(1) Changes in productivity. The productivity of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties was improved, and it was in the era of combining stone with stone. In addition to wood, stones and bones, there are a few bronze tools, and iron appeared in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the social productive forces improved significantly, and there appeared the iron ware and Niu Geng, which was dominated by slave collective labor.
(2) Economic activities. During the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties, crop varieties, farming techniques and irrigation and water conservancy were greatly developed. Bronze casting is the main handicraft sector, and bronzes are mainly ritual vessels and weapons, but later they began to develop into life and tools. Textile industry, jade processing industry, ceramics industry and lacquerware industry developed, and then the edible salt industry and wine-making industry also developed greatly. At the same time, commerce, transportation and cities have also developed.
Bronze manufacturing in Shang and Zhou Dynasties
From the use of stone tools and wood products to the manufacture of bronzes, it is a leap in the history of production and development of human society. Bronze manufacturing in Xia Dynasty has reached a certain level. The Shang and Zhou Dynasties were the prosperous period of bronzes, and the number and variety of bronzes were unprecedented, which was the main basis for the three generations to be called "Bronze Age". During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the bronze casting industry had a large production scale, a high technical level, a large number of products and many varieties. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, products developed into daily life. These bronzes are of high artistic value. Bronze ware became a typical representative of ancient civilization in China.
Second, the traffic in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties
With the great development of transportation in Xia Dynasty, there appeared a "traffic queue" specializing in vehicle manufacturing. Zuo Zhuan recorded that Dayu had opened nine roads. By the Shang Dynasty, a transportation network radiating the whole ruling area began to take shape. The traffic in the Western Zhou Dynasty was developed on the basis of commerce. The Zhou Dynasty took systematic and perfect measures for road maintenance and management, and there were many officials related to traffic roads. The development of transportation promotes and embodies the commercial development of three generations, strengthens the political, economic and cultural ties between different places, and helps the rulers to strengthen their rule.
Three. Agricultural development in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties
Agriculture in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties developed greatly on the basis of primitive agriculture. During the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, agriculture became the main production department, and the rulers attached great importance to the development of agriculture and the great development of farmland water conservancy. The variety of crops in this period increased, and by the Western Zhou Dynasty, most of the main crops in later generations appeared. Agricultural technology has also improved. People already know how to apply manure, plant ash and green manure. Moreover, there are more developed calendars to guide people's agricultural production.
Extended data
The Economic Development of Shang Dynasty
Agricultural production development
At present, archaeologists generally believe that the agricultural tools used in Shang Dynasty are mainly shovels, axes, sickles and knives made of stones, bones and mussels. Occasionally, some bronze tools such as brass cymbals and shovels are found, but they are not necessarily used in agricultural production.
Tian Zi's Oracle Bone Inscriptions shows that there is a large connected square ripe field on Guangping Yuan Ye, and these ripe fields are cleaned regularly. The word "Xinjiang" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions's On Xinjiang symbolizes the field that has been measured and demarcated. The word "Tian Chou" is like a turning point in the field, but it is certainly not widely cultivated. These square fields, which were well cultivated according to the rules of Xinjiang Regulations and equipped with irrigation ditches, became the later mineral fields.
These fields are mainly distributed in Du Yi area, directly occupied by Shang princes, and also distributed to close relatives and nobles. Other nobles also managed such fields in fiefs, but on a smaller scale. Outside the capital, Shang Wang often sent his subjects to more remote places to reclaim land.
Development of handicraft industry
The development of handicraft production in foundry workshops in Shang Dynasty was more prominent than that in agriculture. Among them, the high development of bronze smelting technology and bronze manufacturing technology more intensively reflected the technical level and characteristics of the times of handicraft industry at that time.
In the ruins of Yin Ruins and Zhengzhou Mall, bronze casting workshops dedicated to the royal family were found. At that time, these workshops had a detailed division of labor, and there were craftsmen who were engaged in production for generations and were good at specialization. The scale of production and high skill were also rare in the world at that time.
The development of business
On the basis of the development of agriculture and handicraft production, and the increasingly consolidated and complicated division of labor in various production departments, the commerce of Shang Dynasty also developed to a certain extent.
After the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty, according to the Duke of Zhou, some of the Yin people were "taking care of Jia and filial piety to their adoptive parents". These people are businessmen engaged in long-distance selling and trading activities.
In Yindu and other important cities, nobles need some precious items in their daily life, such as turtles, shellfish, jade, jewelry, bronze, fur, tooth skin, silk and so on. Many of them had to come from other places besides letting slaves produce in private workshops. Some of them are contributed by various places, and many of them are exchanged goods. These goods are mainly trafficked by some professional businessmen, which promotes the development of commerce.
Agricultural production in Xia dynasty
The central area of the Xia Dynasty is located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, with a suitable climate. Grain, also called millet, was one of the main crops at that time. The main harvesting tool is a stone knife. The stone knife unearthed from Erlitou site is trapezoidal in front, with two round holes facing each other and one blade. The style is very similar to the "iron claw sickle" used to pinch the ears of grain in the north of later generations. Some crescent-shaped stone sickles and mussel sickles were also unearthed at Erlitou site, which were also the main harvesting tools at that time. Stone sickle and mussel sickle can not only harvest the ears of grain, but also recover the stalks of the ears of grain, indicating that agriculture at that time was out of its original state.
At that time, the tools for turning the ground were mainly wooden rafts and stone shovels. Rem's traces can be seen on the foundation, ash pit and wall soil of Erlitou site. According to ancient books, Dayu "holds an acre of land for the benefit of the people". Ray is made of wood. Judging from the traces left on the wall soil, its shape is roughly divided into two forks at one end of the wooden handle, which is mainly used for excavation. There are stone shovels in the four cultural layers of Erlitou and Luoyang Chuili Site (equivalent to the early Erlitou period). The shovel of hammer plum is flattened, with narrow upper edge and wide sides. To install the wooden handle, a hole was drilled in the middle of the shovel. On the loose soil in the loess plain, this kind of wooden barrier and stone shovel undertake the main task of digging the ground.
Performance of agricultural production development:
The use of wells. The emergence of water power may be before the Xia Dynasty. A well was found in the Longshan cultural site in Goujian, Handan, Hebei. In the Xia Dynasty, wells were definitely used more than before. Wells have been found in Chuili, Luoyang and Erlitou, Yanshi. The water well in the vertical well is circular, with a diameter of1.6m and a depth of more than 6m. In this ancient well, relics such as high-collar cans and straight-collar cans were found, which may be artifacts left over from pumping water into the well at that time. A well in Erlitou is rectangular, with a length of 1.95m, a width of 1.5m and a depth of 4m.
Above, the wellbore is a smooth straight wall, which proves that it is not a cave. There are symmetrical footpits on the wall, which are used for digging wells and picking up wells. The use of wells can change the life of chasing water sources and unlimited migration, and make it possible for people to settle in one place for a long time. Settled life is an important condition for agricultural development. Well can also irrigate the land, but it was impossible to irrigate the land in a large area under the conditions at that time.
Large ceramic containers appeared in this period. For example, the big mouth statue, urn and big pottery pot unearthed from Erlitou site are really huge compared with the artifacts in the early and middle period of Longshan culture. Some of these big vessels should be used to store food. Only with the rapid development of agriculture, it is necessary to manufacture large containers.
At this stage, special wine vessels also appeared. In some tombs in Erlitou site, there are slender ancient, tubular [He] and three-legged empty-eared [Gui], indicating that drinking was very popular at that time. According to some documents, yellow rice was used as "wine" in ancient times, which was invented by Shao Kang, the sixth king of Xia Dynasty. As we know, the main raw material for wine-making is grain, and it is impossible to make a lot of wine without a considerable grain harvest. Therefore, the general situation of agricultural production development can be inferred from the general appearance of special wine vessels.
Handicraft industry dominated by bronze casting
Judging from the legend of Jiuding in Zhu Xia, the bronze manufacturing industry in Xia Dynasty should be very developed. Mozi Geng Xu said that "fame and fortune belong to mountains and rivers, and Tao Zhu belongs to Kunwu" at the end of summer, and Zuo Zhuan declared that "Xia has virtue, and things are far-reaching, and Jin Jiu devoted himself to grazing and casting tripod-like things". Although the bronze tripod of Xia Dynasty has not been found so far, many other kinds of bronzes have been found, and the casting technology of Qingtongjue in Erlitou site is quite high. When the princes were enfeoffed in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, they were named "Yellow". During the Spring and Autumn Period, people in Song Dynasty fled through Wei, and were besieged by wei ren, so they could only let him leave the "Xia Houshi Volume". All these show that the beautiful jade in Xia Dynasty is very precious to future generations. There are many kinds of jade unearthed from Erlitou site, among which the end of the jade handle-shaped vessel is embossed into the shape of an animal's head, and six vessels are carved with animal's face patterns and petal patterns. The carvings are very fine and represent the technical level of jade making at that time. The article "Ten Biographies of What I Did" said that the ritual vessel made by Yu was "painting inside the ink outside the Zhu". This sacrificial vessel is said to be lacquerware. There are flat-bottomed lacquer boxes, lacquer beans, lacquer enamel and so on. The lacquerware unearthed from Erlitou site shows the lacquer-making technology at that time.
Shang Dynasty is famous for its splendid bronze casting industry. Over the years, thousands of Shang bronzes have been unearthed, many of which are simple and peculiar in shape, thick and complex in decoration, and are symbols of Shang civilization. In the early Shang Dynasty, a variety of bronzes were unearthed at Erligang site in Zhengzhou, and two copper casting workshops were also found. Bronze casting in the late Shang Dynasty can be divided into two stages. The bronzes before Kangding were all square, such as Fang Ding, Fang Yi, Fang Zun and so on. The edges and corners of bronzes are often decorated with leaf edges to enhance the solemnity and grandeur of the vessels. Most bronzes at this stage have no inscriptions, or only indicate the owner's surname. In the post-Wuyi stage, many changes have taken place in the shape of utensils, such as the tripod foot changed from the original cylinder to a slightly thin hoof foot shape in the middle, and the Jue changed from a flat bottom to a deep belly round bottom. At present, there are more inscriptions with more than 40 words. The copper ore found in Yin Ruins is malachite, with the largest weight of 18.8kg ... The copper and lead needed by merchants may be produced in western Henan and southwestern Shanxi, while the tin comes from the south. The mined ore must be smelted into copper for later use, which is called "yellow casting furnace" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. There are large-scale copper casting sites in Yin Ruins, covering an area of over 6,543,800 square meters. At that time, casting bronzes had to go through processes such as mold making, fan turning, casting and trimming. Casting large bronzes often requires the joint efforts of hundreds or even hundreds of people. The tripod body and tripod feet of Simuwu Dafang tripod are integrally cast, while the tripod ears are molded, overturned and cast on the tripod body. Its tripod body consists of four webs, 1 root web, 1 root core seat and four door webs, and the required metal material is above 1000 kg.