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CHINA

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China• Ancient Chinese civilization developed mostly isolated

from other major civilizations• Why?

• Geography• West and Southwest

• Tien Shan and Himalayan Mountains

and desert

• Southeast• Thick jungle separated China from

Southeast Asia

• North• Gobi Desert

• East • Pacific Ocean

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Early Chinese Civilization• Neolithic farming developed on the East Coast along the

Huang He (Yellow) and Chang Jiang (Yangtze) Rivers• Huang He also called the Yellow River since it carried loess (fine

windblown yellow soil)

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Chinese Dynasties• Dynasty – a series of rulers from the same family• Mandate – a right AND a responsibility

New Dynasty•Earns Mandate of Heaven

•Restores Peace

•Appoints loyal officials

•Redistributes land

•Builds canals, irrigation systems, and roads

•Repairs defenses

Aging Dynasty•Begins to lose Mandate of Heaven

• Neglects Government duties

•Allows corruption

•Loses control of provinces

•Imposes heavy taxes to pay for luxuries

•Allows defense to decay

Disaster Occurs•Flood, or famine

•Earthquake

•Invasion

•Peasant Revolt

•Result: loss of Mandate of Heaven

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Xia Dynasty• 2100 BC – 1600 BC• Possibly fictional• No written records from this

time• Many different city states

along the Huang He were collected under the control of Yu the Great (or Yu the Engineer)

• Yu the Engineer was said to have dredged the river to prevent the devastating floods

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Shang Dynasty• 1600 BC – 1046 BC• Conquered more than 1800

city-states in northern and central China

• Looked to dead ancestors to guide their lives

• Oracle Bones• Animal bones used to find divine

answers from their ancestors• Answers were carved into the

bones afterwards• Developed system of writing using

pictographs and ideographs• Writing on these bones gives us

insight into how the Shang might have lived

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Zhou Dynasty• 1045 B.C. – 256 B.C.• Conquered the Shang Dynasty• Longest Chinese Dynasty

• Strongest in the first 300 years• Much of the second half of the Zhou Dynasty is referred to as the

Warring States Period

• Believed in a God and a concept of Heaven called Tian• Ruled according to the Mandate of Heaven

• Mandate – an official order to do something• a RIGHT and a RESPONSIBILITY

• Rulers should be virtuous• Only through virtuous rule will the ruler maintain the right to rule• If ruler is not virtuous, they can lose the Mandate

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Zhou Dynasty• Social Structure

• King – Nobles - Peasants• Feudalism – political system of land

grants in exchange for loyalty• King grants land to Nobles in exchange

for military allegiance• Nobles allow Peasants to farm land in

exchange for military service

• Confucius• Philosopher during Warring States

Period• Stay tuned…..

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Qin Dynasty• 221 B.C. – 206 B.C.• Very brief but VERY INFLUENTIAL• Qin King defeats other kings in

Warring States Period• Renames himself Shi Huangdi –

“First Emperor”• Rejected Confucianism, adopted

Legalism• Legalism – governing with strict laws• Emphasized rewards and (harsh)

punishments

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Qin Dynasty• Largest Dynasty yet

• Built 4000 miles of roads

• Great Wall• Nomadic horsemen to the north were a

constant threat• Shi Huangdi linked together earlier walls to

create one Great Wall• 30 ft. high• Over 1500 miles long• Built in only 7 years• As many as 500,000 lives lost during

construction• Wall you see today was rebuilt in 14th century

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Qin Dynasty• Additional Changes:

• Standardization• Language• Money• Weights and measures

• Rejected Feudalism for expanded bureaucracy• Bureaucracy: A network of appointed government officials• Nobles lands were turned into provinces• Power was centralized with the Emperor

• Required a STRONG ruler• After Shi Huangdi, his son was not strong, leading China into civil war

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Han Dynasty

• 206 B.C. – 220 A.D.• Over 400 years

• Rejected Legalism for Confucianism• Eventually combined the two

• Expanded the Empire• Large army conquered lands to the north, south, and west• Extended the Great Wall• Used foreign ambassadors to promote peace• Created civil service system

• Government officials were chosen and promoted based upon SKILL, rather than loyalty or family name

• Why is this good?

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Han Dynasty• Trade on the Silk Road

• China began to trade more expansively with the West• Called the Silk Road because Chinese silk was in high demand• Highly profitable for the Chinese• Not one road, but a collection of roads linking trading posts

• Chinese traders didn’t make it too far west, but their goods did

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Han Dynasty• Additional Advancements:

• First Chinese dictionary• History texts• Seismograph

• Measures earthquakes

• Wheelbarrow• Paper• Boat rudders• Practiced Taoism

• Stay tuned…

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Religion in China• Confucianism

• Confucius• Emphasized social order and good government, as well as honesty,

integrity, loyalty, and pursuit of knowledge• Harmony results from people accepting their place in society• Everyone has a duty and a responsibility

• Superiors should set a good example• Inferiors should be loyal and obedient

• Taoism• Lao-Tse• Emphasized harmony with nature

• Tao – the way of the universe

• Harmony was found through contemplation, not intervention• “Go with the flow.”• Yin-Yang – represents duality of the universe – there is always good

and bad

• Buddhism• Spreads from India to China around 100 A.D.

Started as PHILOSOPHY, turned into RELIGION.