Mapping artifacts on the frontier of ancient China: An approach to study of the Yan mountainous area in the eastern Zhou period (8th--3rd centuries BC).

摘要

Study of the late Zhou period in China has concentrated on analysis of the agrarian-based states. Interaction between those who constituted the Chinese dynastic states and pastoral peoples on the periphery of them were often described in hostile or colonial terms. With only the official histories as guides, an explanation that drew strict boundaries between them prevailed until the late 20th century. With increased archaeological information documenting activity outside of dynastic centers, the former interpretation can be tested. An alternative scenario at the frontier is proposed here.; Study of artifacts, their disposition and cultural use have provided the basic tool for identifying distinctive life ways and affiliations. Both Chinese and frontier burial materials and practices have been researched and interpreted with knowledge of and comparison to other “border” societies and theory about frontiers and their function in relation to a central political unit. Focus is on the Yan Mountain region and its relation to the Zhou vassal state of Yan in northeast China.; This study below shows that both the “Shanrong” group of the Yan Mountain region and the Yan State had their own distinctive social order, cultural traditions and economic bases. Those are marked in the burial assemblages, tomb structures and architectural remains, suggesting that “Shanrong” was a pastoral and warrior society and was clearly different from the agrarian society of the Yan State. On the one hand, these differences contributed to the formation of an ethnic and cultural boundary; but on the other hand, these different modes of subsistence encouraged them to complement each other functionally, thus making the “Shanrong” part of a larger social complex.; This case study demonstrates that the boundary between the “Shanrong” and the Yan State was fluid and was based on need. Interactions in trade, war and colonization occurring in the frontier zone exhibit evidence of the change through time. Technical and ecological factors stimulated a transformation of the structure of interchange on the pastoral/agricultural frontier. In addition, the elite groups from the Yan State and the “Shanrong” both played significant roles during the process, indicating that political authority still deeply influenced their interactions. Finally, inter-group contacts infused energy into the area and led these two groups to incorporate into a unified, multicultural Chinese kingdom.