Abstract

More than a thousand years B.C., during the reign of the Yin dynasty, China had already developed the relations of production of the slave system. Part of the means of production had made the transition from stone implements to copper implements, forming the age of highly developed bronzes. The productive forces were developed, and animal husbandry, agriculture, handicrafts, and commerce all came to life. The slave owners possessed great amounts of arable land and forced the slaves to work this land in collective groups.