ABSTRACT
Traditional Chinese religious institutions and activities flourish today in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and in some overseas communities, as well as in parts of China. These activities are the products of continuous historical development from prehistoric times. In that period the area of present-day China was inhabited by a large number of tribal groups. In around 5000 Bce several of these tribes developed agriculture and began to live in small villages surrounded by their fields. Domesticated plants and animals included millet, rice, dogs, pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, and silkworms. The physical characteristics of these early agriculturalists were similar to those of modern Chinese. The archaeological record indicates gradual development toward more complex technology and social stratification. By the late Neolithic period (beginning around 3200 Bce) there were well-developed local cultures in several areas that were to become centers of Chinese civilization later, including the southeast coast, the southwest, the Yangtze River valley, the northeast, and the northern plains. The interaction of these cultures eventually led to the rise of literate, bronze-working civilizations in the north, the Hsia (before 1500 Bce) and Shang (c. 1500–1050 Bce). The existence of the Hsia kingdom is attested in early historical sources that have otherwise been shown to accord with archaeological discoveries. However, archaeologists are still debating which sites can be confidently assigned to the Hsia. The Shang has been archaeologically verified, beginning with the excavation of one of its capitals in 1928.
