Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.8, 2019

 

The Forms of Early Chinese Villages from the Perspective of the Origin of Civilization

(Abstract)

 

Ma Xin

 

Previous research on the origin and development of civilization has tended to neglect the position and value of early villages, making this topic almost the weakest link in the chain. In fact, early villages and cities in China arose simultaneously from the original settlements and continued to coexist as important components of the early social structure; they should be regarded as an important marker of the origins and development of Chinese civilization. Early villages mainly took the form of clustered settlements, and would have been under the rule of cities or towns since their birth. Such villages and towns were often in the same community, with their relations being political and clan-based in essence. The organization of early villages was mainly one of clan-based kinship ties, but by the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods they gradually came under the coverage of geopolitical administrative organizations in which basic rural organization took the form of registered households. The study of early villages will help deepen the exploration of generality and uniqueness in the origin and development of Chinese civilization.