Old Model and New Discoveries: Rethinking the Chinese Interaction Sphere

The Indiana University presents a talk with Li Xinwei from the Institute of Archeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The “Chinese interaction sphere” is a model adopted by K. C. Chang (1986: 241-242) to describe the close relationship among different regional cultures in China that developed in the fourth millennium BC. Compared with other models such as “central plains diffusion” (An 1979), “regional systems and local cultural series” (quxi leixing) (Su and Yin 1981), and “multi-petals” (Yan 1987), the “Chinese interaction sphere” model offers greater flexibility in the interpretation of both the independence and the unity of regional cultures, thus providing a more useful approach to the understanding of the emergence of early states in China. Working within the constraints of very limited data, Chang (1986: 234-242) relied on identifying similarities between ceramic vessels of different cultures to demonstrate the appearance of the interaction sphere in the fourth millennium BC. The mechanisms and materials involved in the early interaction sphere remain poorly documented and require more comprehensive examination. Li Xinwei’s research aims to describe the emergence of exchange networks of prestige goods and sacred knowledge at around 3300 BC in eastern China and explore the implication of the exchange networks to the formation of the “Chinese interaction sphere”. It is an effort to refine the “Chinese interaction sphere” model with the latest archaeological discoveries and new theoretical perspective.

Li Xinwei is a professor in the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Vice Director of the Department of Prehistory. His research focuses on the development of complex societies and emergence of civilization, settlement archaeology, and sociopolitical change in prehistoric China. He has published many articles in Chinese and American journals and is the author of Development of Social Complexity in the Liaoxi Area, Northeast China.