Working for His Majesty: Research Notes on Labor Mobilization in Late Shang China (ca/ 1200-1045 B.C.), as Seen in the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, with Particular Attention to Handicraft Industries, Agriculture, Warfare, Hunting, Construction, and the Shang's Legacies

Author:
Keightley, David N.

Publisher:
University of California, Berkeley

Publication Year:
2012

Table of Content:

Preface — xi
Notes about the Sources, Citation, and Transcription Conventions — xvii

1. Introduction: The Setting — 1

2. The Work and the Workshops — 9
Bone Working: 9
Stone and Jade Working: 13
Pottery: 15
Textiles: 16
Wood Working: 17
Bronze Casting: 19
Cowries: Bone and Bronze: 26
The Emergence of Writing: 27
The Workshops: 28
The Products: 30

3. The Artisan Corps — 33
The Status of the Artisans: 33
The Duo Gong 多工: 34
"The Many Strikers": 40
Summary: 44
The Dependent Laborers of Shang: 46
A Note on Population: 48

4. The Zhong 眾 and the Ren 人 — 50
The Status of the Workers: Slave, Free, or Dependent: 53
The Differences Between the Zhong 眾 and the Ren 人: 58

5. Punishments, Human Sacrifice, and Accompanying-in-Death — 63
Possible Punishments: 63
The Qiang 羌 and Duo Qiang 多羌: A Sample Case: 66
Human Sacrifice and Accompanying-in-Death: 69

6. Labor Mobilization — 78
The Verbs for "Mobilize": 78
The Verbs for "Making an Offering": 81

7. Who Was Mobilized — 86

8. The Occupational Lineages — 92

9. Numbers — 97
Accuracy of the Figures: 99
Casualties among the Zhong 眾: 101
Casualties among the Ren 人: 104

10. Work Schedule of the Diviners — 106
Discussion: 116

11. Leadership — 119

12. The Work: Agriculture — 124
The Agricultural Context: 125
Late Shang Agriculture: 126
The Powers and the Weather: 129
Agricultural Tools: 131
The Yi 邑 and Tian 田: 132
The Peasantry and the Population: 135
Dynastic Agriculture: 136
The Ritual Dimension: 152
Opening Up New Land: 161
The Use of Fire: 166
Irrigation: 168
Conclusions: 173

13. The Work: Warfare — 174
Leadershp in Warfare: 174
Army Organization: 179
Penetration: 184
Horse-chariot Units and the Shang Army: 187
Shang Weapons: 189
Shang Military History: 190

14. The Work: Hunting — 194

15. The Work: Construction — 200
Wall Construction: 200
Rammed-Earth Construction: 203
Settlements and Buildings: 204
Temples and Other Buildings: 205
Drainage: 208
Royal and Other Tombs: 210

16. Some Elements of Ritual Concern — 214

17. The Role of Geopolitics and Culture — 220
Ancestor Worship: 220
Other Demands for Work: 226
The Role of Writing: 230
The Creation of the Ancestors: 232

18. The Legacies — 236