Transcript ancient_china introductionx

China BCE
Introduction to what we will be
learning about
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Geographical Influences
 Mountains,
sea, and desert provide some
protection and isolation
 Vulnerable to northwest
 River valleys 1. Yellow(Huang Ho) earliest
civilization - damaging floods 2. Yangtzevery important in unificationtransportation- irrigation
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Earliest Civilizations- most
isolated
 Earliest-
Neolithic- Ban Po- similar to other parts
of the world/ one of the oldest
 Shang Dynasty 1500-11 BCE in No China along
the Huang Ho- raised silk worms- silk part of lure
and fascination of China, famous for bronze
sculpture, daggers, jade jewelry paid homage to
ancestors- family important
 Chou (Zhou) 1027-256-longest-developed
foundations for Chinese society
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Ancient China
Way of Life- Confucianism
 Moral
and ethical code highly developed
treat everyone with consideration
 Advocated paternalistic government
 Value on family head- ancestor respect
 Values- loyalty, righteousness, wisdom,
sincerity
 very practical and humanistic Gentility
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Daoism (Taoism)
LaoTzu (Lao Zi)
 contemporary
of Confucius
 Tao= the road way
 Absolute=sum of existence
 Goal to bring people into harmony
 very introspective
 not as influential as Confucius
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Zhou (Chou) Dynasty (cont)
 Feudal
society- emperor gave out fiefs
 Shang thought they had a divine right- Chou
rulers had responsibility
 Zhou did take title “Son of Heaven”
 compared to medieval Europe- had a code
for dress, fighting etc.
 no contracts
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Ancient Philosophies
 About
500BCE Buddha, Confucius, Greek
Philosophers and Chinese - Lao Tze
 Called a flowering period
 India more concerned with cosmos and soul
 China more concerned with ethical life on
earth
 Ironic comparison of Asoka and Shi
Huangdi
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Qin (Ch’in) Dynasty 221-206
BCE
 dominated
by “The First Emperor”
 Qin Shi Huangdi (Chin Shi Huang Ti)
 ambitious= understatement
 centralized the government- rid of feudal
lords
 constructed roads and canals
 The Great Wall- sacrifice AND
 An amazing tomb found in 20th Cen
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Han Dynasty 202BCE-220
CE(Roman Times)
 Similar:
built cities, officials to carry out
edicts, heavy taxes collapsed under
invasions and internal revolts
 contact along the Silk Road, Buddhist
Missionaries to China
 combination of Confucius and legalism
 advanced in science and literature
 invented rudder, paper, magnetic compass,
acupuncture
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Tang Dynasty 618-907 CE
Contributions
 Internal
renewal(improved lives of people)
and external expansion
 Used formal civil service exam to recruitset up university
 Tried to equalize land holdings- fought
corruption
 literature and art flourished- Tang horses p
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 Inventions- paper during Han- used for
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Song(Sung) Dynasty 9601279
 moved
the capitol east economic expansion- used paper money,
 used abacus Silk Road traffic at height
– when dangerous went to sea routes
– first period of great oceanic commerce
– trades tea, silk and porcelain for exotic woods
and precious stones
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The Mongols
Nomadic peoples
 Loosely
organized clans in a state of stress
 Genghis Kahn- son of impoverished noble
with army of less than 130,000 conquered
Asia
 mastered military tactics on horsebackpursue and ambush, firelance, took China
 Kublai Kahn- grandson Yuan dynasty at
Peking- adopted Chinese ways- lasted 100
years- gave way to Ming dynasty
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