China, and what the civilisations shared

Chinese civilisation grew along two rivers: the Huang He (Yellow River) and the Yangtze. Their valleys had Neolithic cultures from about 7000 BCE. Copper and bronze came around 2000 BCE, but towns rose only around 1600 BCE, with the first Chinese Bronze Age empire.

China's history is told by dynasties (ruling families):

The name 'China' probably comes from the Qin.

Two interesting rules of the Zhou:

• Rulers were both kings and priests, believed to be chosen by heaven, but they could be removed if their people did not prosper.
• Officials were chosen carefully, after being tested in archery, horsemanship, calculation, writing and music.

"What are the earliest Chinese records?" Oracle bones: animal bones and tortoise shells with symbols on them. They were heated until they cracked, and the cracks were read to tell the future. Today they show us the hopes, wishes and fears of the early Chinese.

Chinese writing is logographic: each character stands for a whole word or a meaningful part, not a sound. Some characters even look like what they mean, such as 'person' and 'tree'.

Crafts. Jade objects were used in rituals or to show status. Jade was not found in China; it came from outside. Craftsmen carved jade into shapes like fish that rang with a clear musical note when struck. Marble was carved into birds and animals, and the Chinese mastered bronze for weapons, tools and grand ritual vessels.

The Great Wall was built over about two thousand years. From 680 BCE, the Zhou and other dynasties built separate walls against raids by nomadic tribes. Later these were joined up, and repair and extension went on until the 17th century CE.

Silk was known from the Neolithic period (4000–3000 BCE). Around the 2nd century BCE, under the Han, it became such a big export that the whole trade route was named after it: the Silk Route.

By 1500 BCE, Chinese society was ranked (stratified): rulers, nobles and aristocrats at the top; farmers and labourers below. Metal money appeared under the Zhou, and a money economy by the 5th century BCE. China was the first to use paper money, and the first to choose civil servants by public examination.

What the four civilisations shared. Harappan, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Chinese civilisations grew up independently, but followed a similar pattern:

• they began on fertile river plains;
• farming produced a surplus, and new resources helped the economy grow;
• cities appeared, with social and administrative systems;
• writing began, first to record trade and work, later for stories and literature.

Many of our cultural roots go back to these Bronze Age civilisations.

Watch out: 'independently' means they did not copy each other. They traded (Mesopotamia with Meluhha), but each built its own cities, rulers and writing.