The oldest continuous civilization existing in the world today is that of China. Until recently, little was known about its ancient past and the Chinese legends of their mythical emperors were generally discredited by historians until the excavations of the last thirty years proved that the beginnings of Chinese civilization stretched back into the remotest antiquity.

There are various legends which tell of the origin of the world and of the mythical figures of prehistoric China, and while these stories are not reliable, it is possible that some of them may have been based on fact. Several accounts mention P'an Ku who is supposed to have separated Heaven and Earth, and after him, there were the twelve Emperors of Heaven and the eleven Emperors of Earth who ruled for about 400,000 years. Then the nine Emperors of Mankind reigned for 45,000 years and, after sixteen more rulers, came the three Sovereigns, Fu Hsi, Shen Nung and Huang Ti, who were believed to have been the inventors of all the arts and crafts. Shen Nung was the first to till the soil, and Huang Ti, or the Yellow Emperor, as he is often called, is the founder and ancestor of the Imperial house of China. While the first two are usually represented as beings with human heads and serpent bodies which suggest their totemic origin, Huang Ti is shown as completely human. According to tradition, it was he and his five successors who civilized the Chinese, teaching them religious beliefs and sacrifices and rules of moral conduct. These legendary Emperors were thought of as the ancestors of the historical rulers of ancient China, for Yu, the founder of the Hsia, the first historical dynasty, is fifth in line of descent from the Yellow Emperor.

Modern archaeology has shown that, despite the mythical nature of this account, the great antiquity of which it tells is by no means based on legend. Archaeologists have found remains of early man dating as far back as 500,000 B.C. This creature, usually referred to as Peking Man, is considered one of the earliest specimens of the human race yet discovered. Although his brain capacity was not quite equal to modern man's, it was twice that of the gorillas and chimpanzees, and he was familiar with the art of shaping tools and using fire. These discoveries prove conclusive ly that men have inhabited Eastern Asia from the earliest times.

The Ice Age seriously interfered with the growth and development of human settlements, and few remains of this period have been found. It is not until about 20,000 B.C. that new traces of human habitations are again discovered in China, Manchuria and Mongolia, and it was probably during this period that man started to migrate to North America. He now appeared as a hunter and gatherer of roots and leaves, and began to live in regular settlements. By 5,000 B.C. he had at least domesticated the pig, and it is also believed that he was making coarse pottery.

About 2500 B.C. a pottery culture arose, the early specimens of which are crude, unpainted ware, often with incised designs that resemble those of neolithic Europe. The most important site is Yang Shao, dating from a somewhat later period, where the Swedish archaeologist, J. G. Andersson, first found examples of painted ceramics. The origin of this prehistoric pottery is just as mysterious as the origin of the Shang bronzes at a later date, for in both cases the cultures seem to start fully matured without any apparent development or foreign influence. Some historians have tried to find the source of this pottery culture in Egypt or Sumeria, in Turkestan or in the Black Sea region, and it is true that there are striking similarities in design between some of the prehistoric pottery of these regions and that of China. So far, however, no trace of any connection between Yang Shao China and the Near East has been discovered, and there is nothing to indicate that any people but the Chinese participated in the prehistoric pottery culture of China. Moreover, it is significant to note that the closest resemblance between China and Near Eastern pottery is not found in the Yang Shao period (2200-1700), but at a later stage usually referred to as Ma Chang (1700-1300.) 

Turning to the pottery itself, we find that it existed in large quantities all over North China in Honan, Kansu, Shensi, Shansi and later in outlying districts such as Yehol, Southern Manchuria and Sinkiang. There are several types of ware: coarse or fine; grey, black or brick red; and painted or unpainted. Some of these vessels were shaped by hand, some with a mould and others on a potter's wheel which must have been known to the China of the Yang Shao period. Of these, it is the red ware that interests us most, for it is painted with bold and gorgeous designs which equal in artistic accomplishment the finest specimens of any other prehistoric pottery. A great variety of shapes are found, such as bowls, basins, cups, beakers, pots, jars, jugs and hollow legged tripods. The last mentioned is especially significant as it must have been the prototype for the many tripods of historic times and thereby shows how this pottery culture should be looked upon as the direct ancestor of the bronze culture of Shang times. It is also interesting to note that this ceramic art lingered on in the western border provinces, such as Kansu, in much the same form until as recently as 500 B.C., almost a thousand years after it had given way to the higher bronze culture in Honan, Shansi and Shensi. . .