The first Great Wall of China was built morethan 2,000 years ago to keep out invaders.The current wall, which is about 4,000 mileslong, was built about 500 years ago.

c. 1750 B.C. Shang dynastybegins

1045 B.C.Wu Wang creates Zhou dynasty

551 B.C.Confuciusis born

c. A.D. 100Silk Roadcompleted

1800 B.C. 1150 B.C. 500 B.C. A.D. 1501800 B.C. 1150 B.C. 500 B.C. A.D. 150

Early China

D.E

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Chapter Overview Visitca.hss.glencoe.com for a preview of Chapter 5.

Organizing Information Make this foldable to help you organize informationabout the important people in the early history of China.

Reading and WritingAs you read the chapter,list important people andwhat they did or taughtduring these periods inChinese history.

Step 1 Fold asheet of paperin half fromside to side.

273

This will makethree tabs.

China’s FirstCivilizationsChinesePhilosophers

Qinand Han

Fold it so the leftedge lies about inch from the

right edge.

12

Step 2 Turn the paperand fold it into thirds.

Step 3 Unfold and cut the top layer only along both folds.

Step 4 Turn the paperand label it as shown.

China’s First CivilizationsPhysical geography plays a role in how civilizations develop and decline.

Chinese civilization was shaped by geography such as mountainsand large rivers. Long-lasting dynasties gained power throughstrong armies.

Life in Ancient ChinaPeople’s social status affects how they live. Early Chinese society had

three main social classes: aristocrats, farmers, and merchants.During periods of unrest, ideas such as Confucianism and Daoismdeveloped.

The Qin and Han DynastiesSystems of order, such as law and government, contribute to stable

societies. Both the Qin and Han dynasties created strong centralgovernments. New inventions developed during the Han dynastyhelped to improve the lives of Chinese people.

View the Chapter 5 video in the Glencoe Video Program.

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274

You can use a variety of techniques to improve your reading. Lookat the examples below. Monitoring is a way of discovering your read-ing strengths and weaknesses. Different people read differently. Someread and understand quickly, while others need to read the same mate-rial several times. Successful readers constantly monitor themselvesduring reading to make sure that the text makes sense.

Did you remember the def-inition of a pictograph?Reread the definition in thetext or look in the glossary.

Sometimes reading aheadwill help you understand themeaning. This text explainsan ideograph more clearlyby using an example andfurther defining the term.

Monitoring

• Does the text make sense? If not, try to iden-tify and reread what you do not understand.

• Use any related graphs, charts, illustrations,or photographs on the page to help you findthe meaning of the text.

• Is it helpful to think about what you alreadyknow about Chinese writing, based on whatyou may have previously read, seen, or expe-rienced?

When you study, read

more slowly. When you

read for pleasure, you can

read more quickly.

Ideographs (IH • dee • uh • GRAFS)are another kind of character used inChinese writing. They join two ormore pictographs to represent anidea. For example, the ideograph for“east” relates to the idea of the sunrising in the east. It is a combinationof pictographs that show the suncoming up behind trees.

— from page 280

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275

Laozi

The paragraph below appears in Section 2 on page 291.Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.Discuss your answers with other students to see how theymonitor their reading.

As you read the chapter, identify oneparagraph in each section that is diffi-cult to understand. Discuss each para-graph with a partner to improve yourunderstanding.

As you reread a sectionfrom this chapter,monitor yourself to seehow well you understandit. Then describe in ashort paragraph whatkind of strategies aremost helpful to youbefore, during, and afteryou read.

Read to Write

• What questions do you still have after reading? • Do you understand all the words in the passage?• Did you read the passage differently than you

would have read a short story or a newspaperarticle? How do you read various types of textdifferently?

• Did you have to stop reading often? Is the read-ing the appropriate level for you?

“Higher good is like water: the good in water benefits all, and does so without

contention. It rests where people dislike

to be, so it is close to the Way. Where it dwells becomes

good ground; profound is the good in its

heart, Benevolent the good it

bestows.”—Laozi, Tao Te Ching

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China’s First Civilizations

c. 1750 B.C.Shang dynastybegins

1045 B.C. Wu Wangcreates Zhoudynasty

221 B.C.Qin dynastybegins

LuoyangAnyang

1750 B.C. 975 B.C. 200 B.C.1750 B.C. 975 B.C. 200 B.C.

276 CHAPTER 5 • Early China

Looking Back, Looking AheadIn earlier chapters, you learned

that many civilizations developed in river valleys. China’s civilizationalso began in a river valley, butmountains and deserts affected itsdevelopment.

Focusing on the • Rivers, mountains, and deserts helped

shape China’s civilization. (page 277)

• Rulers known as the Shang becamepowerful because they controlledland and had strong armies. (page 278)

• Chinese rulers claimed that theMandate of Heaven gave them the right to rule. (page 281)

Locating PlacesHuang He (HWAHNG HUH)Chang Jiang (CHAHNG JYAHNG) Anyang (AHN•YAHNG)

Meeting PeopleWu Wang (WOO WAHNG)

Content Vocabularydynasty (DY•nuh•stee)aristocrat (uh•RIHS•tuh•KRAT)pictograph (PIHK•tuh•GRAF)ideograph (IH•dee•uh•GRAF)bureaucracy (byu•RAH•kruh•see)mandate (MAN•DAYT)Dao (DOW)

Academic Vocabularyrecover (rih•KUH•vuhr)interpret (ihn•TUHR•pruht)link

item

Reading StrategySummarizing Information Completea chart like the one below describingthe characteristics of the Shang andZhou dynasties.

HistorySocial ScienceStandardsWH6.6 Studentsanalyze the geographic,political, economic,religious, and socialstructures of the earlycivilizations of China.

ZhouShang

Dates

Leadership

Accomplishments

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WH6.6.1 Locate and describe the origins of Chinese civilization in the Huang-He Valley during the Shang Dynasty.

WH6.6.2 Explain the geographic features of China that made governance and the spread of ideas and goods difficult and served toisolate the country from the rest of the world.

China’s GeographyRivers, mountains, and deserts helped

shape China’s civilization.

Reading Connection Why do you think so many

cities and towns were built beside rivers? Read to learn

why rivers were important to the development of China.

The Huang He (HWAHNG HUH), orYellow River, flows across China for morethan 2,900 miles (4,666 km). It gets its namefrom the rich yellow soil it carries fromMongolia to the Pacific Ocean. Like riversin early Mesopotamia and Egypt, China’sHuang He regularly flooded the land. Thesefloods destroyed homes and drowned manypeople. As a result, the Chinese called theHuang He “China’s sorrow.”

The river, however, also brought a gift.The Huang He is the muddiest river in theworld. When the river floods, it leavesbehind rich silt in the Huang He valley,nearly 57 pounds for every cubic yard oftopsoil. By comparison, the Nile River inEgypt only leaves 2 pounds of silt per cubicyard. The soil is so rich that farmers cangrow large amounts of food on very smallfarms.

China also has another great river,called the Chang Jiang (CHAHNG JYAHNG),or the Yangtze River. The Chang Jiang flows for about 3,400 miles (5,471 km) east across central China where it empties into theYellow Sea. Like the Huang He valley, theChang Jiang valley also has rich soil forfarming.

600 km0Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection

600 mi.0N

S

W E

120°E100°E80°E

40°N

20°N

PACIFICOCEAN

YellowSea

Sea ofJapan

(East Sea)

EastChina

Sea

SouthChina

Sea

eHieW

Chan

g Jiang

(Yan

gtze

R.)

(Y

ellow

R.)

Hu

an

gH

e

CHINA

INDIA

MONGOLIA

JAPAN

G O B I

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PENINSULA

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A L A Y A

TIAN SHAN

K U N L U N SHAN

ALTUN

MTS.

Taiwan

Hainan

PLATEAUOF TIBET

ALTAYMOUNTAINS

1. Location What is the name of thedesert on China’s northern border nearMongolia?

2. Human/Environment Interaction Whateffect did China’s mountains and desertshave on its history?

Find NGS online map resources @ www.nationalgeographic.com/maps

CHAPTER 5 • Early China 277

The Geography of China

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WH6.6.1 Locate and describe the origins of Chinese civilization in the Huang-He Valley during the Shang Dynasty.

400 km0Lambert AzimuthalEqual-Area projection

400 mi.0

N

S

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120°E

100°E

40°N

Wei He

HuangH

e (Yel

low

R.

)

Huang He (Yell

owR.)

Chang J iang (Ya ngtze R.)

YellowSea

EastChina

Sea

Anyang

278 CHAPTER 5 • Early China

1. Location What rivers were foundwithin the borders of the Shangdynasty?

2. Location In what part of theShang kingdom was Anyangfound?

Even though China has rich soil alongits rivers, only a little more than one-tenthof its land can be farmed. That is becausemountains and deserts cover most of theland. The towering Himalaya close offChina to the southwest. The Kunlun Shanand Tian Shan are mountain ranges onChina’s western border. The Gobi, a vast,cold, rocky desert, spreads east from themountains. These mountains and desertsshaped much of Chinese history. They werelike a wall around the Chinese, separatingthem from most other peoples.

Over time, the Chinese people united toform one kingdom. They called their home-land “the Middle Kingdom.” To them, itwas the world’s center and its leading civi-lization. The Chinese developed a way oflife that lasted into modern times.

Identify Name two riversimportant to early Chinese civilizations.

Shang empire,c. 1750–1045 B.C.

KEY

The Shang DynastyRulers known as the Shang became

powerful because they controlled land and hadstrong armies.

Reading Connection Who are the leaders in your

community? What gives them their power? Read to

learn why some people in early China had more power

than others.

Little is known about how Chinese civi-lization began. Archaeologists, however,have found pottery in the Huang He valleydating back thousands of years. These arti-facts show that the Huang He valley wasthe first center of Chinese civilization.Archaeologists think that people stayed inthe valley and farmed the land because ofrich soil. As their numbers expanded, theybegan building towns, and soon after, thefirst Chinese civilization began.

China’s first rulers were probably part ofthe Xia (SYAH) dynasty. A dynasty (DY• nuh •stee) is a line of rulers who belong to thesame family. Little is known about the Xia.We know more about the next dynasty, theShang. The Shang kings ruled from about1750 B.C. to 1045 B.C.

Who Were the Shang? Archaeologistshave found huge walls, royal palaces, androyal tombs from the time of the Shang.These remains show that the Shang mayhave built the first Chinese cities. One ofthese cities was Anyang (AHN • YAHNG) innorthern China. Anyang was China’s firstcapital. From there, the Shang kings ruledthe early Chinese people.

The people of the Shang dynasty weredivided into groups. The most powerfulgroup was the king and his family. The firstShang king ruled over a small area in north-ern China. His armies used chariots andbronze weapons to take over nearby areas.

Shang Empire

276-283 CH5 S1-868874 1/4/05 5:42 PM Page 278

In time, the Shang kings ruled over most ofthe Huang He valley.

Later, Shang kings chose warlords togovern the kingdom’s territories. Warlordsare military leaders who command theirown armies. However, the king controlledeven larger armies who defended the king-dom’s borders. The king’s armies helpedhim stay in power.

Under the king, the warlords and otherroyal officials made up the upper class.They were aristocrats (uh • RIHS • tuh • KRATS),nobles whose wealth came from the landthey owned. Aristocrats passed their landand their power from one generation to thenext.

In Shang China, a few people weretraders and artisans. Most Chinese, how-ever, were farmers. They worked the landthat belonged to the aristocrats. They grewgrains, such as millet, wheat, and rice, andraised cattle, sheep, and chickens. A smallnumber of enslaved people captured in waralso lived in Shang China.

Spirits and Ancestors People in ShangChina worshiped gods and spirits. Spiritswere believed to live in mountains, rivers,and seas. The people believed that they hadto keep the gods and spirits happy by mak-ing offerings of food and other goods. Theybelieved that the gods and spirits would beangry if they were not treated well. Angrygods and spirits might cause farmers to havea poor harvest or armies to lose a battle.

People also honored their ancestors, ordeparted family members. Offerings weremade in the hope that ancestors would helpin times of need and bring good luck. Tothis day, many Chinese still remember theirancestors by going to temples and burningsmall paper copies of food and clothing.These copies represent things that theirdeparted relatives need in the afterlife.

The Role of WomenZheng Zhenxiang wasChina’s first femalearchaeologist. In 1976 shefound the tomb of Fu Hao,China’s first female general.In the tomb were morethan 2,000 artifacts fromthe Shang dynasty,including weapons, bronzevessels, jade objects, andbones with Chinesecharacters carved on them.

Fu Hao, the wife of King Wu Ding,was given a royal burial. She wasfamous for her strength, martial artsskills, and military strategies. Sheoften helped her husband defeat theirenemies on the battlefield. Fu Haowas the first female in China’s historyto receive the highest military rank.

Her tomb and itsartifacts reveal thegrand civilization ofChina’s Shangdynasty. During thisperiod, the Chinesedeveloped writing, acalendar, and musical instruments.

Jade sculpture of a seated human figure

Bronzevessel

Connecting to the Past1. What was Fu Hao famous for during

her life?

2. Describe what the artifacts found inFu Hao’s tomb might reveal aboutlife during that time.

Asi

an A

rt &

Arc

haeo

logy

/CO

RB

IS

276-283 CH5 S1-868874 8/23/05 11:10 AM Page 279

duty of Shang kings was to contact thegods, the spirits, and ancestors before mak-ing important decisions.

The kings asked for the gods’ help byusing oracle (AWR • uh • kuhl) bones. Theyhad priests scratch questions on the bones,such as “Will I win the battle?” and “Will I recover from my illness?” Then the priestsplaced hot metal rods inside the bones,causing them to crack. They believed thatthe pattern of the cracks formed answersfrom the gods. The priests interpreted theanswers and wrote them down for thekings. In this way, kings could make deci-sions that they believed were guided by thegods and their ancestors. Scratches on ora-cle bones are the earliest known examplesof Chinese writing.

The Chinese Language The scratches onoracle bones show how today’s Chinesewriting began. However, the modernChinese language is much more complex.

Like many other ancient languages,early Chinese writing used pictographs andideographs. Pictographs (PIHK • tuh • GRAFS)are characters that stand for objects. Forexample, the Chinese characters for amountain, the sun, and the moon are pic-tographs. Ideographs (IH • dee • uh • GRAFS)are another kind of character used inChinese writing. They join two or more pictographs to represent an idea. For exam-ple, the ideograph for “east” relates to theidea of the sun rising in the east. It is a com-bination of pictographs that show the suncoming up behind trees.

Unlike Chinese, English and many otherlanguages have writing systems based onan alphabet. An alphabet uses charactersthat stand for sounds. The Chinese usesome characters to stand for sounds, butmost characters still represent whole words.

Telling the Future Shang kings believedthat they received power and wisdom fromthe gods, the spirits, and their ancestors.Shang religion and government wereclosely linked, just as they were in ancientMesopotamia and Egypt. An important

280 CHAPTER 5 • Early China

Chinese WritingThe Chinese writing systemwas created nearly 3,500years ago during the Shangdynasty. The earliestexamples of Chinese writinghave been found on animalbones. The carvings on thesebones show that Chinesewriting has always usedsymbols to represent words.Some of the carvings arepictures. For example, theverb to go was representedby a picture of a foot. Thecharacters were carved invertical columns and readfrom top to bottom, likemodern Chinese writing. Thewriting on the bones recordedthe Shang kings’ questionsabout a wide range oftopics—from the weather togood fortune. Chinese writinghas changed in many ways,but it still reflects its ancient roots in pictures and symbols.

Oracle bone

Bridgeman/Art Resource, NY

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WH6.6 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of China.

CHAPTER 5 • Early China 281

Shang Artists The people in Shang Chinadeveloped many skills. Farmers producedsilk, which weavers used to make colorfulclothes. Artisans made vases and dishesfrom fine white clay. They also carved stat-ues from ivory and a green stone called jade.

The Shang are best known for their worksof bronze. To make bronze objects, artisansmade clay molds in several sections. Next,they carved detailed designs into the clay.Then, they fit the pieces of the mold tightlytogether and poured in melted bronze. Whenthe bronze cooled, the mold was removed. Abeautifully decorated work of art remained.

Shang bronze objects included sculp-tures, vases, drinking cups, and containerscalled urns. The Shang used bronze urns toprepare and serve food for rituals honoringancestors.

Explain What was the roleof Shang warlords?

The Zhou DynastyChinese rulers claimed that the Mandate

of Heaven gave them the right to rule.

Reading Connection Who gives you permission to

do the things you do? Your mother? Your teacher? Read

to find out how the rulers of the Zhou dynasty turned

to the heavens for permission to rule.

During the rule of the Shang, a great gapexisted between the rich and the poor.Shang kings lived in luxury and began totreat people cruelly. As a result, they lost thesupport of the people in their kingdom. In1045 B.C. an aristocrat named Wu Wang(WOO WAHNG) led a rebellion against theShang. After defeating the Shang, Wubegan a new dynasty called the Zhou (JOH).

The Zhou Government The Zhou dynastyruled for more than 800 years—longer thanany other dynasty in Chinese history.

Zhou kings ruled much like Shang rulers.The Zhou king was at the head of the govern-ment. Under him was a large bureaucracy(byu• RAH• kruh• see). A bureaucracy is madeup of appointed officials who are responsi-ble for different areas of government. Likethe Shang rulers, the Zhou king was incharge of defending the kingdom.

These bronze bells are fromthe Zhou dynasty. How longdid the Zhou dynasty last?

Bronze bowland ladle fromZhou dynasty

Buffalo-shapedbronze vesselfrom the Shang dynasty

Bronze foodcontainer fromthe Shang dynasty

(bl)file photo, (br)The Art Archive/Musee Cernuschi Paris/Dagli Orti, (others)Asian Art & Archaeology/CORBIS

276-283 CH5 S1-868874 1/4/05 5:19 PM Page 281

Web Activity Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 5—Student Web Activity to learn more about ancient China.

FPO

The Zhou kings copied the Shang sys-tem of dividing the kingdom into smallerterritories. The kings put aristocrats theytrusted in charge of each territory. The posi-tions the aristocrats held were hereditary.That meant that when an aristocrat died,his son or another relative would take overas ruler of the territory.

The Chinese considered the king theirlink between heaven and earth. His chiefduty was to carry out religious rituals. TheChinese believed these rituals strengthenedthe link between them and the gods. Thisbelief paved the way for a new idea that the Zhou kings introduced to government.They claimed that kings ruled China becausethey had the Mandate of Heaven.

What Was the Mandate of Heaven?According to Zhou rulers, a heavenly lawgave the Zhou king the power to rule. Thismandate (MAN • DAYT), or formal order, wascalled the Mandate of Heaven. Based on themandate, the king was chosen by heavenly

order because of his talent and virtue.Therefore, he would rule the people withgoodness and wisdom.

The Mandate of Heaven worked intwo ways. First, the people expected theking to rule according to the proper“Way,” called the Dao (DOW). His dutywas to keep the gods happy. A natural dis-aster or a bad harvest was a sign that hehad failed in his duty. People then had theright to overthrow and replace the king.

The Mandate of Heaven also workedanother way. It gave the people, as well as theking, important rights. For example, peoplehad the right to overthrow a dishonest or evilruler. It also made clear that the king was nota god himself. Of course, each new dynastyclaimed it had the Mandate of Heaven. Theonly way people could question the claimwas by overthrowing the dynasty.

New Tools and Trade For thousands ofyears, Chinese farmers depended on rain towater their crops. During the Zhou dynasty,the Chinese developed irrigation and flood-control systems. As a result, farmers couldgrow more crops than ever before.

Improvements in farming tools alsohelped farmers produce more crops. By 550 B.C., the Chinese were using iron plows.These sturdy plows broke up land that hadbeen too hard to farm with wooden plows.As a result, the Chinese could plow moreand produce more crops. Because morefood could support more people, the popu-lation increased. During the late Zhoudynasty, China’s population had expandedto about 50 million people.

400 km0Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection

400 mi.0

N

S

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120°E

100°E

40°N

Wei He

Huang He (Yell

owR.)

Chang J iang (Ya ngtze R.)

YellowSea

EastChina

Sea

LuoyangXian

1. Location What body of watermade up the eastern border ofZhou territory?

2. Human/Environment InteractionWhy did the Zhou divide theirkingdom into smaller territories?

282 CHAPTER 5 • Early China

Zhou Empire

Zhou empire,1045-256 B.C.

KEY

276-283 CH5 S1-868874 1/4/05 5:44 PM Page 282

Reading SummaryReview the • China’s first civilizations formed

in river valleys. The Chinese wereisolated from other people by mountains and deserts.

• The rulers of the Shang dynastycontrolled the area around theHuang He valley.

• The Zhou dynasty replaced theShang and claimed to rule withthe Mandate of Heaven. Duringthe Zhou dynasty, farming methods improved and tradeincreased.

1. What is a dynasty?

2. What were oracle bones, andhow were they used?

Critical Thinking3. How did early

Chinese farmers use their natu-ral environment to help them-selves?

4. Summarizing InformationDraw a diagram like the onebelow. Add details that describethe members of Shang society.

5. Evaluate What were someimportant technologicalchanges during the Zhoudynasty, and how did they leadto a larger population?

6. Explain How did ancientChinese kings maintain controlof their dynasties?

7. Monitoring TheMandate of Heaven is dis-cussed on page 282. In writing,describe what words and defi-nitions helped you to under-stand what this term meant.Then write a definition in yourown words. CA 6RW1.4

CA 6RC2.0

CA HI3.

CA 6RC2.4

CA CS3.

What Did You Learn?

CHAPTER 5 • Early China 283

Trade and manufacturinggrew along with farming. Animportant trade item during theZhou dynasty was silk. Pieces ofChinese silk have been foundthroughout central Asia and asfar away as Greece. This sug-gests that the Chinese traded farand wide.

The Zhou Empire Falls Over time, the localrulers of the Zhou territories became pow-erful. They stopped obeying the Zhou kingsand set up their own states. In 403 B.C. fight-ing broke out. For almost 200 years, thestates battled each other. Historians call thistime the “Period of the Warring States.”

Instead of nobles driving chariots, thewarring states used large armies of foot soldiers. To get enough soldiers, they issuedlaws forcing peasants to serve in the army.

Shang Society

The armies fought with swords, spears, andcrossbows. A crossbow uses a crank to pullthe string and shoots arrows with great force.

As the fighting went on, the Chineseinvented the saddle and stirrup. These let soldiers ride horses and use spears and crossbows while riding. In 221 B.C. the rulerof Qin (CHIHN), one of the warring states,used a large cavalry force to defeat theother states and set up a new dynasty.

Identify How did Zhoukings defend their right to rule?

This statue of a wingeddragon is from the Zhoudynasty. From whatmetal did the Chinesemake plows and weaponsduring the Zhou dynasty?

Study Central Need help learning aboutChina’s first civilizations? Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com and click on Study Central.

file photo

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