A
HISTORY OF CHINA

by

WOLFRAM EBERHARD

of the University of California

Illustrated

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley and Los Angeles 1969

First published in U. S. A. by
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles
California

Second printing 1955
Third printing 1956
Second edition (revised by the author
and reset) 1960
Reprinted 1966
Third edition (revised
and enlarged) 1969

To My Wife

CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION 1
•  
• THE EARLIEST TIMES
•  
• Chapter I: PREHISTORY
  • 1 Sources for the earliest history 7
  • 2 The Peking Man 8
  • 3 The Palaeolithic Age 8
  • 4 The Neolithic Age 9
  • 5 The eight principal prehistoric cultures 10
  • 6 The Yang-shao culture 12
  • 7 The Lung-shan culture 15
  • 8 The first petty States in Shansi 16
•  
•  
• Chapter II: THE SHANG DYNASTY (c. 1600-1028 B.C.)
  • 1 Period, origin, material culture 19
  • 2 Writing and Religion 22
  • 3 Transition to feudalism 24
•  
•  
• ANTIQUITY
•  
• Chapter III: THE CHOU DYNASTY (c. 1028-257 B.C.)
  • 1 Cultural origin of the Chou and end of the Shang dynasty 29
  • 2 Feudalism in the new empire 30
  • 3 Fusion of Chou and Shang 32
  • 4 Limitation of the imperial power 36
  • 5 Changes in the relative strength of the feudal states 38
  • 6 Confucius 40
  • 7 Lao Tzŭ 45
•  
•  
• Chapter IV: THE CONTENDING STATES (481-256 B.C.): DISSOLUTION OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM
  • 1 Social and military changes 51
  • 2 Economic changes 53
  • 3 Cultural changes 57
•  
•  
• Chapter V: THE CHIN DYNASTY (256-207 B.C.)
  • 1 Towards the unitary State 62
  • 2 Centralization in every field 64
  • 3 Frontier Defence. Internal collapse 67