The Birth of China - Hunters on the Yellow River (20000 BCE to 7000 BCE)

On the first episode of a new series exploring China's early history, we examine the scattered hunter-gatherer communities of the Chinese Upper Paleolithic, following them as they slowly adopt a more sedentary way of living, and sow the seeds of both plant and animal domestication.
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @thehistocrat
Help support us elsewhere at:
/ thehistocrat
/ the_histocrat
bsky.app/profile/thehistocrat...
You can find more of Ettore's excellent artwork below:
/ ettore.mazza
/ ettoremazza
Big shout and thanks to @ARTiculations for helping me out with some of the Chinese name pronunciations! You can find her channel here:
/ @articulations
Another shout and thanks to @Embracehistoria for his work on this video's map graphics! You can find his channel here:
/ @embracehistoria
#China #History #paleolithic
The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Temple Of Heaven by Rafael Krux
Link: filmmusic.io/song/5602-temple...
License: creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Tranquil Fields Eastern by Alexander Nakarada
Free download: filmmusic.io/song/5770-tranqu...
License (CC BY 4.0): filmmusic.io/standard-license
The following music was used for this media project:
Music: 2049 And 1.5 by Tim Kulig
Free download: filmmusic.io/song/10500-2049-...
License (CC BY 4.0): filmmusic.io/standard-license

Пікірлер: 974

  • @TheHistocrat
    @TheHistocrat10 ай бұрын

    Sources for today's episode (in order of appearance): 1. Scotese CR (2013) Last Glacial Maximum Globe 2. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 30-37, 42-44 3. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 231-233 4. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 240 5. Liu L et al. (2015) The Earliest Unequivocally Modern Humans in South China. Nature 526, pp. 696-700 6. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 127-128 7. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 42-51 8. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 127-156 9. Gilligan I (2018) The Technology of Paleolithic Clothes. In Climate, Clothing, and Agriculture in Prehistory: Linking Evidence, Causes, and Effects, Cambridge University Press, pp. 66-79 10. Bednarik RG (2013) Pleistocene Palaeoart of Asia, Arts, pp. 46-76 11. D’Errico F et al. (2021) Zhoukoudian Upper Cave personal ornaments and ochre: Rediscovery and reevaluation, Journal of Human Evolution. 12. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 155-162 13. Zhang JF et al. (2011) The paleolithic site of Longwangchan in the middle Yellow River, China: chronology, paleoenvironment and implications, Journal of Archaeological Science, pp. 1537-1550 14. Elston RG & Brantingham PJ (2008) Microlithic Technology in Northern Asia: A Risk-Minimizing Strategy of the Late Paleolithic and Early Holocene. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 12, pp. 103-116 15. Ikawa-Smith (2017) Conclusion: In Search of the Origins of Microblades and Microblade Technology. In Origin and Spread of Microblade Technology in Northern Asia and North America, SFU Archaeology Press, 189-198. 16. Song et al. (2019) Re-thinking the evolution of microblade technology in East Asia: Techno-functional understanding of the lithic assemblage from Shizitan 29 (Shanxi, China), PLOS ONE 14(2), e0212643. 17. Wang FG et al. (2022) Innovative ochre processing and tool use in China 40,000 years ago, Nature 603, pp. 284-289. 18. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 147-152 19. Liu et al. (2015) Plant exploitation of the last foragers at Shizitan in the Middle Yellow River Valley China: Evidence from grinding stones 20. Liu L et al. (2018). Harvesting and processing wild cereals in the Upper Palaeolithic Yellow River Valley, China, Antiquity 92(363), pp. 603-619 21. Chen et al. (2016) Function and behaviour: use-wear evidence from Upper Paleolithic tools in southern Shanxi Province, North China, Documenta Praehistorica XLIII, 499-506. 22. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 58-61 23. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 240-242 24. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 154, 160 25. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 150 26. Cohen DJ et al. (2017) The emergence of pottery in China: Recent dating of two early pottery cave sites in South China, Quaternary International, pp. 36-48 27. Boaretto E et al. (2009) Radiocarbon dating of charcoal and bone collagen associated with early pottery at Yuchanyan Cave, Hunan Province, China, PNAS 106, 9595-9600. 28. Wu X et al. (2012) Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China, Science 336, pp. 1696-1700 29. Lu TL-D (2011) Early Pottery in South China, Asian Perspectives 49(1), pp. 1-42 30. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 64-70 31. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 51 32. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 160-162 33. Zhushchikhovskaya I (1997) On Early Pottery-Making in the Russian Far East. Asian Perspectives 36(2), pp. 159-174 34. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 233, 240-241 35. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 30-38 36. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 157, 160 37. Wu et al. (2012) 14C chronology of early pottery and stratigraphy in Yuchanyan archaeological site, Daoxian County, Hunan, Relics South (3), pp. 7-17 (In Chinese) 38. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 58-59, 76 39. Zhijun (1998) The Middle Yangtze region in China is one place where rice was domesticated: Phytolith evidence from the Diaotonghuan Cave, Northern Jiangxi. Antiquity, 72(278), pp. 885-897 40. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 234 41. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 51-57 42. Wang Y et al. (2015) Lijiagou and the earliest pottery in Henan Province, China, Antiquity, 89(344), pp. 273-291 43. Bettinger RL (2001) Holocene hunter-gatherers, in G.M. Feinman & T.D. Price (ed.) Archaeology at the millennium: a sourcebook, pp. 137-95. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers 44. Binford LR (1980) Willow Smoke and Dogs’ Tails: Hunter-Gatherer Settlement Systems and Archaeological Site Formation, American Antiquity 45(1), pp. 4-20. doi.org/10.2307/279653 45. Zhao C et al. (2003) A Study on an Early Neolithic Site in North China. Documenta Praehistorica XXX, pg. 169-173 46. Zhao C (2020) The Climate Fluctuation of the 8.2 ka BP Cooling Event and the Transition into Neolithic Lifeways in North China, Quaternary 3(3), pp. 23 47. Liu et al. (2010) A Functional Analysis of Grinding Stones from an Early Holocene Site at Donghulin, North China, Journal of Archaeological Science, 37(10), 2630-2639 48. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 183-185 49. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 72-73 50. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 60, 64 51. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 166-185 52. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 51-58, 56 53. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 157-159 54. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 180-185 55. Yang X et al. (2012) Early Millet use in Northern China, Anthropology 109(10), 3726-3730 56. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 96-98 57. Olsen SJ & Olsen JW (1977) The Chinese Wolf, Ancestor of New World Dogs, Science 197(4303), pp. 533-535 58. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 182 59. Jiang L & Liu L (2006) New evidence for the origins of sedentism and rice domestication in the Lower Yangzi River, China, Antiquity 80(308), pp. 355-361 60. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 61-64 61. Long (2022) Contrasting developments of the cultural complexes south and north of Hangzhou Bay, eastern China, controlled by coastal environmental changes, Quaternary International 623, pp. 94-100 62. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 243-244 63. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 70-73 64. Wang J and Jiang L (2021) Intensive Acorn Processing in the Early Holocene of Southern China, The Holocene 32(11) 65. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 66-67 66. Zheng Y & Jiang LP (2007) Remains of Ancient Rice Unearthed from the Shangshan Site and Their Significance, Chinese Archaeology 9(1), pp. 159-163 67. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 75-82 68. Zuo et al. (2017) Dating rice remains through phytolith carbon-14 study reveals domestication at the beginning of the Holocene, PNAS 114(25), pp. 6486-6491 69. Wang et al. (2022) New evidence for rice harvesting in the early Neolithic Lower Yangtze River, China, PLOS ONE 17(12), e0278200 70. Wang J & Jiang L (2016) A primary analysis on use-wear and residues of flaked stone tools from the Shangshan site, Zhejiang Province, Southern Cultural Relics, pp. 117-121 71. Fuller DQ et al. (2007) Presumed domestication? Evidence for wild rice cultivation and domestication in the fifth millennium BC of the Lower Yangtze region. Antiquity 81(312), pp. 316-331 72. Fuller DQ et al. (2009) The Domestication Process and Domestication Rate in Rice: Spikelet bases from the Lower Yangzte, Science 323(5921), pp. 1607-1610

  • @ajithsidhu7183

    @ajithsidhu7183

    10 ай бұрын

    Please do india

  • @LupusSolitus

    @LupusSolitus

    10 ай бұрын

    Excellent video! I appreciate your scientific rigour by citing evidence and referencing key papers and other sources. This places your YT channel above those that offer only perspectives and assertions without clearly indicating where the information had come from. A new standard that all science-based content should strictly adhere to.

  • @jean-baptistelully

    @jean-baptistelully

    10 ай бұрын

    The index of the sources would be preferable in the description of the relevant video.

  • @TheHistocrat

    @TheHistocrat

    10 ай бұрын

    @@jean-baptistelully I would do this but I went over the character limit.

  • @anguscable2819

    @anguscable2819

    10 ай бұрын

    @@TheHistocrat when you just have to many sources :)

  • @belakovdoj
    @belakovdoj10 ай бұрын

    As someone who grew up in the countryside, I can say that the village is often encircled by an accumulation of garbage, forming a prolonged ring of earth. Within this landfill, plants inevitably sprout, nourished by the discarded remains. Interestingly, due to the fertile soil, these plants tend to grow exceptionally large. It is fascinating to think that the origins of agriculture may have originated from such circumstances.

  • @quinn3334

    @quinn3334

    10 ай бұрын

    there’s been findings in South American (I think) plains with pockets of fertile groves as being old waste piles of early Hunter Gatherers

  • @johnrice1943

    @johnrice1943

    10 ай бұрын

    Oh wow. That makes sense how agriculture came from hunting and gathering sequentially like that.

  • @Giuachino

    @Giuachino

    10 ай бұрын

    This seems a very plausible way by which agriculture could have arisen. My favorite theory on scale increase of grass cultivation is the seasonal seed distribution on flood planes of rivers. Just like the Egyptians had done for millennia, even well into history.

  • @cholst1

    @cholst1

    10 ай бұрын

    @@quinn3334 Terra Preta. I'd wager "food forests" were our first steps into agriculture.

  • @krono5el

    @krono5el

    10 ай бұрын

    when all the "garbage" is organic it figures itself out.

  • @ziggytheassassin5835
    @ziggytheassassin583510 ай бұрын

    Its so easy to limit my historical perspective to just the past 3000 years but videos like this remind me that it goes back so much further.

  • @user-wl8jx6oz9x

    @user-wl8jx6oz9x

    5 ай бұрын

    Most people limit their historical perspective to 500 years and usually a Western lens viewpoint. So honestly surprised someone even said this the 3000 year part.

  • @robertharris6092

    @robertharris6092

    4 ай бұрын

    ​@@user-wl8jx6oz9x nearly everyone knows about ancient greece and rome. The battle of thermeyopole was 2500 years ago.

  • @nativeafroeurasian

    @nativeafroeurasian

    3 ай бұрын

    I'm always surprised how that's easy. In school we had one semester from stone age to roman empire and then we went straight to middle ages the other semester. The other years were world war 2 and the last year touched on cold war. I lost all interest in ww2 and I wish I knew more about the actual ongoings in the cold war other than the Kuba Crisis and the eventual fall of the German wall. But the worst thing is the skipping and absolute disproportion of real time vs time talked about it. 10thousands of years in less than a lessen but talkung 6years about one day that doesn't even affect anyone today (other than talking about it for no reason). At least we learned some of the fundamentals in the last 2 years of biology seeing back 10s of millions of years back to the beginning of things we can still observe.

  • @kapifromnevada4697

    @kapifromnevada4697

    2 ай бұрын

    Fumo pfp

  • @ziggytheassassin5835

    @ziggytheassassin5835

    2 ай бұрын

    @@kapifromnevada4697 indeed

  • @kylehrenyo2371
    @kylehrenyo237110 ай бұрын

    My jaw dropped when I saw this video, and it dropped even further when I realized that it’s the first in a new series! I absolutely loved the Birth of Civilization series and as an American, I’ve always felt woefully uneducated about ancient Chinese history. I have attempted to educate myself on the topic on numerous occasions, but Chinese history is so long, nuanced, and complex that it always posed an insurmountable obstacle for me on my own. I absolutely cannot wait to dive into this series! I cannot think of a better channel than Histocrat to give this incredible region the detailed and thoughtful historical treatment it so well deserves. I am beyond excited!

  • @stevep5408

    @stevep5408

    10 ай бұрын

    The Indus valley civilization seems to be largely neglected also!

  • @krono5el

    @krono5el

    10 ай бұрын

    Without the people of Asia, Hindustan, and the Americas, we wouldnt have all the amazing things we all love today. Imagine food today without these civilizations : P

  • @Bobbias

    @Bobbias

    10 ай бұрын

    Another podcast you might find interesting (though I can't vouch for it's quality as I haven't actually listened to it yet) is the History of China podcast. It's over 200 episodes now.

  • @rizkyadiyanto7922

    @rizkyadiyanto7922

    10 ай бұрын

    ​@@stevep5408indus valley is one of the few most popular civilizations we know. the other being european, chinese, meso/south america, egyptian etc. meanwhile what do we know about melanesian people? most people probably never heard of it. those are whats neglected.

  • @79klkw

    @79klkw

    10 ай бұрын

    There was a Chinese emperor who destroyed a crap ton of history, he didn't want the past achievements of China to overshadow what HE might do, so he destroyed tons of their history, the only copies, so now nobody knows...he might have rewritten part of it, I forget, but I know that a bunch of their history that WAS recorded, was intentionally was. I always imagine if we actually could see that destroyed material, today. One day, we will all know the answers!

  • @electra424
    @electra42410 ай бұрын

    I am SO EXCITED to watch this!!!! The Birth of Civilization video series is one of my all time favorites, and I am constantly in search of ancient/prehistorical content that can live up to the incredibly high standards the Histocrat has set!

  • @Benderisgreat219

    @Benderisgreat219

    10 ай бұрын

    It's the birth of china, not civilizations. Other places around the world who never had contact also had civilizations that grew.

  • @electra424

    @electra424

    10 ай бұрын

    @@Benderisgreat219 I was talking about his previous series that is called The Birth of Civilization. I'm not sure how you got the idea I was saying civilisation only originated in one place.

  • @Benderisgreat219

    @Benderisgreat219

    10 ай бұрын

    @@electra424 ah, that makes more sense, sorry for misunderstanding.

  • @electra424

    @electra424

    10 ай бұрын

    @@Benderisgreat219 that's ok!

  • @hippopotamus6765

    @hippopotamus6765

    10 ай бұрын

    ​@@Benderisgreat219I somehow don't think he quite got your point. I applaud your apology.

  • @semaj_5022
    @semaj_502210 ай бұрын

    Incredibly fascinating video, you guys. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.

  • @ShaggysMovingPictureBox
    @ShaggysMovingPictureBox10 ай бұрын

    Thanks dad love you

  • @G4mer_D4d

    @G4mer_D4d

    10 ай бұрын

    You are very welcome

  • @chrisdooley1184

    @chrisdooley1184

    10 ай бұрын

    @@G4mer_D4dwait I thought I was his father?

  • @PhebTellEm

    @PhebTellEm

    10 ай бұрын

    @@chrisdooley1184no i am

  • @VegasBubba565

    @VegasBubba565

    10 ай бұрын

    I’m not your dad

  • @PhebTellEm

    @PhebTellEm

    10 ай бұрын

    @@VegasBubba565 exactly, i am

  • @-__pluh__-
    @-__pluh__-10 ай бұрын

    I’ve been hanging out for a new documentary from you guys and you certainly don’t disappoint. Thank you so much for what you do, the quality of your documentaries far surpasses anything I see on TV.

  • @ruththinkingoutside.707
    @ruththinkingoutside.70710 ай бұрын

    I was looking forward to this! 😍😍 You’re SO amazing.. thank you for all your hard work! It’s greatly appreciated!!!

  • @jasonharris9797
    @jasonharris97976 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much! I'm excited for the rest of the series! Great job unlocking the Archeological Record! I'm eager to see how it compares to the written/oral traditions in later episodes!

  • @justurboi3806
    @justurboi380610 ай бұрын

    This is going straight to my playlist. Already know it's gonna be amazing. Thank youuuu!

  • @user-pl6vk5zq4l
    @user-pl6vk5zq4l8 ай бұрын

    im a Chinese.we dont called the"houke waterfall",but "Lukou waterfall".written in Chinese is壶口瀑布❤

  • @danyelnicholas
    @danyelnicholas9 ай бұрын

    Excellent introduction, now anticipating the extremely interesting subject of your second episode! Thank you!

  • @jamesabernethy7896
    @jamesabernethy789610 ай бұрын

    I'll probably end up watching this later as I have a backlog of things to watch. I've followed your channel for a while, I really like history from dinosaurs to ancient rome. I don't comment enough but your videos are so well presented.

  • @saint-naive
    @saint-naive10 ай бұрын

    Your videos are wonderful, as always. Thanks so much for making it and I can't wait for part 2!

  • @user-tr5zr8mp4n
    @user-tr5zr8mp4n7 ай бұрын

    Beautifully written, narrated and produced! Thank you.. What a great history lesson. Thanks for creating this!.

  • @alexrator7674
    @alexrator767410 ай бұрын

    The fact that an ancient civilization survived so long and is also currently a world superpower is amazing

  • @Hatewontwin

    @Hatewontwin

    10 ай бұрын

    It's a control thing. No free expression or your DEAD..🤨

  • @Jeo3l

    @Jeo3l

    10 ай бұрын

    @@Hatewontwinno free health insurance you will not survive neither

  • @Deepak_Dhakad

    @Deepak_Dhakad

    10 ай бұрын

    There r many ancient civilizations which survived

  • @rogerfaint499

    @rogerfaint499

    9 ай бұрын

    @@Hatewontwin Ask Julian Assange or Snowden and then you will conclude that free expression in US is just a lie.

  • @haniahannslew4108

    @haniahannslew4108

    9 ай бұрын

    @@Hatewontwin it's even bigger control thing in the US and India.

  • @Thought.I.Was.Clever
    @Thought.I.Was.Clever10 ай бұрын

    What a great history lesson. Thanks for creating this!

  • @crowvii
    @crowvii10 ай бұрын

    Yes!!!! I've never been so excited to see an update!! Thank you for all the hard work!!

  • @MyGrassIsGreenest
    @MyGrassIsGreenest10 ай бұрын

    Love videos about ancient civilizations! Thanks for the upload!

  • @prototropo
    @prototropo10 ай бұрын

    Beautifully written, narrated and produced! Thank you.

  • @samuelkaplowitz6621
    @samuelkaplowitz662110 ай бұрын

    So excited for this series! Can’t wait to see what you research regarding oracle bones and early writing! Hyped.

  • @LordSpuggy
    @LordSpuggy10 ай бұрын

    This is so excellently done! Thank you very much for sharing such a fascinating video.

  • @art1muz13
    @art1muz1310 ай бұрын

    😊Thank you for the content, and. Hopefully you'll keep 'em coming.🎉

  • @urinstein1864
    @urinstein186410 ай бұрын

    I just subbed the other day after watching your "Birth of Civilisation" series. And now this? I'm in great luck!

  • @johndavis6119
    @johndavis611910 ай бұрын

    I’m still amazed at how little we know of China in the west. Most of this is due I am sure to old prejudices we’ve never let go. It is high time we did and learned more about these people. Thank you for this video.

  • @lukaede7172

    @lukaede7172

    6 ай бұрын

    You know what they say, the less you know, the more you fear. Everyone should learn more about each other and make peace, the west and east has more things in common than most people on each side thinks.

  • @wonderplanet343

    @wonderplanet343

    2 ай бұрын

    Yes .. but I lived there and it’s a polluted pit 😂❤. People still poop beside roads in the countryside. Amazing poverty and overpopulation. We should understand to avoid growing our western populations and falling to their troubles ❤😢

  • @erickisking9973

    @erickisking9973

    Ай бұрын

    Forget it pal. Your people wouldn't understand a thing.

  • @JonnoPlays

    @JonnoPlays

    10 күн бұрын

    A lot of discoveries weren't made until the last 50 to 100 years and weren't widely shared due to lack of interest and language barrier. Archeology is still a very young science and that is a sliding scale depending on the location. China has a long way to go to fill in the gaps especially because China is one of the cradles of early civilization. It's exciting to know we have so much more to learn, we can't be grudge the past for not doing more. What they did was enough, now it's on our generation to add more to the story.

  • @johndavis6119

    @johndavis6119

    7 күн бұрын

    @@JonnoPlays exactly. I do wish the CCP would lift their van on excavating their pyramids. Unless they are afraid it would prove Egyptians founded their country. Remember they are very xenophobic and to this day regard all other cultures as barbaric.

  • @Ketiseb
    @Ketiseb10 ай бұрын

    Gorgeous, thanks alot and we await even more!

  • @davidd6171
    @davidd617110 ай бұрын

    Love your videos! Keep up the great work!

  • @Kariakas
    @Kariakas10 ай бұрын

    Really high quality content, I’ll enjoy this thoroughly.

  • @themiddlekingdom
    @themiddlekingdom10 ай бұрын

    I stumbled upon this fantastic video today and immediately hit the subscribe button. As a novice KZreadr with a channel focused on Chinese history, I gained so much knowledge from watching your video. Thank you for creating such valuable content!

  • @Pushing_Pixels

    @Pushing_Pixels

    7 ай бұрын

    Your channel looks interesting, I will check out your videos.

  • @chomskyhonk1680
    @chomskyhonk168010 ай бұрын

    I really love your videos, I have always been obsessed with history and the past few years I've been really into ancient Chinese history but it is so deep and complex that I always end up getting lost.

  • @BlastinRope

    @BlastinRope

    10 ай бұрын

    We don’t cotton to freaks around these parts

  • @LalyVang-rj6ni

    @LalyVang-rj6ni

    8 ай бұрын

    Trying to learn chinese history is like trying to learn all the kingdoms and princely states of the holy roman empire. Lol

  • @honphiewon6533

    @honphiewon6533

    6 ай бұрын

    In fact, Chinese history is not as complex as you might imagine. There's an ironic joke: Mr. Lu Xun, a Chinese writer from the last century, once said, "When I open the book of Chinese history, I see only two words - 'cannibalism.'(吃人)" He summarized the entire history of China into two phases, which are the era of being stable slaves and the era of wanting to be a slave but not being able to. These two phases have cyclically repeated throughout history.

  • @honphiewon6533

    @honphiewon6533

    6 ай бұрын

    @@LalyVang-rj6ni In fact, the number of vassal states in Chinese history far exceeds that of the Holy Roman Empire, but delving into each of them individually doesn't hold much significance. The key is to understand the historical pattern of unity followed by disintegration and disintegration followed by unity(合久必分,分久必合). This pattern involves the central government becoming corrupt over time, local powers inheriting and carving out their domains, these local powers eventually merging with each other to form a few major forces. When the time is ripe, one dominant force emerges victorious, becoming the new central government after unification, and the cycle begins anew.

  • @honphiewon6533

    @honphiewon6533

    6 ай бұрын

    A further point to add is that in Chinese history, vassal states, apart from the Pre-Qin period (the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties )when they were officially enfeoffed, mostly emerged during the late years of a dynasty when the central government became too weak to govern the regions effectively. Over time, local officials established their own power bases. At a certain point, these officials' local forces rebelled and declared their own rule, leading to the sudden emergence of many vassal states.

  • @bitmau5
    @bitmau510 ай бұрын

    There is not enough of this out there, thank you so much!!

  • @robertc.4609
    @robertc.460910 ай бұрын

    Another great Episode, glad to see stuff about Eastern Asian early history. I have a hard time finding good videos about it in English.

  • @liLi-eg9et
    @liLi-eg9et9 ай бұрын

    When I travel to different provinces in China, one of my favorite things to do is to go to the local museums! The cultural heritage of different historical dynasties and different customs is really amazing.😆

  • @user-qo5ub6kk9b

    @user-qo5ub6kk9b

    9 ай бұрын

    下次来广东,我带你吃喝玩乐本地美食。

  • @latviankhan2989

    @latviankhan2989

    4 ай бұрын

    I wish I had the time to explore China, it's such a large nation with such a wide variaty of cultures and people, it would take a liftime to explored it fullly

  • @TocsTheWanderer

    @TocsTheWanderer

    2 ай бұрын

    I'd probably get arrested if I ever went to China with how much I've shit-talked Xi "Winnie the Pooh" Jinping, and their government as a whole.

  • @aldenpartridge4773

    @aldenpartridge4773

    Ай бұрын

    @@TocsTheWandererI promise you won't.

  • @yunxingchen

    @yunxingchen

    24 күн бұрын

    @@TocsTheWanderer Don't worry, nobody cares about you in China lol because there are too many people in China

  • @phdtobe
    @phdtobe10 ай бұрын

    You nailed it! Fantasic episode!

  • @QueenChristine826
    @QueenChristine82610 ай бұрын

    This was very interesting. I can't wait for the next chapter.

  • @pjacobsen1000
    @pjacobsen10009 ай бұрын

    Another excellent episode!

  • @Goodsdogs
    @Goodsdogs8 ай бұрын

    Subscribed, great content cannot wait for next episode.

  • @evilpebble
    @evilpebble10 ай бұрын

    Glad to see you making videos worth watching again.

  • @sphenodon2016
    @sphenodon20169 ай бұрын

    excellent place to start this series, China is and has been a mostly unified entity for longer than any other state has existed. The cultural continuity is unrivaled across millennia. while I mostly interested in China as a geopolitical entity, I'm excited to see your perspective as a historian

  • @EELClove98
    @EELClove9810 ай бұрын

    u guys cover the exact type of history im in love with and that i rarely see videos about, keep up the amazing work

  • @Iggy_Dogg
    @Iggy_Dogg6 ай бұрын

    your channel rocks dude. don't know why I hadn't subbed yet, every video of yours I've seen is just fascinating

  • @whansandceros
    @whansandceros10 ай бұрын

    ayyyoooo thank you for blessing us with this

  • @tylermalone4768
    @tylermalone476810 ай бұрын

    These videos are always very done, interesting and informative. Thank you

  • @HypaBumfuzzle
    @HypaBumfuzzle10 ай бұрын

    😍😍 happiness is a new Histocrat vid

  • @Drumsgoon
    @Drumsgoon10 ай бұрын

    Great stuff, I enjoy these series!

  • @kiyoshitakeda452
    @kiyoshitakeda4526 ай бұрын

    Like this episode. Interesting overview of Chinese civilization. More please.

  • @jeremiaas15
    @jeremiaas1510 ай бұрын

    As interesting as this is, I already am slightly fearful of the episode about the Three Kingdoms (or as it is officially called, [Cao] Wei) period. One advice beforehand (which should be useful for the whole series): Apart from historical works, there exist also various later novelisations and folk stories. Please bare in mind, that folk stories (which often are the basis of certain elements of novelisations) aren't necesarily ficticious, and often when the histories suggest someone did something stupid, those stories explain why, and sometimes, like with Yuan Shu's declaring himself emperor, get confirmed by later findings (which often are poorly known in the west). In detail: The Chronicles of the Three Countries (or Kingdoms, if you must) record that after Yuan Shu obtained the imperial seal, he declared himself emperor, citing descendance from dynasties which ruled before the Han; all other warlords ignored that and fairly quickly destroyed him. The Historian implies, that he proclaim himself Emperor because he was a bombastic tyrant, ignorant enough, to think that having the imperial seal was legally enough to proclaim a new dynasty. Some 20 or 30 years ago, various text written at the time were discovered, and they show that not only Yuan's claim was much stronger than Liu Bang's (who, 400 years earlier founded the Han), but also that he ruled his lands with uncommon kindness and was exceedingly popular among the people, to the point of being openly urged to ascend the throne long before he obtained the imperial seal.

  • @Shineon83

    @Shineon83

    10 ай бұрын

    In other words, no different from Ancient Greek tales, Roman tales & stories from the Bible (most of which, originally believed fictitious, were discovered to be historical events)….

  • @taoxiaodong

    @taoxiaodong

    9 ай бұрын

    As a Chinese who likes to study Chinese history, your argument makes me feel confused.

  • @user-wq6ov3bg6k

    @user-wq6ov3bg6k

    9 ай бұрын

    @@Shineon83 扯淡,这完全不同,中国的历史人物记载非常详细,有墓葬,有历史文物,有墓志铭,有地方志,有族谱,有县志,有诗歌,等等许许多多真实存在的历史,且出土文物也大多与历史记录人物能够对应,历史人物关系也非常清晰,这和古希腊神话完全不同,请不要把西方史观强加到中国历史观,这没有可比性,为了你们的欧洲中心论,你们历史可以借助神话来叙述,却贬低中华文明史,可笑至极。

  • @user-wq6ov3bg6k

    @user-wq6ov3bg6k

    9 ай бұрын

    袁世凯400年前是刘邦?中间这么多朝代都丢失了吗,那些出土文物和真实历史记录怎么办

  • @zl4247

    @zl4247

    9 ай бұрын

    ​@@user-wq6ov3bg6k翻译的问题 他原话是袁 指袁术

  • @billspooks
    @billspooks2 ай бұрын

    这是一部精彩而透彻的中国古代纪录片。 非常感谢您发布它。 這是一部精彩而透徹的中國古代紀錄片。 非常感謝您發布它。 This is a wonderful and thorough documentary of ancient China. Thank you so much for posting it.

  • @josephmartin334
    @josephmartin33410 ай бұрын

    This is excellent! Thanks so much. It is fascinating history and superbly produced. You made my day. 👍

  • @phlezktravels
    @phlezktravels10 ай бұрын

    Newly suggested video. First time here. Thanks, KZread algorithm!

  • @user-ys8xe1xd2x
    @user-ys8xe1xd2x10 ай бұрын

    Japanese people are familiar with Chinese history, but I am surprised at the ignorance of Westerners about Chinese history. Westerners don't understand kanji, so I suspect that it's boring to have so many similar pronunciations. Certainly, the pronunciation of proper nouns in Chinese history is similar, but the Chinese characters are different, and the meaning of the Chinese characters carries a lot of information.

  • @G4mer_D4d
    @G4mer_D4d10 ай бұрын

    I been waiting 4 years for this!!!!

  • @BenSHammonds
    @BenSHammondsАй бұрын

    quite enjoyable program, filled with much good information

  • @AbHarians
    @AbHarians9 ай бұрын

    Don't forget the Chinese who originated from the yellow river ring (Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin) has height as tall as northern european and much taller than its other region counterpart like the south who mostly descended from the admixture of Chinese with southeast asian or natives aborigine. Although current modern time it's quiet difficult to search for the origin of everyone because of the migration from time to time but the Yellow river ring tall people was indeed true and recorded in the book.

  • @jtgd
    @jtgd10 ай бұрын

    Thank you. Finally, something to spark my interest in Asian history

  • @hellspice1
    @hellspice110 ай бұрын

    Was just wondering what I was gonna fall asleep listening to tonight, lo and behold histrocat has a new video out

  • @dietlindvonhohenwald448
    @dietlindvonhohenwald4485 ай бұрын

    Amazing! Thank you.

  • @MrGksarathy
    @MrGksarathy7 ай бұрын

    Ancient China must have been so incredibly cool to live in. There were a vast number of ethnic groups in the various regions, so many ecosystems, and a huge diversity of flora and fauna no longer present in the modern day, like rhinos, elephants (Asian and possibly Paleoloxodon), leopards, tigers, tapir, etc.

  • @user-hb7py7xy7b

    @user-hb7py7xy7b

    7 ай бұрын

    It sucks. As well as any other ancient society. You work dusk till dawn just to be able to eat (maybe), die from any minor illness and surrounded by dangerous predators and hostile tribes.

  • @AlbertLivingstone

    @AlbertLivingstone

    6 ай бұрын

    @@user-hb7py7xy7b Hunter gatherers didn't work dawn till dusk. Farmers did

  • @userthe7622

    @userthe7622

    6 ай бұрын

    Nah, trust me, I am ethnically Chinese, and Chinese culture is very barbaric.

  • @suzbone

    @suzbone

    6 ай бұрын

    ​@@user-hb7py7xy7bhunter-gatherers worked far less than modern people.

  • @Shrouded_reaper

    @Shrouded_reaper

    6 ай бұрын

    ​@user-hb7py7xy7b Even as a modern person with a little knowledge, it's pretty easy to survive off fishing and hunting. As an ancient hunter gatherer with a massive amount of passed down knowledge as well as tremendously plentiful fish and game I doubt they worked more than an hour or two a day to bring in a huge feed.

  • @user-vl8ok3jy6u
    @user-vl8ok3jy6u8 ай бұрын

    感谢你的创作,让更多人了解中国文化。

  • @arturofuente4832
    @arturofuente48324 ай бұрын

    Looking fwd to the next production in this series.

  • @patrickotis3884
    @patrickotis388410 ай бұрын

    Thank you!

  • @Richayu
    @Richayu6 ай бұрын

    It is quite amazed to see this video made with so much scientific evidence and fair perspectives, in terms of the birth of Chinese civilization.

  • @cosimo7770
    @cosimo777010 ай бұрын

    Congratulations on a video production that is informative and beautiful. In particular, that there is almost no intrusive backlground music whilst the narrator is speaking, showing respect for your viewers. Most other videos use constant background 'music' to dum down and manipulate the viewer.

  • @arcimemphis2391
    @arcimemphis239110 ай бұрын

    It's really good. hope to see part 2

  • @elKinesis
    @elKinesis2 ай бұрын

    Your content is amazing! Also, I totally thought that person on the scooter was going to be splatted by that bus at 38:23

  • @elizabethford7263
    @elizabethford726310 ай бұрын

    Im very excited to see this! Your video on the Ubaid period gave me a complete image of life at the rise of complex societies, which no one else has. I anticipate this will provide the same for East Asia. On another note, I think our knowledge of the Paleolithic in Asia is about to change radically as China opens it's museum collections for research in collaboration with Western scholars (especially the Planck Institute)

  • @GL-iv4rw

    @GL-iv4rw

    9 ай бұрын

    Happy belated Chinese new year, is this the year 4721 of the rabbit?

  • @smagic7007
    @smagic700710 ай бұрын

    Beautiful work. I love these videos. You should continue them on different countries!? For example, Ethiopia, India, or even some of the Nordic countries would be cool!!

  • @lkmjin
    @lkmjin10 ай бұрын

    Mom, moooom, Histocrat added a new video!!! 🎉

  • @raymondcava4669
    @raymondcava46698 ай бұрын

    I just happened to come across this video it is fascinating thank you for posting. Look forward to more content. I just subscribed to your channel. I’d rather watch this video then any movie that Hollywood has the show. I’m from Ontario Canada. Greetings.

  • @miketackabery7521
    @miketackabery752110 ай бұрын

    Thank you for this series. I only wish you'd begun it a couple years ago so I could watch more of it right away. I'd definitely binge this: so much better researched than many other channels.

  • @mliittsc63
    @mliittsc6310 ай бұрын

    I would suggest that the toolset of South China included a lot of bamboo, which unfortunately is rarely preserved, especially in the regions climate. Elsewhere we might hope for a peat bog, but I don't think these exist in South China.

  • @TheGahta

    @TheGahta

    9 ай бұрын

    They arent called pete bog over there but yu bog or something

  • @kenstaroz1536
    @kenstaroz15367 ай бұрын

    Thank you for you amazing effort and clear narration. I really enjoyed it and looking forward to the coming episodes. You have a new subscriber!

  • @dingdingdong8009
    @dingdingdong80095 ай бұрын

    This is something we need on Hisotry Channel, not the Pawn Stars, Truck Night, Oak Island, Ancient Aliens and all those things unrelated to the history.

  • @Embracehistoria
    @Embracehistoria10 ай бұрын

    Nice maps ;P

  • @josephlongbone4255
    @josephlongbone425510 ай бұрын

    As soon as you mentioned the Tang dynasty I had a genuine flashback to the most traumatic Wikipedia article I have ever read... "The soldiers cried that they did not want to eat the flesh." "Zhang Xun ordered them to eat the flesh." "20,000-30,000 civilians where eaten." "People always remained loyal."

  • @MrHichammohsen1

    @MrHichammohsen1

    10 ай бұрын

    I should not have read you comment...

  • @swausgebouwen143

    @swausgebouwen143

    10 ай бұрын

    And now I will have a flashback to reading this comment.

  • @JimmyStiffFingers

    @JimmyStiffFingers

    10 ай бұрын

    Decisive Tang victory.

  • @rvanhees89

    @rvanhees89

    10 ай бұрын

    Oeh! Link! Link! Link!

  • @jahinsadman1505

    @jahinsadman1505

    10 ай бұрын

    americans today be like: and that's why we need to put military bases around china!!

  • @quetzalcoatlz
    @quetzalcoatlz10 ай бұрын

    Love the new narrator!!!

  • @Abdal-RahmanI
    @Abdal-RahmanI10 ай бұрын

    What a topic!! Yesssss

  • @cthulhu_lives8169
    @cthulhu_lives81697 ай бұрын

    There are huge swathes of Chinese history missing. Sanxingdui people and the Longyou caves are good examples.

  • @cal2127
    @cal212710 ай бұрын

    the southern sites are probably austronesian yue tribes

  • @orangepenguin7782

    @orangepenguin7782

    9 ай бұрын

    Or other unknown tribes

  • @loonesowin2727

    @loonesowin2727

    7 ай бұрын

    One of the hundreds of Yue has an Austronesian language group The ancient ruins of Liangdao man in Fujian were discovered Genetic testing is Austronesian

  • @anguscable2819
    @anguscable28195 ай бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @thegrandlord2914
    @thegrandlord29149 ай бұрын

    Southern China around Yunan province are used to be the homeland of austronesian people. Austronesian people leaving this place after an invasion from the north that forcing austronesian to leave due to smaller population than the north. If china claiming south china sea as their traditional fishing ground, does it means maritime south east asian such as indonesia, malaysia, brunei and philipine can claim southern china around yunan province as austronesian homeland that belong to austronesian people?

  • @user-yr6vc7kq3m

    @user-yr6vc7kq3m

    9 ай бұрын

    非洲才是你老家

  • @loonesowin2727

    @loonesowin2727

    7 ай бұрын

    Yunnan is the hometown of the Dai and Hmong Miao ethnic groups The Dai people have lived on this land for generations to this day. The Dai family is Thai, Thailand Cambodian and Lao laos The Hemudu culture of the ancient Austronesian people lived near the estuary of the Yangtze River in Zhejiang Province. The ancient ruins of the Liangdao people in Fujian Province, dating back 8,200 years, are also related to the Austronesian people. If you are an Indonesian, you can come back and live in Zhejiang Province or Fujian Province but the conditions are yours the government returns the land of the Southeast Asian archipelago, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines to the indigenous peoples, the Negroes, the Semang, and the Melanesians. 😂😂😂

  • @krono5el
    @krono5el10 ай бұрын

    Without the people of Asia, Hindustan, and the Americas, we wouldnt have all the amazing things we all love today. Imagine food today without these civilizations : P

  • @normandong4479
    @normandong44792 ай бұрын

    It almost seems ludicrous to draw a line in the sand to proclaim they have determined when China’s civilization began. China is very ancient, but archaeology and research continue that shows different places within China which had earlier start than just the Yellow River cultures. Instability and much later the Cold War prevented Chinese archaeologists and historians from helping establish when it all began. China is a remarkable country and culture, and we hope there will be more travel, trade and cultural exchange to bring all of China’s history to light.

  • @michaelwoo4123
    @michaelwoo412310 ай бұрын

    Awesome!

  • @nizhonyclah9689
    @nizhonyclah968910 ай бұрын

    This is where good foods come from that we pay an arm and a leg these days. The home of Jackie Chan ❤.

  • @syncmaster915n
    @syncmaster915n10 ай бұрын

    Looking forward for to the next episode! Please also do one on the 'Great Flood' mythology of various civilizations. I just found out that China's GF myth spawned a dynasty, Xia, while most other civilizations' are religion related.

  • @pjacobsen1000

    @pjacobsen1000

    9 ай бұрын

    Good idea. One can imagine that as societies have become fully settled on broad plains, a flood will be totally devastating, as opposed to when you're hunter-gatherer and you can just run up the hills for a few days and then continue your lifestyle. It's perhaps very understandable that in a settled, agrarian society, a big flood will generate stories that get handed down for many generations.

  • @GL-iv4rw

    @GL-iv4rw

    9 ай бұрын

    China's flood myth is also featured in Taoism, Confucianism, and Chinese folk religion

  • @unifieddynasty
    @unifieddynasty9 ай бұрын

    Wow, in-video citations. Bravo!

  • @slightlya4tistic
    @slightlya4tistic10 ай бұрын

    Incredible ❤

  • @ErenYega747
    @ErenYega74710 ай бұрын

    France went through many betrayals by the US. One was leaving the Paris agreement. Another was taking the AUKUS submarine deal. And a big one was the treatment of Alstom

  • @RichMitch
    @RichMitch10 ай бұрын

    I'd love an imperial history of China, if you're feeling like it

  • @yoshimitsu8643
    @yoshimitsu864310 ай бұрын

    After such a long time Birth of series

  • @tarkroADC
    @tarkroADC3 ай бұрын

    SO... when will we get the next parts? :P Thank you for the content and great work!

  • @PalmettoNDN
    @PalmettoNDN6 ай бұрын

    Wonderful video. I greatly enjoyed it. Thank you.

  • @Pumpkinking64
    @Pumpkinking6410 ай бұрын

    I'd rather watch this than any other movie right now

  • @levitatingoctahedron922
    @levitatingoctahedron92210 ай бұрын

    26:20 it's very easy to produce coil pottery in abundance if you are shown how, I doubt it was something scarce for ceremonial usage. one man could make hundreds in a month if it was his only job, though I doubt most of these societies would need that many. my gut feeling is that we're finding well preserved hill people sites specifically because they are remote and the people actually making the pottery in bulk were down by the huge river that washes everything away.

  • @jampasurprenant1794
    @jampasurprenant17948 ай бұрын

    It is very interesting to learn about the ancient history of China.

  • @AreHan1991
    @AreHan199110 ай бұрын

    Very well made, and good info. It’s not common in archeological videos on YT…

  • @jameschern2013
    @jameschern201310 ай бұрын

    5000 years ago, the temperature in the north was very high, and woolly elephants could be seen everywhere on the grasslands. There were trade routes along the coast and inland, exchanging shells and jade

  • @stevep5408
    @stevep540810 ай бұрын

    They claim that while bland, acorn meat has everything needed to keep humans alive besides flavor!