Transcript Unification of China - Moore Public Schools

The
Unification
of China
Many people worked to
bring political and social
stability to China during
the chaotic years of the
late Zhou dynasty and
the Period of the
Warring States.
Confucius:
•Kong Fuzi(551-479 B.C.E.)
•State of Lu
•Strong-willed
•Brilliant Scholar, Teacher
•Analects, disciples wrote
down his teachings
• Junzi=superior individuals
• Students studied Zhou lit.
• Values:
Ren=attitude of kindness
Li=sense of propriety
Xiao=filial piety
Confucius: 5 Relationships
1. Father and Son
2.Ruler and Subject
3.Husband and Wife
4.Older and Younger Brother
5.Friend and Friend
Disciples of Confucius:
•Mencius (372-289 B.C.E.)=
traveled, political advice,
humans are naturally good, ren
• Xunzi (298-238 B.C.E.)= served
as a gov’t. administrator, human
beings are naturally selfish, li
Daoism:
•Critics of Confucian activism
•Don’t waste time & energy on
problems
• Reflection, introspection
• Harmony with nature
• Laozi= founder
th
(6 century B.C.E.)
• Daodejing= Classic of
the Way and of Virtue
• Dao= the way of nature or
the cosmos
• Dao does nothing, and yet it
accomplishes everything
• Wuwei= disengagement
from the competitive
exertions and active
involvement in world affairs
• The less government, the
better
Legalism:
• practical and ruthless
• expand and strengthen the state
at all costs
• Shang Yang= minister to duke
of Qin, despised and feared
• Han Feizi= essays, advisor
of Qin court
• Clear and strict laws
• Severe punishment
• Collective responsibility
Which school
of thought would
you choose?
Why?
Qin
Dynasty
221-207
B.C.E.
• The Qin state gave plots of
land to farmers, weakening
nobles’ power
• Established centralized,
bureaucratic rule
•At 13, Shihuangdi is
“First Emperor”
•Doubled Size of China
•Built roads, bridges and
walls (Great Wall)
•Executed critics
• Burned books
• Standardized laws, currencies,
weights, measures
• Common script
• Shihuangdi’s tomb was
elaborate underground palace
• Rebellion brought end of
dynasty
Han Dynasty
206 B.C.E.
-220 C.E.
Lui Bang:
•Methodical and persistent
•loyalty of troops
•restored order and became
head of new dynasty
• Tried to rule somewhere in the
middle of centralization and
decentralization
Wudi:
• “Martial Emperor”
• centralization & expansion
• levied taxes
• imperial monopolies
• imperial university with
Confucianism as its curriculum
The Xiongnu:
•Nomads from steppes who spoke
Turkish
•Great horsemen
•Maodun (210-174 B.C.E.)
•Han dynasty would pay tribute or
arrange marriages
•Han Wudi invaded them
Social Order
 Patriarchal
households
 Filial
Piety
 Ban Zhao wrote Admonitions
for Women
Economy and Technology
 Majority
were cultivators/farmers
 Iron tips on plows at first then many
iron tools under Han
 Iron suits for soldiers
 Sericulture, making of silk, leads to silk
roads
 Invented paper (hemp, bark and textile fibers)
 By 9 C.E. population at 60 million
Difficulties
 Military
expeditions caused economic
strain
 Han Wudi raised taxes and took land
from wealthy which hurt industry
 Huge gap between rich and poor
 Landholding fell in hands of few while
others lost land and became tenant
farmers or slaves
Reign of Wang Mang
6
C.E. a two year old boy came to
throne, Wang Mang served as his
regent.
 After urging, in 9 C.E. he claimed
throne for himself, Mandate of Heaven
 Reforms, “Socialist Emperor”
 Land redistribution
 Killed in 23 C.E. by the people
Later Han Dynasty
 Rulers
back to centralized, strong
control
 Yellow Turban Uprising: late second
century C.E., example of rebellions
due to unequal land distribution and
gap between rich and poor
 Problems between factions in the
imperial court led to end of Han
dynasty by 220 C.E.