Transcript China - Humble ISD

Section Three: Early
Chinese Civilizations
River Valley Civilizations
I. The Geography of China
• Huang He or Yellow River,
2,900 miles long
• Mongolia
• Chang Jiang, 3,400 mile long
river
• Yellow Sea
The Geography of China
• Only 10% of land can be
used for agriculture
• Forbidding features
isolated the Chinese
II. The Shang Dynasty
• *Historians of China have
traditionally dated the
beginning of Chinese civilization
to the founding of the Xia
Dynasty over 4000 years ago
• Little is known about the
dynasty
The Shang Dynasty
• Shang Dynasty (1750 to 1122
B.C.)
• Aristocracy – an upper class
whose wealth is based on land
& whose power is passed on
from one generation to another
(p.89)
A. Political & Social
Structures
• King & aristocratic
warlords
• Strong central government
• Ritual sacrifices, corpses
placed in king’s tomb
B. Religion & Culture under
the Shang
• Supernatural forces
• Priests read oracle bones
Religion & Culture under
the Shang
• Most of the Shang were
peasants
• “ancestor worship”, could
bring good or bad fortune
• Bronze objects
Ancestral Rites
Shang bronzes are one of the great
cultural achievements of the ancient
world. One reason for the unusual
quality of Shang bronze work is the
method of casting used. Clay molds
made in several sections were tightly
fitted together before the liquid bronze
was poured. This technique enabled
artisans to apply their designs directly
to the mold. In this way they could use
intricate motifs in a rich surface
decoration.
Read the excerpt on pages 90–91 of
your textbook and answer the questions
on the following slides.
III. The Zhou Dynasty
• Zhou Dynasty lasted for
almost 900 years (1122 to
256 B.C.), making it the
longest-lasting dynasty in
Chinese history
A. Political Structure
• Continued Shang political
structure & royal duties
• Expanded bureaucracy
B. The Mandate of Heaven
• *Mandate of Heaven –
claim by Chinese kings of
the Zhou dynasty that they
had direct authority from
heaven to rule & to keep
order in the universe (91)
The Mandate of Heaven
• King expected to be
virtuous, rule with
goodness & efficiency
• Dao – “Way”, the key to
proper behavior under
Confucianism (p.92)
C. The Fall of the Zhou
Dynasty
• Later rulers weak &
corrupt
• Civil war broke out in 403
B.C.
D. Life During the Zhou
Dynasty
• Warfare, armies used iron
weapons & divided into
infantry & cavalry
• Peasants worked the land
• Artisans, merchants &
slaves
E. Economic &
Technological Growth
• Silk
• Crossbow
• Iron plows & large scale
water works
F. The Family in Ancient China
• Filial piety – the duty of family
members to subordinate their
needs & desires to those of the
male head of the family, a
concept important in
Confucianism (p.93)
• Men dominated Chinese society
The Family in Ancient China
• Men governed society &
were warriors & scholars
• Women raised children &
stayed at home
G. The Chinese Written
Language
• Pictographic, picture
symbols, called characters
• Ideographic, combine two
or more pictographs
IV. The Chinese Philosophies
• Confucianism, Daoism &
Legalism
Confucius
Buddha
A. Confucianism
• Confucianism – the system of political
& ethical ideas formulated by the
Chinese philosopher Confucius toward
the end of the Zhou dynasty; it was
intended to help restore order to a
society that was in a state of confusion
(p.95)
• Government should be open to all men
with superior talent
Two elements stand out in the
Confucian view of the Dao:
duty & humanity
• 1. Concept of duty meant that all
people had to subordinate their
own interests to the broader needs
of the family & the community
• *2. Humanity consists of a sense of
compassion & empathy for others
B. Daoism
• Daosim – a system of ideas
based on the teachings of Laozi;
teaches that the will of Heaven
is best followed through
inaction so that nature is
allowed to take its course (p.96)
C. Legalism
• Legalism – a popular philosophy
developed in China toward the
end of the Zhou dynasty; it
proposes that human beings are
evil by nature & can only be
brought to the correct path by
harsh laws (p.97)
Section Four: Rise & Fall
of Chinese Empires
I. The Qin Dynasty (221 –
206 B.C.)
• Qin Shihuangdi, ruler of
the Qin, “the First Qin
Emperor”
A. Changes under the Qin
Dynasty
• Qin dynasty adopted legalism
• Regime – the government in
power (p.99)
• Imprisoned or executed
opponents
• Burned books
Changes under the Qin
Dynasty
• *Central bureaucracy was
divided into 3 parts:
• 1. civil division
• 2. the military division
• 3. the censorate
Changes under the Qin
Dynasty
• *Censorate – part of the
Chinese bureaucracy that
made sure government
officials were doing their jobs
(p.99)
Changes under the Qin
Dynasty
• Qin Shihuangdi unified the
Chinese world.
• *He created a single monetary
system & ordered the building
of a system of roads
throughout the entire empire
B. The Great Wall
• Xiongnu, a nomadic
people that resided in the
vicinity of the Gobi
• Great Wall of China,
system of walls to keep
out the nomads (Xiongna)
C. The Fall of the Qin
Dynasty
• Harsh rule angered many
people
• Dynasty fell in 206 B.C.
II. The Han Dynasty (202 –
A.D. 220)
• Han Dynasty, emerged in
202 B.C.
• *Liu Bang, founder of the
Han Dynasty
• Man of peasant origin
Liu Bang
kongming.net/novel/ han/liubang.php
A. Political Structure
• The first Han emperor
discarded the harsh policies of
the Qin dynasty.
• *Confucian principles, rather
then Legalism, soon became
the basis for the creation of a
new state philosophy
Political Structure
• Han rulers continued the Qin
system of choosing government
officials on the basis of merit
rather than birth
• Introduced the civil service
examination & established a
school to train these candidates
B. Expansion of the Empire
• Han Wudi, added land to
the south
• South China Sea
C. Society in the Han
Empire
• Free peasants suffered
during Han period
• Military service & forced
labor were required
• Farmland shrank
D. Technology in the Han
Empire
• *Textile manufacturing, water
mills for grinding grain & iron
casting
• Paper was developed
• *Invention of the rudder & foreand-aft rigging, ships could sail
into the wind for the first time
Papermaking in Han
China
D. Technology in the Han
Empire
• Travel throughout the islands
of Southeast Asia & into the
Indian Ocean
• Lead to major expansion of
trade
E. The Fall of the Han
Empire
• Pleasure weakened the
government
• Peasant revolts
• Civil wars
III. Culture in Qin & Han
China
• Achievement of the Qin
period
• *Digging a well in 1974,
farmers discovered a vast
army made of terra-cotta
(hardened clay)
http://www.coppercanyonadventures.com/Warriors%20in%20Shanxi%20Museum.JPG