Ancient China

Geography of China

• Natural barriers kept China isolated from other civilizations, with the Pacific to the east and the Taklimakan desert and plateau of Tibet in the west• Huang He and Yangtze rivers

China’s Heartland

• Plain between two rivers was China’s heartland, where 90% of arable land lies• China remained a center of

civilization throughout its history of expansion and decline • They viewed outsiders as barbarians • Their own name for China was the

Middle Kingdom because they saw it as the center of the civilized world

Environmental Challenges

• Civilization emerged along the Huang He• Huge amounts of loess, fertile soil,

blown from the winds of the western deserts helped• Flooding unpredictable • Huang He earned the nickname “River

of Sorrow” due to the terrible flooding• Were occasional invasions from the

west and north• Few contacts with outsiders, so

developed on their own

Civilization Emerges in Shang Times

• Humans have inhabited China for about a million years even though civilization began there later• Homo erectus skeleton found

near Beijing. Known as “Peking man”. Shows settlement of river valley about 500,000 years ago

First Dynasties

• Xia dynasty was begun by an engineer and mathematician named Yu around 2000 BCE but there are no written records of this time so little is known• Shang Dynasty 1532-1027• First family to leave written

records• Built elaborate tombs and palaces

Early Cities

• Anyang was one of the capitals of the Shang• Built of wood• Evidence of social classes because of

different housing for rich and poor

• Shang surrounded cities with huge earthen walls for protection

• The building of those walls demonstrates that the Shang could organize labor to build it

• Walls needed because they were waging war; also, chariots developed (probably through contact with the west)

Social Classes

• Sharply divided between nobles and peasants• Ruling class of warriors headed by a

king• Noble families owned land• Tribute send to king• Farmers tilled the land with

rudimentary tools (bronze was too precious for agriculture and would only be used for weapons and ceremony)

Origins of Chinese Culture

• Group more important than the individual• Duties to two authorities: family

and king or emperor

Family and Society

• Chief loyalty in life was to family• Respect for one’s parents was

the most important virtue• Men superior to women• Girls had arranged marriages

and could only improve status by bearing a son

Religious Beliefs

• Family linked to religion• Ancestor worship because they

thought ancestors controlled your fortune• These spirits were not gods but

through the spirits the Shang consulted the gods• Supreme god, Shang Di, and lesser

gods• Used oracle bones and shells to

consult the gods

Development of Writing

• Earliest evidence of writing comes from oracle bones

• Each character is an idea rather than a sound

• No links between spoken language and written language

• Advantage= all people could learn the same system of writing even if their spoken language was different. This will increase the unity of the people.

• Disadvantage- it was too complex for ordinary people to learn, so only nobles’ children were literate

Shang Technology and Artistry

• Bronze working was the leading craft used for religious rituals and royal power• Silk cloth from a silkworm’s

cocoon

Zhou Dynasty

• Zhou overthrow Shang in 1027• They maintain the culture of the

Shang but bring new ideas, especially related to governance• Introduce Mandate of Heaven

Concept:• Royal authority came from heaven• Bad leaders can be overthrown • This justified the overthrow of the Shang • Explanation for rebellion, civil war, and

the rise of a new dynasty• Dynastic Cycle is the pattern of rise,

decline, and replacement of dynasties

Feudalism

• Because they controlled such vast territory and they needed to control it, they devised a system called feudalism, where nobles or lords are given land that belongs to the king in exchange for loyalty and military service

• Local lords lived in small towns and submitted to the strength of the Zhou rulers

• Over time they grew stronger and expanded their territory

• They gained the allegiance of the people in that territory

• Eventually they would amass enough power to challenge the status quo

Technology and Trade

• Warfare common but produced a lot of technology• Roads, canals, coined money• New class of civil servants• Use of iron- developed furnaces to

produce cast iron (this wouldn’t be done in Europe until the Middle Ages)• Used for weapons and agricultural tools • Iron stronger than bronze, so superior• Led to more agricultural productivity

Warring States Period

• Zhou ruled from 1027-256 BCE• First 300 years good but then attacks from

nomads begin about 771 BCE, when northern nomads take the capital city and murder the monarch

• Royal family flees and sets up new capital at Luoyang but is severely weakened

• Local lords grew in military power and began fighting each other and could no longer be controlled by the emperor= warring states period

• Warfare also changed• Crossbow introduced • Peasant foot soldiers replaced chariots

• Traditional values declined during this time