Vol. 5, No 1, 2022
CONTENTS
KHITAN TRIBAL ORGANIZATION AND THE BIRTH OF THE KHITAN STATE
Cai Meibiao
The article basing on the data of historical records examines the process of the evolution of Khitan from separate tribes in the 4th century to the founding of the state in 10th century. The author marks out the following stages of this evolution. 1) The period of independent, scattered tribal activity. 2) The period of the Dahe tribal confederation. The eight fraternal tribes with a common ancestor formed that was at first a temporary, but later turned into a long-lasting confederation, and established the custom of selecting the confederation leader. 3) The early period of the Yaonian tribal confederation. The reestablished confederation resembled the old confederation in form, but actually it was the combination of the two strong tribes, the Yishi and Diela, along with a few smaller tribes, that formed two groups that were controlled by the Yishi and Diela tribes. The confederation military commander was hereditarily selected by the Diela tribe, thereby forming the foundation for privileged nobility. 4) The late Yaonian tribal confederation period. During this time the Khitan entered a new era of rapid development. Khitan society had long nurtured the elements of a slavery system, and several years of victorious outward campaigns caused the rapid growth of the number of captured slaves, and increased the wealth and power of all the military leaders. Conflicts between social classes clearly formed. The gap in wealth among the clans caused friction among clan members, and the addition of a large number of foreigners rapidly undermined the functioning of the tribal organization. The clan system had finally come to an end, and the state came into being at the hand of Abaoji.
Keywords: Khitan, clan, tribe, Dahe and Yaonian tribal confederations, founding of the state, Abaoji.
THE SOURCE OF THE EARTHEN WARES UNEARTHED FROM TROITSKIY CEMETERY
Feng Enxue (冯恩学)
The fundamental elements in Troitskiy earthen wares were originated from those of Naifeld situated in the middle reaches of Heilongjiang (Amur) River. During its development, the earthen wares in Troitskiy absorbed some affection from Sumo Mohe culture represented by Chaliba site in Jilin Province and it led to formation of Troitskiy type ceramics with specific local features. The peculiarities of earthen wares of Troitskiy cemetery give no possibility to determine ethnicity of people made it, to identify them nor with Sumo Mohe, nor with Bohai people.
Keywords: Troitskiy cemetery, mohe, earthen ware.
Plough and Pastoralism: Aspects of Secondary Products Revolution
Sherratt Andrew
The present article was written by Andrew Sherratt, professor of archeology at the University of Sheffield (England), in 1981 for the study The Economy and Society of Prehistoric Europe: Changing Perspectives. This landmark work is dedicated to the memory of Andrew Sherratt’s mentor David Clarke and was published by the University of Edinburgh Press in 1997. In the article, Andrew Sherratt argues that after the Neolithic revolution in the Old World there was a revolution of secondary products, which involved the exploitation of domesticated animals, originally for meat, as additional resources — hides, wool, milk, manure for soils, as well as the draft power needed in rural labor. This seems to have made it possible to use the possibilities of domesticated animals in a new way, contributing to the formation of a natural economy, the development of wastelands for agricultural and pastoral farming, the transformation of the settlement hierarchy, the evolution of social structure and, as a result, the emergence of new ways of inheriting property in prehistoric Eurasia. Thanks to the combination of these innovations, the Old World has become an economic and technological hegemon in the world.
Keywords: secondary products revolution, archeology of Eurasia, Neolithic revolution, neolithization, agriculture in the Old and New Worlds, animal husbandry, plow, cattle breeding and farming, settlement hierarchy, transformation of social structure, transport, trade networks, milk and wool, Middle East, prehistoric Europe.
The Assorting of the Artifacts Recovered from Temple Site No. 1 at Gucheng Village in Hunchun City, Jilin
Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology of Jilin University
Jilin Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Hunchun Municipal Commission for Preservation of Ancient Monuments
Temple Site No. 1 is located at Gucheng Village in Sanjiazi Township, Hunchun City, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province. In June 1995, the local farmers discovered stone blocks, Buddhist sculptures, pottery tiles and other artifacts when they were leveling the farmland. The studies showed that these artifacts were from the Temple Site No. 1. The sculptures were made of marble, gray sandstone, fine clay pottery, etc. The stone sculptures had more types, which were seated Buddha, Buddha head, bodhisattva statue, Lotus transmutation figure, thousand-Buddha, halo, aureole, lotus pedestal, etc. The architectural parts were cylindrical tiles, flat tiles, etc. The typological features of the Buddhist sculptures and tiles showed that the date of the Temple Site No. 1 at Gucheng Village was no later than the early period of the Bohai Kingdom and can be seen as the earliest Buddhist temple in the Tumen River Valley confirmed to date.
Keywords: Buddhist temple site, Buddhist sculpture, time of foundation of Bohai Kingdom, ornament of tile discs, Tumen River Valley.
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