Transcript Presentation

•Ancient Chinese Dynasties
•Dynastic cycle
•Philosophies of the times
•Crazy rulers
Bronze Age Empires
Anyang is capital of
Shang dynasty
Divided kingdom into
sections that were
Governed by aristocratic
Military officials
Oracle Bones
Oracle Bones Calendar
The Evolution of Chinese
Writing during the Shang
Pictographs
Semantic-Phonetics
800 years!
“T’ien Ming”
The Mandate of Heaven
1.The leader must lead by ability and
virtue. King was link between
heaven and earth.
2.Leadership must in accordance to
the proper way, or the “Dao”.
3.The dynasty's leadership must be
justified by succeeding generations.
4.The mandate could be revoked by
negligence and abuse; the will of
the people was important.
Feudalism
• Peasants farmed land owned by a
Noble
• Outer part of land was for personal use
• Inner plot was communally worked by
town for Noble (lord)
• Family was basic economic and social
unit for town
• Walled towns, merchants and artisans
belonged to the lord
Feudalism
• Filial Piety
– Sons and daughters were subordinate to male
head of family
– Each person had their place in the system
403 BC…Zhou dynasty began to collapse due to civil war. Warfare led
To many new inventions-
Qin Shihuangdi
Came to throne at age 13
Brutal Leader
Created single monetary system
Began building roads throughout empire
Reduced powers of aristocrats
Split up their lands
Gave to peasants
Taxed directly by the state
Legalism – changed Chinese
Politics dramatically
Punishment, including
death if opposed
Extended China south
Began building a series
of walls to the north
Protection from the Xiongnu
(SHYUNG-NOO)
“Wall of 10,000 Li”
United China
Han Dynasty
• Liu Pang
– Changed name to Han Gaozu
– Strong ruler
– Continued some of Qin Dynasty’s traditions:
• Division of government
– Military, civil service, censorate
– Choosing officials based on merit, rather than birth
Papermaking
Chinese legend tells that the new invention of paper was
presented to the Emperor in the year 105 AD by Cai Lun.
Archeological evidence, however, shows that paper was in use
two hundred years before then. Either way, the Chinese
were significantly ahead of the rest of the world. The craft
of papermaking relied upon an abundance of bamboo fiber to
produce a fine quality paper. In China the papermaker uses
only the traditional materials and methods to produce fine
art paper.
Inventions
• The Rudder
• Fore and Aft rigging
– Helped with trade
and exploration
Chinese were able to sail to Australia,
India and around the Horn of Africa.
Inventions
Yo-Yo
Papermaking
Abacus
Gunpowder
Silk
Compass
Wheelbarrow
Ancient China
Gunpowder
Imagine their enemy's surprise when the Chinese first
demonstrated their newest invention in the eighth century
AD. Chinese scientists discovered that an explosive mixture
could be produced by combining sulfur, charcoal, and
saltpeter (potassium nitrate). The military applications were
clear. New weapons were rapidly developed, including rockets
and others that were launched from a bamboo tube. Once
again, the raw materials at hand, like bamboo, contributed
ideas for new technologies.
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Ancient China
Compass
By the third century AD, Chinese scientists had studied
and learned much about magnetism in nature. For
example, they knew that iron ore, called magnetite,
tended to align itself in a North/South position.
Scientists learned to "make magnets" by heating pieces
of ore to red hot temperatures and then cooling the
pieces in a North/South position. The magnet was then
placed on a piece of reed and floated in a bowl of water
marked with directional bearings. These first
navigational compasses were widely used on Chinese
ships by the eleventh century AD.
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Ancient China
YO-YO or
EMPTY BELL
The oldest toy in the world was the yo-yo.
The "empty bell" was invented during the Ming Dynasty
between 1386 to 1644 AD.
During the Chinese festivals in the old days, the Chinese
yo-yo presentations played an important role as an
entertaining program. The yo-yo became popular in the
North part of China in the spring.
The bamboo or empty bell was made of two ends of round
saucer shapes with the middle being a horizontal piece of
wood. They were mounted on a string and twirled with a
vibrating motion. This emitted a humming sound.
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Ancient China
Abacus
The abacus is a calculator for adding, subtracting,
dividing and multiplying. Tests have shown that, for
operations of addition and subtraction, the abacus is
still faster than the electronic calculator.
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Ancient China
Silk
China is the first country in the world that
discovered the use of silk. Silkworms were
domesticated as early as 5000 years ago. The
production of silk thread and fabrics gave rise to
the art of embroidery. Historical documents
record the use of embroidery in China as early as
2255 B.C. Archaeological finds, however, place the
beginnings of embroidery at some point during the
Shang dynasty(1766B.C.-1122 B.C.)
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Ancient China
Wheelbarrow
The wheelbarrow was invented by the Chinese.
The Chinese wheelbarrow had a single wheel in the
middle of the wheelbarrow. Farmers used the
wheelbarrow to take a load of produce to the
market place. Builders used the wheelbarrow to
carry heavy building supplies. Soldiers used the
wheelbarrow to remove injured or dead people
from the battlefield.
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Ancient China