Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 3, 2025

From Cohabitation to Syncretism: Population Dynamics in Central Southern Inner Mongolia during the Eastern Zhou Period

(Abstract)

Zhang Xu

Archaeology helps to deepen research on major fundamental issues of the community for the Chinese nation. The indigenous populations of central-southern Inner Mongolia primarily exhibited craniofacial features characteristic of the “Ancient North China” type. Beginning in the Neolithic period, individuals of the “Ancient Central Plains” type gradually migrated from the Central Plains into the region. In the late Spring and Autumn period, as the Central Plains regimes weakened, nomadic groups with “Ancient Mongolian Plateau” features advanced southward from the northern steppes, introducing pastoral lifestyles and diversifying the local population structure. To defend against incursions from these northern nomads, Central Plains states organized large-scale frontier settlements as a defensive strategy. This led to a unique period of coexistence among three distinct groups: the native “Ancient North China” type, the Sinicized “Ancient Central Plains” type, and the nomadic “Ancient Mongolian Plateau” type. By the mid-to-late Warring States period, as northern tribal power waned, Central Plains rulers promoted integration through political policies and interethnic marriage, accelerating the fusion of populations and the unification of farming and pastoral economies, thereby fostering stable social and economic development. The study of this archaeological discovery provides an important academic support for an in-depth interpretation of the sense of community for the Chinese nation.