Ancient China
Yellow River neolithic roots
Ancient China7,000 BCE – 1,600 BCE
01
Before China
geography, climate, and the twin cradles of Chinese civilization
Geographic setting + pre-7000 BCE
02
Two Grains, Two Worlds
rice in the south, millet in the north, and the Neolithic divergence
7000–5000 BCE
03
The Painted Pottery World
Yangshao villages, ritual pottery, and the first territorial cultures
5000–3000 BCE
04
Jade and the Pig-Dragon
Hongshan shamans and the ritual power of carved jade
4700–2900 BCE
05
The Liangzhu Miracle
a waterlogged kingdom with silk, plows, and a god-king's crown
3300–2300 BCE
06
Longshan: Walls, Warlords, and the Yellow Emperor
walled towns, scapula oracles, and legends of a founding emperor
3000–2000 BCE
07
The Flood and the First Dynasty
Yu the Great, climate collapse, and the origin of dynastic rule
2200–1900 BCE
08
Erlitou: Legend Becomes Archaeology
a bronze-age palace that might prove the Xia were real
1900–1600 BCE