Transcript Ancient China (Shang and Zhou Dynasties) Theme: The

Ancient China
-Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties
Chapter 4-Early Societies in East Asia
ID & SIG
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Book of Songs, dynasty, bronze
production monopolization in Shang and
Zhou China, mandate of heaven, Shang
Dynasty, tian, veneration of ancestors,
Yellow River, Zhou Dynasty
Importance of Rivers
rivers
agriculture
populations
cities
specialization
hierarchy
YELLOW RIVER
YANGZI RIVER
Population Growth
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Settlements began to crop up along the
Yellow and Yangzi Rivers
◦ Created a need for recognized authorities
who could maintain order, resolve disputes,
and organize public works projects
◦ Village-level organizations could only act
locally
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Small dynasties followed that extended
their control over progressively larger
regions
Dynasties
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“A sequence of powerful leaders in the same
family”
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Xia Dynasty 2200 to 1766 B.C.E.
Shang Dynasty 1766 to 1122 B.C.E.
Zhou Dynasty 1122 to 256 B.C.E.
Tang Dynasty 618 to 907 A.D.
Song Dynasty 960 to 1279 A.D.
Shang Dynasty
Characteristics of a Civilization
Intensive agricultural techniques
 Specialization of labor
 Cities
 A social hierarchy (We’ll discuss mandate of heaven in
more detail in Lsn 16)
 Organized religion and education (We’ll cover
Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism in Lsn 16)
 Development of complex forms of economic exchange
 Development of new technologies
 Advanced development of the arts. (This can include
writing.)
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Agriculture
Yellow River
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Takes its name from the
vast quantities of loess soil
it picks up along its route
◦ Loess is an extremely fine and
powder-like soil that gradually
builds up in the river bed,
raising the river bed and
forcing the water out of its
established path
◦ Yellow River periodically
unleashes terrible floods,
earning it the nickname
“China’s Sorrow”
Agriculture
• Loess soil is extremely fertile and
easy to work
– Even before the introduction of metal
tools, cultivators with wooden
instruments could generate large
harvests
Crops
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Initially, millet was the main crop
(especially in the north)
Sometime thereafter, the Chinese
began cultivating rice (especially in
the south where the Yangzi River is
less prone than the Yellow River to
devastating floods)
◦ Extensive rice production would
require developing a complex
irrigation system (made possible
by the centralizing authority of
the Shang and Zhou Dynasties)
Cities
Ruins of Banpo Village near modern Xian
Cities: Xia
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Erlitou, near
Luoyang
◦ Excavation site
may have been
the capital of
the Xia dynasty
◦ Large, public
type structure,
modest housing,
pottery
workshops, and
a bronze
foundry.
Excavation site at Erlitou
Cities: Shang
Vast network of walled
towns whose local rulers
recognized authority of
the Shang kings
 Shang rulers moved their
capital six times
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◦ Capital at Yin (near
modern Anyang) contained
a complex of royal palaces
and eleven large and lavish
royal tombs
Royal tomb at Anyang
Social Hierarchy
King Wen of Zhou China
Social Hierarchy: Shang and early Zhou
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Royal family and allied noble families
◦ Resided in large, palatial compounds and lived on the
agricultural surplus and taxes delivered by their
subjects
◦ Power tied to bronze
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Privileged class of hereditary aristocrats
◦ Rose from the military allies of the rulers
◦ Possessed extensive land holdings and performed
military and administrative tasks
◦ Some access to education for those who lived in
cities
◦ Detailed rules of etiquette during Zhou era
Social Hierarchy: Ancient Shang and
early Zhou
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Small class of free artisans and craftsmen
◦ Lived in cities
◦ Those who worked almost extensively for the privileged classes lived
reasonably comfortably
Peasants
◦ Semi-servile class that lived in the countryside and did not own land
◦ Provided agricultural, military, and labor services for lords in exchange
for plots to cultivate, security, and a portion of the harvest
Slaves
◦ Most were captured enemy warriors
◦ Performed hard labor that required a large work force such as clearing
fields or building city walls
◦ During the Shang Dynasty many were victims of human sacrifice during
funerals and other religious and ritual observances
Specialization
Bronze storage jar from Zhou Dynasty
Silk making
Specialization
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Bronzesmiths
Jewelers
Jade workers
Embroiderers
Manufacturers of silk
textiles
◦ Silkworms are fed mulberry
leaves, they molt and spin
cocoons, then workers boil
the cocoons to produce the
raw silk.
Silkworm cocoon
Religion and Education
Bronze wine vessel used for rituals to
honor ancestors during Shang Dynasty
Religion
Ancient China did not have an organized
religion or official priesthood
 Did not recognize a personal supreme deity
who intervened in human affairs or took a
special interest in human behavior
 Did speak of an impersonal heavenly power–
tian (“heaven”)– that was responsible for
bestowing and removing the mandate of
heaven on rulers
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Religion
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Instead, the patriarchal head of
the family presided over rites
and ceremonies venerating
ancestors’ spirits
◦ Believed that the spirits of
ancestors passed into another
realm of existence from which
they had the power to support
and protect their surviving families
if the families demonstrated the
proper respect and ministered to
the spirit’s needs
Burning paper gifts for the
departed is one traditional
form of ancestor worship
Economic Exchange
Cowrie shells used as money
Economic Exchange
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Somewhat limited by the mountain ranges and
deserts that stood between China and India and
southwest Asia
◦ Shipbuilding emerged during Zhou era and facilitated
trade
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Evidence of
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Cowrie shells from Burma and the Maldives
Military technology from Mesopotamia
Jade from central Asia
Tin from Malay
New Technologies
Silk making
New Technologies: Silk
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During the Zhou era,
the Chinese
discovered how to
make silk from the
cocoons of silkworms.
◦ Silk would become
China’s most valuable
export, eventually
linking them with most
of the world through
trade.
◦ We’ll talk more about
this when we learn
about the Silk Roads
New Technologies: Bookbinding
• Chinese
artisans learned
how to bind
together long, thin
strips of wood or
bamboo to make
books
New Technologies: Shang and Military
Success
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Shang ruling elites were
able to monopolize
production of bronze in
the Yellow River Valley by
controlling access to
copper and tin ores
Allowed Shang forces to
defeat Xia forces who
were equipped with only
stone, wood, and bone
weapons
Shang nobles used
bronze to make fittings
for horse-drawn chariots
New Technologies: Shang and Military
Success
• Shang were also able to
exert military might over
the Xia through bows
Shang pictograph
of composite bow
New Technologies: Zhou and Military
Failure
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Zhou kings were not able to monopolize bronze
production as the Shang had
Moreover, iron technology was spreading rapidly
throughout China
◦ Iron ores were cheaper and more abundant than
copper and tin so Zhou could not monopolize iron
Subordinates were able to outfit their forces with iron
which enabled them to resist the central government
When nomads invaded the Zhou capital at Hao in 771
B.C., the subordinates refused to support the king
New Technologies
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The Great Wall of
China originated as
a defensive barrier
against tribal
intrusions
Construction
started in the
seventh century B.
C. and spanned over
20 states and
dynasties
◦ Two sections were
built during the Zhou
era
◦ As China unified, the
various sections were
connected
Art and Writing
Writing on
bamboo strips
Bronze from
Sang Dynasty
Writing
The earliest form of Chinese writing was the
pictograph
 Pictographs were combined into ideographes to
represent complex or abstract notions
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◦ The combination of “mother” and “child” renders
“good”
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Unlike most other languages, written Chinese
did not include an alphabetic or phonetic
component
Writing: Oracle Bones
• Principal instrument used
by fortune tellers in
Ancient China
• Diviners inscribed a
question on a broad bone
such as a tortoise shell
and placed it in a fire
– The fortune teller used
the cracks that
developed to divine the
question’s answer
Book of Songs
Collection of 331
poems from the Zhou
era
 Represent a variety of
subjects
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Political themes
Ritualistic hymns
Life
Love and friendship
Family
Work and play
Burning of Books
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Many works were lost
when Qin came to
power in 221 B.C. and
ordered all books on
poetry, history, and
philosophy burned for
fear they would inspire
doubts about his
government or
encourage an
independence of mind
Next
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Resurgent (Tang and Song) China