Transcript Ancient China

23 February 2010
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Ancient China
2000 B.C.- 220 A.D.
The Xia Period to the Han
Dynasty
Xia Legendary Period
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2000 B.C. to 1700 B.C.
We know about this period through stories
“Superheroes” taught people how to:
1. Find food
2. Make clothing
3. Build shelter
4. Control flooding
5. Grow crops
Shang Dynasty
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The First Dynasty in China
1760 B.C. – 1500 B.C.
Huang River Valley
Farming was the way of life
Grew: grains, millet, rice
Raised animals
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Huang (Yellow) River
Shang (continued)
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Bronze developed
Melting together copper and tin
Oracle Bones used to predict the future
First written records in China
• Smelting Bronze
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Oracle Bone
Wrote questions
Heated with fire
Cracks gave answers
Zhou Dynasties
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Zhou defeated the Shang in 1027 B.C.
This period lasted more than 800 years
2 Dynasties:
1. Western Zhou Dynasty
2. Eastern Zhou Dynasty
Western Zhou Dynasty
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Capital city: Hao
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Most people were farmers
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Grew wheat, rice, beans, and fruit
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Women harvested crops and made silk
Eastern Zhou Dynasty
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770 B.C. – 221 B.C.
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Capital city: Luoyang (in eastern China)
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Referred to as the “Golden Age”
Eastern Zhou Advancements
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New system of money
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Flood control, irrigation, canal building
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Built walls to protect villages from
nomadic raiders
Begin to use IRON to make weapons
and tools
Other Changes (Eastern Zhou)
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King’s power weakened due to constant
warfare
Traditions challenged, new ideas
emerged
More people became scholars, teachers,
and government officials
Nomadic Raiders
Nomadic raiders
Qin Shi Huangdi
Qin Dynasty
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221 B.C. – 206 B.C.
Civil war took place at the end of the
Zhou Dynasty
The “Qin” state won
Qin Shi Huangdi became China’s first
emperor
Divided into 36 provinces
Shi Huangdi built the Great Wall
to protect against northern
invaders
Qin Dynasty Advancements
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Centralized the government
The Great Wall was built
Standardized systems:
1. Money
2. Weights
3. Measures
End of the Qin Dynasty
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Peasants revolted against the rule of Shi
Huangdi
Han Dynasty
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206 B.C. – 220 A.D.
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First Ruler: Han Gaozu
Han Gaozu
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1st ruler of the Han Dynasty
Peasant leader in the revolt against Shi
Huangdi
Ended the ban on books imposed by
the Qin Dynasty
Wu Di
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Han Emperor 141 B.C. – 87 B.C.
Made many changes:
1. Took land from nobles, divided it,
and gave it to commoners
2. Took power away from people who
challenged him
Wu Di (changes)
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Taxed imports and exports
Built new roads to increase trade
Supported education and the arts
Encouraged accurate historical
accounts to be written
7. Civil Service jobs given due to skill,
not family position
Han Dynasty Inventions
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Middleman
Porcelain
Paper and Ink
The Silk Road