Shajing culture

The Shajing culture (Ch: 沙井文化, 800/700–100 BCE),^[1][7] is an ancient Iron Age culture in the area of Gansu, to the northwest of the Central Plains of China. The village of Shajing is about 250 km northwest of Wuwei, while the village of Yushugou, another important Shajing site, is about 140 km to its southeast. The Shajing culture is closely associated to the Saka culture of the Xinjiang, the Ordos culture of Inner Mongolia and the Upper Xiajiadian culture of Liaoning.^[8] It was a culture essentially based on pastoral nomadism.^[8] As of 2017, seven sites had been excavated and almost as many fortified settlements built with walls of compacted loess.^[9]

Shajing culture

-500 SAKAS Tasmola Kulay Goro- khovo Itkul Sargat Ananyino culture Massagetae Sauro- matians Mumun Dian culture SABEANS Ordos culture Sha- jing Pazyryk Tagar Chandman Aldy-Bel YUEZHI Subeshi ACHAEMENID EMPIRE MAHA- JANAPADAS ZHOU DYNASTY Slab-grave culture DONGHU MEROË Scythians ◁ ▷ class=notpageimage| Location of the Shajing culture, with contemporary cultures circa 500 BCE Map of the Shajing culture ( ). The City of Xiutu () was about 20km north of Wuwei, and about 500km from Guyuan and its Great Wall built by King Zhao of Qin in 271 BCE (), and by Qin Shihuang (circa 210 BCE, )
Geographical range	Gansu
Dates	800/700–100 BCE.^[1]
Type site	Shajing 沙井村 (Minqin County) 39°05′43″N 100°16′00″E / 39.095264°N 100.266670°E / 39.095264; 100.266670 ^[2]
Major sites	Liuhudong (Minqin County) Hamadun (Yongchang County)^[3] Yushugou (Yongdeng County)^[4] Sanjiaocheng 三角城 (Jinchang)^[5]^[6] Liangucheng 连古城^[6] Yangchaodun 柳湖墩^[6] Jinshangsanjiaocheng 金昌三角城^[6]
Preceded by	Machang culture (2200-2000 BCE)^[1] Xichengyi culture (2000-1600 BCE)^[1] Siba culture (1700-1300 BCE)^[1]^[7] Siwa culture (1350-650 BCE) Shanma culture (900-100 BCE)^[1]^[7]
Followed by	Xiongnu (King Xiutu, 150-121 BCE) Western Han dynasty (121 BCE-) Majiayuan culture (3rd-2nd c. BCE)

Characteritics

The ecological context of the Shajing culture was one of general aridification, following the warm and humid climatic conditions from the Late Glacial to the Middle Holocene from which the Majiayao culture and the Qijia culture had benefited. Usually, such arid conditions lead to material and cultural decline, but the Shajing Culture was able to flourish along the lower Shiyang River as the Zhuye Lake was retreating, and the Xiongnu were able to establish the city of Xiutu along the Hongshui River, leading to a flourishing of nomadic culture within a context of drought.^[10] Archaeological remains suggest that the people of the Shajing culture engaged in pastoralism but also in extensive agricultural production.^[11]

The bronze objects of this culture follow the Animal style of the northern steppes, with motifs of eagle, deer or dog. Remains of chariots have been found, as well as iron spades.^[12] Archaeological finds of iron knives and spades suggest that the Shajing culture may have been instrumental in the transmission of iron technology to China.^[13]

Overall, Scythian-like artifacts form the core of this culture, but the ethnic affiliation of the Shajing people remains uncertain: they could have been Yuezhi, proto-Tibetean Qiang or Rong, or even Iranian Wusun, or a composition of these ethnic and cultural elements.^[9] The Shajing culture may well have belonged to the Yuezhi, although the zone between the Tian Shan and Dunhuang is now sometimes thought to be a better candidate.^[11][14]

The Shajing culture had walled settlements, probably for defensive purposes, inside which portable yurts were set up.^[11] The Sanjiaocheng walled settlement (三角城 38°59′N 103°19′E / 38.99°N 103.32°E / 38.99; 103.32) in Jinchang belongs to the Shajing culture as confirmed by its ceramic types, and was constructed circa 800 BCE (in the period 855–797 cal BCE), making it the oldest known walled settlement in the Hexi Corridor.^[11] It may have been one of the bases from which nomadic culture diffused into China 600–400 BCE.^[11] The site was still inhabited in the period 384–116 cal BCE, until the Chinese conquest by Huo Qubing.^[11]

•  
  Fortifications of Sanjiaocheng (top view), built c.800 BCE, Shajing culture.^[11]
•  
  Sanjiaocheng wall remains, built c.800 BCE, Shajing culture.^[11]

Artifacts

The bronze objects of the Shajing culture follow the Animal style of the northern steppes, with motifs of eagle, deer or dog. Remains of chariots have been found, as well as iron spades.^[12]

•  
  An elk from Longqu (龙渠乡), Zhangye, 475–221 BCE.^[15] Shajing culture.^[16]
•  
  Shajing Culture Bronze Deer Ornament
•  
  Shajing Culture Bronze Comb
•  
  Shajing Culture Bronze Ornament
•  
  Shajing Culture Turquoise Inlaid Gold Ring
•  
  Shajing Culture Bronze Ornamental Plates
•  
  Shajing Culture Pottery
•  
  Shajing Culture Pottery
•  
  Shajing Culture Bronze Eagle Head Ornaments

Final period

 

 

-150

GRECO
BACTRIANS

PAR-
THIA

Sargat

Shule

INDO-
GREEKS

SAKAS

Korgantas

YUEZHI

SABEANS

Ordos
culture

JIN

Tagar

Sagly

WUSUN

Dian
culture

SELEUCID
EMPIRE

MAURYA
EMPIRE

HAN
DYNASTY

XIONGNU

Khotan

PTOLE-
MIES

MEROË

Sarmatians

Alans

◁ ▷

Sha-
jing

class=notpageimage|

The Shajing culture became part of the territory of the Xiongnu Empire in the 2nd century BCE (before the Han–Xiongnu War of 133 BCE), and was ruled by king Xiutu.^{[17][18][19][20]}

In the final centuries, the Shajing culture was bordered to the south by the first Great Wall built by King Zhao of Qin in 271 BCE, and by the Xirong Majiayuan culture which had been incorporated within it.^[21][22]

The Shajing culture was overrun by the Xiongnu circa 150 BCE, as they expanded westward following their victory over the Donghu. The Xiongu installed a king named Xiutu (休屠) for the south and another named Hunye (浑邪) for the northern area. Alternatively, Xiutu himself may not have been a Xiongnu, and may have already ruled when the Xiongnu invaded, since it is reported that his territory was occupied by the Xiongnu when they were pushed westward by the Han dynasty.^[23]

Xiutu was known for worshipping a golden statue, as reported in the Shiji which mentions "golden (or gilded) men used by the King of Xiutu to worship Heaven".^[24][25] According to Christoph Baumer and others, "it is conceivable that this 'Golden man' was a statue of the Buddha".^[26][27]

The area of the Shajing culture and the Hexi Corridor were conquered by general Huo Qubing of Han dynasty in 121 BCE, as part of the Han–Xiongnu War. The Xiongnu were defeated, and the Han captured king Xiutu's golden statue, transferring it to the Ganquan Temple near the Imperial Palace of Han Wudi.^[24][25] Chinese authorities incorporated the new territories into prefectures and counties, such as the Wuwei Prefecture. Numerous people were transferred from the Central Plains, to repopulate the Hexi Corridor.^[28][29]

References

1. Yang, Yishi; Zhang, Shanjia; Oldknow, Chris; Qiu, Menghan; Chen, Tingting; Li, Haiming; Cui, Yifu; Ren, Lele; Chen, Guoke; Wang, Hui; Dong, Guanghui (2019). "Refined chronology of prehistoric cultures and its implication for re-evaluating human-environment relations in the Hexi Corridor, northwest China". Science China Earth Sciences. 62 (10): 1578. Bibcode:2019ScChD..62.1578Y. doi:10.1007/s11430-018-9375-4. ISSN 1674-7313. S2CID 199511546.
2. Cosmo, Nicola Di (1999). Northern Frontier in Pre-Imperial China (Cambridge History of Ancient China). Cambridge University Press. p. 937.
3. Vigo, Laura (2004). Cultural Diffusion and Identity: Material Culture in Northwest China -II and I millennia BCE (PDF). School of Oriental and African Studies (Thesis). p. 156.
4. 36°53′40″N 103°32′56″E / 36.894368°N 103.548912°E / 36.894368; 103.548912 Vigo, Laura (2004). Cultural Diffusion and Identity: Material Culture in Northwest China -II and I millennia BCE (PDF). School of Oriental and African Studies (Thesis). p. 209.
5. Sanjiaocheng 三角城 38°59′N 103°19′E / 38.99°N 103.32°E / 38.99; 103.32 in Linduff, Katheryn M.; Sun, Yan; Cao, Wei; Liu, Yuanqing (23 November 2017). Ancient China and its Eurasian Neighbors: Artifacts, Identity and Death in the Frontier, 3000–700 BCE. p. 205. doi:10.1017/9781108290555. ISBN 9781108290555.
6. Liangucheng 连古城 38°56′N 103°14′E / 38.93°N 103.24°E / 38.93; 103.24
   Sanjiaocheng 三角城 38°59′N 103°19′E / 38.99°N 103.32°E / 38.99; 103.32
   Yangchaodun 柳湖墩 38°32′N 102°56′E / 38.54°N 102.93°E / 38.54; 102.93
   Jinchangsanjiaocheng 金昌三角城 38°37′N 102°17′E / 38.62°N 102.29°E / 38.62; 102.29
   in Li, Yu; Zhang, Zhansen; Zhou, Xueru; Gao, Mingjun; Li, Haiye; Xue, Yaxin; Duan, Junjie (1 May 2023). "Paleo-environmental changes and human activities in Shiyang River Basin since the Late Glacial". Chinese Science Bulletin. doi:10.1360/TB-2022-0965. S2CID 257736583.
7. Li, Xin; Wei, Wenyu; Ma, Minmin; Lu, Minxia; Du, Linyao; Yang, Yishi; Chen, Guoke; Ren, Lele (2023). "Transformation of animal utilization strategies from the late Neolithic to the Han Dynasty in the Hexi Corridor, northwest China: Zooarchaeological and stable isotopic evidence". Frontiers in Earth Science. 10. Bibcode:2023FrEaS..1064803L. doi:10.3389/feart.2022.1064803. ISSN 2296-6463.
8. Cosmo, Nicola Di (1999). Northern Frontier in Pre-Imperial China (Cambridge History of Ancient China). Cambridge University Press. pp. 951–952. The Saka culture in Xinjiang, the Shajing culture in Gansu, the Ordos complex in Inner Mongolia, and the Upper Xiajiadian culture of Liaoning, all point to a transition from mixed agropastoral to predominantly or exclusively pastoral nomadic cultures. From the seventh century onwards, objects related to improved horse management and horse riding, such as the bit, cheekpieces, horse masks, and bell ornaments, became ever more widespread and sophisticated.
9. Komissarov, S.A (2017). "Shajing Culture (Gansu, China): Main Sites and Problems of Chronology". Paeas.ru. The Shajing culture of the Early Iron Age. The sites of this culture have been discovered in the central part of Gansu Province (China). Seven big burial grounds and almost the same amount of fortified settlements (with walls made of compacted loess) have been excavated. Painted pottery, associated with the local tradition of Neolithic-Early Bronze Age, has been found at the early sites, but the Scythian-like artifacts constitute the core of this culture. This makes it possible to clarify the chronological limits of the culture as 900-400 BC, but probably with the later specific dates. Different suggestions have been made concerning the ethnic origins of the "Shajing people," who may have some connections with the Tocharian-speaking Yuezhi, the proto-Tibetean Qiang and Rong, or even with the Iranian Wusuns. The Shajing culture might have emerged from the interaction of all these (or close) ethnic and cultural components.
10. Li, Yu; Zhang, Zhansen; Zhou, Xueru; Gao, Mingjun; Li, Haiye; Xue, Yaxin; Duan, Junjie (1 May 2023). "Paleo-environmental changes and human activities in Shiyang River Basin since the Late Glacial". Chinese Science Bulletin: 3884. doi:10.1360/TB-2022-0965. S2CID 257736583. The long period of warm and humid climatic conditions from the Late Glacial to the Middle Holocene favoured the development and expansion of the Majiayao and Qijia cultures. This stable and agriculturally suitable climate was conducive to increased food production, which contributed to rapid population growth. However, the continuous aridification that began in the Late Holocene led to a decline in agricultural production and insufficient food and water supply, which hampered population growth and cultural development. In contrast, the Shajing Culture flourished along the lower Shiyang River with the retreat of the Zhuye Lake, the Xiongnu Empire established the city of Xiutu along the Hongshui River, which experienced downcutting linked to the arid environment, and a nomadic culture emerged against the backdrop of drought in the Shiyang River Basin. These findings suggest that the impact of arid environments on the development of ancient civilizations was not always negative, and that humans responded to environmental changes by changing their production methods, thus promoting continued social development.
11. Liu, Fengwen; Li, Haiming; Cui, Yifu; Yang, Yishi; Lee, Harry F.; Ding, Detian; Hou, Yunguang; Dong, Guanghui (August 2019). "Chronology and Plant Utilization from the Earliest Walled Settlement in the Hexi Corridor, Northwestern China". Radiocarbon. 61 (4): 971–989. Bibcode:2019Radcb..61..971L. doi:10.1017/RDC.2019.57. ISSN 0033-8222. The notable exception is the Sanjiao walled settlement in Jinchang, which has been dated between 1110–430 cal BC. Sanjiao is generally considered as "the earliest walled settlement" in the Hexi Corridor (Pu and Pang Reference Pu and Pang1990; Li Reference Li1997). (...) Sanjiao is classified as part of the Late Bronze Age Shajing Culture (1000–400 BC) based on the unique ceramics unearthed there (Pu and Pang Reference Pu and Pang1990). (...) The settlement at Sanjiao was primarily composed of portable yurts (Pu and Pang Reference Pu and Pang1990). Those portable yurts together with the piled-earth walls at Sanjiao may further evidence the dominance of the agro-pastoral economy during the time (Pu and Pang Reference Pu and Pang1990). Our AMS dates from charcoal and the previous LSC dates support the hypothesis that settlement was built during the Shajing Period (1000–400 BC), as indicated by our phase modeling suggesting that the walls of Sanjiao were built in the period of 855–797 cal BC, with the median age of 828 ± 92 cal BC. (...) During 600–400 BC, the nomadic culture diffused to northwestern China, including Qinghai, Gansu, and Ningxia (Watson Reference Watson1971; Di Cosmo Reference Di Cosmo2010). Some studies argue that Shajing Culture has its origins in Rouzhi, a typical nomadic people (Pu and Pang Reference Pu and Pang1990). (...) The presence and ubiquity of barley and broomcorn millet indicates the Shajing Culture at Sanjiao engaged not only in agro-pastoralism but also agricultural production. (...)Sanjiao is affirmed by AMS 14C dates as the first walled settlement in the Hexi Corridor. (...) It was still inhabited in 384–116 cal BC.
12. Cosmo, Nicola Di (1999). Northern Frontier in Pre-Imperial China (Cambridge History of Ancient China). Cambridge University Press. p. 937. The bronze objects include mainly ornaments in the animal style (eagle, deer, and dog), but also a chariot axle end. The iron production is limited to tools, such as an object in the shape of a spade, a spearhead, and a drill.
13. MEI, JIANJUN (2003). "Cultural Interaction between China and Central Asia during the Bronze Age" (PDF). Proceedings of the British Academy: 28. The eastward transmission of iron technology appears to have taken a route from southern Xinjiang to eastern Xinjiang and then on into the Hexi Corridor. This view seems to be supported by finds of iron knives of the Yanbulake culture in eastern Xinjiang, as well as iron knives and spades of the Shajing culture (c.900–600 BC), which are distributed in the middle part of the Hexi Corridor (Li 1994: 501–5; Zhao 1996: 293–4).
14. Lan-Hai Wei, Ryan; Li, Hui; Xu, Wenkan (26–28 June 2013). "The separate origins of the Tocharians and the Yuezhi: Results from recent advances in archaeology and genetics". Conference: International Conference on Tocharian Manuscripts and Silk Road Culture at: University of Vienna, Vienna: 284. In the Bronze Age, the Siba (四坝) culture and the Shajing (沙井) culture are supposedly archaeological remains of the Yuezhi people (Guo and Chen 1989, Yang 1986). In actuality, in the Western Han Dynasty, the original name of modern Qilian Mountain in the Gansu Province was Nanshan Mountain (meaning 'South Mountain' in Chinese, 南山). Many historians have argued, however, that the "Qilian Mountain" in the Western Han Dynasty historical records is today called East Tianshan Mountain (Lin 1998). This is also supported by detailed records in the "Shiji" and the "Han Shu" (Wang 2004).
15. "The revival of the Prehistoric Silk Road". The Institute of Archaeology CASS.
16. "ШАЦЗИН • Большая российская энциклопедия - электронная версия". old.bigenc.ru.
17. Coatsworth, John; Cole, Juan; Hanagan, Michael P.; Perdue, Peter C.; Tilly, Charles; Tilly, Louise (16 March 2015). Global Connections: Volume 1, To 1500: Politics, Exchange, and Social Life in World History. Cambridge University Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-316-29777-3.
18. Atlas of World History. Oxford University Press. 2002. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-19-521921-0.
19. Fauve, Jeroen (2021). The European Handbook of Central Asian Studies. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 403. ISBN 978-3-8382-1518-1.
20. Hartley, Charles W.; Yazicioğlu, G. Bike; Smith, Adam T. (19 November 2012). The Archaeology of Power and Politics in Eurasia: Regimes and Revolutions. Cambridge University Press. p. 245, Fig 12.3. ISBN 978-1-139-78938-7.
21. Qingbo, Duan (2022). "Sino-Western Cultural Exchange as Seen through the Archaeology of the First Emperor's Necropolis". Journal of Chinese History 中國歷史學刊. 7: 56. doi:10.1017/jch.2022.25. ISSN 2059-1632. S2CID 251690411.
22. Wu, Xiaolong (2013). "Cultural hybridity and social status: elite tombs on China's Northern Frontier during the third century BC". Antiquity. 87 (335): 121–136. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00048663. ISSN 0003-598X. S2CID 155615456.
23. The Hanshu yin yi (漢書音義) says: "The place where the Xiongnus worshipped Heaven was originally at the foot of Mt. Ganquan (Ganquan xia 甘泉下), in Yunyang district (雲陽). After the Qin (秦) took their land, they moved westward to King Xiutu. Xiutu possessed the anthropomorphic golden statue for worshipping Heaven." (匈奴祭天处本在雲陽甘泉山下、秦奪其地、後徙之休屠王右地、故休屠有祭天金人、象. 祭天人也。)
24. Dubs, Homer H. (1937). "The "Golden Man" of Former Han Times". T'oung Pao. 33 (1): 4–6. ISSN 0082-5433. JSTOR 4527117.
25. 《史记》〈匈奴列传〉：“其明年春，汉使骠骑将军去病将万骑出陇西，过焉支山千馀里，击匈奴，得胡首虏（骑）万八千馀级，破得休屠王祭天金人。”
26. Baumer, Christoph (18 April 2018). History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-83860-868-2.
27. Barbieri-Low, Anthony J.; Yates, Robin D. S. (2 November 2015). Law, State, and Society in Early Imperial China (2 vols): A Study with Critical Edition and Translation of the Legal Texts from Zhangjiashan Tomb no. 247. BRILL. p. 1006, note 90. ISBN 978-90-04-30053-8. The Golden Man (possibly an image of the Buddha)
28. Xie, Yaowen; Bie, Qiang; He, Chansheng (2 November 2017). "Human settlement and changes in the distribution of river systems in the Minqin Basin over the past 2000 years in Northwest China". Ecosystem Health and Sustainability. 3 (11). doi:10.1080/20964129.2017.1401011. ISSN 2096-4129. S2CID 133989567.
29. In the early Western Han Dynasty (121–128 BC), the Emperor Hanwu launched three battles against Hun People and achieved a decisive victory. Since then the Minqin Basin was incorporated into the territory of the central plains dynasty. Large numbers of people in Central China were moved to the Hexi Corridor, and the system of prefectures and counties was set up. The Han Dynasty established the Wuwei Prefecture in the SRB, which contained 10 counties. Two of them, Wuwei and Xuanwei, were in the Minqin Basin. Later, the population of the two counties reached about 20,000, and during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25–220), Xuanwei along had 10,000 residents (Liang Citation1997).