Early Chinese Civilizations Geography of China Mountains and deserts served as barriers that separated Chinese people from other Asian people. Shang Dynasty Religious beliefs: rulers believed they could communicate with the gods to get help with their affairs strong belief in life after death human sacrifice spirits of ancestors could bring good or evil Zhou Dynasty Mandate of Heaven: belief that kings received their authority to command, or mandate, from Heaven it was the kings duty to keep the gods happy, failure to do so would lead to decline and new dynasty would take over Dao: The proper Way Chinese Philosophies Confucianism: Concerned with human behavior-proper way to behave was in accordance with the Dao View of the Dao-Duty and humanity Five Constant Relationships-parent and child, husband and wife, older and younger siblings, older and younger friends, and ruler and subjects All people had to subordinate their own interests to the broader needs of the family and the community. Work Ethic-If each individual worked hard to fulfill his or her duties, then the affairs of society as a whole would prosper as well. Duty Humanity a sense of compassion and empathy for others Do not do unto others what you would not wish done to yourself Measure the feelings of others by ones own Within the four seas all men are brothers Daoism: inaction rather than action The best way to act in harmony with the universal order is to act spontaneously and let nature take its course by not interfering with it. Legalism: School of Law proposed that human beings were evil by nature believed a strong ruler is required to create an orderly society Qin Dynasty Changes in Chinese Politics: Legalism was adopted as the regimes philosophy anyone who opposed the regime was punished or executed centralized state created to protect against nomadic invaders from the north linked existing walls together to create The Wall of Ten Thousand Li present wall was ordered 1,500 years after the first Qin Emperor Great Wall of China Han Dynasty New developments in technology: advances in textile manufacturing water mills for grinding grain iron casting steel paper rudders fore-and-aft rigging for ships Purpose of the terra-cotta figures: they were a re-creation of Qin Shihuangdis imperial guard and were meant to be with the emperor on his journey to the next world