Transcript china and korea to 1279

CHINA AND
KOREA
TO 1279
GARDINER 7-1
PP. 180-186
CHINA: NEOLITHIC TO SHANG
DYNASTY

China is the only continuing civilization that originated in the ancient
world

Chinese archeological record begins in Neolithic times -> settled
village life as far back as the 7th or early 6th millennium C.E.

Villages had large multifamily houses, pens for domesticated
animals, kilns for pottery, pits for storage and refuse, cemeteries

Artwork made of jade and clay
YANGSHAO POTTERY

Yangshao Culture vases, from Gansu
Province, China, mid-third
millennium BCE

Yangshao culture arose along the
Yellow River in N. West China

Neolithic Chinese artists produced
vessels of diverse shapes even
before the potter’s wheel

Decorated the bowls and pots with
abstract motifs in red and brownishblack on a cream colored ground
SHANG DYNASTY

The Shang Dynasty was the first
great Chinese dynasty of the
Bronze Age

Lasted almost 600 years -> from
1600-1050 B.C.E

Shang kings ruled from a series of
capitals in the Yellow River valley

Warlike, highly stratified society
SANXINGDUI

Standing male figure, from pit 2,
Sanxingdui, China, ca. 1200-1050
BCE, bronze, 8’5” including base

Excavations at Sanxingdou have
revealed a Chinese civilization
contemporary with the Shang but
with a different artistic aesthetic

Highly stylized figure with
elongated proportions and large,
staring eyes
SHANG BRONZE
CASTING

Guang, probably from Anyang, China,
Shang Dynasty, 12th or 11th century BCE

Shang artists perfected the casting of
elaborate bronze vessels decorated with
animal motifs

Shang bronzes were made using piece
molds -> solid clay model and then a
mold around it which was then cut into
pieces, fired, carved and then
reattached to the model using bronze
spacers

Shang bronzes held wine, water, grain or
meat for sacrificial rites
ZHOU AND QIN DYNASTIES

Around 1050 BCE the ZHOU, who
were vassals of the Shang
overthrew the Shang

The Zhou dynasty is the longest
lasting in Chinese history
1.
Western Zhou 1050-771 BCE
2.
Eastern Zhou 770 – 256 BCE

The end of the Zhou dynasty is
called the WARRING STATES
PERIOD 475-221 BCE

The Zhou fell to the Qin in 256 BCE
ZHOU JADE

Bi disk with dragons from Jincun, near
Luoyang, China, Eastern Zho dynasty,
fourth to third century BCE, nephrite, 6 ½ “

The Chinese first used jade/nephrite in the
Neolithic period

Jade is tough, hard and heavy ->
became a metaphor for fortitude and
moral perfection of superior persons

Chinese sculptors used grinding and
abrasion rather than drilling and chiseling
to work on the extremely hard material
THE FIRST EMPEROR

During the Warring States Period China
endured two centuries of political and
social turmoil

Order is restored when the armies of the
ruler of the state of Qin conquer all rival
states between 221-210 BCE

Qin Shi Huangdi = the First Emperor
1.
Builds the Great Wall to keep out the
Huns
2.
Consolidates rule through centralized
bureaucracy -> standardized language,
wieghts, measures and coinage
3.
Repressed schools of thought other than
Legalism
QIN SHI HUANGDI
FLASHCARD
193-1

Army of the First Emperor of Qin in pits
next to his burial mound, Lintong, China,
Qin dynasty, ca. 210 BCE, painted
terracotta, average figure 5’11” high

6,000 life-size painted terracotta figures of
soldiers and horses found in pits around
the tomb on the First Emperor of Qin

The Lintong army was the First Emperor’s
bodyguard for eternity

Although produced from common molds,
every figure has an individualized
appearance
TERRACOTTA ARMY, LINTONG
FLASHCARD
193-2
TERRA COTTA WARRIORS FROM MAUSOLEUM OF THE FIRST QIN EMPEROR OF
CHINA
DAOISM AND CONFUCIANISM
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Daoism – a Chinese philosophy which
stresses an intuitive awareness nurtured by
harmonious contact with nature and
shunning everything artificial

Daoist seek to follow the universal path or
way called the Dao involving retreat from
society and the cultivation of the individual

Yin and yang – yang is active masculine
energy and yin is passive feminine energy
which Daoist seek to find a perfect balance
between in themselves

Confucianism – a Chinese religion based on
the teaching of Confucius (551-479 BCE)
which stressed social responsibility and order