Liujiahe Liujiahe, an archaeological site just to the east of Beijing in China, is notable as one of the most northerly sites to yield material remains that can be referred to the shang state (1766-1045 b. c.e.). A burial was excavated and found to contain bronze vessels and a bronze ax with a blade fashioned from meteoric, or natural, iron. The remains of bronze horse trappings and chariot components are particularly interesting, as they represent one of the earliest such finds in China. Jade, gold, and turquoise ornaments complete the rich mortuary offerings from this tomb.
Liu Sheng (d. c. 113 b. c.e.) Liu Sheng was the brother of the Western Han emperor Wudi (157-87 b. c.e.).
Liu Sheng’s tomb at mancheng was discovered and excavated in 1968 and revealed for the first time two complete mortuary suits of jade wafers joined by gold thread, hitherto known only from documentary references. Such suits
The jade suit of Princess Dou Wan, wife of Prince Liu Sheng of the Western Han royal family. It was discovered at Mancheng, China, in 1968. Jade was used to encase the royal dead, anticipating that it would preserve the body. (OAsian Art & Archaeology, Inc./CORBIS) were reserved for the highest members of the royal family and were held to suppress the decomposition of the body See also han dynasty.
Liu Taiyun Liu Taiyun was one of the pioneers in the collection and study of the ancient Chinese texts on oracle bones from Anyang in China.
During the early years of the 20th century, he collaborated with Wang Yiyong in saving these priceless records from drug dealers who powdered and used oracle bones as medicine. He inherited Wang Yiyong’s collection when the latter committed suicide in 1900, and he proceeded to assemble at least 5,588 records. In 1903 he published 1,058 fragments in the first scholarly study of the records of the Shang kings of anyang.
See also shang state.
Liu Xiu (d. 55 b. c.e) Liu Xiu, Prince Huai of Zhongshan, was an aristocrat of the Chinese Western Han dynasty.
He was interred in a tomb at Bajiaolang, Hebei province. Although his tomb was looted, his jade suit has survived, despite being burned. It was made of 1,203 wafers of jade, sewn together with gold thread that weighs 2.56 kilograms (5.6 lbs.). This is one of the rare surviving suits. Jade was held to provide immortality. Others are known from mancheng and the tomb of Zhao Mo, also known as Wen Di (r. 137-122 b. c.e.), whose intact tomb has been found at Xianggang in Guangzhou (Canton).
See also yue.
Lolei The temple of Lolei is located on what was an island in the Jayatataka reservoir at hariharalaya, Cambodia. This center was a major capital of the dynasty of JAYAVARMAN II (c. 770-834 c. e.) from the late eighth century c. e. until the foundation of yashodharapura. King YASHOVARMAN I (r. 889-910 c. e.) had the shrines constructed to commemorate his parents, and it was consecrated on 8 July 893 c. e.
Lomasa Rishi Lomasa Rishi, one of the earliest rock MONASTERIES of India, is located in the Barabar Hills of Bihar. These were built for Buddhist worship from the third century b. c.e., and most are concentrated in the western Deccan. The sanctuary of Lomasa Rishi has a narrow entrance, and the caitya shrine within runs parallel with the rock face. This portal was decorated with a frieze of carved elephants and makaras, mythical sea monsters. It probably dates to about 250 b. c.e.
See also buddhism.
Longshan culture The Longshan culture of the Huang (Yellow) River Valley in china has local roots in the Dawenkou and the yangshao cultures. It dates between about 2500 and 1800 b. c.e. and is a crucial period because many of the Longshan sites reveal trends that anticipate the development of the first civilizations in the area. The Longshan communities that commanded the Huang River Valley and Shandong Peninsula reveal a quickening of social complexity Archaeologically, this is manifested in defensive walls, rich burial assemblages, the adoption of metallurgy, and an increase in artifacts associated with armed conflict. Jades and bronzes, which were to reflect high social distinction for millennia to come, made their first appearance. The quality of the jades and ceramics is consistent with the establishment of craft specialization.
This development of defended settlements and craft specialization was rooted in a long preceding Neolithic period in which stamped-earth enclosures and growing settlement sizes were already beginning to appear by the end of the fourth millennium b. c.e. During the Longshan culture, certain well-placed communities grew further in size and commanded sufficient resources to construct large walls and platforms for elite buildings. Extensively excavated cemeteries, such as taosi, provide evidence for sharp social distinctions. This trend was accompanied by a growing density of sites and a sharp rise in population. Growth took place at a time of increasing evidence for violence and warfare. More weapons were manufactured, and some sites reveal evidence for the disposal of men who had been severely handled. Long-distance trade in exotic valuables was a further major development. There are four distinct regional foci for Longshan, extending from shaanxi province in the west through shanxi and Henan to shandong in the east. Associated trends toward social stratification and the development of states, although not named Longshan, have been identified during the third millennium b. c.e. in the Chang (Yangtze) Valley from Sichuan to Hunan of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
LONGSHAN SITES
The site of chengzi is located in the southern part of the Shandong Peninsula; excavations have revealed a cemetery in which graves were now increasingly distinguished on the basis of mortuary wealth and spatial differentiation between rich and poor. Five rich interments of a sample of 87 graves were equipped with a ledge to display lavish offerings, including elegant tall-stemmed cups and the jawbones of pigs, presumably sacrificed as part of the mortuary ritual. The poorest graves, which were in the majority, however, had no ledges and fewer mortuary offerings.
CHENGZIYAI is situated on the right bank of the lower Huang River in Shandong province. it is particularly important because of the discovery there of 16 fragments of inscribed oracle bones, dating to 2500-1900 b. c.e. These provide evidence for divination and an early system of writing in Longshan contexts. At dinggong, another site of the Longshan culture in Shandong province, there is early evidence for writing in the form of graphs on pottery vessels. It also provides evidence for domestic structures and the sacrifice of adults and children, whose remains have been found in the foundations of buildings. bianxianwang has two stamped-earth enclosures and again has yielded the remains of sacrificial victims in the wall foundations. jingyanggang is one of the largest Longshan centers in Dawenkou, with an area of about 38 hectares (95 acres). Early graphs have also been found on potsherds at this site.
Pingliangtai, located south of the Huang River in Henan province, offers a further and highly significant innovation in the middle reaches of the Huang River, in the provision of defensive stamped-earth walls. These enclosed a relatively small area of five hectares (12.5 acres), but inner walls were located around a citadel 185 meters square (222 sq. yds.). The outer walls were equipped with gateways; the interior contained house foundations and a drainage system. One of the pits in the site contained a trace of copper residue, and a piece of bronze was recovered. As in Shandong, some of the pottery shards had scratched written graphs. Hougang and Wangchenggang, in the same province, also incorporate walls, those at the latter site enclosing an area of rather less than a hectare. Stamped-earth foundations in the defended area were probably the residences of the elite. Part of a bronze bowl again indicates that copper was now being alloyed with tin and lead and locally cast. The date for this site lies toward the end of the third millennium b. c.e.
Taosi, in Shanxi province, is one of the most significant sites of this period, because it grew to cover more than 300 hectares (750 acres), and extensive excavations in the cemetery have involved opening more than 1,000 graves. This huge sample has allowed an appreciation of growing social differentiation, because nine contained considerable mortuary wealth. Up to 200 offerings were found in such wealthy interments, and the range included fine jade rings and axes and the remains of two remarkable wooden drums, each with a striking surface of crocodile skin. crocodile scutes from a rich grave at YINJIACHENG in Shandong were also probably part of a drum. Historical texts refer to drums as being associated with royalty. The personal ornaments in these rich graves are of outstanding refinement. A hairpin from Tomb 2023, for example, had a bone stem enhanced with a sphere inlaid with turquoise and jade inserts with a perforated terminal. This held in place a further thin slat of jade that would have rung when striking the adjacent sphere. A middle group of about 80 graves included jade axes, tubes, and rings, as well as pigs’ jawbones, but the vast majority of poor graves had few, if any, offerings. In this huge assemblage, only one bronze was found, a bell of a copper-lead alloy. At the contemporary site of Meis-han, however, dated to 2300-2000 b. c.e., two pieces of bronze crucibles made of clay have been found.
A jade pin from zhufeng in Shandong province had two sections: The pin itself, about 21 centimeters (8.4 in.) long, slotted into a decorated plaque inlaid with turquoise. Its location beside the skulls suggested that it was a hairpin. Other jade items from this grave, which held a wooden coffin nested within another, included a second pin, a blade, and two axes. There were also fine ceramic vessels and 980 turquoise plaques. Some jade items in the central plains and Shandong were being of Liangzhu origin. Alligator skin has been found on a drum from Taosi and probably originated in the south, which was also a source of exotic feathers and turtle shell. The nascent bronze industry would also have encouraged prospecting and exchange of copper and tin. The organization of such trade and ownership of rare prestigious goods have been widely observed in association with the rise of social elites.
It is also notable, however, that the areas within the Longshan walled sites are not large. Indeed, at Wangchenggang, only one hectare was defended. Other sites rarely exceed 20 hectares (50 acres) and would hardly have housed a population of 1,000 people. This small size scarcely qualifies for the term city as a characterization of Longshan centers, but it must be recalled that there might have been substantial settled areas outside the walls. In this situation, the defended sites could be seen as special areas fortified for the elite residences and communal structures, such as cult temples. This and other possibilities, however, must await specifically directed excavations.
EVIDENCE OF TRADE AND SOCIAL COMPLEXITY
The examination of cemeteries such as Taosi and zhufeng has revealed a number of important common features. A small number of elite graves were included in clusters that also had much poorer interments. The largest and most lavishly equipped burials nearly always contained males.
They were associated spatially with pits containing complete pottery vessels and on occasion animal skeletons that suggest the practice of making ritual offerings to the dead. These elite burials are also distinguished by the presence of special grave goods, such as jade disks, yazhang blades, yue axes, and cong tubes. Jade is a very hard medium to work, and its presence in Longshan graves is a sure sign of elevated social rank. The sources of the Longshan jades included the Liaodong Peninsula across the Gulf of Bohai, where several sites, including Guojiacun and Wenjiatun, have yielded manufacturing tools for jade and contain finished jade artifacts. Control of long-distance trade in such precious substances would have been one route to elevated social status.
Pig skeletons were offered within the context of mortuary rituals, and later oracle texts from the shang state are known to indicate the age and sex of the animals required for sacrificial purposes. superb eggshell-thin ceramic goblets were found in elite burials, and these are thought to have originated in specialized workshops rather than being made at the site where they rest. several sites have also yielded the crocodile scutes that would once have formed the striking surfaces of drums. There is thus a consistent pattern informing us that the Longshan societies were forming a hierarchical social structure on the brink of state formation.
Early Chinese histories, such as the SHIJI, refer to a distant period of Five Emperors. They name kings and cities and many battles between innumerable rival kingdoms. The HANSHU, in referring to this remote predynastic period, also cites the existence of walled cities. It is an intriguing possibility that the much later Chinese historians were still in touch with the very origins of their civilization.
Further reading: Dematte, P “Longshan-Era Urbanism: The Role of Cities in Predynastic China,” Asian Perspectives 38 (1999): 119-153; Underhill, A. “Variation in settlements During the Longshan Period of Northern China,” Asian Perspectives 33 (1994): 197-228.
Lopburi Lopburi is a major center of the dvaravati CIVILIZATION in central Thailand. It is difficult to excavate because it is covered by a modern town. Two Buddhist images have been found there, one inscribed in SANSKRIT dating to the eighth century. A stone “wheel of the law” (dharmacakra), inscribed in Pali, has also been found. A mid-eighth-century Mon inscription recorded the gift of slaves and cattle to a monastery. Lopburi was later taken by the kingdom of angkor in Cambodia and was one of the centers mentioned in the reign of jayavarman vii (r. 1181-1219 C. E.).
Lothal Lothal is a small settlement of the INDUS valley CIVILIZATION, located at the head of the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat, India. The name derives from the Gujerati word loth, “dead.” Lothal is an unusual Indus civilization settlement. It is not large, it lies at the southeastern edge of the known distribution of Indus sites, and it was a center for a wide range of manufacturing activities. The raw materials, such as carnelian and copper, were imported from beyond the borders of the civilization. The site can thus be seen as a trading and manufacturing center, drawing on foreign resources and sending finished goods to the cities of the Indus Valley and possibly beyond to the Persian Gulf. The settlement covers an area of 330 by 180 meters (1,089 by 594 ft.) and, as in larger contemporary sites in the Indus Valley, has a separate walled citadel. One probably held temples and elite residences, and the other, which was also walled, incorporated the houses of the majority of the occupants.
The excavations of S. R. Rao between 1954 and 1962 disclosed five building levels dating between about 2550 and 2150 b. c.e. During the height of the town’s history, Periods II-IV, the citadel enclosed a series of mud-BRiCK structures divided by streets. One such structure revealed a row of 12 bathrooms, but the function of other foundations is not clearly apparent. The lower area was given over not only to residences, but also to a wide range of craft activities. These included ivory working, for whole elephant tusks were uncovered, as well as ivory prepared for further attention, but not yet in the form of completed artifacts. There were also a furnace for heating carnelian, as part of the process involved in the production of beads. Other raw materials for manufacturing jewelry included jasper, opal, and crystal. Ingots of copper and metal slag make it clear that bronze casting was undertaken, while marine-shell bangles were also fashioned.
Excavations also uncovered a large brick-lined basin, 219 meters (722 ft.) long and 37 meters wide (122 ft.), still standing to a height of 4.5 meters. There are no steps leading down into it, and there is an inlet or outlet at the southern end. Rao forcefully interpreted this as a dock, which he argued was linked by a canal to the river and on to the open sea. This line of reasoning then saw the site as an important port, engaged in trade with the cities of Mesopotamia. The evidence for such trade is minimal: The excavations furnished a Persian Gulf type seal and a seal impression, but little else to sustain the notion of a busy port city. A series of technical reasons that have also been advanced do not sustain the interpretation of the basin as a dock. An alternative that has gained widespread support is that the basin served as a source of freshwater for the city population in an area where much water is saline.
Further reading: Kenoyer, J. M. Ancient Cities of the Indus Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998; Leshnik, L. S. “The Harappan ‘Port’ at Lothal: Another View,” American Anthropologist 70: (1968): 911-922; Pos-sehl, G. L. Harappan Civilization: A Recent Perspective. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Lou-lan Lou-lan is the name of a state located in the vicinity of Lop Nor Lake on the eastern margin of the TARIM BASIN. This area had a long period of occupation before the establishment of an early state on the silk ROAD. Excavations in the area have uncovered remarkably complete graves with well-preserved human remains. The cemetery of Qawrighul, in the center of the later Lou-lan state, dates back to at least 1800 b. c.e. Several burials have been uncovered, the most famous that of a well-preserved woman labeled the beauty of Lou-lan. She was warmly dressed in a leather skirt and woolen wrap, short leather boots, and wool cap with a feather in it. She was accompanied by a comb, a basket still containing wheat, and a winnowing tray. Her features were Western, and her hair auburn. The graves at this cemetery were laid out in wooden boards, with the head pointing to the east. Grave goods often included a bunch of ephedra twigs. A ring of wooden stakes was then placed around the interments. The availability of sufficient trees and the presence of flocks of sheep indicate that the area must have been much wetter and more amenable to agriculture.
Surviving documents record that Lou-lan’s original name was Kroran. After 77 b. c.e., it formed part of the kingdom of shan-shan. For the traveler heading westward from china to take the Silk Road in the first century B. C.E., Dunhuang was one of the last stopping places before passing through the Jade Gate and confronting the arid Tarim Basin. The route would then inevitably lead to the Lop Nor Lake and divide into a northern or a southern passage to avoid the arid Taklamakan Desert. The area around the lake, therefore, was inevitably strategic, particularly when it was better watered than at present.
EARLY EXCAVATIONS
Both the SHIJI and the HANSHU (History of the Former Han) describe how the Han official zhang qian visited this area in the late second century b. c.e. and gave accounts of walled cities. He described the state of Lou-lan as having 1,570 households with 14,100 people, located 1,600 li from the Jade Gate. Two thousand years later, when Sven Hedin was seeking the lake during his expedition of 1900, he encountered by chance an early settlement. Digging turned up a piece of shaped wood bearing writing in a script he could not decipher and several pieces of wood carving. When news spread of this discovery, interest was aroused in this site and the general area, and in 1906 SIR AUREL STEIN undertook further surveys and excavations. Stein identified many sites to the north and west of the old lake and gave each the name Lou-lan followed by a letter of the alphabet.
STEIN’S EXCAVATIONS
Lou-lan A lies north of the lake and is a walled settlement covering an area of nine hectares (29.7 acres). The thick walls were made of stamped earth interleaved with layers of branches to provide resistance to the strong wind that prevails in this desolate region. The early chinese accounts noted the scarcity of good agricultural land in the Lou-lan area. Nevertheless, Lou-lan A incorporated a large stupa and administrative buildings and had a lengthy period of occupancy. Further stupas were noted at Lou-lan B, lying about 13 kilometers (7.8 mi.) northwest of the town site; 10 kilometers (6 mi.) to the northwest Stein found a bluff on top of which were building foundations and a cemetery known as Lou-lan F. His investigations in the latter are graphically described in his report, which is accompanied by a photograph of the body of a young man in a wooden coffin. He wore a felt hat and leather boots and was interred under a woolen blanket. Three baskets accompanied him, but their contents had not survived. However, a bunch of ephedra twigs lay beside the body, reminiscent of the consistent association between burials and ephedra in the much earlier prehistoric graves of the Tarim Basin. This plant has medicinal properties and might well have been the constituent of soma, a beverage often described in the RIG-VEDA. The body was very well preserved and revealed a face with clear Western features. It is important to note that the mortuary traditions at this cemetery match closely those observed in the area almost 2,000 years previously: the same felt caps embellished with feathers; the same woolen wraps, baskets for grain, wooden posts surrounding the graves, and Western features of the dead.
Lou-lan E is another fortified town lying 30 kilometers (18 mi.) northeast of Lou-lan A. It covers only 1.6 hectares (4 acres) but was nevertheless defended by stout earthen walls three meters wide at the base. Surviving documents from this site suggest that it was occupied from the late first century b. c.e. until the late third century C. E. It may also have been the capital of the Lou-lan kingdom before the imposition of chinese domination after 77 b. c.e. Lou-lan K is also walled and covers 1.8 hectares. It is located on the western margin of the old lake and was entered by a single gateway, the wooden posts and gates of which survived, to be described by Stein. The same area included at Lou-lan K a small fort from which a document in the KHAROSHTHI script, and silk, wool, and paper remains have been recovered.
The Lou-lan sites contain much evidence for the establishment of buddhism in the area. Stupas were constructed of mud BRICK and were probably covered in stucco. The typical form saw the oval stupa proper raised on top of three square platforms. A wooden flagpole issued from the top. Wood has been preserved in the dry desert conditions and provides a glimpse of the fine architectural details seen, for example, in a lintel from Lou-lan A embellished with images of the Buddha in carved niches. Although severely worn, a wooden doorjamb from Lou-lan B was carved to include the image of a BODHISATTVA. A meter-high wooden statue is from the same site. While Buddhism expresses strong cultural influences from the West, the excavations of burials in the vicinity of Lou-lan A undertaken first by Stein and in 1980 by a Chinese team have also uncovered many Chinese imports. As might be expected, these include fine silk clothing in which the dead were buried, lacquerware, Chinese coins, and a bronze mirror.
Lou-lan depended for its existence on the Konchi Dar’ya and its replenishing Lop Nor Lake. This river is prone to change its course as it traverses the flat terrain north of the lake with major consequences for those who live along its banks. Just such a movement in the fourth century could well have led to the abandonment of the many sites of Lou-lan.
Lovea Lovea is a village located northwest of angkor in Cambodia. Viewed from the air, it appears to be surrounded by an earthwork and a moat similar in form to those in many Iron Age sites in northeast Thailand. It is reported that human remains with bronze and iron artifacts were unearthed there when the present temple was under construction. The nature of prehistoric occupation before the foundation of Angkor is hardly known, and Lovea is one of a series of similar sites that have the potential to illuminate this problem.
Lower Xiajiadian culture The Lower Xiajiadian culture has been recognized for many years; the first major excavations were at Dongbaijia in 1943 and at Xiajiadian in 1962. Both sites lie in the outskirts of Chifeng in Inner Mongolia. More than 2,000 sites are now known, distributed in Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, and Hebei provinces. It is a Bronze Age culture, dating between about 2300 and 1600 B. C.E., and thus contemporary with the LONGSHAN CULTURE sites in the Huang (Yellow) River Valley and Shandong province to the south. on the basis of excavations of Fengxia, three developmental phases can be recognized in changing pottery forms through the layers of the site.
The importance of the Lower Xiajiadian culture lies in the evidence it provides for an extension of the area of increasing social distinctions into a region relatively remote from the central plains. Moreover, the bronzes found as grave offerings have Western parallels, suggesting they provided a conduit for the introduction of bronze working into China from the West. The origins are controversial, for the material culture differs markedly from the preceding hongshan culture, and the ceremonialism of the latter is no longer in evidence. Moreover, it ceased in about 1700 B. C.E., followed by 500 years when little or no settlement of the area has been identified. Some Chinese archaeologists find in the Lower Xiajiadian culture elements that anticipate and might well be ancestral to the shang state of the central plains.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS
Settlements fall into three categories: large defended sites, the largest covering more than 10 hectares (25 acres); smaller defended sites, and settlement with no defenses. There appear to be clusters of sites, each containing one distinctively large central place, such as Chijiayingzi. The defensive walls were constructed of stone, often in the form of an inner and an outer skin containing stamped earth within. Many were punctuated with bastions. The houses were usually at least partially underground, also constructed of stone where available or stamped earth, with plastered walls and floors. At the site of Sifendi, houses were circular, with a diameter rarely exceeding four meters. They were reached by a set of steps, and the single room within was dominated by a hearth. on many occasions, the hearth was accompanied by a pottery vessel that might have contained tinder. There is some evidence that larger square houses occupied elevated ground in the settlements. At Fengxia, a rectangular house with two rooms, measuring nine by 8.5 meters (about 900 sq. ft.), was uncovered. Houses from a variety of settlements had plastered floors that were renewed on at least six occasions, indicating long-term occupation. The houses at Dongbaijia were so strongly constructed that 57 survive to this day on the present surface of the site.
The economy was based on grain cultivation, with an emphasis on millet, two varieties of which have been found at Fengxia. Agricultural implements included stone hoes and sickles, as well as spades fashioned from animal shoulder blades. Many storage pits were dug, probably to safeguard the millet harvest for winter consumption. Domestic pigs, dogs, cattle, goat, and sheep bones indicate the raising of livestock, and deer were hunted. Large domestic pig skeletons have often been found as ritual offerings in graves.
SOCIAL ORDER AND MATERIAL CULTURE A substantial exposure of graves at Dadianzi has greatly illuminated the social order. Here 800 burials have been excavated. The ritual involved single inhumation burial, and interestingly some interments are relatively large and richly endowed with grave goods. These richer individuals, whose graves could be up to 8.9 meters deep, were interred in wooden coffins. The graves contained niches for receiving fine painted ceramic vessels and the limbs of domestic pigs. Polished stone battle axes, lacquerware, rare jades, bronze ornaments, and up to six complete skeletons of dogs and pigs were also found. other graves had fewer offerings and lacked some of the sumptuary ceramic vessels such as wine jugs, but the heads of pigs and dogs often accompanied the dead.
There is some evidence for craft specialization, in the form of fine ceramic vessels and stone and ceramic molds for BRONZE CASTING. The actual bronzes recovered include earrings, knives, and rings. Their parallels lie to the west, in the Andronovo culture of the Siberian steppes, and in the case of decorative finials, in bactria. Long-distance trade would have carried jade and marine shells to these communities, in which the drilling and heating of animal scapulae for divination purposes were widespread.
See also oracle bones; xia dynasty.
Lu Lu was a Chinese state dating to the Western and EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTIES (1045-221 b. c.e.). It was located in the lower Huang (Yellow) River Valley, in the present province of Shandong. After the defeat of the Shang dynasty, the new Zhou court assigned leading members of the royal lineage to rule over peripheral territory by founding new states. The duke of Zhou was given Lu, and he sent his eldest son, Bo Qin, to take control of this region, which had included the former state of Pugu, an enemy of the Zhou. The descendants of Bo Qin then ruled Lu under the royal Ji clan for many generations. The state of Lu is best known as the home of confucius (551-479 b. c.e.), China’s most famous and influential political philosopher and teacher. His temple survives at qufu, the capital city of Lu. With the demise of the western zhou dynasty and the move to Luoyang by King Ping, Lu was one of the states that supported the continuation of the Zhou royal house under the mandate of heaven.
Qufu is the city that most closely conforms to the model Zhou city, with a rectangular walled precinct, 12 gates, and interior roads forming a grid pattern. However, archaeological research has identified only 11 gates, and the interior roads are not on a grid plan. The royal palace stood in the center of the city, and areas were devoted to BRONZE CASTING, bone-artifact manufacture, and ceramics. Several lineage cemeteries have been found within the city walls, and some of the wealthier graves included chariots, horses, and bronze vessels. The state endured until its defeat at the hands of CHU in 256 b. c.e., but the city continued in occupation during the HAN dynasty.
Lu Buwei (d. 235 b. c.e.) Lu Buwei gave his name to an important Chinese text on political philosophy known as the Lushi Chunqiu, or The Springs and Autumns of Mr. Lu, published in 241 b. c.e.
He was a high official in the state of qin after he had become wealthy as a merchant. Some rumors assert that he was actually the father of qin shihuangdi (259-210 b. c.e.), the first emperor of China and founder of the short-lived Qin dynasty. The state of Qin rose to become the most powerful and widely feared of the Warring States, and the Lushi Chunqiu, which was written by Lu Buwei’s proteges, was a manual of statecraft offered to the king. The basic philosophical reasoning advocates that proper order in the state relied on both the king and his ministers. The former, through self-discipline and reflection, projected the moral order of the universe and state but remained distant from the day-to-day administration of the bureaucrats. Although Lu Buwei may have hoped to influence the future emperor, this was not to be. Qin Shihuangdi ignored all the advice offered except for the moral justification for armed aggression and, in due course, sent Lu Buwei into exile. However, the Lushi Chunqui enjoyed a more tangible influence on the subsequent rulers of the HAN dynasty.
Lu Hao (d. 180 b. c.e.) Lu Hao was the senior wife of Gaozu, the founder of the Western Han dynasty of China.
On the death of the emperor gaozu in 195 b. c.e., she first dominated her son, huidi, and then ruled as regent while two infants were nominally on the throne until her own death in 180 b. c.e. She consolidated her position of power by appointing members of her own clan to positions of authority at court and authorizing them to rule over subsidiary kingdoms. This policy failed with her death, when members of the Lu clan were massacred and the Liu family of Gaozu reasserted itself with the appointment of wendi as the new emperor.
Lumbini Lumbini, modern Rummindei, was the birthplace of the Buddha. It is located just north of the border between India and Nepal. In about 252 b. c.e. it was visited by King asoka, third ruler of the maurya EMPIRE and an enthusiastic convert to buddhism. He had one of his columns erected there, with a brief inscription. The text described how the king visited in the 20th year of his reign to worship at the birthplace of the Buddha Sakyamuni. He had a stone building constructed and granted the community a tax concession whereby their payments were reduced from one-sixth of production to one-eighth.
Luoyang Luoyang was the capital of the eastern ZHOU DYNASTY from 771 b. c.e., after the sacking of the former royal center near Xi’an to the west. It lies at the junction of the Jian and Luo Rivers, south of the Huang (Yellow) River in the central plains of China. Little is known of the capital, whose first ruler was King Ping, because of later building. By the early warring states PERIOD, however, a walled city covering an area of about 900 hectares (2,250 acres) had been constructed. In 25 c. e., Luoyang again became the capital under the Eastern HAN DYNASTY, and a new city was built between the Lo and Ku Rivers, the latter feeding the moat that lay in front of massive walls. Excavations beyond the walls of the early capital have revealed an extensive series of burials, at least 1,000 of which have been opened. They date to the Warring States period (475-221 b. c.e.) and appear to contain the remains of middle-class occupants of the city These contrast with the outstandingly rich and probably royal graves unearthed at Jincun. Despite looting, they still contained fine mortuary offerings. The tombs were octagonal wooden chambers, joined by a doorway to long ramps, one of which reached 80 meters (264 ft.) in length. Three of the ramps were lined by long pits containing the remains of horses. The looted artifacts were outstandingly rich. Three giant ding tripods lined the doorway giving access to the tomb, each almost a meter in diameter. Within the chamber, the upper part of the wooden walls was decorated with a band of inlaid glass and bronze disks. Some of the bronze vessels and mirrors were inlaid with gold, silver, or glass, and there were silver vessels, a statuette, and a jade and gold pectoral.
Still surviving to a height of 10 meters (33 ft.), the walls of the later capital were constructed of stamped earth and enclosed an area of 10 square kilometers (4 sq. mi.). Two palaces lay within the north and south, connected by a causeway. The city, as was its immediate predecessor at Chang’an to the west, was divided into walled precincts and incorporated workshops and markets. Outside there was a substantial urban sprawl that included temples, a university, and the royal observatory. The population was probably in the region of 500,000 people. The city, however, was razed to the ground in 189 c. e.
See also wangcheng.
Luo Zhenyu (1866-1940) Luo Zhenyu was an early scholar of the texts of the Anyang oracle bones.
Until his research, the source of these records was kept a secret by the dealers. However, Luo Zhenyu tracked down their origin in the village of Xiaotun. He also minutely examined the texts to distinguish the genuine articles from fakes and then proceeded to identify the names of the Shang kings of Anyang, date the bones to their historic context, and illuminate their purpose as divination. He wrote on the identity of the capital city of the SHANG STATE (1766-1045 B. C.E.), the names of the kings, the translation of the ancient characters, and the methods of divination. He published several volumes, entitled “The Yin-hsu Oracle Bone Inscriptions,” between 1913 and 1915; in them he discussed the capital cities, kings, geographical terms, ritual systems, and methods of divination.
World History
