Transcript Chinese Geography and Early Culture Powerpoint

Chinese
Geography
and
Early
Culture
Located in East Asia and defined by
natural borders
• To the East: Pacific, East China Sea and South
China Sea
• To the North Gobi Desert
• To the West Takla Makan
Desert, Himalayas and Plateau
of Tibet
Heartland Fertilized by Yangtze and
Huang (Yellow) Rivers.
• Yellow River called China’s Sorrow…allows for
fertile plain but unpredictable floods overdeposit loess.
Believed they were the Middle
Kingdom
Mongols to the North
Indus Aryans to the West
Maybe they were right
Early Chinese Civilization
• Strong bonds hold culture together
• Family first
a. Central to Society
b. Role fixed from birth to death
c. Elders have authority
d. Women treated as inferiors
e. First known use of two names
Family closely linked to religion
• Spirits of ancestors bring good luck
• Sacrifices made to honor ancestors
• Ancestors of father honored, mother not
Views of Government
• Obedience to ruler second to family
• Ruler had the Mandate of Heaven
a. A just ruler has divine approval
b. A foolish king can lose approval
Dynastic Cycle:
Once the Mandate was “Lost” a new ruling family must
gain the blessing to rule. This is proven through
warfare.
• Shang 1600-1027 BCE
• Zhou 1027-256 BCE
Civil war
• Ch’in 221-202 BCE
• Han 206 BCE-220 CE
Long phase of civil war
• Sui 580-618
• Tang 618-907
• Song 960-1279
• Yuan 1279-1368 (Mongol)
• Ming 1368-1644
• Qing 1644-1911 (Manchu)
Shang culture
1600-1027 BCE
• Extreme social classes. Mostly just worried
about survival.
• Some culture emerges such as writing.
Chinese writing is in characters
• Lost mandate when became drunks and
maybe insane from lead poisoning.
Zhou dynasty
1027-256 BCE
• Created a feudal system that backfired as local
lords tried to fight for Mandate and “chaos,
arrogance and defiance replace order,
harmony and respect.”
• Warlords fight for mandate and Northern
barbarians take the opportunity to attack.
• Philosophers promote theories to bring order
back to society
Attempting order
• Confucius
• Lao Tzu: Taoism
• Han Fei Tzu: Legalism
• Buddhism
• You will become one of these philosophers and
describe how you would bring order to a chaotic,
warring, disrespectful society:
• Summarize how the
teachings/principles/values/rules of your Chinese
philosophy will work best to bring order to
society. This should be about a page. (Taoism,
Buddhism, Confucianism, Legalism) If the reading
provided is not enough information please feel
welcome to do more research.
A teenage boy will kill all other warring
factions and establish “China” named
after himself, Ch’in 221-202 BCE
• Emperor Ch’in is hated, ruthless and effective.
• Doubles size of country, sets standards of
laws, money, weights and measures in trading,
builds network of highways and increases
navigation of rivers.
• Creates 36 administrative districts to organize
his territory.
For control and security Ch’in:
Built Great Wall to protect from Northern
barbarians
Burned all books judged useless or harmful
Buried scholars alive
• Even protected himself in death…
• Protected himself in death
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Ch’in’s death brings end to Dynasty.
Han is next and civilization flowered
206 BCE-220 CE
Time of Glory, Unity, Peace
Enlarged empire
Poetry and books flourish
University founded
Silk Road brings wealth
• Eventually drought, famine, plague and high
taxes lead to peasant revolts and overthrow of
Han. Will be a long period of war until next
dynasty emerges.
• Sui, Tang, Song, Mongol, Ming, Qing
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szxPar0Bc
Mo Were the Mongol’s that bad?
Song Comparison to Europe 960-1279
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Serfdom ended
Agricultural revolution (rice and tea)
Currency
Books, movable type
Gunpowder
astronomy
Porcelain
Silk
Poetry
Art
Philosophy and scholarship emphasized
Shipping, compass, rudder
Large cities: Kaifeng about a million v London about
18,000.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl
WORyToTo4
• http://flocabulary.com/ancient-china/