Transcript Ancient Civilizations india and china

Ancient Civilizations
India, China, & Mesoamerica
Indus Civilization
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Developed between 30002500 BCE
Two largest cities were
Harappa and Mohenjo Daro
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Well planned cities
• Running water, sewers, and
brick buildings
• Grid pattern
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Pictographic writing (still
undeciphered)
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Has 400 symbols
Clear social classes
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Different types of houses:
wealthy 2-3 stories, common
people one room
Economics
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Advanced Agriculture
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Wheat, rye, peas, rice (maybe)
Domesticated animals: chickens, cattle, goats, sheep
Abundant crops led to job specialization in cities (like E&M)
• Craftsmen less skilled than Mesopotamia (stone arrows, poor
spears)
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Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
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Connected by villages
Major trading centers with China, SE Asia, Southern India, and
Mesopotamia
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Jade and jewels from SE Asia and China
Wheeled carts for transportation
Mesopotamia for olive oil, wool, and leather
Persia for gold, silver, and copper
End of Indus
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Scholars and priests
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Rulers and warriors
Professionals
Servants
Pariahs
By 1500 BCE civilization had declined
(unsure as to why: drought, earthquakes
changed course of river, overuse of land,
disease…)
1500 BCE a Indo-European group, the
Aryans, overtook India
• Culture of Aryans blended with the
Indians
• Sanskrit; literary language of India
• Vedas became major books of Hinduism
• Placed native Indians into inferior class
• People divided into 4 Varnas and each
Varna into sub-classes called Jati
• At the bottom were the Pariahs or
Untouchables
Huang He Civilization
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Most isolated of the river
valleys
Huang He (Yellow River) and
Chiang Jiang (Yangtze) rivers
flood quite often
Xia (shah) Dynasty 4000 Years
ago
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first, legendary dynasty
Ruler Yu
Irrigation and drained
floodwaters
Beginning of Chinese
civilization
No written records – existence is
by legend
Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BCE)
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first to leave written records
Writing: Oracle Bones
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Written on bone and used to
foretell future
Farming society ruled by a
king and an aristocracy
bronze metallurgy
Central rule to oversee
irrigation and flood control
Walled citied, elaborate
palaces and tombs
Ancestor worship developed
Zhou Dynasty (1122-256 BCE)
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Pronounced “joe”
800+ years, longest dynasty
Mandate of Heaven
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Culture
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Confucius asking Laozi about etiquette
Claimed they overthrew Shang by
will of gods
Took steps to centralize government,
but local leaders ignored central
government
Set up an agricultural system (nobles
& peasants) A.K.A. feudalism
Mandarin is standardized as language
Laozi and Confucius both lived
during Zhou
Emphasis on veneration of ancestors
If you honored family, society would
function well
More Zhou
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Technology:
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Chopsticks
Iron Metallurgy
Use cavalry & crossbow
Expanded Chinese territory to
Yangtze River Valley (wheat &
rice growing areas added)
Increased food production and
use of iron
Lost control of western half of
empire, last two centuries
known as “era of warring
states”
Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.)
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Ruler: Qin Shi Huangdi (1st
Emperor) – brutal ruler
Qin name applied to country’s
name
Unified the Chinese world
Legalism – favored
government force; viewed
human nature as evil
A highly centralized
government
Standardized coinage, weights,
and measures
Irrigation
Qin Shi Huangdi
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Uniform writing system, & a law
code
Manufacture of silk cloth is
encouraged
Nucleus of the Great Wall is
constructed
Burned books and attacked culture
National census, tax, and labor
service
Downfall: high taxes, attacks on
intellectuals, killed men, brutal
punishments, & revolts after Qin’s
death
Mesoamerica
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Not a river valley, small rivers and streams near ocean
Did not have wheel or large animals for labor, llama
biggest animal
Olmecs
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1500 BCE settled around Gulf of Mexico
Made figurines out of jade and dressed based on status
Polytheistic
Built Colossal Heads
Don’t know why they declined
Chavin, early civilization in the Andes
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Ceramics, textiles, gold
Constructed religious shrines
Dailies: Shang, Zhou, Qin
• Why did Qin Shi Huangdi burn books?
• What is feudalism?
• What was the importance of the Xia
dynasty?
• Describe the Era of Warring States.
• Why did the Chavin not invent the wheel?