Event

Abstract: 

A Cumulative Han Culture - Finding Variation in the Western Zhou Expansion 

In the field of Ancient China studies, scholars have often turned to the more recent past, and its many textual sources, to aid them in their efforts of illuminating the deeper past. What has allowed this ‘free movement through time’ is the notion that Chinese civilization is monolithic and unchanging; a cumulative culture that adds to its solid core. The issue of continuity vs. change is certainly not unique to Chinese scholarship and ways in which scholars choose to reconcile long term regional developments, historical projections and archaeological data in their studies varies widely.

While a cautious reevaluation of these concepts has been applied to the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, the period of Western Zhou (1046-771) has often been neglected in this sense. Because Confucius and his followers considered this period the golden age of civilization, scholars have traditionally paid little attention to existing ethnic and cultural diversity and created the illusion that Chinese culture, in Han style, already existed at this early date.The traditional narrative – one that focuses on the formation of the later unified Chinese Empire  and civilization – still views the Zhou as those who, through military expansion and conquest, successfully Sinicized and acculturated the peoples that would make up the Chinese world

This talk presents the results of an investigation of everyday activities, foodways to highlight the complex relationship between the Zhou and the people they encountered. My study finds the Zhou expansion did not result in the homogenization of the ancient cultural landscape, but instead that the Zhou influence had unequal regional results: from acceptance to rejection and reformulation to suit local traditions.