Abstract: This paper is a review of archaeologist Kwang-Chih Chang's comparative research on "continuous" and "discontinuous" civilization. Different from historiography and social evolutionism popular at his time, Chang tried to reconstruct ancient civilization through middle-range theoretical models that provide researchers with a balance between normative forces and cultural multiformity. In K.C. Chang's view, a continuous civilization was conceived and maintained not just by correlative cosmology, but also a strong connection with its "primitiveness". Chang saw the Three Dynasties (Xia, Shang and Zhou) as one continuous civilization that was based on a binary system and Shamanistic religion. He examined the binary structure in the kinship system of Shang royal family, and regarded it as a form of primitive classification that formed the Shang Civilization. He believed that shaman worship as a primitive form of religion with consistent cosmology not only survived the Three Dynasties but played a determinant role in politics, religion and culture. Though inspired by some ideas from religious studies, Chang's view on Shamanistic religion had far more relevance to the idea of "total social fact" in Marcel Mauss'Essai sur le don,in that Chang embraced Mauss' thinking of religious on tology and social totality. Therefore, Chang's studies drew heavily from Durkheimian conceptualization of elementary forms. Chang's argument about ancient civilizations echoed that of the L'Année Sociologique's, which attached importance to normative forces, social totality, and civilizations in plural. It is suggested that Chang's comparison between continuous and discontinuous civilizations can be seen as an archaeological expression of his understanding of the rupture of modern China.

Key words: Kwang-chih Chang, L'Année Sociologique, primitiveness, civilization