Ancient & Classical China• Four dynastic cycles:• Shang• Zhou (Choe)• Qin (Chin)• Han (Hon)

The 4 Old-World River Valley Cultures

• Sedentary agriculture; metal tools replaced stone

• Domesticated animals, food surpluses, rising population, specialization of occupation (division of labor)

Shang Dynasty: 1523-1028 BCE

• Located in Northern China• Isolated from other ancient civilizations

• furthest East; Himalayan mountains separating from India

• Ideographic symbols lead to development of an elaborate written language

The Evolution of ChineseWriting during the Shang

Pictographs

Written Language

Oracle Bones:China’s oldest

written language

Oracle Bones Calendar

Shang Dynasty• Political Power:• The king’s power

was based on: – Land Ownership.

Land and peasants were given to the nobility as payment for military service.

Shang Dynasty

• Religious Power:– It was believed that rulers received their

authority from the gods. It was called “The Mandate of Heaven.” As dynasties weakened and new leaders arose, the Chinese believed that the gods were removing their mandate from one dynasty and giving it to another.

Shang Economy

• Built irrigation canals for crops• Long distance trade for copper, tin, lead,

and salt• Farming was based on peasant/serf labor

Shang Society

• Women were subservient to men in Chinese culture– Patriarchal society

• Common people had very few rights, and did all the work

Shang Dynasty Accomplishments

• Oracle Bones – oldest Chinese written language• Shamanism - Religion was based on ideas of

ancestor worship, as well as a belief in nature gods, demons and magic.– Ancestor Worship - belief that your dead relatives control

and guide your destiny. Thus respect and honor for them is necessary.

• Bronze ware – sophisticated methods of smelting bronze

• Sericulture – practice of harvesting & cultivating silk• Irrigation systems

• Replaced Shang dynasty• Ruled through regional alliances• Promoted standard Mandarin Language.

• Mandarin Chinese – largest group of people speaking the same language.

• Extended territory south to the Yangtze River and promoted standard Mandarin Chinese language.

• Life of Confucius (551 – 478 B.C.E.)-wanted to restore the “Mandate of Heaven”

• Confucius: ca. 551-478 BCE; China’s most influential philosopher; taught that harmony resulted when people accepted their place in society; became the core of China’s cultural and political thinking for centuries.

• Confucianism – Stressed the values of: loyalty to superiors and respect for inferiors; honesty, hard work, and concern for ethics; moderation in behavior; reverence for tradition and ancestor worship.

• Analects – book written by followers of Confucius; a collection of his teachings and sayings Confucius

Classical China

The Yellow River or Huang He River, received its name “River of Sorrow” because it often flooded unpredictably and destroyed crops.

• “Middle Kingdom” – China’s core, rich land between the Huang He & Yangtze rivers – wheat & rice growing

• Warring States Era – 402-201 B.C.E. – period when the Zhou system of regional alliances declined/disintegrated

The Mandate of Heaven

1.The leader must lead by ability and virtue.

2.The dynasty's leadership must be justified by succeeding generations.

3.The mandate could be revoked by negligence and abuse; the will of the people was important.

4.The Chinese later expanded this idea to explain the dynastic cycle, when ruler became weak or corrupt, Heaven withdrew its “Mandate” and gave it to another ruler.

Yangzi River Valley

• Qin “dynasty”(221-202 BCE)

• Qin Shi Huangdi – First emperor – characterized by centralizations of state rule, elimination of local and regional competitors; a cruel dictator

• Expanded boundaries of China to include Hong Kong• The Great Wall of China began to be built in this era• Legalism – Philosophy that was dominant during the Qin

dynasty; the belief that laws should replace morality and a ruler must provide discipline to maintain order.

Terra Cotta Warriors – During

Qin Dynasty

Terra-Cotta Army

• The Han dynasty: (202 BCE – 220 CE) – Followed the Qin dynasty (Chinese considered themselves - “People of the Han”)

• Era generally characterized by stability, prosperity, and peace. Contemporary - often compared to the Roman Empire.

• Han Rulers strengthened China’s government, expanded China’s borders and influenced and opened up the Silk Road, a major trade route that would link China to the west for centuries.

• Wu Ti – greatest Han emperor - Civil Service tests

• Chinese bureaucracy lasted from the Han period until the 20th century

• Encouraged the worship of Confucius as a god.

*(Confucius was not a religious leader)

Zhou, Qin and Han Chinese Classical Period

Han DynastyAccomplishments:1. Silk Roads2. Public Schools3. Paper4. Pulley and Lever

“The Great Wall” – started during the Qin dynasty

• The Han period was one of the golden ages of Chinese civilization with tremendous advances in the sciences, astronomy, technology, medicine and the arts.

• Paper was invented• Ox-drawn plows and new collar• Pulleys and winding gear

Religion and Culture• Role of education – achieve social ends• Confucianism – ethical system based on

relationships and personal virtue, predominant philosophy

• Legalism – countered Confucianism – authoritarian state and harsh rule

• Daoism – religious philosophy; harmony w/ nature & a humble living. Laozi was Daoism founder

• Art – decorative, carved jade and ivory, silk screens, calligraphy

Economy and Society• Economy focused on

agriculture• Sharp class division

existed:a. landowning aristocracy and educated bureaucratsb. Laboring masses, peasantsc. “Mean People” – unskilled labor

• Extensive internal trade• Social China – tight family

structure was valued– Patriarchal society

Chinese Civilization Fits Together

• Politics and culture meshed around Confucian bureaucracy & principles

• Little outside contact – Large island of civilization (China), surrounded by barbarians with nothing to offer

• Divergence in philosophies of Confucianism, Daoism and eventually Buddhism.

• Silk Road – The most famous of the trading routes established by nomads connecting the Chinese, Indian, Persian, and Mediterranean civilizations; transmitted goods and ideas among civilizations.

China & Global Connections: • Source of the world’s

largest trade network, the Silk Road.

• Silk Road networks provided the framework for later global trading patterns

Cultural Diffusion