I've just finished the chapter "Shang Archeology Outside An-yang and Cheng-chou" from K.C. Chang's book on Shang Civilization.
As the title indicates, it's mostly an inventory of archeological finds—still then very early in the exploration of those parts so probably very incomplete or tentative. Chang says so himself. I may find out more one day; but for the moment I had to resort to skimming to finish the chapter, which I have done relatively little despite a bit of tedium. Lists and lists of types of bronze vessels and so forth—how many here, how many there—does not whip up my enthusiasm. (I hope to finish the book tonight if I can—with solid reading: the remainder looks most interesting.)
Sometimes it takes the odd detail to make a passage memorable:
"From the residential and burial remains at the T'sai-hsi-ts'un site a number of interesting and important finds may be mentioned. More than thirty pits of at least three kinds of peaches and prunes (Prunus persica, P. tomentosa, and P. japonica) were found, possibly collected for medicinal use. Twelve potsherds were inscribed with what seem to be written characters, again likely lineage emblems. A small number of 'white pottery' sherds and many pieces of hard, glazed, hardware pottery have been reported. A bronze ax with an iron blade from the site was the center of some heated debate concerning iron casting under the Shang, but the final word is that the iron used was meteoritic. Finally, a number of bronze ritual vessels have been found."
As the title indicates, it's mostly an inventory of archeological finds—still then very early in the exploration of those parts so probably very incomplete or tentative. Chang says so himself. I may find out more one day; but for the moment I had to resort to skimming to finish the chapter, which I have done relatively little despite a bit of tedium. Lists and lists of types of bronze vessels and so forth—how many here, how many there—does not whip up my enthusiasm. (I hope to finish the book tonight if I can—with solid reading: the remainder looks most interesting.)
Sometimes it takes the odd detail to make a passage memorable:
"From the residential and burial remains at the T'sai-hsi-ts'un site a number of interesting and important finds may be mentioned. More than thirty pits of at least three kinds of peaches and prunes (Prunus persica, P. tomentosa, and P. japonica) were found, possibly collected for medicinal use. Twelve potsherds were inscribed with what seem to be written characters, again likely lineage emblems. A small number of 'white pottery' sherds and many pieces of hard, glazed, hardware pottery have been reported. A bronze ax with an iron blade from the site was the center of some heated debate concerning iron casting under the Shang, but the final word is that the iron used was meteoritic. Finally, a number of bronze ritual vessels have been found."
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