Chinese Civilization

By Franciny and Nygil

Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties• The Zhou rulers didn’t create a centralized government. Instead they

granted territories to members of the royal family. The rulers ruled only by military power. The Zhou rulers believed that the god of heaven determined who should rule china. This was known as the “Mandate of heaven”. In 700 B.C the rulers were beginning to loose control because of invaders and attacks by outsiders. The Zhou kept power until the 400s B.C. This is when the Qin dynasty came in power. The Qin rulers ruled by an Autocracy. This was only held by Emperors. Qin made a wall that guarded from invasions which is now known as the Great wall of China. In 206 B.C a rebel army became against the Qin dynasty. At this point the Qin dynasty was beginning to loose power. Soon a general named Liu Bang found a new dynasty called Han. Liu Bang became the king of Han. The Han rulers kept power for about 400 years. The Han developed a civil service system. The civil service system runs a day to day government. The Han dynasty ruled until 220 A.D. After the fall, nomadic people took the place of northern china.

Liu Ch’e

• Liu Ch’e spent most of his time finding ways to secure china’s borders The greatest threats to peace during Liu Ch’e’s rule were the warlike nomadic tribes who attacked the Han Dynasty in search of plunder. After fighting Liu Ch’e succeeded in bringing china to peace.

Religions

• Daoism-Live in harmony -be humble -Be thoughtful and don’t strive for more power• Confucius -Remember the importance of family -Respect others• Buddhism-Live life in peace • Legalism-believe in power not virtue -have severe punishment to reach “peace”

Chinese life• The economy for farmers was very difficult. They

were pretty poor and had to pay taxes. They would trade from here and there with canals. The farmers would also have to perform labor on the canals. Also if to much or little rain fell the crops would be ruined. Trade wasn’t an important factor. Trade commerce only grew quick during the Qin dynasty.

The Five Classics

• Texts that were used to train scholars and civil servants were called the Five Classics. They started to become important in the Zhou dynasty. These are: The book of poems which contains more than 300 songs about life, joy, love , and politics. Another one is The book of History which contains speeches and documents about government. The book of changes, that is about art of predicting the future. The spring and Autumn annals is a record of events in the city-state of Lu. Finally, The book of rites is about deals with manners and ceremonies.

Sung dynasty

• In 960 B.C Zhao Kuangyan established the Sung dynasty. The dynasty continued to flourish through china, although the Emperors never succeeded in getting full control over china. The emperors faced constant pressure from foreign invasions. They had cultural and artistic progress. China then started to get invaded by the Qidan, first the Huang River then far south. Emperors of Sung had to pay huge tribute to Mongol invaders to avoid war. By 1042 B.C were paying more than 200,000 silver to Mongols (Qidan) every year.

Tang Dynasty

• The early Tang rulers defeated invading Turks. Tang also extended China’s frontiers farther west. They also took contact with countries such as Japan, India, and the Muslim Empire. Tang made Xi’an there capital. This made Xi’an the largest city in the world. China flourished during tang dynasty. It also began another golden age. In 907 B.C a warlord who had murdered the emperor then seized the throne to himself.

Trade and Religion of Tang

Trade - Hangzhou and Guangzhou became main trading cities.- Caravans brought the goods from central Asia and Indian.- They traded gold, silver, Porcelain, and pottery.Religion- Buddhism became huge in Tang Dynasty- Government soon became against Buddhism and prosecuted

Buddhists - Government destroyed thousands of shrines and missionaries.- Buddhism still continued to exist but wasn’t so important.- Then brought in Confucianism but there Confucianism called Neo-

Confucianism

Empress Wu

• Wu Hou entered royal life at a young age to Tang Emperors household. In 665 A.D she was made Empress. She had political oponents executed. In 690 A.D she took power in her own name. Empress Wu also brought needed social changes.

Mongol empire

• The Mongols lived in the north and steppe down where is now Mongolia. In the 1200s the Mongols swept down to Karakorum, and captured Beijing and named it Khanbalik. They turned western and captured Central Asia and Persia. The Mongols were now ruled by Kublai Khan (Genghis Khan grandson). The Mongols Captured the rest of china, the area called Tibet, and part of southeast Asia, but they failed in capturing Japan. The other grandson of Genghis named Batu captured Europe in 1240. They swept through Russia, Poland ,and Hungary. The Mongols plundered city after city killing the people or using them as slaves. They left Poland and controlled Russia for over 200 years. In 1271 Kublai Khan announced the beginning of his new dynasty called Yuan in North China. The capital was going to be Beijing. Yuan Dynasty defeated the sung Dynasty in 1279. Yuan ruled until 1368. Kublai wanted to make life easier and trade so he extended the canals.

Kublai Khan

• Kublai Khan was the grandson of warrior Genghis Khan. Kublai proved to be a great ruler. He went on in conquering the rest of china. He also became the first emperor of the Mongols. Kublai was known for his capable governing and mercy toward conquered people. He stressed religious tolerations, and became the first ruler 2 ever use paper money.

Vocabulary (chapter 4)

• Bureaucracy- government organized into different levels• Animism- belief that spirits inhabit everything

• Dialects- Variations of a language• Calligraphy- Chinese art writing• Autocracy- Government in which the ruler hold absolute

power• Civil service- Centralized system that runs the day to day

business of government• Leveling- policy in which government uses price controls to balance

economy

• Genealogy- record of family history• Acupuncture- Chinese medical practice of inserting needles

into the body

More Vocabulary (chapter 12)

• Grand Canal-Canal constructing during Sung dynasty that linked north and south of china

• Empress Wu- out spoken supporter of Buddhism • Zen- the most famous sect that is best known by its Japanese

name• Diamond Sutra-world first known printed book• Genghis Khan-Fiercest Mongol leader of all time• Kublai Khan-Grandson of Genghis Khan• Batu-Other grandson of Genghis Khan

THE END!!!!

• Hoped you liked my Presentation!!P.S we got our information from chapter 4 and 12

Chapter 4 Chapter 12