Archaeological Research on the Origin of Contracts

The history of Chinese ancient contract can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (B.C. 1045–771), and scholars in related fields have already made plenty of fundamental researches from the perspective of the origin, evolution and the name of contract. In this chapter, the previous researches will be used for references, and based on the sources of contract concept, this chapter attempts to explore the motivation, historical premise, function, and types of contract, so as to sketch out the general lineament.