Early China Series: Divergent Paths

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In-Person

Date: February27,2026

Location: Columbia University, New York, United States

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This talk explores how collective action shaped social complexity in two of early China’s prominent late Neolithic centers: Liangzhu and Shijiahe. Both sites, dating to around 5500 BP, achieved large-scale urbanism and undertook extensive public works, yet they diverged significantly in political organization, ritual practice, and elite infrastructure. Drawing on recent archaeological findings, I argue that while Liangzhu reflects a model in which elite control and symbolic monopolies were central to power, Shijiahe presents a more decentralized structure characterized by inclusive ritual practices and minimal elite materialization.

Participants & Organizers

Tang Center for Early China(Host, Organizer)

<a href="https://tangcenter-columbia.org/" class="small text-muted">https://tangcenter-columbia.org/</a>

The Tang Center for Early China is dedicated to the advancement of the understanding of the richness and importance of early Chinese civilization as a part of a broader common human heritage. It is committed to doing so through both solid scholarship and broad public outreach. The Tang Center is interested in supporting the study of newly discovered paleographic and textual material as well as artifacts. The Tang Center is especially interested in promoting the role of archaeology as a path to understand the past and it offers a critical window for introducing new archaeological discoveries in China to Western audiences.