Ancient China ABC book By: Mac C.

1. Ancient China ABC bookBy: Mac C.

2. Ancestor Worship • Ancestor worship was very important to the early Shang kings and nobles. It was a way of life. When a man died, the ancient Chinese believed his spirit lived on in the afterworld. • They believed their ancestors had magical powers. These magical powers allowed their ancestors to punish them or to help them. To keep their ancestors happy, they brought gifts of food and wine to special places or temples. They held many celebrations to honor their ancestors.

3. Buddhism • Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who would one day be known as the Buddha, began his life as a prince in a kingdom in ancient India.  Prince Gautama (Buddha) was born about 553 BCE. He had parents who loved him, many servants to wait on him, the finest clothes, and a different palace for each season of the year. • Yet, he found his world full of suffering. It upset him that painful old age, sickness, and death were all part of life in this world. One day, he met a monk. He was amazed that this monk could find calm and peace in a world filled with such sufferings. • That day he made a very difficult decision. He decided to leave his wealth, his comfort, his wife, and his newborn son, to become a monk.

4. Chinese Zodiac • Tiger people are brave, powerful, loyal, intelligent, competent, and stubborn. Tigers make great friends. Tiger people tend not to respect their elders and that can get them in a lot of trouble. • Rabbit people are lucky, happy, independent, affectionate, bright, ambitious, and trustworthy. Rabbit people have little interest in learning to appear smart. They simply like to know how things work. • Dragon people are honest, full of energy, stubborn, loyal, strong, and protective. Dragon people are incredibly lucky. They love flattery, and can be attracted to bad behavior. That is their weakness. • Snake people are wise and focused. They trust their own judgment. Snake people cannot help but do their best because they hate to fail at anything. Snake people believe everyone should lend a helping hand. • Horse people are popular, cheerful, quick witted, and shy. For some reason, horse people have a great deal of trouble believing they are loved, when in fact, horse people are easy to like and love. • Sheep people are elegant, wise, gentle, shy, and compassionate. They can be bossy, but that’s because they're worried things will not get done correctly. This character trait often makes money for them. • Monkey people are quick, funny, nosey, clever, witty, and successful. They have wonderful memories and are well informed about everything. They tend to chatter. This does drive friends away sometimes. • Rooster people are early risers, proud, alert, deep thinkers and good speakers. They like to stay close to home. If you can break through their natural suspicion, they make wonderful friends. • Dog people are loyal friends, quick to learn, eager to please, and always try to do their best. They prefer to be with people they know and like. Dog people cannot stand injustice. • People who are born in the Year of the Pig are intelligent, sincere, brave, popular, and treat all people with great kindness. Pig people are often late and often forgetful. • People born in the Year of the Rat are famous for cheerfulness and kindness. They are generous with those they love. Rat people love to gossip. That can cost them many friendships if they are not careful. • Ox people are easy going and have a great deal of self-assurance that helps help them to be successful. Ox people have thoughtful responses. Ox people love deeply and share their strength with those they love.

5. Dragons • WOOD DRAGON: The Wood Dragon is creative, imaginative, and inquisitive. He is both a thinker and a doer and is capable of brilliant new concepts. His every move is guided by sound logic. His drive and ambition allow him to put many of his ideas into practice, nevertheless this Dragon is capable of concealing his domination and tries not to offend. He will even compromise if it is advantages. Although not as self-centered as other Dragons, he is still outspoken and fearless when challenged. • FIRE DRAGON: The Fire Dragon is the most extroverted and competitive Dragon. He tends to push too hard and expects a lot from everyone. His criticisms are objective and he has the ability to arouse massive popular support. His insatiableambition can make him short-tempered and intolerant. He is an empire builder who needs to master his less favorable traits and learn how to communicate more humbly with people as individuals. • EARTH DRAGON: The Earth Dragon is a quieter, more reflective Dragon, He will be appreciative of other's opinions even if he fails to agree with them. He is reasonable in his approach to problems and his leadership is less dictatorial. He is not given to outbursts of temper, but at the same time demands respect. He knows the value of cooperation and is more diplomatic than the other Dragons. He is ambitious, but his initiatives are less hurried and more carefully thought out. • METAL DRAGON: The Metal Dragon is the most strong-willed Dragon. He is inflexible, unbending and combative. He gives little regard to the feelings of others. This ruthlessness can result in a rapid rise to a position of authority, but often at the cost of destroying important relationships. It is futile to attempt to convince him that certain things are simply undoable. He will go it alone if he can't gain support. He succeeds because he refuses to accept failure. • WATER DRAGON: The Water Dragon is less selfish and opinionated than the other Dragons. He is more inhibited and less power-hungry. He can accept defeat without recriminations. He makes a good negotiator as he knows when, where, and how to apply pressure. He has a tendency to be over-optimistic and needs to learn how to relinquish what is unfeasible so that he can concentrate his energies on the mostrewarding endeavors

6. Forbidden City • Construction of the Forbidden City began in relatively modern times, in the year 1406. • The construction took an estimated one million workers 14 years to build hundreds of perfect and beautiful buildings of the Forbidden City. It served as the seat of government for the Ming Dynasty. Today, it is a museum now. • There are 800 buildings that have in total about 9,000 rooms. The Forbidden City is the world's largest palace complex. Millions of people visit this incredible place each year and gaze in awe.

7. Great Wall • About 3000 people worked on the wall during the Qin Dynasty. • The rocks fell on people. Walls caved in on them. Workers died of exhaustion and disease. Laborers were fed only enough food to keep them alive. • The Chinese worked on the Great Wall for over 1700 years. In turn, each emperor who came to power added pieces of the wall to protect their dynasties. • First Emperor Qin wanted a much better barricade to protect his people from the Mongol invaders to the north. He wanted a strong wall 30 feet wide and 50 feet high.

8. Han Dynasty • This was not the Golden Age of China, but life was very good for many of the people because of the demand for Chinese silk. The creation of the "silk road". The trade routes across the fierce deserts - allowed trade to flourish more easily with the Roman Empire. • People bonded together into one civilization during Han times. They had a common culture. Even in remote sections, district officials copied the manner of the imperial court. Peasants built homes and plowed their fields in the same way all over China.

9. Inventions • The ancient Chinese invented many things we use today, including paper, silk, matches, wheelbarrows, gunpowder, the decimal system, and the waterwheel. • Also the sundial, astronomy, porcelain china, lacquer paint, pottery wheel, fireworks, paper money, compass, seismograph, tangrams, medicines, dominoes, and jump rope, • kites, tea ceremony, folding umbrella, ink, calligraphy, animal harness, playing cards, printing, and ... well, you get the idea.

10. Lantern Festival • This holiday is celebrated approximately 15 days after the start of the Chinese New Year. Chinese Lantern Festival is very old. • By T'ang times, many families simply set aside one evening, during the first full moon after the new year, to honor the moon. They would sit outside, and gaze up, in awe and delight. • Today, people wear white in honor of the moon, lanterns are hung in the malls and markets, and children carry paper lanterns to school, to light their way to a bright and happy future.

11. Ming Dynasty • The Ming Dynasty was a time of adventure and travel. The great Chinese mariners mapped the world. They brought back treasures from around the globe.  • Out of all the incredible things they brought back, some of which are on display today in the Forbidden Palace, one of the most popular items was the folding fan. • Mariners brought many fans home from Japan and Korea. Fans had always been popular in ancient China, but the concept of a folding fan caught on quickly.

12. New Years • Chinese New Year is a very old celebration, a time for repaying debts, enjoying feasts, giving "red envelopes" of lucky money to friends and relatives, and remembering ancestors.  • Yan Yat  - The seventh day of the Chinese New Year is called Yan Yat it means Everybody's Birthday. • There are many delightful ancient stories. Superstitions surrounding this holiday. A most popular story is the ancient story of Nian.

13. Oracle Bones • To communicate with their ancestors, the Shang kings used oracle bones they are sometimes called dragon bones.  • Here's how it worked: The king or emperor would ask a question. The priest would carve the king's question on an oracle bone, which was just an animal bone or turtle shell. • Then, the priest would heat a bronze pin and hold the hot pin to the bone. This created a pattern of cracks over the bone. The priest would study the cracks to find the answer to the question.

14. Paper Fans • The ancient Chinese loved fans. The earliest fans were made of feathers. One of the ancient Chinese gods, often carried a fan of feathers, although no one knows why. • Over the years, the clever Chinese people made fans from all kinds of materials including straw and wood. But it was not until the Ming Dynasty that the Chinese discovered the art of paper fan folding. They did not invent the folded paper fan. That invention arrived from Japan and Korea on the Ming ships that wandered the earth in search of treasure. • Once the folding paper fan was introduced into ancient Chinese society, it was immediately adopted. Everyone had to have a folded paper fan. Fans were embroidered and painted and decorated and hung. It was more than a fad. It soon became a national activity - nearly everyone made and carried gorgeously decorated folding paper fans.

15. Qin Dynasty • In 221 B.C.,Chinese were unified for the first time to construct a great country that ended the long era of disunity and warring. In that year the western frontier state of Qin, the most aggressive of the Warring States, subjugated the last of its rival state. • Centralization and autarchy were achieved by ruthless methods and focused on standardizing legal codes, bureaucratic procedures, the forms of writing and coinage, and the pattern of thought and scholarship. • To silence criticism of imperial rule, the kings banished or put to death many dissenting Confucian scholars and confiscated and burned their books. Qin expansionism was aided by frequent military expeditions pushing forward the frontiers in the north and south.

16. Red • Red stands for good luck • Also stands for good fortune • Last they raped presents in red or money

17. Song Dynasty • Like the Han and the Tang Dynasties, the Song Dynasty was a time of wonderful invention and art. Chinese opera began during this period, as did the art of paper cutting.   • So many things were invented during the Song Dynasty that this period in history is sometimes referred to as China's Age of Invention.  • Legend says that out of all the wonderful things that Marco Polo discovered in the Song Dynasty. Marco Polo was most impressed by the fabulous new creation, the Rainbow Bridge.

18. Tan Dynasty600 CE-900 CE • Around 600 CE, the T'ang managed to pull China together once again. T'ang times were neat! Under T'ang leadership, ancient China entered her Golden Age.  It was a time of prosperity and gaiety and experimentation. People tried new things, like bananas! • You did not have to be a noble to hold a high position. To be assigned a job in high office in one of the many towns and villages, you had to pass the government exams. It was a route to riches and fame. On examination day, the day the tests were given, horses and coaches thronged the road to the city. • A famous poet of T'ang times is Po Chu-I (772-846)  Po, like many Chinese, liked the simple things of life best. Although fame and fortune are nice, the joy and pride his parents might have in him and the joy of a beautiful spring day, were more important. This is his poem, about examination day in the city.

19. Xia Dynasty • For many years, the Xia Dynasty was thought to be a part of a myth that the Chinese tell as part of their history. The Xia Dynasty was in oral histories, but no archaeological evidence was found of it until 1959. • Chinese civilization started around 10,000 BCE, when a group called the Yangshao (yahng show) settled near the Huang He River. Archaeologists have uncovered many Yangshao villages in northern China. In one village, they found the remains of farmhouses, built partly underground, with plaster floors, and roofs held up with wooden posts. • About 3,000 BCE, another farming group appeared, the Lungshan people. The Lungshan were very advanced for their time. They harvested silk, and used it to weave fine fabrics. They used the potters wheel. They baked strong bricks in ovens, and used them to build their homes. They worked together on flood control and irrigation projects. They had great engineering skills. Legend has it that their "Great Engineer", Yu, founded the Xia (sometimes called the Hsia) Dynasty in about 2,000 BCE.

20. Yellow River • From the earliest times in the history of humankind, water, in the form of lakes, seas, and especially rivers, has played an essential role in the development of civilization. This is a truth universal to cultures throughout the world. • And the great amount of archeological information available about ancient Chinese civilization tells us that their ways of life were greatly influenced by the Yellow and Yangtze River civilizations. The Yellow River, in particular, was essential to the development of Chinese civilization.

21. Zhou Dynasty • Around 1045 B.C.E., a group of people in northwestern China moved into the central plains. They rebelled and established a new dynasty. For several centuries, the Zhou ruled over a group of states in china. But in the later years of the dynasty, wars between states plunged china into disorder.