the central plains. Southern China also witnessed highly developed Bronze Age cultures with characteristics distinctive from those of the central plains. Several Neolithic walled settlements have been found in the middle and upper Yangzi River Valley, and one found at Chengtoushan in Hunan Province (ca. 4000 b.c.) is the earliest example of a walled settlement in China.

Distinctive elite tombs filled with large quantities of jade objects on artificially made earth mounds have been discovered in the Liangzhu culture in the lower Yangzi River Valley, and the high level of craftsmanship reflected in jade manufacture and the construction of large burial mounds have led some archaeologists to argue for the existence of early states in the Liangzhu culture (ca. 3200–2000 b.c.). Sacrificial pits containing large numbers of bronze figurines, life size or bigger, have been discovered at Sanxingdui in Sichuan Province in the upper Yangzi River Valley, revealing a previously unknown kingdom with a highly developed bronze culture contemporary with the Xia and Shang dynasties. A large tomb filled with hundreds of bronze and jade objects was found at Dayangzhou in Jiangxi Province in the middle Yangzi River Valley, which indicates the existence of an advanced bronze culture with strong indigenous characteristics along with influences from the central plains.

In northeastern China, the Neolithic tradition now can be traced back to the Xinglongwa culture (6100–5300 b.c.) in Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, which may have demonstrated a fully developed agricultural society. Complex societies seem to have evolved around 3500 b.c. in this region, as is indicated by the construction of a large public edifices in the late Hongshan culture, especially at the Niuheliang site, which yielded stone monuments with well-furnished elite burials and remains of a large architectural foundation associated with life-size female figurines (known as the Goddess Temple). This broad region later became the homeland of pastoralism and nomads whose interaction with agricultural populations dominated the political arena in the following millennia. These astonishing discoveries changed the traditional view, which regarded peoples outside the central plains as barbaric and uncivilized.

In eastern China, including Shandong and northern Jiangsu Provinces, archaeologists discovered the earliest Neolithic assemblage at Houli in Shandong Province (ca. 6200–5600 b.c.), which was followed by the Beixin, Dawenkou, and Longshan cultures, forming another regional tradition of cultural development. Many elaborately furnished elite burials and more than a dozen walled settlements dated to the Dawenkou and Longshan periods (ca. 4100–2000 b.c.) have also been found, generating more claims for the emergence of state-level societies in the Neolithic period in this region.

In the central plains, primarily including the middle Yellow River, the Fen River, and the Wei River Valleys and regarded as the center of Chinese civilization, archaeological discoveries seem to demonstrate a cultural tradition that may not have been much more advanced than those on “the peripheries” during the Neolithic period. As in other regions, the Neolithic traditions of the central plains can be traced to the Peiligang culture 7000 b.c., which was followed by a continued development of the Yangshao and Longshan cultures. Although rich elite burials dated to the Longshan period have been discovered at Taosi in Shaanxi Province and walled settlements belonging to the late Yangshao and Longshan have been found in Henan Province, these features are not unique and are certainly not earlier than those in other regions (for brief information on the major discoveries in the Neolithic period and the three dynasties, see Ren and Wu 1999; Wang 1999). Diversified regional cultural traditions are easily observable based on these new data, which have encouraged new interpretations concerning the origins of civilization.

Multiregional Development of Civilization in China

Initiated by Su Bingqi, a research model known as quxi leixing—the regional systems and local cultural series—was proposed in the early 1980s (Su and Yin 1981; for a review of Su’s framework see Wang 1997). The model is based mainly on ceramic assemblages, with an emphasis on the independent development of and interaction among different regional cultural traditions. The quxi leixing concept was intended to provide a methodological framework for the reconstruction