Transcript China
1 CHINA 2 China • Ancient Chinese civilization developed mostly isolated from other major civilizations • Why? • Geography • West and Southwest • Tien Shan and Himalayan Mountains and desert • Southeast • Thick jungle separated China from Southeast Asia • North • Gobi Desert • East • Pacific Ocean 3 Early Chinese Civilization • Neolithic farming developed on the East Coast along the Huang He (Yellow) and Chang Jiang (Yangtze) Rivers • Huang He also called the Yellow River since it carried loess (fine windblown yellow soil) 4 Chinese Dynasties • Dynasty – a series of rulers from the same family • Mandate – a right AND a responsibility Aging Dynasty New Dynasty •Earns Mandate of Heaven •Begins to lose Mandate of Heaven •Restores Peace Disaster Occurs •Appoints loyal officials •Flood, or famine •Allows corruption •Redistributes land •Earthquake •Builds canals, irrigation systems, and roads •Invasion •Loses control of provinces •Repairs defenses •Result: loss of Mandate of Heaven •Peasant Revolt • Neglects Government duties •Imposes heavy taxes to pay for luxuries •Allows defense to decay 5 Xia Dynasty • 2100 BC – 1600 BC • Possibly fictional • No written records from this time • Many different city states along the Huang He were collected under the control of Yu the Great (or Yu the Engineer) • Yu the Engineer was said to have dredged the river to prevent the devastating floods 6 Shang Dynasty • 1600 BC – 1046 BC • Conquered more than 1800 city-states in northern and central China • Looked to dead ancestors to guide their lives • Oracle Bones • Animal bones used to find divine answers from their ancestors • Answers were carved into the bones afterwards • Developed system of writing using pictographs and ideographs • Writing on these bones gives us insight into how the Shang might have lived 7 Zhou Dynasty • 1045 B.C. – 256 B.C. • Conquered the Shang Dynasty • Longest Chinese Dynasty • Strongest in the first 300 years • Much of the second half of the Zhou Dynasty is referred to as the Warring States Period • Believed in a God and a concept of Heaven called Tian • Ruled according to the Mandate of Heaven • Mandate – an official order to do something • a RIGHT and a RESPONSIBILITY • Rulers should be virtuous • Only through virtuous rule will the ruler maintain the right to rule • If ruler is not virtuous, they can lose the Mandate 8 Zhou Dynasty • Social Structure • King – Nobles - Peasants • Feudalism – political system of land grants in exchange for loyalty • King grants land to Nobles in exchange for military allegiance • Nobles allow Peasants to farm land in exchange for military service • Confucius • Philosopher during Warring States Period • Stay tuned….. 9 Qin Dynasty • 221 B.C. – 206 B.C. • Very brief but VERY INFLUENTIAL • Qin King defeats other kings in Warring States Period • Renames himself Shi Huangdi – “First Emperor” • Rejected Confucianism, adopted Legalism • Legalism – governing with strict laws • Emphasized rewards and (harsh) punishments 10 Qin Dynasty • Largest Dynasty yet • Built 4000 miles of roads • Great Wall • Nomadic horsemen to the north were a constant threat • Shi Huangdi linked together earlier walls to create one Great Wall • 30 ft. high • Over 1500 miles long • Built in only 7 years • As many as 500,000 lives lost during construction • Wall you see today was rebuilt in 14th century 11 Qin Dynasty • Additional Changes: • Standardization • Language • Money • Weights and measures • Rejected Feudalism for expanded bureaucracy • Bureaucracy: A network of appointed government officials • Nobles lands were turned into provinces • Power was centralized with the Emperor • Required a STRONG ruler • After Shi Huangdi, his son was not strong, leading China into civil war 12 Han Dynasty • 206 B.C. – 220 A.D. • Over 400 years • Rejected Legalism for Confucianism • Eventually combined the two • Expanded the Empire • Large army conquered lands to the north, south, and west • Extended the Great Wall • Used foreign ambassadors to promote peace • Created civil service system • Government officials were chosen and promoted based upon SKILL, rather than loyalty or family name • Why is this good? 13 Han Dynasty • Trade on the Silk Road • China began to trade more expansively with the West • Called the Silk Road because Chinese silk was in high demand • Highly profitable for the Chinese • Not one road, but a collection of roads linking trading posts • Chinese traders didn’t make it too far west, but their goods did 14 Han Dynasty • Additional Advancements: • First Chinese dictionary • History texts • Seismograph • Measures earthquakes • Wheelbarrow • Paper • Boat rudders • Practiced Taoism • Stay tuned… 15 Religion in China • Confucianism • Confucius • Emphasized social order and good government, as well as honesty, integrity, loyalty, and pursuit of knowledge • Harmony results from people accepting their place in society • Everyone has a duty and a responsibility Started as • Superiors should set a good example PHILOSOPHY, • Inferiors should be loyal and obedient turned into • Taoism RELIGION. • Lao-Tse • Emphasized harmony with nature • Tao – the way of the universe • Harmony was found through contemplation, not intervention • “Go with the flow.” • Yin-Yang – represents duality of the universe – there is always good and bad • Buddhism • Spreads from India to China around 100 A.D.