Transcript Chapter 8 powerpoint for reviewx

Classical Civilization: China
500 B.C.E. to 600 C.E.
Dynastic* Circles of Classical China
• Zhou – Fedualistic Society
• 1122 B.C.E. – 256 B.C.E.
• Period of Warring States 403 B.C.E. – 221
B.C.E.
• Qin – Empire/dynasty
• 221 B.C.E. – 207 B.C.E.
• Han – Empire/dynasty
• 206 B.C.E. – 220 C.E.
*A dynasty is a family of kings.
Zhou Dynasty
1029 B.C.E. to 258 B.C.E.
• China’s feudal period.
• Rulers gave large regional
estates to family and
supporters.
• Regional leaders provided
central government with
troops and tax revenues.
• Vulnerable system due to
regional landowning
aristocrats who built own
power base.
Zhou Dynasty
Political Developments
• Rich agricultural lands merged
wheat-growing north and ricegrowing south.
• Encouraged population
growth.
• Centralized rule became
difficult.
Zhou Dynasty
Political and Cultural Developments
• Heightened focus on
central government.
• Asserted Mandate of
Heaven.
• Emperors considered
Sons of Heaven.
“T’ien Ming”
The Mandate of Heaven
1.The leader must lead by ability and
virtue.
2.The dynasty's leadership must be
justified by succeeding generations.
3.The mandate could be revoked by
negligence and abuse; the will of
the people was important.
Start here
Emperor is
defeated !!
Rebel bands find
strong leader who
unites them.
Attack the emperor.
Poor lose
respect for govt.
They join rebels
& attack landlords.
A new
dynasty
comes to power.
The emperor
reforms the govt.
& makes it more
efficient.
The
Dynastic
Cycle
Droughts,
floods,
famines occur.
Lives of common
people improved;
taxes reduced;
farming encouraged.
Problems begin
(extensive wars,
invasions, etc.)
Taxes increase;
men forced to
work for army.
Farming neglected.
Govt. increases
spending;
corruption.
Zhou Dynasty
Cultural Developments
• Banned human sacrifice.
• Mandarin Chinese,
• Regional languages
remained but educated
officials relied on
Mandarin form.
The Fall of the Zhou Dynasty
• Regional rulers formed
independent armies.
• Emperors were reduced
to figureheads.
• From 402 to 201 B.C.E.,
the “Period of Warring
States,”
• Zhou dynasty
disintegrated.
Qin [Ch’in] Dynasty, 221-206
B.C.E.
 Established China’s first empire 
 Shi Huangdi (221-206 B.C.E)
 Legalist rule 
•
•
•
•
Bureaucratic administration
Centralized control
Military expansion
Book burnings  targeted
Confucianists
• Buried protestors alive!
 Built large section of the Great Wall
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Army
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Army
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Soldiers
& Cavalrymen
Cavalry
Individual Soldiers
The Details of an Individual Soldier
Individual “Tombs”
The Great Wall with Towers
The Eastern terminus of the Great Wall, Shanhai
Pass
Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.E.-220
C.E.
 “People of the Han”  original Chinese
 Paper invented [105 B.C.E.] 
 Silk Road trade develops; improves life for many
 Buddhism introduced into China
 Expanded into Central Asia
Han – Roman Empire Connection
Chang’an
The Han Capital
Liu Sheng Tomb (d. 113 BCE)
His jade suit has 2498 pieces!
Emperor Wudi, 141-87 B.C.E.
 Started public schools.
 Strengthened economy and
government
 Expansionism -colonized
Manchuria,
Korea, & Vietnam.
 Civil service system 
• bureaucrats
• Confucian scholar-gentry
• Revival of Chinese
landscape painting.
• Wudi
• Began Silk Road –
linked China to the
West
• Stretched 4,000 miles
• Han Dynasty made
Confucianism official
belief system
• Began Civil Service
Exams (advancement
based on merit)
• Males only
• Dynasties will rise and
fall but Confucianism
and these exams
endured for 2,000
years.
Han Artifacts
Imperial
Seal
Han Ceramic
House
Ceramics, Later Han Period
Trade Routes of the Ancient World
Multi-Cultural Faces -- People Along the Silk
Road
Ruins of Jiaohe, Turphan depression.
Han dynasty outpost in Central Asia