Transcript Important contributions of the Chou Dynasty

Ancient China
Introduction
Ancient China was a fascinating mix of extreme
extravagance and extreme poverty. The
ancient Chinese invented
paper, gunpowder,
matches, umbrellas, and
the compass. They
created incredible art,
wrote marvelous literature,
and held splendid
festivals.
Natural Barriers
For thousands of years, the ancient Chinese
thought they were pretty much alone on the
planet, except for the barbarians to the north, the
Mongols.
China’s natural
barriers to the west,
south, and east helped
protect these early
people from invasion.
Deserts
China’s natural barriers include deserts.
The Gobi is one of the driest deserts in the world.
In the Gobi, there is at least the hope of water,
although an oasis is rare.
The Taklamakan is called the “Sea
of Death.” It is the second-largest
desert in the world. It offers
poisonous snakes, sandstorms,
boiling days, freezing nights, and
intense water shortages.
Mountains
China’s natural barriers include huge mountains.
The Himalayas are very rugged, with ten of the
tallest peaks in the world. Mount Everest is the
highest mountain in the world.
Seas
China’s natural barriers include
three vast seas: the China Sea, the
Yellow Sea, and the Pacific Ocean.
Rivers
Not all of China’s geography acted as barriers.
Some of its geographic features provided fertile
soil and safe drinking water.
China has two major
river systems: the Yellow
River (Huang He) and the
Yangtze River.
Rivers
The Yangtze (Long River) is the fourth-longest
river in the world. It’s nearly 4000 miles long. It
has high banks.
The Huang He (Yellow
River) is about 3000
miles long. It has low
banks.
Rivers
The ancient Chinese called all rivers in China “The
Great Sorrow” because each year during the
annual flood season, the towns along the rivers
were destroyed. Each year, they were rebuilt.
Over time, people
learned the techniques of
flood control. Some built
their homes high above
the river to avoid flooding.
Early People
Civilization in ancient China began along the
Yellow River about 5000 years ago. These early
people harvested silk and used it to weave fine
fabrics. They used a potter’s wheel to make
beautiful pottery. They
baked strong bricks and
used them to build their
homes. They worked
together on flood-control
and irrigation projects.
Xia Dynasty
A dynasty is a line of rulers who
belong to the same family and pass
control from one generation to the
next.
Legend says that the “Great Engineer”
Yu founded the first dynasty, the Xia
(shee-uh) Dynasty.
Xia Dynasty
Since there was no written
language at that time, no one is
sure if the great engineer Yu ever
existed.
However, scientists are sure that
these early clever people did exist.
Archaeologists have found ruins of
their villages.
Discussion Question
Why do you think these early people chose to
live along the banks of a river that flooded
each year and destroyed their homes?
Shang/Chou Dynasties
Shang Dynasty
Chou (Zhou) Dynasty
1700–c. 250 BCE
Two families ruled China for the next
1500 years: first the Shang family
ruled, and then the Chou family ruled.
Life continued in pretty much the same
way for people during both dynasties.
Shang/Chou Dynasties
During the Shang and
Chou dynasties, protective
walls surrounded cities.
Rulers, priests, and
warriors lived inside the
walls. Merchants and
craftsmen lived outside
the walls in mud houses.
Farmers lived in nearby
villages.
Shang/Chou Dynasties
Family: The family was allimportant. If one member of
a family did something wrong,
the entire family was
disgraced. The oldest male
served as head of the family.
The role of the woman
was to be gentle and to
obey her husband.
Shang/Chou Nobles
Shang and Chou kings and
nobles wore gowns of silk. They
lived in large, brick homes with
tiled roofs, all beautifully
decorated and furnished. The air
was scented with flowers from
the gardens and spices from pots
of food steaming on stoves.
When they died, the rich were
buried in lavish tombs.
Peasant Farmers
Most people were farmers. Summer homes were
made of bamboo branches. Winter homes were
one-room mud houses with
thatched roofs, dirt floors,
and no furniture. Nobles
owned the land. Peasants
had to give nobles most of the
crops they grew, along with
presents of silk and wine.
Peasants worked without
pay on their landowner’s home,
roads, and bridges.
Spring Festival
It was during the annual Spring
Festival that, for once, the
peasants had an advantage over
the nobles. At about age 15,
children from several farming
villages would gather. Unlike
nobles, peasant marriages were
rarely arranged. At the annual
Spring Festival, boys and girls first
met each other and chose a wife or
husband.
Merchants
Since merchants and craftsmen
did not produce food and were
not nobility, they received little
respect.
When a city was attacked in
times of war, they were not
taken inside the protective
walls, but were left to fend for
themselves as best they could.
Warriors
During the Shang and Chou
periods, there were many
wars. Clan leaders were
always fighting.
Bronze was used as early
as the Shang Dynasty to
make helmets, daggers,
spears, and axes.
Warriors
War was waged with horsedrawn chariots. Each chariot
held a driver, a spearman,
and an archer.
Behind them came the peasants.
The peasants were foot soldiers,
dressed in tunics and trousers.
They wore no protective gear.
Shang Achievements
The Shang made many
important contributions to
ancient Chinese culture.
The Shang introduced the use
of bronze. It was during the
Shang Dynasty that chopsticks
were invented.
Chinese Writing
These early people also created a
system of writing.
zero
zero (simple)
three
four
one
five
two
six
Chinese Writing
seven
dragon
rice
eight
law
river
nine
ten
religion
silk
Ancestor Worship
The Shang introduced
ancestor worship. The
ancient Chinese believed
that the ghosts of their
dead ancestors had
magical powers that could
either punish or help them.
To keep their ancestors happy, they brought gifts of
food and wine to to temples or other special places.
Oracle Bones
To communicate with their
ancestors, Shang kings used
“oracle bones.” Oracle bones
were the bones of animals or
turtle shells.
The king would ask, “Will it rain
tomorrow?” His question was
carved on an oracle bone. When
pricked with a hot needle, a
pattern of cracks appeared in the
bone.
Oracle Bones
The priest (who was usually a
woman) would study the cracks
to find the answer to the
question.
Archaeologists have found over
100,000 oracle bones. The
questions they ask tell scientists
a great deal about ancient
Chinese daily life.
Magical Beings
The ancient Chinese also
believed in magical beings
with magical powers, such as
dragons. In ancient China,
dragons did not breathe fire.
They had a job to do. Their job
was to guard all of China and
everything in it—including the
rivers, mountains, and forests.
Dragons were guardians.
Religion
Like most ancient civilizations, the
ancient Chinese believed in many
gods and goddesses.
The most powerful god in ancient China was the
Jade Emperor. He had many helpers. One of
his helpers was the goddess of mercy, pictured
as a lady in white sitting on a lotus and holding
a baby. People would visit her temple and
shake rattles and set off firecrackers to get her
attention and ask for her help.
Religion
Another helper was the god of
thunder. One of his jobs was to
punish criminals whose crimes had
gone undetected.
The ancient Chinese believed greatly
in reward and punishment. You can
see that in their gods.
Religion
In ancient China, you did not have to be born a
god to become a god. If you had lived a life
that was especially kind and had always
helped others, the goddess Queen Mother
Wang could reward you with a peach of
everlasting life to eat.
These good people
became gods with
various small jobs to do.
Religion
Ordinary people who
became gods by eating a
magical peach were
thought of as kindly, wise
old men, whose job was
to see that everything ran
smoothly. Temples were
built and festivals were
held to honor the gods.
All gods were very much a part of daily life.
Mandate of Heaven
When the Chou overthrew the last Shang king,
they had to convince the people—especially the
nobles—that they had the right to rule.
The Chou told people the “Mandate
of Heaven” had appointed them
rulers, but only as long as they
were good rulers. If the Chou
became selfish, heaven would
appoint a new leader.
Chou Achievements
Important contributions of the
Chou Dynasty include the
introduction of Confucianism
and Taoism, which are two
ancient doctrines, or ways of
behaving and thinking.
Confucius
Confucius was born around 551
BCE. The ruling dynasty was the
Chou, but the real power lay in
the hands of the local warlords.
Aristocrat-scholars, called shi,
traveled from one feudal state to
another, offering advice on
everything from politics to
weddings to war. The most
famous shi was Confucius.
Confucius
Confucius stressed the need to
develop good moral character
through rules of conduct.
Good moral character:
Respect father/ruler, study
constantly, worship
reverently, and be guided
by the rules of conduct.
Rules of conduct: The rules
actually were rules. Everything had
to be done a certain way.
Confucius
Here are a few of his sayings:
• If you make a mistake
and do not correct it, this
is called a mistake
• When people are
educated, the distinction
between classes
disappears
• When the ruler behaves
himself correctly, the
people will also
Taoism
Taoism began in BCE times, around
the same time as Confucianism.
These two doctrines were quite
different.
Confucianism was a set of
rigid rules of social
behavior.
Taoism was (and is) a set of
guidelines to help you become
happier.
Taoism
To be truly happy, Taoists
believe it’s important to
understand the way things are.
This does not mean that there
are not things we need to
change about ourselves, but
it’s important to recognize and
trust our own inner nature and
to discover who we are.
Taoism
In ancient China, both
Confucianism and Taoism were
important parts of daily life.
People followed the teachings of
both doctrines every day.
Confucianism provided the rules
of honorable social behavior, and
Taoism provided guidelines you
could follow to find your way to
personal happiness.
Achievements Recap
Important contributions of the
Shang Dynasty included the
use of bronze, a system of
writing, ancestor worship, oracle
bones, and the invention of
chopsticks.
Important contributions of the
Chou Dynasty included the
introductions of Confucianism
and Taoism.
Questions
1. What purpose was served
by oracle bones?
2. Where did most peasants
meet their future husband
or wife?
3. What metal was important
to nobles?
4. Who owned all of the land?
Qin Dynasty
Qin (Ch’in) Dynasty
Emperor: First Emperor Qin
221–206 BCE
Although he ruled for only 15 years,
First Emperor Qin accomplished
great things. He ruled with absolute
control and by extreme punishment.
Terra Cotta Soldiers
Can you imagine digging in your
backyard one day and discovering a
life-size terra cotta soldier—made 2000
years ago completely out of clay?
That’s what happened in China in
1974.
By the time archaeologists had finished
digging, they had uncovered over 6000
life-size terra cotta soldiers.
Emperor Qin
It took 720,000 laborers about 34 years to create
this incredible grouping. They finished just in
time, right around 210 BCE, when First Emperor
Qin died. His son, the second Qin emperor, saw
to his burial.
Emperor Qin
Qin was the first man to control all
of China. He did not want to be
called a king. He called himself
First Emperor Qin.
First Emperor Qin only ruled
for 15 years. But, in the short
time he ruled China, he
accomplished an amazing
amount of change.
Legalism
First Emperor Qin was a legalist. Legalists believe
that people are basically bad. They believe in
regulating people’s lives so that people develop
the discipline to work hard in the fields and in
battle.
• Legalists believe in strict laws
• Legalists believe in harsh
punishment
• Legalists believe in firm
management
Qin Dynasty
First Emperor Qin was a
legalist who ran his dynasty
with absolute control and harsh
punishment. It was illegal to
complain about Qin’s
government. If you simply said
that things could improve, you
could be put to death. First
Emperor Qin set about
organizing the lives of his
people.
Bureaucracy
Management: First
Emperor Qin divided the
empire into 36 provinces.
He divided each of the
provinces into districts. He
put two officials in charge of
each of the 36 provinces: a
governor and a defender.
Part of their job was to put
strong people in charge in
each district.
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy: Workers were trained and paid
and reported to supervisors. People at each
level supervised those below them.
Protection: Qin set up a system of spies. He
urged people to spy on each other at work and
at home in their village or neighborhood. If
people turned in lawbreakers, they were
rewarded; if they did not, they were executed. It
was a simple system, and it worked very well.
Bureaucracy
This organizational system
gave him great power. That
power allowed him to make
great changes. Qin knew that
to unify China there had to
be big changes. Most of his
laws had something to do
with protection.
The Great Wall
The Chou (Zhou) built pieces of a wall
here and there to protect parts of their
dynasty. Qin wanted a much better
wall to protect his people. He used
peasants, captured enemies,
criminals, scholars, and anyone else
who irritated him, and put them all to
work building the Great Wall. Laborers
were not paid for their work—it was
slave labor.
The Great Wall
The Great Wall is truly big. Different parts of the
wall are from 15 to 50 feet high. The base has a
width of between 15 and 30 feet.
The Great Wall
The wall has
guard towers
spread along its
entire length. It is
made of granite,
other rock, and
earth. Its purpose
was to
keep out the Mongol invaders from the north.
The Great Wall
About 300,000 people worked on the
wall during the Qin Dynasty. Rocks
fell on people. Walls caved in.
People died of exhaustion and
disease. Laborers were fed just
enough food to keep them
alive. A Chinese saying goes,
“Each stone in the wall
represents a life lost in the
wall’s construction.”
Qin’s Changes
Land ownership: First Emperor Qin took
land away from thousands of nobles. He
did not want noble families rising up
against him. During the Qin
dynasty, anyone could own land,
as long as they paid the land tax.
Anyone who argued with
Qin was either buried
alive or put to work
building the Great Wall.
Qin’s Changes
Standardization: He
introduced one system of
weights and measures, money,
written language, and laws.
Nobody argued with him.
Law enforcement: Qin
announced a new law code
that applied to everyone and
introduced a system for
enforcing the laws.
Qin’s Changes
Peasants: The peasants were given two jobs:
farming and weaving (making silk). Those who
tried to make money from other crafts or trade
would be arrested, forced into slavery, and sent to
work on the wall. If people were lazy, they were
made into slaves or sent to work on the wall. In
Qin’s dynasty, you did your assigned job
and did it well, or you would be put to work
doing something unpleasant, like being a
slave or working on the wall.
Qin’s Changes
Education and book burning: Censorship is
control of what people read, write, hear, and see.
Qin practiced total censorship. He persecuted
scholars and destroyed “useless” books. Qin
defined as useless any book not about medicine,
agriculture, or prophecy. Useless books were
burned. Over 400 scholars who refused to turn in
their books were buried alive or sent to work on
the wall.
Qin’s Changes
Qin did not think his rule was
cruel. He said, “A thousand may
die so that a million may live.” He
built roads, canals, and bridges.
His public-works projects probably
saved millions of lives that would
have been lost to floods and
famine. Although many people
died building the Great Wall, it did
provide an advantage in war.
Qin Questions
1. What is censorship?
2. What is standardization?
3. What is bureaucracy?
4. How did Qin’s actions
show that he was a
legalist?
Han Dynasty
Daily Life in Han Times:
The Classical Age
About 200 BCE to 200 CE
Life was good for many of the people
because of the demand for Chinese
silk and the creation of the the Silk
Road, a major system of trade routes.
The Silk Road
The Silk Road was not a paved road. It was
not a single route. The Silk Road was a name
given to any route that led across China to
Rome. It was a 4000-mile trip from China to
Rome. Each had something the other wanted:
Rome had gold, silver, and precious gems.
China had silk, spices, and ivory.
The Silk Road
It was incredibly dangerous to travel along the Silk
Road. The environment was perilous. Travelers
faced desolate deserts, forbidding mountains,
brutal winds, and poisonous snakes. Besides
those, there were bandits and pirates. There was
one nice section, the Gansu Corridor, a fertile
strip. To reach it, you had to cross
either the desert or the mountains.
The Silk Road
Few traders made the whole trip. They worked in
relays. Each trader would go a certain distance,
exchange their goods for other goods, and hope
to return. Over the centuries, the Silk Road
developed a culture of its own. The routes
became lined with huge temples and booming
cities. Even then, it was never easy to travel.
The Silk Road
Traders along the Silk Road
traveled to every corner of the
Han empire. People bonded
together into one civilization.
They had a common culture.
Even in remote sections, district
officials copied the ways of the
imperial court. Peasants built
homes and plowed their fields in
the same way all over China.
Buddhism
More than goods were transported along these
international trade routes. Ideas also traveled
along the Silk Road, ideas that affected
everyone. One of those ideas was a new religion
called Buddhism. Buddhism spread into China
as ideas and stories told by travelers along the
Silk Road.
Goal of Buddhism
The goal of Buddhism is to achieve
“enlightenment,” or a state of full
consciousness. Buddhism teaches
that you can attain it by following a
way of life called the Eightfold Path.
Han Tombs
The writings of the time tell us
very little about Han daily life.
Their tombs, however, tell us
quite a lot. The Han buried clay
models of their homes and
belongings in their tombs.
Models included details like little
clay furniture and miniature
bronze oil lamps.
Arts & Sciences
Craftsmen made jade jewelry and
carvings, gold ornaments and belt hooks,
and delicate paintings with wire-thin
brush strokes. Iron was used for making
plows. Glazed pottery was brightly
painted with lively hunting scenes,
mountains, trees, clouds, dragons, tigers,
and bears.
Medicine was advanced. Paper was
invented. Scroll painting began.
Public School
One of the Han emperors (Emperor Wudi)
agreed with Confucius that education was
the key to good government. He started a
system of public schools for boys only,
taught by Confucian teachers. He set up
schools in each province. Enrollment at
the Grand School in the capital was over
30,000 students. Students learned many
things, including the teachings of
Confucius.
Life in the Cities
Cities were laid out with main
streets and alleyways. A strong wall
made of earth and stone
surrounded each city. Han cities
were centers of government,
education, and trade. Most
marketplaces had free
entertainment. Musicians played
bells, drums, and string instruments,
and jugglers and acrobats
performed.
Cities: The Poor
The poor lived in houses
packed together. They had
very little food, and little to no
sanitation.
Teens sometimes joined street
gangs. Members wore
distinctive clothes and armor
that identified their gang. Teen
gangs roamed the cities
terrorizing people.
Cities: The Rich
The rich imitated the style of the
imperial palace. They built big
houses furnished with draperies,
carved furniture, and cashmere
carpets. They wore belted robes
with long silk-lined sleeves and
warm fur coats in the winter.
Children of the nobles had tutors.
They studied science, math,
literature, art, religion, and music.
Life in the Country
The vast majority of people in
Han times were farmers who
lived in the country. Their mud
homes were one or two stories
high, with tiled or thatched roofs
and curtains on the windows.
Barns and other buildings
surrounded each house. Several
families lived in one house and
worked their fields together.
Cooperatives
In Han times, farmers still did not
own their farms, but farms were
larger in size because families
had learned to team up. Together,
they were able to produce more
food than they needed, which
allowed them to trade extra food
for other items.
Peasant Life
Peasants went to bed at dusk and got up at
dawn. They dressed in simple clothes made
of scratchy dark cloth. They stuffed their
clothes with paper and cloth to stay warm in
the winter.
They ate rice, steamed dumplings,
and fish flavored with garlic and
onions. In the north, peasants ate
wheat instead of rice. Compared to
the Qin Dynasty, life was vastly
improved.
Han Questions
1. How did archaeologists
and scientists learn most
of what they know about
the Han Dynasty?
2. Why was education so
important to the Han?
T’ang Dynasty
T’ang Dynasty
c. 600–900 CE
The Golden Age of China
By 600 CE, in early medieval times, China had
become the wonder of the world. It was a time of
prosperity, gaiety, and experimentation. People
tried new things, like bananas!
Growth of Buddhism
In T’ang times, people
thought of Buddhism as a
path that they could follow
to enlightenment. Today,
Buddhism is a major world
religion. There are over
330 million Buddhists in
the world.
Government Jobs
Examination day: You did not have to be a noble
to hold a high position. To be assigned a job in
high office in one of the many towns and villages,
you had to pass the government exams. It was a
route to riches and fame. On
examination day—the day the tests
were given—cities were thronged
with horses and coaches.
The Arts/Tea
The arts: The T’ang empire is
famous for brilliant stories, art,
literature, music, and dance.
Talented dancers and singers came
from India and Korea to study.
Tea drinking and tea ceremonies
became all the rage.
T’ang Houses
Houses in the large capital city of
Ch’ang-an had baths, heaters,
mechanical fans, fountains, icecooled rooms, mirrors, musical
instruments (such as the harp),
ceramics, spoons, and goblets of
gold and silver. Servants and
slaves waited on the rich. The
pagoda look became
popular during T’ang times.
Clothing/Styles
Clothing, hair, and cosmetics:
Men had topknots. Women wore
hats, some with little bells dangling
from the edges. Women also used
makeup. Eyebrows were carefully
sculpted—in T’ang times, they
were shaped like little mountains,
like this “^”. Nobles wore fancy
hats and silk robes with jade belts.
Games/Sports
They played board games such
as backgammon, and a game
called “Go” (which is now the
most popular game in Japan).
Music, dancing, and archery
were all popular. They played a
version of football and enjoyed
polo, which had been introduced
from India.
Family
The days of human sacrifice
were long over, but honoring
one’s ancestors was still very
important. Family members
were expected to help and
care for each other. When a
girl married, she went to live
with her husband’s family.
School
Only boys could go to school.
They did not have to go to
school, but it was free and
encouraged. Girls learned at
home. Education was so
important that teachers were
one of the five objects of
worship (the other four were
heaven, earth, the emperor,
and parents).
Three Teachings
In T’ang times, Confucianism, Taoism, and
Buddhism became known as the “Three
Doctrines,” or the “Three Teachings.”
In T’ang times, a man might honor his
ancestors by following the rigid rules of social
behavior as dictated by Confucianism, attend a
Buddhist pageant, and practice Taoist breathing
exercises, all in the same day. These three
doctrines were an important part of daily life.
Land Ownership
The T’ang distributed land
equally to create a nation of free
farmers. Each farmer received
about 15 acres. Farmers ate
beans, turnips, barley cakes,
melons, peaches, pork and
chicken, plums, lots of fish, and
drank wine. In the south they ate
rice and in the north, products
made from wheat.
Nomads
The Western T’ang empire was peopled with
nomads. Nomads did not grow food, but moved
from place to place, tending herds of horses, goats
and sheep. Their homes were huts
built on wagons, so they could move
easily. Clothing was made of
wool or animal skins. Nomads
ate milk and meat. They were
traders, sometimes along the
Silk Road.
T’ang Questions
1. How could you become
rich during T’ang times?
2. Why is this period in
ancient Chinese history
called the “Golden Age of
China”?
Inventions
The ancient Chinese invented many things we
use today. They invented paper, silk, matches,
the wheelbarrow, gunpowder, the decimal
system, the waterwheel, porcelain, lacquer, the
pottery wheel, fireworks, paper money, the
compass, the seismograph, tangrams,
medicines, dominoes, jump rope, kites, the tea
ceremony, the folding umbrella, ink, the animal
harness, playing cards, printing, the abacus,
wallpaper, and the crossbow.
Conclusion
The ancient Chinese were very clever
people. Their culture was complex
and made many lasting contributions
to the world.
Although outsiders call this land
China, after the Ch’in (Qin) empire,
the Chinese today call themselves the
people of Han.
Quiz
1. If you had to live in ancient
China, besides being a king or
a noble, what job would you like
to have? Briefly explain why.
2. Name one dynasty in which you
would not like to live and briefly
explain why.