Chariots in Early China : Origins, Cultural Interaction, and Identity

Author:
Xiaoyun Wu

Publisher:
Archaeopress

Publication Year:
2013

Abstract:

This book concerns the ways in which the adaption of a steppe innovation, the horse-drawn chariot, in Chinese society during the 12th - 3rd century BCE contributed profoundly to the development of Chinese political and social value. The importance of the steppe driving skill in warfare, and political and ritual ceremonies in Chinese society not only brought a number of steppe people to serve in Chinese states, but also largely transformed Chinese social, political, and burial practices, and value systems. These early uses were reinterpreted in later periods and still have their influence today

Table of Contents:

Introduction. 
Historical background ; Literature Review ; Research Approaches ; Organization of the book

The Origins: the Shang Chariot and Their Steppe Associations. 
Introduction ; Components of the Shang chariot set ; The origins of the Shang chariot set ; The adaption of steppe chariots in the late Shang society

The Golden Chariot of the Zhou. 
Background ; Associations between the Zhou chariot and the Steppe culture ; The development of social roles of chariots in the Western Zhou period ; Chariots in the Eastern Zhou period ; The adoption of Zhou fittings by northern steppe groups

Chariots, Steppe Elements, and the Zhou Elite's Local Networks. 
Introduction ; Negotiation with steppe groups: cases from the Yan state and its periphery ; Gender and ethnic expressions of chariot burials in a local context: cases from the cemetery of the Jin ruling family ; Adopting chariots in the south in the middle Yangtze River valley ; Later developments

The Chariot of Early China: a Cultural Symbol