All language subtitles for Civilisation 1 China

The history of mankind
reaches back thousands of years.

China. washed by the waters
of the Yellow River and the Yangtze.

is no exception.

ln the north of this vast land.
this empire of a thousand faces.

men forged a nation.

They tamed rivers and cultivated
a land as smooth as silk.

They raised the art
of casting metal so high.

they could discourse with the gods.

For these Chinese of the North
hardy and brave.

the horizon was a potent symbol.

From the horizon came the enemy.

But the horizon also beckoned them
to an ever greater empire.

By unifying an immense territory

an emperor built a nation
in his own image.

His laws and his philosophy
forged a heritage.

And yet. where it all began
there was only earth and water.

This endless yellow earth
has travelled a long way.

lt is loess -
fertile sedimentary dust

carried by the wind
from the deserts of Central Asia.

Entire villages depend on it
for their food.

ln winter. when the wind tries to rip
this natural treasure from the hillsides.

the peasants try to stabilise the soil.

For the loess is as fine as it is soft

and the slightest gust
forces it to continue a journey

that it started a long time ago.

Man settled here over 10000 years ago.

lt's thanks to this yellow earth
that civilisation was born in China.

lt was everything - the primeval soil and
the primary material for many innovations.

No other civilisation is
so totally associated with the earth

from which it was born.

ln stormy weather the water
that streams from the northern plateaus

dissolves the loess.

That is how this ancient alluvium
gave its name

to one of the world's greatest rivers -
the Yellow River.

China covers
over 10 million square kilometres

between the Yellow River
and the Yangtze.

lt was there
that Chinese civilisation was born.

(Speaks French )
The role of the Yellow River
was fundamental.

lt was the cradle of civilisation
in northern China

as the Yangtze was in the south.

lt shaped the entire landscape

of "yellow earth " China

with which the Chinese identify.

lt symbolises the ideal China

at its most "Chinese ".

And. of course. it was also
where the first peasants settled.

as loess is extremely fertile.

lt was by the Yellow River
and its tributaries

that the first villages appeared.

Today the North China landscape.
irrigated by the Yellow River.

is like a great yellow
semi-desert plain

lined with loess terraces.

But around 6600 to 4000 BC.

we must imagine a vast leafy forest

covering most of North China
up to Mongolia.

From the time the first
human communities settled here.

they cleared the forests
on these plateaus.

This deforestation destroyed several
thousand square kilometres of woodland.

3000 years ago. trees and shrubs formed
80% of the region's landscape.

Today. they account for only 5% .

This is what the high plateaus
looked like 5000 years ago.

Here in Huang Ling. the primeval forest
was preserved by imperial decree.

lt is still forbidden
to cut down these trees.

For today's Chinese.
this is a magical spot.

lt preserves the memory of the past.

According to legend.
trees were planted here by emperors

from the first great dynasty.
the Shang. more than 3500 years ago.

By sinking their roots in the loess.

these plantations
stabilised the water table

and allowed the springs
to remain plentiful -

which is unusual
on the high plateaus.

The splendour of the first dynasties
rested on wood.

The civilisation
drew its vital force from wood.

lts artists perfected
their techniques thanks to wood.

And it was from wood

that the Shang built the first
monumental tombs of their rulers.

ln 1 928. a few kilometres from
the city of Anyang in Henan province.

archaeological expeditions
made a series of discoveries

that would revolutionise
our knowledge of ancient China.

For the first time. sumptuous tombs
proved the power of the state

in Northern China
1 600 years before Christ.

The digs quickly spread
to cover the whole vast region.

After the excavations. the sites
around Anyang were carefully filled up.

Professor Tang
knows the exact location

of one of the first tombs
unearthed on the plain.

(Speaks Mandarin )
This is a photo of Tomb 1 500
when it was first uncovered.

lt was taken from the south.
looking northwest.

Let s look at this from this angle.

This is the entrance to the tomb.

This is the northern passage.
over there.

The passage is 22.6 metres long.

From top to bottom.
the tomb is 1 3 metres deep.

With the surface. it s 1 4 metres.

The actual depth is 1 3 metres.

lt goes from this side to that.

These tombs were robbed many times.

But from the items left behind

and the tombs internal structure.

we can imagine the magnificence
of Shang Dynasty civilisation.

The first explorers of the site
had good reason to be amazed.

They had discovered
a huge cruciform tomb.

The longer arm stretched
north-south for 82 metres.

and the shorter ran east-west for 53.

Building the monument must
have been a colossal enterprise

requiring a solid grasp
of abstract geometry.

The longest access ramp. sloping gently
down to the heart of the tomb.

made it easy to transport
the king's body inside.

ln the centre of the tomb
was the king's final resting place.

This is where his sarcophagus
was laid. together with that of the wife

he had chosen to accompany him
on his final journey.

Around the royal remains.

the archaeologists
found hundreds of bronze objects.

vases. pottery items
and various utensils of jade.

These were intended to serve
the deceased in the afterlife -

though some of the jade items
were used to put victims to death

during human sacrifices.

ln the past 70 years.

archaeologists have unearthed
1 1 tombs built on the same plan.

Almost all had been robbed. but most
still held some fabulous treasures.

By returning deep into the earth.

the first kings were merging
with the matrix of their universe.

the soil in which their traditions
and their art of living were rooted.

3600 years ago.
near the city of Chengzhou.

fields of millet. wheat and soy
covered the banks of the Yellow River.

Further north.
the traveller entered barbarian lands

populated by pastoral nomads.

who were trading partners
of the " yellow-earth" peasants.

But the yellow earth is more
than a source of abundant crops.

lt bears the imprint of China's past.

lts many qualities were quickly exploited
by craftsmen and builders.

Loess conditioned the evolution
of Chinese civilisation.

Firstly. it s fertile soil.

so that s where the cultivation
of millet developed.

North China grows millet.
unlike the greener. more humid south.

which grows rice.

But loess is not only
good for agriculture.

it is also the raw material
that dominates the landscape

and peasants use it today
as they did in the past.

Chinese architecture
has used it from the beginning.

Loess.
sometimes mixed with clay.

is used for building
peasant houses.

but also royal palaces

or the walls
of the first fortified cities.

lt is. together with wood.

the primary material
of Chinese architecture.

3600 years ago.
Chinese peasants made a discovery -

packed down and compressed.

the fine loess particles
formed a mass as solid as stone.

That was providential.
because at nightfall.

elephants. rhinos and other wild animals
would come out of the forests

to devastate crops
and slaughter cattle.

To this day. farmers on
the high plateaus of northern China

use this method to build the walls
surrounding their fields.

The earth is painstakingly packed
inside a wooden frame.

lt dries as hard as brick.

This construction technique.
which the Chinese call banzhu.

wasn't used
only for domestic structures.

These earth walls
in the modern city of Zhengzhou.

on the banks of the Yellow River.
are over 3000 years old.

They seem impervious
to time and weather.

lt is estimated that every layer of loess
in these walls was 1 0 centimetres thick.

To build some sections. the masons
laid over a hundred layers.

lt's difficult to imagine
the patience and skill required

to build this huge structure.

The wall is 7 kilometres long.
9 metres high and 20 metres wide.

This titanic fortification protected
the heart of the royal city.

capital of the Shang.

To build it. 1 0.000 workers
laboured in continuous shifts

every day for 1 8 years.

lt demonstrates the power
and sophistication of a civilisation

that already had
a pictographic writing system

and highly developed methods
of foretelling the future.

lt was also making
its first astronomical observations.

ln the course of their 500-year reign.

the Shang kings laid the basis
of a conquering state.

The Yinxu Museum houses
the sacred relics of a dynasty

whose entire authority was symbolised
in the art of working bronze.

These bronze vases
testify to past greatness.

They are the messengers of a people who
quickly learned how to take advantage

of the tin and copper deposits
around the Yellow River.

No other ancient civilisation
reached the level of perfection

attained by Shang craftsmen.

ln casting these ceremonial vases.

they were simultaneously serving
their gods and their king.

The Shang kings commissioned
the vases to reinforce their power

and reaffirm their relationship
with the heavens.

The taotie. complex arabesques
that decorate the vessels.

reveal the relationship
the Shang had with their gods.

The intricate patterns
and angular projections

form the stylised face of their deities.
simultaneously feared and worshipped.

To tame their universe
and transform it to their own image.

the Shang refined alloys.

Metalwork was at the heart of their
material and spiritual development.

Metallurgy marks a crucial stage
in the development of civilisation.

because with bronze
the Bronze Age is born.

together with writing.
the centralised state.

the first cities emerging
from the Neolithic era.

a whole set of constructions
and social structures

that mark a defining moment
in Chinese civilisation.

And it is through
the mastery of metallurgy

that Chinese rulers will acquire
the strength and power

that will allow them
to extend their territory.

to make war on each other.

and spread their civilisation.

Of course. this civilisation of bronze

settled in proximity
to copper and tin mines

which were used to make alloys.

but also in places where loess
could be used to make moulds

for casting those
large bronze vessels.

Water and wood were also needed
for the development of metallurgy.

Looking at the map.

we see that those first centres
of bronze civilisation

match areas rich in minerals.
water and raw materials.

Japanese scientists have rediscovered
the methods of the Shang sculptors.

Using Shang techniques and materials.

they have revived an art
that is 3600 years old.

They found the secret of making
the bronze vases known as ding and lei,

which stand almost a metre high
and weigh over 1 20 kilos.

The secret was in the loess
that's used to make the huge moulds.

Master Mitsuru Kashi has re-created
the art of transforming loess into clay.

Once the loess is mixed
with water and kneaded.

it accepts the exact imprint
of the original moulding.

The plates fit to the millimetre.

To put it all together
requires hours of patient work.

(Speaks Japanese )
The imprint is very precise.

lf we d used Japanese soil.
the lines would be broken.

The higher clay content

makes the imprint
as sharp as the original

without a single broken line.

Only the fine. silky yellow earth
of the high plateaus

permitted such exquisite precision.

Delicate arabesques covered each piece

like a negative imprint of the cosmology
of Northern China.

The fertile soil that allowed
civilisation to take root

and grow on the banks
of the Yellow River

also served art and religion.

ln this bronze lei. the ruler
would offer wine to the gods.

symbolising his union
with the celestial forces

whose favour he was trying to win.

Today. Japanese craftsmen
are trying to revive this art.

The mould is fired for eight hours.

then the sculptors pour in molten metal
heated to over 1 000 degrees Centigrade.

Only yellow-earth moulds can tolerate
such a high temperature without cracking.

When the metal is poured. the inside
of the mould becomes as hard as rock.

imprinting every detail on the metal.

The craftsmen have to use chisels
on the mould to get the vase out.

The mould is used only once.

Each piece was unique and priceless.

lt transmitted the message of the gods.

When they saw it shining in the sun.

worshippers were subdued
and apprehensive.

for the face of the god
glowed with a thousand flames

that proved his presence.

During lengthy rituals. the cavernous
sound that came from the vase

refocused worshippers' attention.

ln the same period. priests developed
complex methods of divination

by engraving occult signs on bones.

Messages to the gods were everywhere.

and people and sovereigns alike
prayed for their help.

Bronze was primarily
the material of the elite.

lt was the symbol
of power and ritual.

So it was a very important
reflection of society.

During the Shang Dynasty.

in the time of Anyang.
their last capital.

bronze was used exclusively
to make weapons

or ritual pieces
used in ancestor worship.

The dragon stares into eternity.

This vase. called Sigon by believers.

contained wine offerings made
to the gods during lavish ceremonies.

The ruler regularly summoned dancers
and priests to huge banquets

in honour of the gods.

There the bronze became an intermediary
between him and the divine.

This exclusive relationship
determined the fate of the kingdom.

But only the prince could hear the voices
that told him which path was correct.

and whether the rains
would be propitious for the harvest.

As part of the ritual.

dishes and wines were brought
from the four corners of the kingdom.

The king offered them to the gods.

then ate the sacrificial food
to reinforce his spiritual power.

The people watched
through incense smoke

as hundreds of dancers
honoured the gods and their king.

The bronze vessels from Shang tombs

contain all the magic
of these religious ceremonies.

They are also witnesses
to a vanished world.

The fauna from the high-plateau forests
feature in slow procession -

rhinos. elephants...

So do mythical monsters.
their gaping mouths devouring humans.

The bronzes were worshipped
by the Shang.

but they also reflect their fears -

for dark clouds
often overshadowed their lives.

( NOCTURNAL FOREST NOlSES )

The Shang knew that war
was part of daily life.

( STRUCK BELL )

And bronze wasn't used
only for ritual objects.

( STRUCK BELL )

The art of war
would play a very important role

in the Shang period.
in the Bronze Age.

And bronze.
this noblest of materials.

would be used to make weapons

and every kind of military item.

To make chariots. for instance.
symbols of power and royalty.

When archaeologists first excavated
ancient Chinese cities.

they were surprised to discover
thousands of moulds.

in clay or stone.
for arrowheads. spearheads...

moulds that allowed the mass production
of an entire arsenal.

The bronze culture was abandoning
ceremonies to honour the gods.

Religious ritual
was giving way to war.

These near-industrial
production methods

allowed various kingdoms
to raise huge armies.

Greed. lust for power. ancient hatreds
led to horrific wars.

China sank into a permanent state of war
that would last 1 000 years.

Three thousand years ago.

the Shang Empire was attacked
by its Chou neighbours and collapsed.

The city of Anyang was sacked.

The great kingdoms were now split
into tiny. independent rival states.

And yet. in this chaos.
rival courts competed in creativity.

Out of the void. new representations
of the universe emerged.

lt was the age
of Confucianism and Taoism.

On vases. human beings
replaced the gods.

Women collect mulberries.
musicians play their instruments.

women dance
while men prepare for war.

( DRUMBEAT )

( DlSTANT SHOUTS.
CLANK OF METAL )

From 650 BC. chronic instability
turned into terror.

Ruthless adventurers
replaced aristocratic warriors.

skirmishes gave way
to full-scale battles.

Cities burned and blood flowed.

The excavation of a battlefield
near the city of Yinxu

revealed the fate of the vanquished.

lt unearthed 1 500 graves.
with five skeletons in each one.

7 500 men had been beheaded.

The winner of the battle wanted to
prevent their return from the next world.

For 400 years life in China was dominated
by executions and deportations.

The mountains of southern China.

a huge contrast with the bare plateaus
of the Yellow River valley.

The Qiang people here retain
a folk memory of the ancient fighting.

for they were among its victims.

They were forced to flee
from Henan to Sichuan.

a trek of several thousand kilometres.
to seek a refuge in the mountains.

To quell their fear of a surprise attack.

the Qiang built high stone towers that
guard the mountain passes to this day.

Thousands of years after the exodus.
shamans still sing the tragic epic.

Their songs still echo
in the mountains.

relaying the memory
of a traumatised people.

( DRUMBEAT. MAN SlNGS )

( SlNGlNG CONTlNUES )

For 600 years. the Qin - the people
of the most formidable warrior kingdom -

tested their valour against the barbarians
on their western borders.

But from 230 BC.
thanks to their mastery of iron.

they conquered
all their neighbouring states.

So a new state - feudal. authoritarian
and centralised - was born.

China united under one man.
Shi Huangdi.

the first Emperor of China.

China under Mao was a closed society.

lnformation was closely guarded.

But on the 29th of March. 1 97 4

sensational news
flashed around the world -

while ploughing his field
in the Guangzhou valley.

not far from the tomb of Shi Huangdi.

a peasant had uncovered
the most fabulous treasure

since that of Tutankhamen.

The area was well known to experts.

Who could miss this earth pyramid.
covering more than a hectare?

But the site had never been explored.

and legend said
that the tomb concealed treasure.

To the east of the tomb.

the plough had uncovered
life-sized human figures.

First one. then two. then ten...

The ghost of the Emperor Shi Huangdi
was everywhere.

He had ordered this vast mausoleum
built to his own glory.

But... who was he. really?

ShiHuangdiis
an extraordinary character

who has become
a myth in his own right.

We know him from
the writings of Sima Qian.

the great Chinese historian
of the time.

who gave us
his physical and moral portrait.

Even physically
he was a unique character.

with a bulging nose. big eyes.

the chest of a bird of prey.
the voice of a jackal...

He was also a tyrant.

with all a tyrant s traits
and physical characteristics.

He is also described
as a devourer of men.

the swallower of anyone
contradicting him.

lndeed. those who opposed him
tended to meet a violent death.

Likewise. ancient books.

Chinese classics
that didn t meet his approval.

were consigned to the flames.

He was also a megalomaniac

who placed himself
in the centre of the world.

After a few days of digging.

the archaeologists
had to acknowledge the obvious -

awaiting them was an entire army
in battle order.

Shi Huangdi had not embarked alone
on his last journey.

Apart from the slaves sacrificed
to serve him in the afterlife.

he was accompanied by a terracotta army
of 8000 infantrymen.

plus horses.

Spearmen. archers.
charioteers and officers

were keeping watch for all eternity.

Each figure was different -
every face had individual features.

The Emperor's personal guard seemed
to have been frozen for 2000 years.

awaiting orders to move into battle.

The archaeologists could only wonder.

what else might
the Emperor's tomb contain?

The tyrant's megalomania
was frightening.

And yet.
there was one thing he feared.

ShiHuangdi
was obsessed with death.

For instance.
he sent emissaries to the lmmortals

who supposedly possessed
the elixir of life.

Also. very early in his reign.

he forced over 700.000 people
to build his future tomb.

which. to give you an idea.

had a volume greater than
the largest Egyptian pyramid.

The tomb remains unopened.

We only have a description
from the same Chinese historian

who gives
a mind-boggling account.

The tomb is said to be
an immense subterranean palace

that is also
a microcosm of the world.

ShiHuangdi wanted
to simulate the sky.

A ceiling was to depict all the stars.
the heavens.

There were to be 1 00 rivers
made from mercury.

furniture of extraordinary splendour.

and sophisticated booby traps

with crossbows
automatically firing bolts

at the slightest attempt
to enter the tomb.

This mausoleum
hasn t yet been explored.

Probes have shown a high
mercury content in the vicinity.

But for the time being.

perhaps to preserve the magic
of this description.

only the burial site
and the surrounding ditches

have been excavated.

The tomb itself
retains all its mystery.

ln August 1 998.

archaeologists made a new discovery
at the foot of the mausoleum.

Shi Huangdi left nothing to chance.

Beside his troops
lay an armoury for their use.

The archaeologists expected to find
only a few spears and arrowheads.

They discovered an entire arsenal.

As well as weapons.
there was armour of exceptional quality.

No one had ever seen
anything like it.

lt was made of stone.

(Speaks Mandarin )
Each slate plate is different.
This one is for this part.

Every plate is carefully polished.

We did a test using tools
we think were used at the time.

lt would take one person 1 00 days
to make one suit.

According to our initial estimates.

if this 1 3.000-square-metre tomb
is full of armour

there ll be over 5000 suits

that would take one person
over 3000 days to make.

3000 days makes around 1 0 years.

A complete suit of the armour
has 61 2 slate plates.

each one made to fit perfectly.

Each finely polished piece
is only 8 millimetres thick.

The suit is held together
with bronze chains.

Of course. no warrior of the time
wore stone armour.

The emperor's real soldiers
wore iron and leather.

But he wanted to be certain that
the armour of his entombed warriors

would be impervious
to time and the elements.

Only a terracotta army.
immortal and subterranean.

could wear such splendid armour.

The fixed gaze of these 8000 men
radiates imperial power.

for Shi Huangdi founded
an imperial nation named after the Qin.

China was born.

The emperor proclaimed laws.

unified the system
of weights and measures.

revised writing
and introduced income tax.

ln the north. hundreds of thousands
of workers began a mammoth project -

a great wall
over 2400 kilometres long.

designed to hold back
the hordes of barbarian horsemen.

China became "the country
at the centre of the world" -

Zhongguo. the Middle Kingdom.

According to legend.

Shi Huangdi also had a colossal dam
built on the Guanzhong plain.

lt was called Zhengguoqu.

Professor Qing.
from the University of Shaanxi.

has surveyed the plain
metre by metre.

He has gone up the river
and travelled back in time.

(Speaking Mandarin )
We re standing here.

The southern side is lower.
lt then goes up gradually.

On the map
it shows the course of the river.

On this spot. Professor Qing found what
appear to be man-made earth mounds.

The material used in them
resembles loess.

For him. there's no doubt they were
built using the banzhu method

2000 years ago.

and that they are the remains
of a huge dam.

Across the river
is the Zhengguoqu Dam.

This is one section.

After more than 2000 years.
the riverbed no longer exists.

ln the olden days. the dam stretched
from the east bank to the west.

lt cut across the river.

lt started there.
passed where l m standing.

and expanded over there.

till it reached the bottom of the hill.

The hill over there.

The whole dam was 2650 metres long.

So legend proves to be true.

Shi Huangdi tamed the rivers
and built canals.

( DRAMATlC MUSlC )

To build this dam. thousands
of people must have been mobilised.

lt must have stretched
over 21/2 kilometres.

and it must have risen
tens of metres high.

The compressed-earth dam wall
created a lake

whose waters
irrigated the whole plain.

lt was the quality of the loess.
as well as the use of iron tools.

that made it possible
to build this gigantic monument.

The soil of the first Chinese peasants.

who lived
many centuries before Shi Huangdi.

was still used in building
his imperial monuments.

Shi Huangdi. China's first emperor.
established a 1 000-year civilisation

based on an autocratic
and theocratic state.

lt would last
till the middle of the 20th century.

But what legacy did Shi Huangdi
pass on to his successors?

This first emperor created
a new order out of the chaos.

He created the administrative
structure of the future China.

He organised it
into provinces and districts

and he standardised
the writing system.

the roads.
and the weights and measures.

So he put in place
all the fundamental elements

of a new phase of civilisation.

which was then carried forward
by the next dynasty. the Han.

and then by other dynasties.

So we have there the seeds
of the principal foundations

of Chinese civilisation to this day.

From then on. China was unified
from north to south.

from the green mountains of Sichuan
to the arid plateaus of the north.

And a good part of China's epic history
was written thanks to its yellow earth.

Today. China has over a billion people.

And some modern Chinese have returned
to the yellow mountains of the north

to plant trees.

Entire villages regularly plant
apricot trees on the high plateaus

because they can survive
the region's harsh weather.

ln the bitter cold. with fierce winds
trying to blow away their yellow earth.

these men. women and children are
fighting to return this barren landscape

to what it was
thousands of years ago.

Their tools are still primitive.

But a few shovels are enough.

for the power of the people
lies above all in their common will.

And who knows?

Maybe one day these mountains
will be covered in blossoming trees.

4000 years have passed.

4000 years of development.
war. dictatorship and revolution.

Chinese civilisation today is at once
removed from. and close to. its past.

Even with its face set
resolutely toward the future.

China still encounters the memory
of ancient times every step of the way.

But China's strength
lies in its ability to unite

to overcome the obstacles.

4000 years of turbulent history

have taught the Chinese to close ranks
in the face of adversity.

lt's as if the magic of time
has allowed an entire people

to acquire the qualities of the earth
in which their roots are planted...

the ageless yellow earth.

Subtitles SBS Australia 2007