CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 6 hapte IN TO THE EARLY DYNASTIES CEO ilapte Two THE REIGN OF THE ZHOU 18 Chapte Three THE QIN DYNASTY 27 TIF chapte Fou in BY TA LIFE UNDER THE HAN 36 Laila GLOSSARY 44 FOR MORE INFORMATION 46 INDEX 47
DISCOVERING ANCIENT CE uman ancestors lived in what is now China at least four hundred thousand years ago Archaeologists have dug up tools and other objects in the Beijing area that were used by people in the Stone Age Other proof of prehistoric civilizations has been found through out China The bones of human ancestors and early modern humans have been discovered along with the remains of artifacts the items they made These pieces include tools carved from stone and animal bones Evidence suggests that early people in China knew how to make and use fire Modernexcavations give us a look into prehistoric China a great civilization whose mysteries have been revealed through artifacts and other archaeo logical finds In addition most of the period known as ancient China roughly 2000 BCE to 221 CE is documented in written records Artifacts reveal to us when the people of ancient China started to live in settled groups at first mainly near the Huang He or Yellow River Eventually those settled groups formed communities Dynasties or royal families began to rule over these communities The story of ancient China is defined by the his tory emperors culture and traditions of its various dynasties By relating the details behind China's early dynastic empires this book opens a portal to one of antiquity's most important
OD CTION Heilongjiang Site or tomb of Neolithic Age Other objects of Neolithic Age Guxiangtun o Bronze Age site MONGOLIA Iron Age site Xiaokulun Shaguоtun o Iron Age tomb a Beileimiao Huai an Qingshuihe Zhoukoudian Chenfan Shuidongou Hebei Shanxi Qinghai Hu Koko Nor Gansu Xiaotun Anyang iangcheng Chengziyai Lanzhou Dingcun Yellow Yangshao Guide Zhengzhou Sea Dal Henan Doujitai O Chaoyi II Luoyang Banpocun Majiayao Shaanxi Hubei Yazhou Zhejiang Ziyang Jiading o Jia Poyang Hu Sichuan Dongting Dongsunba S Hu Qingjiang E Guilin Yunnan Guangzhou Canton Taiwan Guangxi Backan Zhuangzu South China Sea Gulf of Tonkin Hainan The principal settlements of ancient China were located along the country's major rivers the Yangtze and the Huang He
