Question Responses

I just need general responses to these 4 questions. About 4 – 7 sentences for each response. Please do not include the questions in the paper. Just number the responses 1 though 4 accordingly.

Please no plagiarism. It will be checked before any payment is submitted.

Thank you.

1. East Asia has a long prehistory, which means the history before written records of human activities. Basically, there were two main periods in the prehistoric era, as archaeologists call them: Paleolithic period and Neolithic period. In mainland East Asia (today’s China and Mongolia), the early human communities underwent great changes throughout those long years (hundreds of thousands years). Finally, two main centers emerged, one in the middle and lower Yellow River valley, and the other in the middle and lower Yangzi River valley. How common and different are the two Neolithic cultures in the two areas? Then to the north of the Yellow River, the vast steppe (mainly Mongolia today) is the home to another way of life: nomadic way of life. How different was that nomadic way of life in Mongolia from that in the two river valleys? Why? In your opinion, how did the differences affect the relationships between the peoples of the steppe and the peoples south of them? In fact, this is one of the most critical issues in the formation of Chinese civilization.

2. Holcombe gives a splendid coverage on the languages and writing systems in East Asia. Please report what in this section impresses you most (something you didn’t know before, or something that surprises you). Can you now say something about the differences between Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages?

3. When the Neolithic period came to its end, China was on the threshold of civilization. About 1766 BCE, the first historically attested dynasty emerged in China: the Shang dynasty (ca. 1766-1045 BCE). Archaeologists have found the earliest written documents in Chinese from this dynasty. However, it has been believed that there was a Xia (also written as “Hsia”) dynasty before the Shang dynasty. The Shang dynasty in the Yellow River valley amazes historians and archaeologists in three things: its tombs, its writing system (the so-called “oracle bones”), and its bronze. They are the three materials available to study the Shang dynasty. Please discuss how the archeological findings help reconstruct the culture of the Shang dynasty. Shang culture was very unique in that the religious belief weighed extremely heavily in people’s lives.

4. In the beginning of the chapter, Holcombe mentions the myths in both Korea and Japan regarding the founding of the first kingdom in Korea and the imperial house in Japan, but says that there is no such myth in China, although there are legendary figures such as Fuxi (ox-tamer), Shennong (divine farmer) and Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor). This might not be true. Please conduct a search online and see if you can find any creation myth in China (meaning on the creation of the universe and human beings).