Ancient China

By Arthur Cotterell

My summary

• The book I’m reading is by Arthur Cotterell and is about China a very long time ago. It talks about China’s oldest empire, that started in 221 B.C. all the way through the last empire in 1912. The book has pictures of things from thousands of years ago, and gives intresting facts.

Fact #1

• Page 6China is the world’s oldest continous

civilization. From 221 B.C. to A.D. 1912 it was united under a single great empire. Ancient China remained untouched by outside influences because it was a world apart.

Fact #2

• Page 16 In 221 B.C. the chinease empire was formed. The Qin soldiers defeted the last of their enemies and united the “warring States” under one leader, Zheng. To show his supermacy over the kings he had vanquished, Zheng took the title first soviereign Qin empire ,or Qin Shi Huangdi.

Fact #3

• Page 26 In imperial China, religious beliefs were divided into the “3 Ways” of confucianism daoism, and buddism. Throughout it’s long history, China was tolerant of all religions. Although there were disagreements over religious principles, few people were persecuated for their beliefs.

Fact #4

• Page 38China is dominated by two great rivers, the Yellow River in the northern part of China, and the Yangzi in the south. The Yellow River flows through the rich loess soil of it’s sorounding northern plains.

Fact #5

• Page 46The clothes of rich and poor chinease were very different. Peasent farmers wore loose garment made of hemp. And rough fabric woven from plant fibers. Members of imperial court, wealthy ladies, high ranking officials, and scholars wore splendid robes of fine silk.

Fact #6

• Page 54The chinese looked on gardens as works of art. The main elements of a garden were the same as those of a traditional landscape painting-craggy mountains and still water. These appeared in gardens as outcrops of weatherworn rock and tranquil lakes or ponds.

Fact #7

• Page 56China has always been renowned for it’s fancy arts and crafts. In imperial China, luxury goods formed the major export commodities-chinease bronze, Jade, silk, lacquer, and porcelin were prized in Asia and Europe.

Fact #8

• Page 62During the last 250 years of the chinese empire, the throne was occupied by the manchus, a non-chinese people from north of the Great Wall. The last Qin emporer, the infant Puyi, Was forced to step down in 1912,bringing to an end 2,000 years of imperial history.