Proof of early exchange between cultures

Proof of early exchange between cultures in china Due to limited data, discussions on the exchange between the East and the West focused on the period after Zhang Qian's first visit to the Western Regions in the latter part of the second century BC. Therefore, it remained an open question whether there had been contact between the East and the West in the pre-Qin period and the even earlier prehistoric Bronze Age. If there had been, where did these encounters take place, and by what means did exchange occur?

In 1921, modern archeology was introduced to China by the Swede, Dr. J. G. Andersson with the excavation at Yangshao Village, and the debate about cultural exchange between the east and the West became more intense. Some Western scholars then hypothesized that Chinese painted pottery cultures in the Yellow River Valley during the prehistoric period originated from the region of Central Asia and spread into China through the Central Asian grasslands. Some foreign scholars even conjectured that the shape and pattern of painted pottery in Henan had the same origin as that dating to the Chalcolithic Age in the Near East. The Yangshao culture is also well-known for its painted pottery. Yangshao artisans created fine painted pottery with human facial, animal, and geometric designs. Excavations found that children were buried in painted pottery jars. The discovery goes further to stipulate the possible exchange of culture and ways of life between the east and the west of ancient china.

Also, in Gansu and Qinghai, the local inhabitants' physical characteristics in the prehistoric Bronze Age had not changed markedly through time; they played an important role in the process of forming the physical characteristics of the modern inhabitants of North China.

Geographically, the overall terrain of China is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. It forms three big terraces from west to east. The first terrace is in the west, with an average altitude of 3,000-4,000 meters; the second terrace is in the middle, with an average altitude of around 1,000 meters; the third terrace is in the southeast, with an average altitude below 200 meters. This geographical structure causes China to be relatively open facing the ocean, but relatively closed away from it. Furthermore, this structure has had a great influence on the formation and development of Chinese ancient culture. From the point of view of Western-Chinese cultural exchange, China's northwest was situated at the crossroads of Central Asian culture and regional cultures of the Yellow River Valley, which was a sensitive and key area of cultural contact. Xinjiang was particularly important, both for its special location and vast area. It can be thought of as a frontier zone of cultural contact between the East and the West. Many cultural relics, including microliths, have been discovered there. Although there are materials that certify human activity in the eastern part of Xinjiang dating back to about 10,000 BP, much is not known about the prehistoric cultures and racial types in this region.

In 1979, some tombs were excavated beside the Konchi River (Kongquehe), near Lopnur in eastern Xinjiang, which dated to about 3800 BP. The human bones excavated from the site were concluded to be of the Caucasoid race. According to presently available data, these are the earliest Europoid type skeletal remains to have survived so far to the east. In the mid-1980s, there were excavations at Yanbulaq cemetery in Qumul (Rami), Xinjiang. Among the twenty-nine skulls examined, twenty-one were Mongoloid and eight were Europoid. This proved that Europoid people had advanced eastward into the Rami Oasis by 1300 BC, where they met with Mongoloid people; this show a possible interaction between the early Europeans and people of ancient china

It is more or less unanimously accepted that Japanese rice cultivation originated in China, its import route in three possible areas, north, middle or south China(5). The north China route from Hebei and Liaoning by land, or from Shandong by sea via the Korean Peninsula to Japan, was generally believed to be the main route. As it lacks solid evidence of early rice, it was an unlikely starting point for eastbound rice. Currently, the middle China route from lower Yangtze basin via East China Sea to Korea and Japan, is favored in the 10th century BC Late Shengwen period, and developed further in the Misheng (Yayoi) period. Besides rice, the origin of the Japanese stone ax, stone ben, crescent-shaped harvesting knife and other stone and wood cultivation tools are traceable to the lower Yangtze basin.

Silk roads? The Silk Road did not only promote commodity exchange but also cultural. For example, Buddhism as one of the religions of the Kushan kingdom reached China. Together with merchant caravans Buddhist monks went from India to Central Asia and China, preaching the new religion. Buddhist monuments were discovered in numerous cities along the Silk Road. Buddhism reached china thorough the Silk Road. Irrespective of the lack of hands on evidence to proof of early cultural exchange in ancient china, history and archeological findings through excavations have come a long in the bid to coming up with tangible evidence to proof their findings.