Eastern Civilization

Work in progress, expect frequent changes. Help and feedback is welcome. See discussion page.

This is a resource page for a course on Eastern Civilization.

Note: All maps below can be expanded by clicking on them

Geography of Asia

Physical map of Asia

Satellite map

General map of China

Population density of China

map of India

Languages

Language families of the world

Languages of China

Prehistory

Prehistory

History before writing existed

Early man

Homo erectus appears in Africa 3 million years before present (YBP)

Homo erectus appears in Asia 1-1.5 million YBP

Homo sapiens appears in Africa 120,000 YBP

Homo sapiens moves out of Africa into Asia 70,000-50,000 YBP

Ages

Stone Age

Paleolithic

Neolithic

Bronze Age

Iron Age

List of Paleolithic sites in China

Spreading of Homo sapiens over Eastern hemisphere

Indus Valley Civilization

Map of Neolithic China

Indus Valley Civilization

Indus Valley seals. The writing has still not be deciphered

Timeline of Chinese History

Timeline of Chinese history

Ancient China

Shang Dynasty

Oracle bones from Shang Dynasty

Gallery of art works from Shang Dynasty (see also other photos on same page) -- Notice the sophistication of the bronze works.

Zhou Dynasty

Confucian Analects from Project Gutenberg

Qin Dynasty

Terracotta army

Terracotta army detail

Soldier and Horse from Terracotta army

For a very realistic view of the army look at THIS (hint: moving your mouse around changes the viewpoint)

For more pictures see this Gallery

Ancient India

Vedas

• Rig Veda (oldest)
• Yajurveda
• Sama-Veda
• Atharva-Veda

for descriptions see here

Long article on Indian caste system

Persia and Alexander the Great

Achaemenid Empire (Persia)

Homeland of Alexander

Alexander's Empire

Early Japan

Periods

Period	Characteristics	Time
Paleolithic		35,000–14,000 BC
Jōmon	Neolithic Ainu?	14,000–300 BC
Yayoi	Bronze and Iron Age no written script	300 BC–250 AD
Kofun	Centralized State First Emperor	250–538 AD

Southeast Asia

State	Area	Ethnic group	Dates	Notes
Chinese Empire	N. Vietnam	Vietnamese	111BC-939AD	numerous Vietnamese states until 111BC
Champa	Central Vietnam	Chams	192-1471AD
Funan	Mekong Delta	Khmer	c.1-540AD
Chenla (Zhenla)	Middle Mekong Valley	Khmer	?-790AD	Defeat Funan in 540AD
Mon States	Chaopraya River basin	Mon	6th - 13th century	number of states most important - Dvaravati
Pyu	Burma	Pyu - a Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group	1st - 9th century	number of city-states

Central Asia and Mongols

Different definitions of Central Asia

Uyghur Khaganate

Expansion of Mongol Empire