Transcript Government and Society

Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
• Government and Society
• Strong Monarchy
• Order
• King’s governors ruled distant parts of kingdom
• King also had large army at disposal
• Prevented rebellions, fought outside opponents
• Agricultural Society
• Shang China largely agricultural
• Most tended crops in fields
• Farmers called on to fight in army, work on building projects—tombs,
palaces, walls
Shang Elite
• Leisure
• Ruling elite had free time to pursue leisure activities, hunting
for sport
• Wealthy enjoyed collecting expensive bronze, jade objects
• Artifacts
• Much of what is known comes from studying royal tombs
• Contained valuable items made of bronze, jade
Shang Elite
• Afterlife
• Tombs held remains of sacrificed prisoners of war
• Believed in afterlife where ruler would need riches, servants
• Ancestor Worship
• Shang offered gifts to deceased ancestors to keep them happy
in afterlife
• Steam from ritual meals nourished ancestors’ spirits
Shang Tomb
Oracle Bones
• Inscribed bits of animal
bone, turtle shell
• Living person asked
question of ancestor
• Hot piece of metal
applied to oracle bone
resulting in cracks on
bone’s surface
• Specially trained priests
interpreted meaning of
cracks to learn answer
Development of Chinese
writing closely tied to use of
oracle bones
Earliest examples of Chinese
writing, questions written on
bones themselves
Early Shang texts used
picture symbols to represent
objects, ideas
Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty Overview
• Overthrew the Shang
• Lasted 800 years longer
than any other Dynasty
• Much of Chinese culture,
philosophy, and
government developed
during Zhou
• Confucianism and Daoism
Zhou Dynasty
•
Developed MANDATE OF HEAVEN
•
Before Zhou, Chinese metalwork done almost exclusively in bronze
•
Zhou learned to use iron, became backbone of economy
•
Iron weapons strengthened Zhou army, as did new weapons like catapult and creation of
China’s first cavalry
•
Population grew under Zhou
•
Farmers learned new techniques, increased size of harvest, created food surpluses; cities
also grew
•
Roads, canals allowed better transportation, communication
•
Introduced coins, use of chopsticks
Compare/Contrast the Shang
and Zhou
Life in Ancient China
• Social classes- ppl who share a similar position in
society
3 main social classes- rich land owners, poor
farmers, merchants
Life in China
Aristocrat
• Large houses
• Beautiful gardens
Merchant
• Shopkeepers, traders, and
bankers
• Fine furniture
• Lived in towns and provide
goods and services
• Relied on farmers to grow
crops
• Very rich
• Looked down on by other
classes
Life of a Farmer
• 9/10 Chinese were farmers
• Lived in simple homes
• Farmers grew wheat, millet, and rice on aristocrat’s
farmers
• Farmers grew food for their family on a small plot of
land
• One month a year they helped with gov’t building
projects
• In war time farmers became soldiers