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form in part to cultural influences emanating from India; but in the main it was apparently cognate with (rather than simply copied from) the closely similar one that had already come into being in northern China. The order in which great states arose along the Yangtze River is sufficient proof that civilization appeared first in the upper portions of its valley, and thence spread gradually downstream until at last it reached the sea.
   This slow culture-drift from west to east along the Yangtze valley has never, so far as I know, had the recognition that it merits. [[superscript]] (3) [[/superscript]] Yet it is of such importance to a right understanding of the Chinese cultural and historical development, and is at the same time so little realized, even in China itself, that a brief discussion of it here seems pertinent. 

[[underlined]] Beginnings of the Process. [[/underlined]]
    Regarding the beginnings of this process of state building, direct evidence is almost wholly lacking. We know, however, that in what is now the extreme western province of Yünnan, in a region just outside the Yangtze drainage-area, the Chinese in much later times encountered a state called Tien 滇 (of which more later; [[underlined]] vide infra [[/underlined]], page 15 and note 43, on same page) with an established civilization apparently in the main of Indian provenience. Chance finds in the same region, moreover, reveal the former existence there of a Bronze Age culture; though as to its
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     (3)
        I have described it in some slight detail in my paper, "The Beginnings of North and South in China", published in [[underlined]] Pacific Affairs [[/underlined]], vol. VII, no. 3 (Sept., 1934), pp. 297-325. See also my articles, "The Geographical Factor in the Development of the Chinese Civilization" in [[underlined]] The Geographical Review [[/underlined]], vol. XII, no. 1 (Jan., 1922), pp. 19-41; and "The Rise of Civilization in China with Reference to its Geographical Aspects", [[underlined]] id. [[/underlined]], vol. XXII, no. 4 (Oct.,1932), pp. 617-631. It is a fascinating and highly informative topic.
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