Sources for today's episode (in order of appearance): 1. Scotese CR (2013) Last Glacial Maximum Globe 2. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 30-37, 42-44 3. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 231-233 4. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 240 5. Liu L et al. (2015) The Earliest Unequivocally Modern Humans in South China. Nature 526, pp. 696-700 6. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 127-128 7. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 42-51 8. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 127-156 9. Gilligan I (2018) The Technology of Paleolithic Clothes. In Climate, Clothing, and Agriculture in Prehistory: Linking Evidence, Causes, and Effects, Cambridge University Press, pp. 66-79 10. Bednarik RG (2013) Pleistocene Palaeoart of Asia, Arts, pp. 46-76 11. D’Errico F et al. (2021) Zhoukoudian Upper Cave personal ornaments and ochre: Rediscovery and reevaluation, Journal of Human Evolution. 12. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 155-162 13. Zhang JF et al. (2011) The paleolithic site of Longwangchan in the middle Yellow River, China: chronology, paleoenvironment and implications, Journal of Archaeological Science, pp. 1537-1550 14. Elston RG & Brantingham PJ (2008) Microlithic Technology in Northern Asia: A Risk-Minimizing Strategy of the Late Paleolithic and Early Holocene. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 12, pp. 103-116 15. Ikawa-Smith (2017) Conclusion: In Search of the Origins of Microblades and Microblade Technology. In Origin and Spread of Microblade Technology in Northern Asia and North America, SFU Archaeology Press, 189-198. 16. Song et al. (2019) Re-thinking the evolution of microblade technology in East Asia: Techno-functional understanding of the lithic assemblage from Shizitan 29 (Shanxi, China), PLOS ONE 14(2), e0212643. 17. Wang FG et al. (2022) Innovative ochre processing and tool use in China 40,000 years ago, Nature 603, pp. 284-289. 18. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 147-152 19. Liu et al. (2015) Plant exploitation of the last foragers at Shizitan in the Middle Yellow River Valley China: Evidence from grinding stones 20. Liu L et al. (2018). Harvesting and processing wild cereals in the Upper Palaeolithic Yellow River Valley, China, Antiquity 92(363), pp. 603-619 21. Chen et al. (2016) Function and behaviour: use-wear evidence from Upper Paleolithic tools in southern Shanxi Province, North China, Documenta Praehistorica XLIII, 499-506. 22. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 58-61 23. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 240-242 24. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 154, 160 25. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 150 26. Cohen DJ et al. (2017) The emergence of pottery in China: Recent dating of two early pottery cave sites in South China, Quaternary International, pp. 36-48 27. Boaretto E et al. (2009) Radiocarbon dating of charcoal and bone collagen associated with early pottery at Yuchanyan Cave, Hunan Province, China, PNAS 106, 9595-9600. 28. Wu X et al. (2012) Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China, Science 336, pp. 1696-1700 29. Lu TL-D (2011) Early Pottery in South China, Asian Perspectives 49(1), pp. 1-42 30. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 64-70 31. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 51 32. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 160-162 33. Zhushchikhovskaya I (1997) On Early Pottery-Making in the Russian Far East. Asian Perspectives 36(2), pp. 159-174 34. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 233, 240-241 35. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 30-38 36. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 157, 160 37. Wu et al. (2012) 14C chronology of early pottery and stratigraphy in Yuchanyan archaeological site, Daoxian County, Hunan, Relics South (3), pp. 7-17 (In Chinese) 38. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 58-59, 76 39. Zhijun (1998) The Middle Yangtze region in China is one place where rice was domesticated: Phytolith evidence from the Diaotonghuan Cave, Northern Jiangxi. Antiquity, 72(278), pp. 885-897 40. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 234 41. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 51-57 42. Wang Y et al. (2015) Lijiagou and the earliest pottery in Henan Province, China, Antiquity, 89(344), pp. 273-291 43. Bettinger RL (2001) Holocene hunter-gatherers, in G.M. Feinman & T.D. Price (ed.) Archaeology at the millennium: a sourcebook, pp. 137-95. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers 44. Binford LR (1980) Willow Smoke and Dogs’ Tails: Hunter-Gatherer Settlement Systems and Archaeological Site Formation, American Antiquity 45(1), pp. 4-20. doi.org/10.2307/279653 45. Zhao C et al. (2003) A Study on an Early Neolithic Site in North China. Documenta Praehistorica XXX, pg. 169-173 46. Zhao C (2020) The Climate Fluctuation of the 8.2 ka BP Cooling Event and the Transition into Neolithic Lifeways in North China, Quaternary 3(3), pp. 23 47. Liu et al. (2010) A Functional Analysis of Grinding Stones from an Early Holocene Site at Donghulin, North China, Journal of Archaeological Science, 37(10), 2630-2639 48. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 183-185 49. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 72-73 50. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 60, 64 51. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 166-185 52. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 51-58, 56 53. Barnes GL (2015) Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilisation in China, Korea and Japan, pp. 157-159 54. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 180-185 55. Yang X et al. (2012) Early Millet use in Northern China, Anthropology 109(10), 3726-3730 56. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 96-98 57. Olsen SJ & Olsen JW (1977) The Chinese Wolf, Ancestor of New World Dogs, Science 197(4303), pp. 533-535 58. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 182 59. Jiang L & Liu L (2006) New evidence for the origins of sedentism and rice domestication in the Lower Yangzi River, China, Antiquity 80(308), pp. 355-361 60. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 61-64 61. Long (2022) Contrasting developments of the cultural complexes south and north of Hangzhou Bay, eastern China, controlled by coastal environmental changes, Quaternary International 623, pp. 94-100 62. Scarre C (2018) The Human Past, pp. 243-244 63. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 70-73 64. Wang J and Jiang L (2021) Intensive Acorn Processing in the Early Holocene of Southern China, The Holocene 32(11) 65. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 66-67 66. Zheng Y & Jiang LP (2007) Remains of Ancient Rice Unearthed from the Shangshan Site and Their Significance, Chinese Archaeology 9(1), pp. 159-163 67. Liu L and Chen X (2013) The Archaeology of China, pp. 75-82 68. Zuo et al. (2017) Dating rice remains through phytolith carbon-14 study reveals domestication at the beginning of the Holocene, PNAS 114(25), pp. 6486-6491 69. Wang et al. (2022) New evidence for rice harvesting in the early Neolithic Lower Yangtze River, China, PLOS ONE 17(12), e0278200 70. Wang J & Jiang L (2016) A primary analysis on use-wear and residues of flaked stone tools from the Shangshan site, Zhejiang Province, Southern Cultural Relics, pp. 117-121 71. Fuller DQ et al. (2007) Presumed domestication? Evidence for wild rice cultivation and domestication in the fifth millennium BC of the Lower Yangtze region. Antiquity 81(312), pp. 316-331 72. Fuller DQ et al. (2009) The Domestication Process and Domestication Rate in Rice: Spikelet bases from the Lower Yangzte, Science 323(5921), pp. 1607-1610

As someone who grew up in the countryside, I can say that the village is often encircled by an accumulation of garbage, forming a prolonged ring of earth. Within this landfill, plants inevitably sprout, nourished by the discarded remains. Interestingly, due to the fertile soil, these plants tend to grow exceptionally large. It is fascinating to think that the origins of agriculture may have originated from such circumstances.

This is something we need on Hisotry Channel, not the Pawn Stars, Truck Night, Oak Island, Ancient Aliens and all those things unrelated to the history.

Its so easy to limit my historical perspective to just the past 3000 years but videos like this remind me that it goes back so much further.

I am SO EXCITED to watch this!!!! The Birth of Civilization video series is one of my all time favorites, and I am constantly in search of ancient/prehistorical content that can live up to the incredibly high standards the Histocrat has set!

My jaw dropped when I saw this video, and it dropped even further when I realized that it’s the first in a new series! I absolutely loved the Birth of Civilization series and as an American, I’ve always felt woefully uneducated about ancient Chinese history. I have attempted to educate myself on the topic on numerous occasions, but Chinese history is so long, nuanced, and complex that it always posed an insurmountable obstacle for me on my own. I absolutely cannot wait to dive into this series! I cannot think of a better channel than Histocrat to give this incredible region the detailed and thoughtful historical treatment it so well deserves. I am beyond excited!

I’ve been hanging out for a new documentary from you guys and you certainly don’t disappoint. Thank you so much for what you do, the quality of your documentaries far surpasses anything I see on TV.

Incredibly fascinating video, you guys. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.

I was looking forward to this! 😍😍 You’re SO amazing.. thank you for all your hard work! It’s greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks dad love you

im a Chinese.we dont called the"houke waterfall",but "Lukou waterfall".written in Chinese is壶口瀑布❤

I'll probably end up watching this later as I have a backlog of things to watch. I've followed your channel for a while, I really like history from dinosaurs to ancient rome. I don't comment enough but your videos are so well presented.

This is going straight to my playlist. Already know it's gonna be amazing. Thank youuuu!

Thank you so much! I'm excited for the rest of the series! Great job unlocking the Archeological Record! I'm eager to see how it compares to the written/oral traditions in later episodes!

Beautifully written, narrated and produced! Thank you.

I was looking for things about ancient China, both bronze age and before, and this was just perfect. Having just watched this video I immediately subscribed and plan to watch not only the whole series but most content on your channel. The presentation and level of detail are perfect, and the inclusion of source references in the comments really sets an example to follow. The only thing that put me a little off was how long the intro went on for. I understand it was the introduction not only to this video but to the whole series, but the 8 minutes spent talking about a very different period than that mentioned in the title of the video felt excessively long. That said I still watched, so that's a testament to the quality of the presentation!

Excellent introduction, now anticipating the extremely interesting subject of your second episode! Thank you!

I stumbled upon this fantastic video today and immediately hit the subscribe button. As a novice KZfaqr with a channel focused on Chinese history, I gained so much knowledge from watching your video. Thank you for creating such valuable content!

Love videos about ancient civilizations! Thanks for the upload!

I just subbed the other day after watching your "Birth of Civilisation" series. And now this? I'm in great luck!

This is so excellently done! Thank you very much for sharing such a fascinating video.

Your videos are wonderful, as always. Thanks so much for making it and I can't wait for part 2!

Love your videos! Keep up the great work!

What a great history lesson. Thanks for creating this!

So excited for this series! Can’t wait to see what you research regarding oracle bones and early writing! Hyped.

I really love your videos, I have always been obsessed with history and the past few years I've been really into ancient Chinese history but it is so deep and complex that I always end up getting lost.

Really high quality content, I’ll enjoy this thoroughly.

Yes!!!! I've never been so excited to see an update!! Thank you for all the hard work!!

Another excellent episode!

Another great Episode, glad to see stuff about Eastern Asian early history. I have a hard time finding good videos about it in English.

😊Thank you for the content, and. Hopefully you'll keep 'em coming.🎉

You nailed it! Fantasic episode!

感谢你的创作，让更多人了解中国文化。

这是一部精彩而透彻的中国古代纪录片。 非常感谢您发布它。 這是一部精彩而透徹的中國古代紀錄片。 非常感謝您發布它。 This is a wonderful and thorough documentary of ancient China. Thank you so much for posting it.

Glad to see you making videos worth watching again.

your channel rocks dude. don't know why I hadn't subbed yet, every video of yours I've seen is just fascinating

I’m still amazed at how little we know of China in the west. Most of this is due I am sure to old prejudices we’ve never let go. It is high time we did and learned more about these people. Thank you for this video.

Beautifully written, narrated and produced! Thank you.. What a great history lesson. Thanks for creating this!.

Gorgeous, thanks alot and we await even more!

Subscribed, great content cannot wait for next episode.

u guys cover the exact type of history im in love with and that i rarely see videos about, keep up the amazing work

Japanese people are familiar with Chinese history, but I am surprised at the ignorance of Westerners about Chinese history. Westerners don't understand kanji, so I suspect that it's boring to have so many similar pronunciations. Certainly, the pronunciation of proper nouns in Chinese history is similar, but the Chinese characters are different, and the meaning of the Chinese characters carries a lot of information.

There is not enough of this out there, thank you so much!!

These videos are always very done, interesting and informative. Thank you

Like this episode. Interesting overview of Chinese civilization. More please.

Great stuff, I enjoy these series!

This was very interesting. I can't wait for the next chapter.

excellent place to start this series, China is and has been a mostly unified entity for longer than any other state has existed. The cultural continuity is unrivaled across millennia. while I mostly interested in China as a geopolitical entity, I'm excited to see your perspective as a historian

Newly suggested video. First time here. Thanks, KZfaq algorithm!

15:32 Longwangchan was actually my old gradeschool nickname

Rome fell, but China could have been older than Rome but China still continues until today.

😍😍 happiness is a new Histocrat vid

When I travel to different provinces in China, one of my favorite things to do is to go to the local museums! The cultural heritage of different historical dynasties and different customs is really amazing.😆

ayyyoooo thank you for blessing us with this

This is excellent! Thanks so much. It is fascinating history and superbly produced. You made my day. 👍

Congratulations on a video production that is informative and beautiful. In particular, that there is almost no intrusive backlground music whilst the narrator is speaking, showing respect for your viewers. Most other videos use constant background 'music' to dum down and manipulate the viewer.

Don't forget the Chinese who originated from the yellow river ring (Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin) has height as tall as northern european and much taller than its other region counterpart like the south who mostly descended from the admixture of Chinese with southeast asian or natives aborigine. Although current modern time it's quiet difficult to search for the origin of everyone because of the migration from time to time but the Yellow river ring tall people was indeed true and recorded in the book.

Thank you for you amazing effort and clear narration. I really enjoyed it and looking forward to the coming episodes. You have a new subscriber!

Hey, just stumbled upon Immersive Translate and it's been my go-to for diving deep into Chinese culture. From ancient poetry to modern novels, it's like having a cultural guide in my pocket!

I just happened to come across this video it is fascinating thank you for posting. Look forward to more content. I just subscribed to your channel. I’d rather watch this video then any movie that Hollywood has the show. I’m from Ontario Canada. Greetings.

Thank you. Finally, something to spark my interest in Asian history

Looking fwd to the next production in this series.

quite enjoyable program, filled with much good information

Plot twist: in 6500 BCE, they invented sweet and sour pork, and mysteriously, everything changed.

It is quite amazed to see this video made with so much scientific evidence and fair perspectives, in terms of the birth of Chinese civilization.

Amazing! Thank you.

I been waiting 4 years for this!!!!

The fact that an ancient civilization survived so long and is also currently a world superpower is amazing

This narrator is topnotch

Love the new narrator!!!

Thank you for this series. I only wish you'd begun it a couple years ago so I could watch more of it right away. I'd definitely binge this: so much better researched than many other channels.

After such a long time Birth of series

Was just wondering what I was gonna fall asleep listening to tonight, lo and behold histrocat has a new video out

Your content is amazing! Also, I totally thought that person on the scooter was going to be splatted by that bus at 38:23

As interesting as this is, I already am slightly fearful of the episode about the Three Kingdoms (or as it is officially called, [Cao] Wei) period. One advice beforehand (which should be useful for the whole series): Apart from historical works, there exist also various later novelisations and folk stories. Please bare in mind, that folk stories (which often are the basis of certain elements of novelisations) aren't necesarily ficticious, and often when the histories suggest someone did something stupid, those stories explain why, and sometimes, like with Yuan Shu's declaring himself emperor, get confirmed by later findings (which often are poorly known in the west). In detail: The Chronicles of the Three Countries (or Kingdoms, if you must) record that after Yuan Shu obtained the imperial seal, he declared himself emperor, citing descendance from dynasties which ruled before the Han; all other warlords ignored that and fairly quickly destroyed him. The Historian implies, that he proclaim himself Emperor because he was a bombastic tyrant, ignorant enough, to think that having the imperial seal was legally enough to proclaim a new dynasty. Some 20 or 30 years ago, various text written at the time were discovered, and they show that not only Yuan's claim was much stronger than Liu Bang's (who, 400 years earlier founded the Han), but also that he ruled his lands with uncommon kindness and was exceedingly popular among the people, to the point of being openly urged to ascend the throne long before he obtained the imperial seal.

its another histocrat documentary, instant like, this is excellent channel

Thank you!

It's really good. hope to see part 2

Nice maps ;P

Beautiful work. I love these videos. You should continue them on different countries!? For example, Ethiopia, India, or even some of the Nordic countries would be cool!!

SO... when will we get the next parts? :P Thank you for the content and great work!

Awesome!

Im very excited to see this! Your video on the Ubaid period gave me a complete image of life at the rise of complex societies, which no one else has. I anticipate this will provide the same for East Asia. On another note, I think our knowledge of the Paleolithic in Asia is about to change radically as China opens it's museum collections for research in collaboration with Western scholars (especially the Planck Institute)

In fact, it was the ancient Chinese who first domesticated dogs

Thanks!

Well produced, factual and with really good filming. Great job. :)

Wonderful video. I greatly enjoyed it. Thank you.

I'd rather watch this than any other movie right now

What a topic!! Yesssss

Mom, moooom, Histocrat added a new video!!! 🎉

the southern sites are probably austronesian yue tribes

its interesting that red ochre in burials is a thing in both the east and west. that tradition must be unfathomably ancient.

Wow, in-video citations. Bravo!

Nice!

Without the people of Asia, Hindustan, and the Americas, we wouldnt have all the amazing things we all love today. Imagine food today without these civilizations : P

Babe, new Histocrat just dropped

Very well made, and good info. It’s not common in archeological videos on YT…

Any plans on continuing this series? Or is the channel in hiatus? I think your actual historical videos are tremendous, love the artwork too

Ancient China must have been so incredibly cool to live in. There were a vast number of ethnic groups in the various regions, so many ecosystems, and a huge diversity of flora and fauna no longer present in the modern day, like rhinos, elephants (Asian and possibly Paleoloxodon), leopards, tigers, tapir, etc.

I would suggest that the toolset of South China included a lot of bamboo, which unfortunately is rarely preserved, especially in the regions climate. Elsewhere we might hope for a peat bog, but I don't think these exist in South China.