China

China

Fun FactsChina has 1.3 billion people which equates to 20% of the worlds population! The Chinese New Year is the first day of the lunar calendar based on the cycles of the moon.There are twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac! They are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. A full Zodiac is 12yrs and a calendar cycle is 60yrsThe Great Wall of China can actually be seen from outer space! The wall was started 21/2 thousand years ago and is more than 5,000 km long!You may not have known this but the compass, paper; gun powder and printing are all Chinese inventions!When you write your name in China you put your family name first then your first name. There are no middle names.We all know that chopsticks come from China. However, you probably didnt know they were losing millions of acres of forest each year due to chopstick production. What a tremendous waste! So now they are encouraging everyone to recycle their chopsticks instead of throwing them out.It is estimated that 200 million people in China live on less than $1.00 a day!

Map

Physical Map

Geography3,696,100 sq. mi. - 3rd largest country in the world

Rivers Huang He Yellow riverChang Jiang/Yangtze Long River

Yellow RiverLong RiverTaihang Mountains

Qinling Mountains

Lesson 2Two early civilizations existed in the Huang He and Chang Jiang river valleys

What is a legend?Ex: ???

Yu the Great

Yu the Great and the Great FloodIt's said that a great flood lashed China about four or five thousand years ago and Yu the Great was assigned to fight against the great calamity. Drawing lessons from the predecessor's failure, he used methods of channeling and dredging instead of blocking and damming the water up. To better handle the people and eliminate the catastrophe, he divided the people into nine sections and dispatched them into nine different areas. Under his leadership, the flood water flowed into the sea through nine newly-dredged rivers. Over a decade's arduous works finally witnessed the victory of fighting against the disaster. Yu the Great became the personification of selfless devotion and perseverance in the history of Chinese civilization. Another legendhttp://www.ancientchina.co.uk/time/story/sto_set.html

Other legendary figures include:Fu Xi inventor of writing, music, marriage, hunting, and fishingSui Ren inventor of fireShen Nong promoted medicine and farmingHuandi invented the wheel and calendar

Importance of agriculture5000 B.C. farmers growing crops

Xia and Shang (Chinas Bronze Age) Yu is the son of GunGun failed to tame the flood and was executedYu succeeded in taming the flood Yu and his son Qi start the Xia Dynasty Around 1600 B.C. Tang the Successful conquered the Xia

Shang DynastySecond Chinese dynastyStarted by Tang the SuccessfulFarmersStrong belief in rituals and familyReligionWorshipped ancestorsGods wind, rain, fire directions Shang Di God on HighAncestors communicate with gods

Shang Dynasty Weapons

Ritual vessels

Shang Dynasty oracle bones

Contributions of the ShangWeapons and chariotsWalled citiesBronze itemswritingAlphabet

Chinese PronunciationsLetterSound in Chineseafatherbboyck sound in cowddog (but slightly shorter like t sound)eeh sound in eggffrogggohhard (more aspiration)iee sound in streetj, zhjumpkkitllongmmonkeynnoseolong (but more nasal)ppanqtch sound in watchrridessingttime (but with stronger aspiration)uou sound in you or toovviolinwwater (or u sound)xch (or s sound in some dialects)yyellowzts sound incats (softer z)Chinese CharactersAbout 200,000 characters

Number of characters in Chinese dictionaries[44]YearName of dictionaryNumber of characters100Shuowen Jiezi9,353543?Yupian12,158601Qieyun16,9171011Guangyun26,1941039Jiyun53,5251615Zihui33,1791716Kangxi Zidian47,0351916Zhonghua Da Zidian48,0001989Hanyu Da Zidian54,6781994Zhonghua Zihai85,5682004Yitizi Zidian106,230[45]Chinese characters

Lesson 3Zhou Dynasty comes after the Shang (start of classical China)Farmers 1150 B.C. attack and defeat the Shang led by King WuMandate of HeavenZhou god was Tian or HeavenHeaven did not like the Shang b/c they lacked virtuesHeaven ordered the Zhou to defeat the Shang and claim rule over all of China b/c they were more virtuous

Social Classes King and family at the top followed by the nobles and their families and the peasants and their familiesProvide services for other classes!!! this showed virtueKing gave land to nobles fiefNobles lived on land paid a tribute to the noblesPeasants lived on nobles land did the labor served in nobles army and paid taxesZhou land

The fallRuled carefully b/c they feared losing the Mandate of Heaven

Book of Documents

Fall cont.Mandate of Heaven eventually weakenedZhou were invadedBoy who cried wolf story King YouYou diesPower of nobles increases made their lands independent some began to call themselves kingsChu Kingdom created counties ruled by chosen leaders bureaucracyZheng Kingdom created written laws ( right and wrong)Confucius the teacherBorn about 551 B.C.1st teacher and philosopher in China

What he taughtStudied life and its meaningHow to improve societyGovernmentRulers should set good examplesFilial piety

Lunyu/Analects

Confucius sayingsBe not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes. Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star. Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart. To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage. He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.Qin Dynasty256 B.C. Zhou Kingdom falls221B.C. Qin Empire established Militaristic societyCrossbows (10 centuries before they are used in Europe)Three sided arrow heads (aerodynamic much like a modern bullet)Fighting formation front shoots then kneels, back row shoots while the front row is reloading (American Revolution) Chrome was used over bronze to prevent rusting patented in U.S. in the 1950sWeapons were the same, mass produced on an assembly line (Model T 1900s) They defeated the Han, Wei, Yan, Qi, Chu and Zhou to unite China 1.2 million die to unite ChinaQin Shi Huangdi king of Qin EmpireUnited China stays united for 2,000 yrsThis is one of Chinas most important dynastiesQin China

Weapons

Qin Shi Huangdi Di Living godBorn circa 259B.C. Leader in 246B.C.Follower of ConfuciusChanged philosophy to belief in strict lawsLi Si main advisor- Prime Minister of China

Shi HunagdiLi SiShi Huangdi