Transcript Chapter 3

3
China in Antiquity
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
Shang China
I. The Dawn of Chinese
Civilization
A. Geography: Land and People
 Civilization in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers
 2/3s are mountains and deserts
 Isolated (difficult for invasion)
 Only 12% of China is suitable for farming
B. The Shang Dynasty (replaced the Xia Dynasty) 1500-1000
BCE
1. Shang Political Organization
Capitol Anyang
 Used oracle bones (way to communicate with gods)
 Used two-horse chariots
 Monarchy (sacrifices performed at death of kings)
 Veneration of ancestors
 King intermediary between heaven and earth
 Territories governed by aristocratic bureaucracy
2. Social Structures
 Clans
 Class differentiation (aristocratic elite, peasants,
merchants, slaves)
 Bronze casting

The Zhou Dynasty (1122?-221 B.C.E.)


Political Structures
 Political system similar to Shang dynasty
 king served by a extensive and complex bureaucracy
 Ministers for rites, education, law, and public works
appointed
 The Mandate of Heaven (ruler has favor of gods)
Economy and Society
 Peasants worked on their own land and the lord’s land
 Trade and manufacturing
• Merchants and artisans considered property of the
local lord
• Economic growth from 6th – 3rd centuries B.C.E.
• Large scale water projects
Agricultural/technological Advances
• Iron plows, natural fertilizer, iron weapons, catapult
• Cultivation of wet rice
• Use of chopsticks
• Use of Calvary
• Silk production and trade as far as Greece
• Developed money economy (coined money)
The Hundred Schools of Ancient Philosophy




Shang Di – Shang god presiding over forces of nature
Yang (sun/light/male) and Yin (moon/dark/female)
Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.)
 Focused on politics and ethics
 If humans act harmoniously in accordance with the
universe, all affairs will prosper
 Dao (The Way); similar to dharma in India
 Analects (book; consists of conversations between
Confucius and his followers)
 Rule by merit (introduction of Civil Service System)
Mencius (370-29 B.C.E.); philosopher
 Believed human beings are by nature good
 Ruler’s duty is to rule by compassion
Legalism (practiced by the Qin)
 Human
beings are by nature evil and follow the
correct path only if coerced by harsh laws and stiff
penalties
 Only firm action by the state can bring social
order
Daoism

Lao Tzu (Lao Zi); founder
a. Dao De Jing (The Way of the Tao)
b. Like Confucianism, this life and not the cosmos is
the focus
c. One must act in harmony with nature
d. Chinese landscape painting often a reflection of
Doa
e. Belief in numerous gods and spirits of nature, both
good and evil
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein
under license.
China during the Period of the
Warring States
The Rise of the Chinese Empire:
The Qin

The Warring States (under the Zhou)


Civil war between principalities
The Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.E.)
Qin Shi Huangdi (Ch’in Shih Huang Ti), 246 B.C.E.
 Legalism adopted
 Highly centralized state
Reforms
 Restriction of commercial activities
 Aggressive foreign affairs
 Feared invasion by the The Nomadic Peoples built the Great
Wall of China
 Fall of the Qin (too oppressive, inner disputes)

Han Dynasty (202 B.C.E.-221
C.E.)
 Liu
Bang (Liu Pang) took title Han Gaozu (Han
Kao Tsu)
 Commoner of peasant origin
 Abandoned the Legalistic system
 Confucianism and the State
 State Confucianism: Integration of
Confucianism and Legalism
 Political structure (state controlled trade and
manufacturing; aristocratic families powerful
 Civil service exams
Society and Economy in the Han
Empire


Peasants
 Free peasantry, taxes, military service, forced labor
 Farm plots reduced to about one acre per capita
 Forced to sell to large landowners, thus becoming
tenants
Trade and manufacturing
 Problems for merchants
 Government directed trade and manufacturing
 Silk Road
Trade Routes of the Ancient World
Decline and Fall of the Han
 Wang
Mang, 9-23 C.E.
 Reformist, seized power
 Xin dynasty proclaimed in 9 C.E.
 Collapsed when Wang Mang killed in 23
 Cao Cao (Ts’ao Ts’ao)
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
The Han Dynasty
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
The Great Wall with Tower
north of Beijing
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
The Western Terminus of the
Great Wall at Jiayugan
Daily Life in Ancient China


Cities
 Usually on major trade routes
 Centers of administration and economic functions
 Chang’an – nearly 40 square kilometers
Family
 Filial piety
 Five relationships
 Women
• Subservience
• Confucian thought accepted dual roles of men and women
• Some women were a force at court

Housing
 Most lived in the countryside
 Staple food was millet in the north and rice in the south
Chinese Culture



Metalwork and sculpture
 Bronze
• Clay molds produced work of clear line and rich surface
decoration
• Gave way to iron casting
 Terra-cotta army from Qin Shi Huangdi and later of the Han
Language and Literature
 Writing
• Ideographic and pictographic
• Common written language
 Chinese Literature
Music
 Music seen as a means of achieving political order and refining human
character
 Music important both in court life and among common people
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
Ruins of Jiaohe
Discussion Questions




What was the Mandate of Heaven? How did it shape the
goal and priorities of Chinese government?
What factors contributed to economic growth during the
Zhou period? What role did the government play in
promoting growth?
What values are expressed in Confucianism? How were
those values manifested in Chinese society?
What were the most important accomplishments of the
Han dynasty? What led to the dynasty’s demise?