China
China • Ancient Chinese civilization developed mostly isolated from other major civilizations • Why? • Geography • West and Southwest • Tien Shan and Himalayan Mountains and desert • Southeast • Thick jungle separated China from Southeast Asia • North • Gobi Desert • East • Pacific Ocean
Early Chinese Civilization • Neolithic farming developed on the East Coast along the Huang He (Yellow) and Chang Jiang (Yangtze) Rivers • Huang He also called the Yellow River since it carried loess (fine windblown yellow soil)
Chinese Dynasties • Dynasty – a series of rulers from the same family • Mandate – a right AND a responsibility • Aging Dynasty • Begins to lose Mandate of Heaven • Neglects Government duties • Allows corruption • Loses control of provinces • Imposes heavy taxes to pay for luxuries • Allows defense to decay • New Dynasty • Earns Mandate of Heaven • Restores Peace • Appoints loyal officials • Redistributes land • Builds canals, irrigation systems, and roads • Repairs defenses • Disaster Occurs • Flood, or famine • Earthquake • Invasion • Peasant Revolt • Result: loss of Mandate of Heaven
Xia Dynasty • 2100 BC – 1600 BC • Possibly fictional • No written records from this time • Many different city states along the Huang He were collected under the control of Yu the Great (or Yu the Engineer) • Yu the Engineer was said to have dredged the river to prevent the devastating floods
Shang Dynasty • 1600 BC – 1046 BC • Conquered more than 1800 city-states in northern and central China • Looked to dead ancestors to guide their lives • Oracle Bones • Animal bones used to find divine answers from their ancestors • Answers were carved into the bones afterwards • Developed system of writing using pictographs and ideographs • Writing on these bones gives us insight into how the Shang might have lived
Zhou Dynasty • 1045 B.C. – 256 B.C. • Conquered the Shang Dynasty • Longest Chinese Dynasty • Strongest in the first 300 years • Much of the second half of the Zhou Dynasty is referred to as the Warring States Period • Believed in a God and a concept of Heaven called Tian • Ruled according to the Mandate of Heaven • Mandate – an official order to do something • a RIGHT and a RESPONSIBILITY • Rulers should be virtuous • Only through virtuous rule will the ruler maintain the right to rule • If ruler is not virtuous, they can lose the Mandate
Zhou Dynasty • Social Structure • King – Nobles - Peasants • Feudalism – political system of land grants in exchange for loyalty • King grants land to Nobles in exchange for military allegiance • Nobles allow Peasants to farm land in exchange for military service • Confucius • Philosopher during Warring States Period • Stay tuned…..
Qin Dynasty • 221 B.C. – 206 B.C. • Very brief but VERY INFLUENTIAL • Qin King defeats other kings in Warring States Period • Renames himself Shi Huangdi – “First Emperor” • Rejected Confucianism, adopted Legalism • Legalism – governing with strict laws • Emphasized rewards and (harsh) punishments
Qin Dynasty • Largest Dynasty yet • Built 4000 miles of roads • Great Wall • Nomadic horsemen to the north were a constant threat • Shi Huangdi linked together earlier walls to create one Great Wall • 30 ft. high • Over 1500 miles long • Built in only 7 years • As many as 500,000 lives lost during construction • Wall you see today was rebuilt in 14th century
Qin Dynasty • Additional Changes: • Standardization • Language • Money • Weights and measures • Rejected Feudalism for expanded bureaucracy • Bureaucracy: A network of appointed government officials • Nobles lands were turned into provinces • Power was centralized with the Emperor • Required a STRONG ruler • After Shi Huangdi, his son was not strong, leading China into civil war
Han Dynasty • 206 B.C. – 220 A.D. • Over 400 years • Rejected Legalism for Confucianism • Eventually combined the two • Expanded the Empire • Large army conquered lands to the north, south, and west • Extended the Great Wall • Used foreign ambassadors to promote peace • Created civil service system • Government officials were chosen and promoted based upon SKILL, rather than loyalty or family name • Why is this good?
Han Dynasty • Trade on the Silk Road • China began to trade more expansively with the West • Called the Silk Road because Chinese silk was in high demand • Highly profitable for the Chinese • Not one road, but a collection of roads linking trading posts • Chinese traders didn’t make it too far west, but their goods did
Han Dynasty • Additional Advancements: • First Chinese dictionary • History texts • Seismograph • Measures earthquakes • Wheelbarrow • Paper • Boat rudders • Practiced Taoism • Stay tuned…
Religion in China • Confucianism • Confucius • Emphasized social order and good government, as well as honesty, integrity, loyalty, and pursuit of knowledge • Harmony results from people accepting their place in society • Everyone has a duty and a responsibility • Superiors should set a good example • Inferiors should be loyal and obedient • Taoism • Lao-Tse • Emphasized harmony with nature • Tao – the way of the universe • Harmony was found through contemplation, not intervention • “Go with the flow.” • Yin-Yang – represents duality of the universe – there is always good and bad • Buddhism • Spreads from India to China around 100 A.D. Started as PHILOSOPHY, turned into RELIGION.
