An Economist's Crash Course on Chinese History

Fall of the priest-kings

Hours before the dawn of the 20th of Janurary, 1046 BC, Jupiter reached its zenith above the fields of Mu-ye. On these fields were arrayed the armies of Zhou, ready to march on the Shang capital of Zhao-ge. In the twilight, the two armies clashed. So much blood was spilled that wooden poles could float on it. spilled blood could float Lord Fa

By the late Long-shan period,

From what we can tell from archaeology, China (proper)’s ideological landscape was split to a highly religious east and a more secular west. The eastern archaeological sites typically featured remains expected of religious activities, such as prominently placed altars, human sacrifice

Er-li-tou culture

This may have been the battle of Ming-tiao recorded in traditional historiography.

Shang dynasty came from the east.

The vast expanse inherited by the Zhou was populated by a myriad of peoples, more like the Indian subcontinent today than the 90% Han modern China. States of Yi origin persited well into the Spirng and Autumn period, including 莒, 萊, 郯. They were found to practice typical Shang burial customs, including the characteristic 腰坑殉狗, as well as bird worship typical of the East evidenced by a discussion on 以鳥名官 by the Lord of Tan, with Confucius also in attendance. 諸侯會盟 sometimes excluded such states during bouts of Zhou chauvinism, known as 尊王攘夷.