Change and Continuity at the Intersection of Received History and the Material Record during the Warring States Period

Abstract

This chapter concentrates on archaeologically recovered paleographic and material culture remaining from the pre-imperial and early imperial periods in China. One part of the chapter treats capitals and the settlements and cities that preceded them. Another section considers the systems of household registration that, beginning circa fourth century bce, created and maintained records of the population. Those records allowed officials to keep track of population statistics. Another section looks at the information we have about practices connected with oaths and covenants. Whether between states or within polities and groups, oaths and covenants were an important means of affirming agreement and creating cohesion. The final section concerns tallies, which archaeologists have recovered in various forms. Tallies were a way of proving authority and establishing trust and are known from examples in shapes ranging from tigers and dragons to bamboo.