 
  China 
  and 
  India. 
  These 
  began 
  to 
  

   make 
  themselves 
  felt 
  there 
  around 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  Christian 
  

   Era, 
  and 
  provided 
  the 
  necessary 
  stimulus 
  for 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  a 
  

   characteristic 
  form 
  of 
  culture 
  during 
  the 
  first 
  millennium 
  A. 
  D. 
  

  

  Korea. 
  — 
  Northern 
  Korea, 
  too, 
  was 
  drawn 
  increasingly 
  into 
  the 
  

   Chinese 
  cultural 
  orbit. 
  This 
  tendency 
  was 
  accelerated 
  and 
  augmented, 
  

   toward 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  millennium 
  B. 
  C, 
  by 
  refugees 
  fleeing 
  from 
  

  

  