Ancient China

From Neolithic Cultures through the Zhou Dynasty

Ancient jade bi disc with raised dots on display.

Early China is characterized by the development of agriculture, pottery and jade production, a writing system, bronze metallurgy, divination, and more!

Neolithic China
Shang Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty

Neolithic China

c. 5000–2000 BCE

Prior to the development of writing, Neolithic China had an incredible flourishing of objects made in jade and ceramic—making these objects important for our understanding of early Chinese cultures

Ancient calendar stone with text "BC vs. AD, BCE vs. CE" overlay, juxtaposed with a historical manuscript in the background.

What do BCE/BC and CE/AD mean?

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bi disc jade

What is a jade bi disk?

Watch a video about a jade bi disk
lay vessel decorated with a running spiral using two colors from Neolithic China in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

Running spiral on a Neolithic clay vessel

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Two jade disks and a rectangular carved jade cong are displayed in a museum setting.

What is a cong?

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Ancient Chinese jade cong artifact with intricate carvings on display.

A Neolithic jade cong

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Important terms and concepts

Neolithic

Jade

Universal running spiral

Cong

Liangzhu culture

Go to the Neolithic China Page

The Shang Dynasty

c. 1600–1046 BCE

The period when writing developed, bronze technology emerges, and divination became important

oracle bone
Oracle bones
rhino bronze china shang
Bronze casting and piece-mold process
A Shang dynasty bronze vessel decorated with a taotie
The taotie motif on bronze vessels
Ancient bronze bells with intricate patterns on display
What is bronze?
Ancient Chinese bronze and clay tripods, including a large, decorated bronze vessel with three legs and two handles, and a red clay tripod with similar three-leg design, along with some broken pieces.
The piece-mold technique

Important terms and concepts

Shang dynasty

Anyang

Bronze

Ancestor worship

Oracle bone

Taotie

King Wu Ding

Queen Fu Hao

Go to the Shang Dynasty Page

The Zhou Dynasty

c. 1046–256 BCE

This period saw the flowering of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism

Marquis Yi of Zeng’s Bells
Marquis Yi of Zeng’s bronze bells
Lacquer bowl, 3rd century BCE, Warring States Period, Seattle Asian Art Museum
What is lacquer?
A carved wooden sculpture of a stylized animal face with large antlers extending from its head.
Antlered and Tongued tomb sculptures

Important terms and concepts

Zhou dynasty

Filial piety

Lacquer

Antlered and Tongued Figure

Go the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Page

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