Chinese Historiography (Archaeology)

"In my study "Prestigegüter entlang der Seidenstraße? Archäologische und historische Untersuchungen zu Chinas Beziehungen zu Kulturen des Tarimbeckens vom zweiten bis frühen fünften Jahrhundert nach Christus (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2010)," I developed a method to identify genuine prestige goods in the context of burials. Whenever members of social groups were unable to obtain desired artifacts – be it on account of insufficient financial means or because they were prohibited to acquire them –, they resorted to a rather simple solution: imitations.
As early as the 8th century BCE, people in China began to emulate ritual bronzes. These were the ultimate status symbols at the time and possession of such valuable bronze objects clearly was restricted to the social élite. Various types of bronze vessels and bells constituted a so-called ritual set; the more different objects and the more specimens of each single type of object an individual could call his (sometimes her) own, the higher his / her social rank. At least this much we learn from several prescriptive texts dating from the 2nd through 1st centuries BCE. The ritual bronzes were an integral part of ritual ceremonies held at the ancestral shrines of one’s lineage. They were, however, not only employed to demonstrate one’s social achievements to the ancestors, but ultimately found their way into tombs and hoards where ritual sets are a common sight.
This paper is going to show how sumptuary rules grew less rigid with the factual decline of the Zhou. Earlier, expressing ones social rank through ritual bronzes was the prerogative of dignitaries with close ties to the royal house. Now, even politically rather insignificant local potentates made use of (substandard) replicas in attempts to signal their social position. The prestige of authentic ritual bronzes finally fostered the diffusion of an initially extremely elitist phenomenon. How strongly the association of ritual bronzes with social rank penetrated ancient Chinese thought and practices – that is to say, Chinese culture – is obvious in the fact that imitations of ritual bronzes remained a staple in tomb assemblages at least until the 2nd century CE."

The monograph by Stanislaw Kuczera “Antique and Ancient History of China. Early Neolithic of the South ” is the second volume of a comprehensive study of the Stone Age in China (the first volume, “Antique and Ancient History of China. Old Stone Age” was published in 1996). By degree of details and volume of processed data it has no analogues not only in Russian, but also in Western literature as a whole. Like the first volume, this one can be regarded as a kind of summary encyclopedia of the early Neolithic of southern China - the author analyzed and processed thousands of reports and other publications of Chinese archaeologists of recent decades (until 2018). This is especially valuable for a reader who does not read Chinese, but will render invaluable services to Sinologists, including Chinese, since it is extremely difficult even for a specialist to navigate the ever-growing volume of Chinese publications on archaeological topics.

145-87 BC) is the most famous professional historian in China and should deserve the distinction of possibly being the first such historian in the world. His methods of data collecting, his fastidiousness and thoroughness, and his obvious attempt at objectivity, as well as his integrity earned him the title, Father of Chinese historiography. Among western scholars he is probably best known as the earliest chronicler of the Asian Huns, the Xiongnu. Indeed, his records on the Xiongnu are all the more invaluable, since he was their contemporary when the Xiongnu Empire was a formidable political and military force and the northern neighbor of China. For over 500 years (~300 BC-200 AD) they challenged the power and authority of both the Qin and Han empires. The 110 th volume of the Shiji deals with the history, customs, and the relationship between the Xiongnu and the China. Discounting the limitations of the times, which are present at all times in all eras, and because Sima Qian was a Xiongnu contemporary, this data can be considered as one of the most credible of all that has been written about them since.

Lukas Nickel’s article “The First Emperor and Sculpture in China” in the Bulletin
of the School of Oriental and African Studies (2013) has drawn significant attention
to the issue of Hellenistic influence on the making of the terracotta warriors
excavated from the mausoleum of the First Emperor of China. In the perspective
of textual evidence, Nickel attaches much importance to the connection between
the Chinese report of the twelve da ren 大人 (“Big Men”) in Lintao 臨洮 in the
Hanshu and the account of the construction of “altars” to the twelve Olympian
gods by Alexander the Great at the easternmost point of his expedition to India
in the Bibliotheca Historica. This coincidence suggests to Nickel that the twelve
Big Men are a possible reference to large sculptural figures erected on the western
border of the empire. This article aims to question this interpretation of the twelve
da ren as sculptures in the Hanshu. A twofold examination of the textual and other
historical sources will make clear that the twelve Big Men were mentioned not
as huge statues but as exceptionally tall visitors, an exemplary omen related to
human illness manifested in physical abnormality.

In addition, Lintao’s geographic location as the westernmost outpost of the empire has been highlighted in Nickel’s argument on the link between the story of the twelve Big Men and Hellenistic influence on early Chinese sculpture. The Qin state was located in the far west of the seven Warring States and Lintao was not newly acquired land but a county already under Qin rule before the First Emperor conquered the six other states. Given that the people of Tunliu were transported to Lintao after their association with The First Emperor's brother, Lord Chang’an’s rebellion, it would appear to have been under effective Qin administration during the reign of the First Emperor. This makes it hard to believe that twelve giant statues could suddenly have been erected there without the Qin state knowing about this in advance. Furthermore, it is most unlikely that the First Emperor would have mistaken their unexpected appearance (as mega-statues) in such a sensitive location as an auspicious sign, rather than a warning omen.

Moreover, textually speaking, there is a fundamental problem with respect to the idea of making a link between the twelve Olympian gods and the twelve Golden Men commissioned by the First Emperor. There are at least five or six goddesses among the twelve Olympian gods. If the twelve Golden Men had been produced in imitation of the image of the twelve Olympian gods and goddesses and were presented publicly according to Alexandrian practice as Nickel suggested, it is very likely, if not certain, that such unprecedented exotic female figures among these Golden Men would have drawn the attention of contemporary Chinese historians and of those who had ever seen them ( some of the Golden Men had survived for centuries after the fall the Qin dynasty.) However, the existing Chinese written sources report not a single indication or implication of any female feature among them.

It has long been known that Chinese records provide a considerable amount of information on Daqin 大秦 i. e. Great Qin [synonym of Roman Empire in Chinese records]. Nevertheless, interpretation of these accounts requires a more coherent nexus. Apart from problems of authenticity of written works, characteristics of Chinese historiography and other genres should also be considered. In light of such complexities, grouping Chinese sources on Daqin by relevance, type (e. g. historiographies or geographical treaties etc.) and date (referring to events before or after the 5th/6th century) might lead towards a better understanding of multifaceted perceptions defined by their description. In this manner, through a comparison of Daqin-picture(s) given by these accounts with a review of Roman and Roman-related archaeological finds discovered in China, the paper aims to give a more sophisticated interpretation of the reception of Rome in the Middle Empire and also intends to highlight problems on understanding Sino-Roman relations.

*Please note that this file is a reduced-quality version of the original document*

This article presents a range of archaeological materials from both the former territory of the Roman and the People’s Republic of China. Some are well known, and some are less recognized; all have been recontextualized in light of recent research. The aim is to gather the different data within a richly illustrated format, in order to give insight into a more factual picture of Sino-Roman relations and to highlight the complexity of East-West intercultural communication networks of antiquity.

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One of the medical manuscripts recovered from Tomb No. 3 at Mawangdui records the following sentence: “When a person is born there are two things that need not to be learned: the first is to breathe and the second is to eat.” To the minds of cynical readers this is as trivial as it gets. Of course the reflexes to breathe and eat are inherent in human beings. The opposite implication is equally obvious. Once the human brain ceases to function, oxygen and nourishment are no longer required. Why, then, did people insist on burying food and drink with the dead in the late pre-imperial and early imperial China?

To the minds of most modern commentators this seemed like a rather trite question that warranted little reflection. Food and drink as grave goods were either intended to sustain the spirit of the deceased in the hereafter or simply a sacrifice / offering to the spirit at the time of the burial. Yet, a closer look at the archaeological evidence suggests otherwise. By tracking the exact location of food and drink containers in tombs and comprehensively analyzing inscriptions on such vessels and finds of actual food, this article demonstrates that reality was more complicated than a simple either/or dichotomy. Some tombs indicate that the idea of continued sustenance coincided with one-time sacrifices. Moreover, I will introduce evidence of a third kind of offering that, so far, has gone unnoticed by scholarship. Such data confirms that sacrifices to spirits other than the one of the deceased sometimes were also part of funerary rituals. In short, by paying attention to food and drink as burial goods I will put forth a more nuanced understanding of early Chinese burial practices and associated notions of the afterlife.

Xinian繫年 is a recently published bamboo manuscript from the collection of Qinghua (Tsinghua) University. It is the lengthiest, most detailed historical text unearthed in recent decades. The text narrates major events from the history of the state of Chu 楚, its rivals, and its allies from the beginning of the Western Zhou (ca. 1046-771 BCE) period to the early fourth century BCE. In this introductory article I argue the following: first, both the language and the content of Xinian indicate that this text was based on earlier historical sources from the states of Chu and Jin 晉, in addition to sources from within the Zhou royal domain; second, the authors’ utilizations of their primary sources differ markedly from those observable in the Zuo zhuan 左傳 (with which the Xinian has many overlapping parts) and in later collections of anecdotes; and third, Xinian may represent an unknown genre of “informative history.” In addition, I explore the new perspectives that Xinian sheds on early Qin 秦 and Chu history.

Looking at snuff bottles allows to look at the complexity and variety of Qing Dynasty culture. The use of snuff started from the Imperial Court, and from there spread throughout the upper class, and then to the other levels of society. Snuff bottles soon became a coveted object of beauty and a way to represent status and wealth.

Throughout the catalogue you’ll find some paintings from my “Flowers of the Heart” series. They match the floral decorations which are one of the main iconographic themes in the decoration of snuff bottles. As flowers and plants were considered to represent virtues and qualities on snuff bottles, so the flowers in my paintings were created as an homage to the most profound feelings embedded in human nature: love, friendship, family, loyalty, affection.

Each of these bottles is a work of art: an accomplishment of a master carver, a master painter, or of a master artist. Still today if the connoisseur invests time in studying these artefacts, they become veritable passageways to the world of the Qing Dynasty.

This is the front matter and Introduction to my newly published book on early Zhou historiography. The study is based on the juxtaposition of recently unearthed texts (most notably the bamboo manuscript Xinian 繫年, the fully annotated translation of which is provided) and the transmitted texts (most notably Zuozhuan 左傳).
Customers in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, East Asia, and most of Latin America who purchase the book through the Columbia University Press website (http://cup.columbia.edu/book/zhou-history-unearthed/9780231196635) can receive a 20% discount off the price of the book by using the promo code CUP20.
For customers in the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Middle East, South Asia, and South Africa, contact John Wiley & Sons ([email protected]) to order a book and for information regarding price and shipping cost.

The term “name” (ming 名) is one of the semantically richest in early Chinese thought. In different contexts it can refer to a personal name, to terms of philosophical discourse, to reputation, social status, posthumous fame, and even to legal items. Whereas philosophical usages of ming had been well explored, the importance of ming as repute, fame, and social status had not been at the focus of academic research. In my article I argue that these meanings were highly important as motivators of one’s action. The idea of a transcendent name, for the sake of which even one’s life can be sacrificed, became one of the cornerstones of political debates from the Warring States period on. My article explores these debates that encompassed political and ethical thought, historiography, and literature, and continued from the Warring States period well into the end of the imperial era.

内容摘要：
本文推翻了由专研中国古代边疆的人类学家、汉学家和考古学家构建的“汉族”身份。“汉”作为总称，将汉朝统治、疆域管辖和族群三个概念混为了一谈，很容易掩盖复杂历史机制的运行。西南边境历史上发生的人群迁移过程、文化接触和适应过程都会被仔细研究，因为这些过程产生了不适用
于“汉/ 非汉”二分法的其他身份。从长期的空间动态来看，西南地区的高地
族群是巴斯“关系身份”概念的理想例证。本文主要认为，将族名用于物质文
化、丧葬表达或地理区域等分类存在不合理性。

关键词：
汉；身份；边疆；西南地区；文化适应

Abstract:
This paper replaces the concept of “Han” in the wider discussion about the construction of identity by anthropologists, sinologists and archaeologists specialized in the study of ancient Chinese frontiers. The use of “Han” as an umbrella term, conflating notions of dynastic rule, territorial administration and ethnicity, easily hides complex historical mechanisms at work. Processes of migration, culture contact and adaptation at work on the Southwest frontier are scrutinized as they generate identities which do not fit the“ Han/Non-Han” dichotomy. In long term spatial dynamics, the highlands of Southwest China appear as the ideal illustration of Barth’s concept of relational identity. A lesson is to be learned from such context, when hastily applying ethnonyms to categories of material culture, funerary expressions or geographical regions.

Keywords:
Han; Identity; Frontiers; Southwest China; Cultural Acculturation

En este breve artículo pretendo discutir cómo algunos pensadores chinos de los siglos V-III AEC construyeron ideas sobre el pasado y el origen de la civilización, buscando justificar sus orientaciones filosóficas y su actividad política. Para ello, expondré cómo el monopolio del discurso del origen y desarrollo de la cultura se ha convertido en uno de los principales espacios de disputa y debate entre estas escuelas filosóficas. Utilizaré un conjunto de fragmentos de fuentes de este período para presentar estos puntos de vista, mostrando cómo reforzarían la idea de controlar la producción de discursos historiográficos en la antigua China.

This article examines gender representation in early Chinese histories with a focus on Shiji 史記 (Records of the Historian). Presenting beautiful and evil women, rather than male rulers, as responsible for political crises is a long-standing practice of Chinese historiography. Previous scholarship contends that this practice began with such depictions in Shiji and thus stems from its model impact upon subsequent histories. By scrutinising the interplay between the two genders within royal houses, this article extends the scope of previous scholarly examination from women to their husbands, i.e. the male rulers. Comparison of the causation chains of political disasters as built in Zuozhuan 左傳 (Zuo Commentary), Guoyu 國語 (Discourses of the States), and Shiji shows that Shiji diminishes women's agency, describing them as neither the original cause of political crises nor a tool to shield rulers from criticism. Unlike its predecessors, Shiji presents political catastrophes as ruler-dominant consequences resulting from their own unrestricted desires and cross-boundary misbehaviour, explaining the rise and decay in history.

Abstract: This article will discuss the birthplace of the myth of the Divine Farmer (Sovereign Shennong) in the context of world history, using materials from the physical environment, archaeology and historical documents, from the perspective of "cultural memory". The research in this article will show that the image of the hero of Shennong represents the understanding of origins of civilization in rice farming. Texts handed down from ancient times indicate that the middle reaches of the Yangtze River are the birthplace of the Shennong story, while archaeological data shows that the middle reaches of the Yangtze River are very unique, and indeed have gone through the entire process from the initiation of rice cultivation to the origin of civilization: starting on the Liyang Plain, expanding into the Dongting Plain, and then to the entire middle reaches of the Yangtze River, all while greatly influencing other regions as well. Moreover, there has been continuous development there from the genesis of civilization through the formation of different states, finally forming the largest civilization of pre-Qin era, the state of Chu. Later, in the mythologized history of Chu, Shennong could have been regarded as a sage sovereign of South Chu, the predecessor of Emperor Zhuan Xu, and the Quotations of Laozi also show the ideal of a ruler as a farmer. It is evident from the archaeological culture system of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River that the Pengtoushan culture, which produced rice cultivation technology, was indeed a unique Neolithic culture that gave up hunting. Many unique features of the Pengtoushan culture coincide with the legends of the Sovereigns Fuxi and Shennong: people there did give up "eating meat and drinking blood" and "wearing furs"; they "tied knots to make fishing nets"; "ate five grains", "polished wood into ploughs"; their "men plow and women weave", and they "created a calendar". Therefore, the legend of the sage Sovereign Shennong may very well evidence the possession of cultural memory of the Pengtoushan culture by the ancient civilization in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. By the time there formed a civilization in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, it was no longer possible to maintain the "purity" of its source – the Pengtoushan culture; the memory of the ancient Pengtoushan culture was instead sublimated into the ideal of the age of the sage Sovereign Shennong.
Keywords: Sovereign Shennong; origin of rice farming; Pengtoushan culture; cultural memory; historical mythology; middle reaches of the Yangtze River; Chu civilization

"The emergence of archaeology as an independent discipline during the early 1950s directly resulted in the establishment of three major archaeological journals – Wenwu (1950), Kaogu Xuebao (1951), and Kaogu (1955) – as outlets for information gathered in fieldwork; full site reports followed suit. Nowadays, we have roughly three dozen archaeological periodicals and surely more than a thousand monographs covering all areas and periods of Chinese (pre)history at our disposal. Said publications are our primary sources of information. However, the fact that they are anything but primary sources in a strictly methodological sense hardly gets acknowledged.
In reality, excavation reports – preliminary as well as monographs – most often only provide a sample of actual data collected from archaeological sites. Consequently, we are constantly dealing with deliberate choices of editors on what particular information to divulge. This paper shall demonstrate that nature and quality of findings are the main decisive factors in this process. For instance, even looted tombs dating from the Zhanguo and Han periods yielding manuscripts generally take precedence over undisturbed graves discovered at the same cemetery simply because they contained manuscripts. Many conclusions concerning such burials are therefore based on a rather small number of published tombs while the often more representative majority of equally accessible graves remain unnoticed. In short, the paper is aiming to raise awareness for a pressing methodological problem. In doing so, it will address various rationales behind the practice of presenting selective evidence in excavation reports and suggest ways to cope with it."

[Abstract] On the basis of first-hand evidence from natural science and archaeology, this article separately analyzes and evaluates the flood situation of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River basins at the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC. The difficulty and demands of the flood management, as well as the water control experience and abilities of the respective societies in each region are the focus of this investigation. It is concluded that the story of Da Yu’s flood control could only have occurred in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. In any other area, either the floods were not serious during Da Yu’s era (such as the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River), or (and) due to the insufficient social scale and organization of the respective society, the flood control capacity and experience was disproportionate to the scale of the flood disaster, meaning that large-scale flood control was impossible (such as the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the Huanghuai area and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River).
[Key words] Historic geography，Historical flood,  location of Da Yu's flood control, the Xia Kingdom, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River

Resumo:O  período  da  Dinastia  Han  (206AEC-221EC)  foi  marcante  para  a  renovação  da  escrita historiográfica chinesa. O surgimento do Shiji de Sima Qian serviu de base para uma nova forma de produção histórica, dando origem às histórias dinásticas oficiais; mas com Liu Xiang, uma história didática, voltada para a educação, alcançou grande sucesso e colocou em questão as teorias e formas de redação desse gênero. Em nosso texto, iremos analisar como uma das produções  literárias  de  Liu,  o  Zhanguoce,  tornou-se  um  importante  manual  de  ensino  de valores  morais  e  ideias,  sendo  até  os  dias  de  hoje  uma  referência  em  temas  éticos  e  de estratégia.
Palavras-chave: Historiografia  Chinesa;  Liu  Xiang;  Zhanguoce;  Dinastia  Han;  Ensino  de História.

Abstract:The Han Dynasty period (206AEC -221 EC) was remarkable for the renewal of Chinese historiographical writing. The emergence of Shiji from SimaQian served as the basis for a new form of historical production, giving rise to official dynastic stories; but with Liu Xiang, a didactic story, focused on education, achieved great success and questioned the theories and forms of writing of this kind. In our text, we will analyze how one of Liu's literary productions, Zhanguoce, has become an important teaching manual of moral values and ideas, and is still a reference in ethical and strategic issues today.
Keywords: Chinese  historiography;  Liu  Xiang;  Zhanguoce;  Han  Dynasty;  History Teaching

Following a brutal nine-month siege, the militarily strategic city of Suiyang fell in 757 to rebels against the Tang dynasty. When the siege commenced, the city’s population consisted of roughly ten thousand fighters and over thirty thousand residents, but when the city fell, only about four hundred survivors remained, and none of them civilians. Rather than surrender the city to non-Han Chinese “barbarian” rebels, the Han-Chinese defenders had chosen instead to kill and eat all the residents, whom they were supposed to protect. But the siege of Suiyang also slowed down the rebels and gave the dynasty a much-needed reprieve. Thus, when the matter of commemorating the event came before the throne, the Tang emperor faced a dilemma—should he brand these defenders as mass murderers, or as war heroes? The survival of the dynasty depended on loyalty, but whose loyalty should the emperor honor and inspire, the people’s or the armies’? This paper illuminates the politics and morality of commemoration by analyzing the fierce debate at court over how the biographies (and hence the judgment) of the commanders who ordered the cannibalism should be written; it further follows the subsequent deification of these commanders and explores how the accounts of their cannibalism became incorporated into Daoist rituals of exorcism.

Abstract: In the orthodox history of China, the legend of Great Yu’s reigning in of the waters is shown as the background for the establishment of the first imperial dynasty of China (Xia). Therefore, in the later legends, the identity of Yu was deified and became the model of the god of controlling the water. For example, in the records of folk beliefs and legends after the Han Empire, the god of Yu was often connected when mentioning controlling the water. This phenomenon may cause modern scholars to generally regard the story of Great Yu's reigning in the waters as the only legend of the Great Flood in the Chinese tradition, and discuss it together with pattern stories of the destruction and regeneration after floods around the world.
However, the author believes that this "god hypothesis" ignores many key differences between the legend of Great Yu and myths of the Great Flood. Based on literature comparison, this article concludes that the story of Great Yu’s controlling the flood does not conform to the model of flood myths seen everywhere. It can be proven that this is a historical legend based on historical facts. However, within the tradition of the Ancient Civilization of Chu, there is actually the myth of the mother goddess Nüwa repairing the Pillar of Heaven. Although only fragments of the myth can be found today, based on what we can still understand from it, this story is in line with the mythical pattern of destruction and regeneration after a flood. The corresponding era that the myth tells about is much earlier than Xia Kingdom.

Keywords: Flood myths, Great Yu controls the Water; Xia Kingdom, The Mother Goddess Nüwa; Zhuanxu Emperor, Count of Gun
摘要：在中国正统历史中，大禹治水传说表现为天下建立第一王朝的伟大背景。因此在后期传说中，禹的身份被加以神化，成为治水神的范型，如在汉代以后的民间信仰和传说纪录中，提及治水之事时，经常会联系到禹神。这一现象或许导致现代学界通常将大禹治水故事视为中国传统中唯一的大洪水传说，并将其与世界各地洪水灭世和再生的范型故事放在一起讨论。
但笔者认为，这种“神论”忽略了大禹治水传说与洪水范型神话之间的很多关键差异。本文经过文献对照推论，大禹治水故事并不符合各地所见洪水神话范型，并可以证明这是有史实素地的历史传说。但是，在楚古文明的传统中，实际上还有女娲补天神话，虽然今日只能看到该神话的零星碎片，但仍可从中了解，该故事才是符合洪水灭世和再生的范型神话，其在神话中相对应的时代远早于夏王国。
关键词：洪水神话、大禹治水、夏、女娲、颛顼、鲧

The 5th-6th centuries are regarded as a transformative period of Chinese history, where an intensity of cultural metamorphosis can be detected. Changing patterns of roles of specific materials with particular cultural values attached – such as gold and silver vessels or transparent glass objects – were important elements of this era. From the late 3rd to the 6th century, North China was partially or fully ruled by non-Han people, belonging to various barbarian tribes. As a result of social and cultural interactions and the dual presence of nomadic and Chinese lifestyles, a reinterpretation of non-local objects can be outlined. While precious metal artefacts became more popular, transparent glass items gradually lost their prestigious feature and unique role. In light of such complex transformations of taste and culture, these relics can be regarded as examples of changing receptions. The paper not only aims to provide a historical and archaeological outline of this turbulent period but also focuses on the (re)adoption and (re)adaptation of precious metal and glass artefacts in 5th–6th century Northern China.

Settlement relocation occurred repeatedly throughout global human history, often resulting in significant sociopolitical and economic changes. Historical records document the use of settlement relocation as a strategy for social engineering in China no later than the late Shang dynasty (1250–1046 B.C.). We employ placemaking theory to examine social changes associated with population movements to Taosi (2300–1900 B.C.) and Erlitou (1750–1520 B.C.) and the processes of urban construction concomitant to the movements at each site. Furthermore, we employ structuration theory to interpret the process of political knowledge building as concerns settlement relocation and social engineering. Based on our assessment of settlement histories, divisions of space, burial patterns, and community formation, we conclude that the use ofsettlement relocation as political strategy was formulated during the Taosi and Erlitou eras, and that it was intentionally implemented for political reform by Phase II of Erlitou. KEYWORDS: placemaking theory, structuration theory, social transformation, Chinese archaeology, settlement archaeology, urbanization.

Hoy, aunque las inscripciones de plastrones y huesos fueron descubiertas hace 120 años, todavía hay muchas palabras que no están descifradas debido a la falta de recursos, incluida la palabra “” que, en este texto, trataremos de descifrar. Este sinograma aparece en la placa H.J. 13399. Dicha pieza posee un contenido sobre la lluvia durante una ceremonia de alcohol, y en la que se ha registrado todo el proceso, lo que nos ofrece algunas pistas para descifrar el significado de ese carácter.
Today, although the inscriptions of plastrons and bones have been discovered 120 years ago, there are still many words that are not deciphered due to lack of resources, including the word “” that, in this text, we wanted to try to decipher. This sinogram appears on the H.J. 13399. This piece is a content of rain during an alcohol ceremony, has recorded the entire process, which gives us some clues to decipher the meaning of that character.

The first part of the paper concentrates on the opportunities and limits of archaeological investigation conducted by foreigners in the People's Republic of China, through giving an outline of the Chinese cultural heritage protection system. It not only presents the history of preserving archaeological records and describes its legal and institutional backgrounds, but also details how the existing legal provisions limit the opportunities of on-site research for foreigners. Other problems of the heritage protection are also listed. Despite increasing legal efforts tourism, archaeological looting, large scale constructions, and many other destructive factors all result in significant damage, and call for improved protection of archaeological property. Additionally, a shortage of experienced professionals and some major weaknesses of Chinese academic writings (such as the relative absence of comprehensive theoretical works, reliable databases, objective and detailed descriptions etc.) require further reforms. While the above situation makes the use of published data more difficult, it also increases the number of interdisciplinary research groups in the context of Sino-foreign cooperations. However, for individual scholars archaeological investigation in China can still present a significant challenge.
In this manner, the second part of the paper provides an example of the limits and opportunities detailed above through summarizing the results of the author's own research conducted in China.

Ever since their chance discovery in 1974, a seemingly endless number of terracotta warriors are coming to light in Pits No. 1 to 3 at the burial site of China’s First August Emperor (Qin Shihuangdi). A quarter of century after the initial find, in 1999, Chinese excavators came across
equally large and impressive terracotta figurines with less martial appearances. Pit K9901 housed several statuettes that differed significantly in body shape. The slender outlines of standing males
stand in stark contrast to the bulky, muscular frames of upright men. All of the figurines shared one trait, though: They were dressed in short wrap skirts. Some figurines raise an arm above in gestures that leave the observer with the impression of motion. Others are emphatically static and rest their hands on the waistbands of their wrap skirts. The fact that the physiognomy of both kinds of statuettes stresses the muscular system – especially the pectoral muscles as well as the
biceps, triceps and calf areas – and their general lack of clothing has lead scholars to believe that these figurines are depicting dancers or acrobats.

However, the the almost complete excavation of Pit K9901 has offered additional insights. For instance, a fully clothed figurine was found sitting at the very back of Aisle No. 3. He was looking directly at the rest of
the bare-chested men, who were lined up against both pit walls, their faces turned towards each other. Another part of the pit yielded some ovoid stones and objects that somewhat resemble metal ingots. Overall, the seated figurine gives the impression of a coach, who is supervising a team of athletes. On the one hand there are the still underdeveloped bodies of the lean statuettes that seem to be waiting to be whipped into shape by lifting weights. On the other hand we have the already pumped up torsos of their sparing partners in physical combat training. By drawing on evidence from physical exercise training in ancient Greece and Rome, this paper argues that Pit K9901 was not housing acrobats. The finds and features rather indicate that we are looking at the physical exercises of elite soldiers in training. Pit K9901thus was not a stage at all, but much more akin to a gymnasium in Classical antiquity.

This article presents the forms and stages of the influence from the side of Soviet/Russian archaeology on the development of archaeological science in China. On the basis of data obtained three main phases were distinguished in the process. The first one corresponds to the period of 1950 – 1977, when Chinese specialists initially became acquainted with Soviet achievements in archaeology and museology. Important part of it was two visits to China (in 1950 and 1959) paid by outstanding Soviet archaeologist S. V. Kiselev. In its turn, this period has two subdivisions as if from the early 1960th successful scientific contacts suffered from negative influence of politics, i. e. deterioration of bilateral relations. The second stage has begun from 1978, simultaneously with reforms in all spheres of social life in PRC. Within this period scientists have been making purposeful investigations of Russian archaeological materials according to the needs and tasks of Chinese archaeology itself. As representative example we can take the edition of special archaeological volume of the «Great Chinese Encyclopedia» which contains dozens of articles about Russian archaeological items (including those of Central Asia). Many specialists (such as Mo Runxian, Wang Dehou, Yao Feng, Lin Shushan et al.) especially std and translate Russian publications on the actual questions of archaeology and ancient history. The third stage has begun in 2002; it is characterized by enlargement in themes and forms of cooperation as well as participation of specialists of two countries in joint scientific projects. Nevertheless, it should be noted that inverse process (translations into Russian and summarizing the works of Chinese archaeologists) up to the date is developing more slowly.

Рассмотрены основные этапы и формы воздействия на развитие археологической науки в Китае со стороны советской / российской археологии. На основании полученных данных в этом процессе выделено три основных этапа. Первый этап, в рамках которого происходит первоначальное знакомство китайский специалистов с достижениями СССР в области археологии и музееведения, охватывает период с 1950 по 1977 г. Важную роль в этом сыграли два визита в Китай (в 1950 и 1969 гг.) выдающегося советского археолога С. В. Киселева. Этот этап, в свою очередь, делится на два подраздела, поскольку с начала 1960-х гг. успешные контакты испытывают негативное воздействие политического фактора: ухудшения советского китайских двусторонних отношений. Второй этап начинается с 1978 г., синхронно с преобразованиями во всех областях общественной жизни КНР. В его рамках ученые целенаправленно обращаются к российским археологическим материалам, исходя из потребностей и задач китайской археологии. Показательным примером является издание специального археологического тома «Большой Китайской энциклопедии», которая содержит несколько десятков статей, посвященных российским (и среднеазиатским) реалиям. Целый ряд специалистов (Мо Жуньсянь, Ван Дэхоу, Яо Фэн, Линь Шушань и др.) специально изучает и переводит российские публикации по актуальным вопросам археологии и древней истории. Третий этап начинается с 2002 г. и характеризуется расширением тематики и форм сотрудничества, участием ученых двух стран в совместных научных проектах. При этом следует отметить, что обратный процесс (перевод на русский язык и обобщение работ китайских археологов) пока развивается более медленными темпами.