Transcript Chinese Overview: A Brief History of China

CHINA OVERVIEW:
A BRIEF HISTORY
OF CHINESE
DYNASTIES
© Student Handouts, Inc.
Maps of Ancient China

http://www.chinatravel.com/china-map/ancientchina-maps/
GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA
Almost as big as Canada
 Climate varies


North


Temperate and cold
South
Subtropical
 Floods and droughts


Important rivers
Hwang ho (Yellow River) – north
 Yangtze River – central China


Protected by high mountains, hot deserts and oceans
ANCIENT HISTORY
 By
4000 BCE
Village settlements along Hwang ho River
 Farming, stone tools, weapons (bow and
arrow), animal domestication, pottery

 Circa
1500 BCE
Picture writing (oldest writing in existence) is
developed
 Today there are almost 40,000 characters

WHAT ARE DYNASTIES?
A
dynasty is a series of rulers from the
same family.
 Historically, royal rule was descended
from father to son.
 The Chinese people supported their
rulers because of what they called the
Mandate of Heaven.
 The
MANDATE OF HEAVEN was the belief
that the emperor was chosen by heaven
to rule.
 The ancient Chinese believed their
ancestors in heaven had chosen their
leaders.
 The people would rebel against a weak
leader because they believed he had lost
the Mandate of Heaven and then a new
dynasty would begin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Terri
tories_of_Dynasties_in_China.gif

Animated Map of dynasties

http://www.chinatownology.com/chinese_dy
nasties.html

List of dynasties
XIA (A.K.A. HSIA) DYNASTY
(CA. 2070-CA. 1600 BCE)
China’s
first dynasty
Built roads and irrigation
projects throughout the
country
XIA DYNASTY
SHANG DYNASTY
(CA. 1600-1046 BCE)
Writing
began
Bronze metal work ,
glazed pottery, and
silk industries were
all developed.
http://www.squidoo.com/Shang-Dynasty
ZHOU (A.K.A. CHOU) DYNASTY
(1045-256 BCE)
Invaded
China from the northwest
Set up a loose central government
Feudal power held by strong nobles
Philosophers
 Confucius
 Mencius (his follower)
QIN (A.K.A. CHIN) DYNASTY
(221-206 BCE)
Military
dictatorship unified China
Emperor Shih Huang Ti
 Destroyed nobles’ feudal power
 System of taxation
 Great Wall finished (8,851.8 kilometres )



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUJr1Y2PNPI&feature=related
The Great Wall
Qin Army
 The
Ch'in rulers clearly explained and strictly
enforced laws.
 They standardized weights and measures and
carried out irrigation projects.
 They also gave peasant farmers the land they
lived on.
 The West first learned of China during the
Chi'in dynasty.
 It is from Ch'in that we get the word China.
TERRACOTTA ARMY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsUE-ZtcUFg
HAN DYNASTY
(206-220 CE)
 China
grew into a powerful empire during the
Han Dynasty, between 202BC and 220CE.
 The Empire – central Asia to China Sea,
Indochina to Korea
 Trade
 Chinese fruits, silks, and spices in Rome (1st
century CE)
 Buddhism came from India
 Civil service/government system established
 First paper made
TANG DYNASTY
(618-906 CE)
 400
years of warfare between Han and Tang
dynasties
 Tang reunited China
 T’ai Tsung


Emperor in 627 CE
Education and government reforms
 Extended
boundaries
 Alliances and peace treaties with neighbors
 Industry and trade

Jade, porcelain, and silks to Arabia, India, Japan,
and Persia
MING DYNASTY
(1368-1644)
 Encouraged
trade with Europe
 Gave Europeans:
 Gunpowder
 Jade
 Playing cards
 Porcelain
 Silk
 Tea
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ming/hd_ming.htm
QING DYNASTY (MANCHU RULE)
(1644-1912)
Manchurians
conquered China,
Indochina, Korea, Mongolia, Tibet,
eastern Turkestan
China prospered
Western pressure brought about
Manchu overthrow in 1912
Ended with birth of Chinese
Republic
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
 Late
Zhou (Chou) period (1100-256 BCE)
 Suffering produced influential philosophers
 Lao-Tse (6th century BCE)
 Men should be left alone to work out their
own lives with the fewest possible laws of
government
 Men should make their own lives simple
and desire nothing, but should submit to all
that comes in life
 Founded Taoism
SCIENCE
1000-1500 CE – civilization superior to that of
medieval Europe
 Paper and ink



“India” ink really Chinese ink
Movable type

Movable blocks with cut-out raised characters
Compass
 Gunpowder


Originally for firecrackers
Silk manufacturing
 Irrigation and farming techniques

CONFUCIUS
(551-479 BCE)
Considered China’s greatest philosopher
 Confucianism is a code of behavior and religion


Education, good manners, right morals, respect for others,
love of tradition, obedience to one’s parents
People should be kind, tolerant, and love their elders
and ancestors
 Golden rule: “Do not do to others what you would not
have others do to you.”
 The most important concept was FILIAL PIETY.

FILIAL PIETY 孝









"Filial piety" is considered among the greatest of virtues and
must be shown towards both the living and the dead (including
even remote ancestors).
The term "filial" (meaning "of a child") characterizes the respect
that a child, originally a son, should show to his parents.
This extended to the idea that young people must respect and
obey all those older than themselves
This relationship was extended by analogy to a series of five
relationships
Ruler to Ruled
Father to Son
Husband to Wife
Elder Brother to Younger Brother
Friend to Friend
FILIAL PIETY 孝
FILIAL PIETY 孝
Specific duties were written down for each of these
sets of relationships.
 Such duties were also extended to the dead, where
the living stood as sons to their deceased family. This
led to the veneration/worship of ancestors.
 The idea of Filial piety influenced the Chinese legal
system: a criminal would be punished more harshly if
the culprit had committed the crime against a parent,
while fathers often exercised enormous power over
their children..
 Filial piety has continued to play a central role in
Confucian thinking to the present day

DRAGONS
 The
Dragon occupies a very important
position in Chinese mythology
 The origin of Chinese dragons is
unknown, but certainly pre-dates the
written history.
http://www.chinapage.com/dragon1.html
 http://www.crystalinks.com/chinadragons.html

DRAGONS
 The
Celestial/Heavenly Chinese Dragon
is comparable as the symbol of the
Chinese race itself.
 Chinese around the world call
themselves "Lung Tik Chuan Ren"
(Descendents of the Dragon).
 The Chinese Dragon is look upon as the
ultimate symbol of Good Fortune.
 The
Chinese Dragon, or Lung ,
symbolizes power and excellence,
bravery and boldness, heroism and
perseverance, nobility and divinity.
 A dragon overcomes obstacles until
success is his.
 He is energetic, decisive, optimistic,
intelligent and ambitious.
 Unlike
the negative energies associated with
Western Dragons, most Eastern Dragons are
beautiful, friendly, and wise.
 They are the angels of the Orient.
 Instead of being hated, they are loved and
worshipped.
 Temples and shrines were built to honor them,
for they were believed to control the rain,
rivers, lakes, and seas.
 It is regarded as the Supreme Being amongst
all creatures. It has the ability to live in the
seas, fly up the heavens and coiled up in the
land in the form of mountains.
CRICKETS
Cricket Culture in China encompasses a 2000 year
history of both singing insects and fighting crickets.
Two millennium of tradition may be divided into three
eras.
 From times prior to the Tang dynasty (500 B.C. – 618
A.D.), people only appreciated the cricket’s powerful
tunes.
 During the Tang dynasty (618 – 906 A.D.), people
started to keep crickets in cages and enjoy their songs
while in captivity.
 Under the Song dynasty (960 – 1278 A.D.), cricket
fighting flourished as a popular sport

“ER-YA” (CA. 500-200 B.C.),
CRICKETS
Cricket Symbolism: Success
 Crickets also are symbolic of success and family size
in China. The insects lay hundreds of eggs before
dying. Centuries ago, large families were very
important to the Chinese, as they were equated with
success. To wish someone to have a family like
crickets was to wish them success, Jin says.
 Cricket Culture: Music
 The Chinese believe the crickets make not noise, but
beautiful music. Songs have been written around the
chirping sounds made by male crickets

LISTEN TO THE CRICKET
BY BEI JU-YI, TANG DYNASTY

The Singing cricket chirps throughout the long night,
tolling in the cloudy autumn with its rain. Intent on
disturbing the gloomy sleepless soul, the cricket
moves towards the bed chirp by chirp.
MULAN
Hua Mulan 花木蘭is a legend from ancient China and
was originally described in a poem known as the
Ballad of Mulan (木蘭辭).
 In the legend she fought for 12 years and merited 12
ranks of rewards, which she refused and retired back
home instead.
 The historical setting of Hua Mulan is uncertain. The
earliest accounts of the legend state that she lived
during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534).

As a child, Mulan loved riding horses around her gaff
and shooting arrows, as well as reading books about
war, as she was from an area dedicated to practicing
the arts of fighting.
 It is recorded that she was born around Hú Nán Shāng
Chūi Shì, a province in northern ancient China that
practiced the arts of the sword, as well as fighting and
kung fu.

Mulan was around 18 when she joined an all-male
army in place of her father, who was too old, and a
younger brother who was still too young.
 During her war years, she fought against forces from
the Middle East and the Mongolian/nomadic tribes,
and was able to claim victory for China for a short
period of time.
 She was then offered a title, but rejected it and went
home. It is said that she died of old age, not from war.
