Page 536 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

led archeologists to designate their creators as a distinct culture — Shu, the ancient name for
Sichuan.
Cultures of the distant regions contemporaneous with the Zhou dynasty seem to represent
continuations of the preceding Shang period cultures. The Upper Xiajiadian culture was situated
in the north; in the south we find a culture designated the Earthen Tomb culture, as well as the
continuation of the Ba and Shu cultures. Originating in western China, the Zhou first conquered
the region, then vanquished the last Shang king. Under the command of their king, the Qin
kingdom — the successor to the Zhou empire in the western part of China — unified the various
warring states during the final years of the Zhou and established the First Empire.

1 Some scholars over the last century questioned whether 6 Zhongguo1984.
the Xia dynasty ever in fact existed, but were unable to 7 Hubei 1976.
offer evidence to disprove the historical accounts. The 8 Zhongguo lishi 1996.
historian Gu Jiegang (b. 1893) did not deny the existence 9 Zhongguo 19803.
of the Xia dynasty, but questioned the existence of the 10 Shasnxi 19793
Great Yu, the reputed first ruler of the Xia. The modern 11 Zou 1998.
scholar Chen Mengjia, a specialist in ancient Chinese 12 Beijing 1995.
writing, proposed that the Xia and Shang might even 13 Shanxi 1993.
have been contemporaneous, but could not find any 14 Shsnxi 1976.
evidence to support that hypothesis. 15 Hubei 1989.
2 See Zou i98ob. 16 Zhongguo 1996.
3 Zhongguo Erlitou 1974. 17 Shsndong 1990.
4 Zou 19803. 18 Jisngxi 1997.
5 Henan 1977. 19 Sichusn 1987^

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