>>17815500
It’s remarkable then how seemingly long lasting the pre-Qin dynasties were (since they were centered on the yellow river) but maybe that was because the social organization allowed for emperors to become figureheads rather than being outright overthrown, while the post Qin system, by making the emperor theoretically absolute, meant either he was absolute or he didn’t exist at all.

It does explain the pre-Qin sinicization process though, that there was this more dynamic wheat society right next to a bunch of rice society, ripe for being absorbed.