Transcript The Qin and Han Dynasties

Bell Ringer

Write down 3 unique
features of Chinese
architecture.

Palaces and temples
were ornately built and
decorated. Does this style
appeal to you?
The Qin and
Han Dynasties
Solution to Chaos

Chinese scholars and philosophers developed
different solutions to restore the values (love of
order, harmony, and respect for authority) that
had dissolved during the time of the “warring
states”.

Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism are three
philosophies that resulted from that development.
Confucianism

China’s most influential scholar was Confucius

Born in 551 B.C., Confucius lived in a time when the
Zhou Dynasty was in decline.

He led a scholarly life, studying and teaching
history, music, and moral character.

He had a deep desire to restore the order and
moral living of earlier times to his society.

Confucius believed that social order, harmony,
and good government could be restored in China
if society were organized around five basic
relationships
Confucianism
5
Basic Relationships:

Ruler & Subject

Father & Son

Husband & Wife

Older Brother &
Younger Brother

Friend & Friend
Extra Information:
Confucianism

Each person had a duty to one another

Parents should be loving and the children should
revere their parents

Husbands should fulfill his duties, and wives should be
obedient

Elder sibling should be kind, and the younger sibling
respectful

The older friend should be considerate, and the
younger friend should be admiring

Rulers should be benevolent and subjects should be
loyal
Confucianism
 Three
of Confucius’s five relationships
were based upon the family.
 Children
should practice filial piety, or
respect for their parents and ancestors.
 Children
were to devote themselves to
their parents during their parent’s lifetime.
 Children
should also honor their parents
memory after death through rituals.
Extra Information:
Quote by Confucius
“If there is righteousness in the heart, there will
be beauty in the character. If there is beauty in
the character, there will be harmony in the
home. If there is harmony in the home, there
will be order in the nation. If there is order in the
nation there will be peace in the world.”
Confucianism
 Confucianism
was an ethical system,
based on principles or right and wrong,
never a religion.
 It
became the foundation for Chinese
government and social order.
 The
ideas of Confucius also spread
beyond China and influenced civilizations
throughout East Asia.
Daoism
 Dao
- “The Way”
 Created
by Chinese thinker Laozi.
 The
natural order is more important than the
social order.
A
universal force guides all things.
 Human
beings should live simply and in
harmony with nature.
Legalism
 Created
Li Si.
by political thinkers Hanfeizi and
A
highly efficient and powerful government
is the key to social order.
 Punishments
order.
 Thinkers
are useful to maintain social
and their ideas should be strictly
controlled by the government.
Yin and Yang

Others turned to ancient concept of yin and yang.

Two powers that represented the natural rhythm of
life.

Yin – cold, dark, soft, and mysterious.

Yang – warm, bright, hard and clear.

The circle represents the harmony of yin and yang.

Both represent rhythm of the universe and
complement each other.
Quin Dynasty
 In
the 3rd century B.C.,
The Zhou Dynasty was
replaced with the Qin
Dynasty.
Shi Huangdi

First Emperor

Used Legalism because he
wanted to control ideas so he
could have unlimited power

Murdered Confucius thinkers

Burned Confucianism's books

Built Great Wall

Terra Cotta Statues guarded his
tomb
Social Advances under
Shi Huangdi
 Highway
of 4,000 miles of roads
 Set
standards for writing, currency, and
weights and measurements
 Standards
for vehicle wheel axels so
wheels could fit in ruts on roads
Fall of Shi Huangdi

Established “autocracy” – A government that
has unlimited power and uses it in an
subjective manner.

Over worked the people on the Great Wall
and his tomb.

Very paranoid of assassination attempts.

Apparently died from mercury pills.

Peasants rebelled just two years after 2nd
Emperor took power, which led to a civil war.
Han Dynasty
 Han
Dynasty resulted
after 6 years of civil
war.
 One
of the longest
dynasties in Chinese
history.
Liu Bang
 Liu
Bang was a
general that won
and declared
himself the first
emperor of the
Han Dynasty.
Liu Bang
 Established
a centralized government –
Central authority controls the running of a
state.
 Lowered
taxes and softened punishments
 Established
peace and stability to China
Empress Lü
 When
Liu Bang
died in 195 B.C., his
son became
emperor.
 But
the real ruler
was his mother,
Empress Lü.
Empress Lü
 The
empress outlived her son and named
one infant son after another as emperor.
 Because
the infants were too young to rule,
she remained in control.
 When
Empress Lü died in 180 B.C., people
who remained loyal to Liu Bang’s family
came back into power.
 They
rid the palace of the old empress’s
relatives by executing them.
Wudi “The Martial Emperor”
 When
Liu Bang’s
great-grandson,
Wudi, took the
throne, he
continued Liu Bang’s
centralizing policies.
Wudi “The Martial Emperor”

He is called the “Martial Emperor” because he
adopted the policy of expanding the Chinese
empire through war.

His enemies were the Xiongnu fierce nomads
known for their deadly archery skills from
horseback.

Other emperors attempted to bribe the
nomads to stay away, but the Xiongnu would
raid anyway.

Wudi sent 100,000 soilders to stop the nomads
and made allies with the Xiongnu’s enemies.
A Highly Structured Society

Chinese society under the Han Dynasty was
highly structured.

Chinese believed their emperor to have divine
authority, they accepted his exercise of power.

He was the link between heaven and earth. If
the emperor did his job well, China had peace
and prosperity.

If he failed, the heavens showed their
displeasure with earthquakes, floods, and
famines.
Social Structure
Extra Information:
Art and Literature

Witnessed a significant revival in Chinese art, Chinese
pottery (ceramic), jade carving, silk weaving
and Chinese painting (on paper) were three areas of
particular achievement.

Shadow puppetry (First 5:30 Mins – 10 Mins )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-mzqxZNp2g

Poetry, literature, and philosophy flourished during
the reign of Emperor Wudi. The Shiji (Historical
Records set the standard for later governmentsponsored histories.
Chinese Music -

Sources:
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/east-asian-art/han-dynasty.htm
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hand/hd_hand.htm
Extra Information: Music


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrVQzwhCF2w
(2 -4 Mins)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n6n45bHUyM
(2-4 Mins)
 Notice
the different instruments and style
of music the Chinese created verses other
Indus Valley civilizations.
Advances during the Han
Dynasty

Paper was invented in A.D. 105.

Books became more available, which helped spread
education in China.

Collar harness for horses was created.

Revolutionized the plow.

Invented the wheelbarrow.

Began to use water mills to grind grain.

Managed huge silk mills – to create woven silk.
Fall of the Han
 The
rich became richer at the expenses of
the poor.
 Political
instability grew. People of the
court would plot ways to gain the
emperors favor to be chosen to succeed
him.
 One
inexperienced emperor replaced
another.
Fall of the Han

First Han was overthrown by Wang Mang
(Confucian scholar and member of the
court).

Wang Mang was assassinated.

New Han Dynasty started by member of old
imperial family.

Social, political, and economic weaknesses of
the 2nd Han led to downfall.

Disintegrated into 3 rival kingdoms.
China Ethical Systems:
Assignment

Complete the Chinese Ethical Chart in the
chart provided for you at the end of your
notes.

Please write the chart carefully and correctly.
You will see this on a future quiz or test.
Chinese Ethical Systems
Chinese Ethical Systems
Chinese Ethical Systems
Completed Chart