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ΕλληνικάINITIAL ATLAS · ORIGIN AND EXPANSION
Map of Ancient China
Atlas of Ancient China
Locate the main Bronze Age centres in the Yellow River basin.
Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.
Editorial visualisation · Contextual correspondence
Declared editorial visualisation, based on the cartography and sources of the fact sheet; it is not an exact historical frontier.
History and context
The map begins at Longshan Horizons and allows progression through 8 phases. The documented places —Erlitou, Zhengzhou, Anyang · Yinxu— appear only when they help to read the active period.
The archaeological sequence does not authorise automatically identifying Erlitou with a concrete textual dynasty.
Evidence and interpretation
The coast comes from Natural Earth. The layers distinguish origin, core, direct control, influence, networks, disputed territories and external domains; they are approximate curatorial envelopes, not modern borders. The faint outline retains the previous phase to make each expansion, contraction or absorption visible. The archaeological sequence does not authorise automatically identifying Erlitou with a concrete textual dynasty.
Catalogue facts
- Reading mode
- Origin, sequence and changing scope
- Sequence
- 8 phases · Longshan Horizons (ca. 3000–1900 BCE) → Erlitou (ca. 1900–1500 BCE) → Erligang and early Shang (ca. 1600–1400 BCE) → Late Shang and Anyang (ca. 1300–1046 BCE) → Western Zhou (ca. 1046–771 BCE) → Springs and Autumns (770–476 BCE) → Warring States (475–221 BCE) → Qin Unification (221–206 BCE)
- Nodes
- Erlitou (≈1900–1500 BCE) · Zhengzhou (early Shang) · Anyang · Yinxu (≈1250–1046 BCE)
- Range
- Envelope of several archaeological horizons.
- Caution
- The archaeological sequence does not authorise automatically identifying Erlitou with a concrete textual dynasty.
A closer look
About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .
A map of unequal resources and powers
The territory associated with Anyang is not understood merely by drawing an outline around the capital. The Smithsonian exhibition highlights eastern coastal settlements, controlled by the Shang or their allies, that produced salt, and surrounding communities that supplied grain and livestock. To the south, in the Yangtze region, other powerful centres possessed mineral resources and manufactured their own bronzes. Competition, exchange and provisioning linked distinct regions: the map must show these relationships without automatically turning them into a uniform territorial administration.
Location and territory
REGIONAL AREA
Central Plains and Huang He basin, with shifting extentsCentral Plain and Yellow River basin, with fluctuating extents. The footprint indicates the indicative centre of the area, not a border or exact point.TERRITORIAL ATLAS · REAL GEOGRAPHY · CHANGING EXTENT
Atlas of Ancient China
Bronze Age Centres in the Huang He Basin
Multiple regional cultures develop walled centres; their distribution is not the border of a unified China.
WHAT CHANGES · OriginFortified centres and regional networks emerge in several basins, without yet forming a single political entity.
The archaeological sequence does not authorise automatically identifying Erlitou with a concrete textual dynasty.
Documentation for every period
The map is interactive. The full chronology is also available below without using any controls.
c. 3000–1900 BCE · Longshan horizons
Multiple regional cultures develop walled centres; their distribution is not the border of a unified China.
Origin · Fortified centres and regional networks emerge in several basins, without yet forming a single political entity.
- Regional Longshan Centres · c. 3000–1900 BCE
Envelope of several archaeological horizons.
Probable
c. 1900–1500 BCE · Erlitou
Erlitou concentrates palaces and workshops in Henan; identifying it directly with Xia remains debated.
Origin · Part of the previous mosaic concentrates around Erlitou and the Yi-Luo valley, with debated political reach.
- Erlitou Core · c. 1900–1500 BCE
Approximate regional core, not a secure dynastic frontier.
Debated
c. 1600–1400 BCE · Erligang and Early Shang
Zhengzhou and associated centres extend ritual production and urban architecture; political intensity outside the core varies.
Expansion · The sphere centred on the Yellow River expands through walled cities and enclaves of the Erligang horizon.
- Erligang Horizon · c. 1600–1400 BCE
Approximate cultural and political distribution.
Probable
c. 1300–1046 BCE · Late Shang and Anyang
The court concentrates in Anyang within a network of allies, rivals and tributaries; it should not be drawn as uniform administration.
Contraction · The network retracts towards Anyang and other late Shang centres, although it retains extensive regional connections.
- Late Shang Network · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Approximate sphere centred on Anyang.
Probable
c. 1046–771 BCE · Western Zhou
Zhou replaces the Shang house and delegates domains to lineages; direct control, alliance and kinship are not equivalent.
Absorption and expansion · The Zhou conquest replaces the Shang centre and distributes allied domains through a wider political network.
- Zhou Domains Network · c. 1046–771 BCE
Successor power that incorporates the Shang core and articulates domains and allies with varying degrees of control.
Probable
770–476 BCE · Spring and Autumn period
Dozens of states compete under reduced Zhou authority; the area gathers rival polities, not a national border.
Fragmentation · The Zhou network loses cohesion and divides between regional states that expand their own areas of power.
- Regional States · 770–476 BCE
Approximate political mosaic.
Probable
475–221 BCE · Warring States period
Seven great kingdoms and other powers are conquered in succession; borders shift for decades.
Fragmentation and absorption · The mosaic concentrates on fewer kingdoms, whose conquests absorb neighbours and create shifting military frontiers.
- Warring States period · 475–221 BCE
Total disputed area, not a single state.
Probable - Qin Expansion · ca. 350–221 BCE
Orientative layer of Qin’s western advance; its conquests were successive, not simultaneous.
Debated
221–206 BCE · Qin Unification
Qin conquers the rival kingdoms; this is a later epilogue to the museum’s Erlitou–Shang focus, not its inevitable conclusion.
Absorption · Qin eliminates rival kingdoms and unites their territories under an initially brief imperial administration.
- Early Qin Empire · 221–206 BCE
Approximate and brief imperial envelope.
Probable
Documented places
- Erlitou · ≈1900–1500 BCE
Palatial complexes and workshops; Xia identity debated.
- Zhengzhou · Early Shang
Walled city, bronze and specialised production.
- Anyang · Yinxu · ≈1250–1046 BCE
Late Shang capital and oracle bones.
Routes and contacts
- approximate sequence and expansion
- approximate sequence and expansion
The archaeological sequence does not authorise automatically identifying Erlitou with a concrete textual dynasty.
Sources and references
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