Proceedings of the 2025 10th International Conference on Modern Management, Education and Social Sciences (MMET 2025)

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Static Infrastructure, Dynamic Diffusion: Interactions between the Great Wall of Yan and Iron Tools in Early China

Authors
Xuefeng Liu1, *, Maofa Jiang1
1School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, P. R. China
*Corresponding author. Email: liusuantongtong@gmail.com
Corresponding Author
Xuefeng Liu
Available Online 11 November 2025.
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-475-4_103How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Yan Great Wall; Technology Transfer; Frontier Development
Abstract

This study examines the role of the Yan Great Wall in facilitating ironware diffusion through spatial analysis, archaeological typology, and textual research. Findings reveal that beyond military defense, the Wall propelled iron technology propagation via four pathways: (1) Engineering demand: Large-scale earthwork projects extensively utilized iron hoes (jue) and spades, stimulating production and circulation; (2) Settlement development: Military settlements transformed into civilian towns, fostering stable agricultural communities and iron tool adoption; (3) Border trade: Passes along the Wall facilitated complementary trade between agrarian and nomadic economies, accelerating east-west ironware circulation; (4) Population migration: The Yan court’s retreat to Liaodong with artisans leveraged the Wall’s protective function for technology transfer. The Yan Great Wall thus constructed a “military-technological-economic” network, serving as a critical conduit diffusing Central Plains iron culture northward and laying foundations for early iron-using societies in Northeast Asia.

Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2025 10th International Conference on Modern Management, Education and Social Sciences (MMET 2025)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
11 November 2025
ISBN
978-2-38476-475-4
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-475-4_103How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Xuefeng Liu
AU  - Maofa Jiang
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/11/11
TI  - Static Infrastructure, Dynamic Diffusion: Interactions between the Great Wall of Yan and Iron Tools in Early China
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 10th International Conference on Modern Management, Education and Social Sciences (MMET 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 926
EP  - 938
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-475-4_103
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-475-4_103
ID  - Liu2025
ER  -