The Historical And Archaeological Issues About "Dong'ou"

The research on the history and archaeology of Dong'ou is the weak part of the historical research on Baiyue. Many questions on Dong'ou history remain controversial due to the limitation of documents and archaeological materials. This thesis, based on the previous research, attempts to present some opinions on Dong'ou history, by sorting relevant documents on Dong'ou and analyzing the archaeological culture of its old haunt from Pre-qin to early Han Dynasty.It consists of five chapters.Chapter One previews the research on the history and archaeology of Dong'ou and states the outline of the thesis.Chapter Two sorts out the relevant documents on Dong'ou history from Pre-qin to Han and Jin Dynasty, and explores such questions on Dong'ou as its origin, its capital, its founding time and evolution, the organizational system and evolution of its old haunt.Chapter Three divides the archaeological remains of the old haunt of Dong'ou from Pre-qin to Han and Jin Dynasty into different phases: the Neolithic Age, the Bronze Age and the Dong'ou Empire in Han Dynasty. Features of material culture and cultural factors in different phases are summarized. The denial of Daxi, the ancient city in Wenling City, Zhejiang Province as the ancient capital of Dong'ou is also put forward in this chapter.Chapter Four holds that Dong'ou and Minyue belonged to the same cultural system in the Neolithic Age after comparing the material cultures of Dong'ou with Minyue and Yuyue. This chapter also holds that Dong'ou Culture fell into the category of Yue Culture under the influence of Yuyue Culture in the Bronze Age, while during Qin and Han Dynasty, the upper culture of Dong'ou comprised of factors of Yue Culture, as its great similarities with Minyue Culture.Chapter Five draws a conclusion and points out the limits of the thesis.