Ancient China

Big Idea

• China's physical geography made farming possible but travel & communication difficult

• Developed along 2 rivers

• China's first dynasties helped Chinese society develop and made many other achievements

Review Section 1

• Geography– Gobi Desert– Low-lying plains: farmland– Quinling Shandi: mountains

• Separates north/south China

– Monsoons– Developed

• Huang He or Yellow River (China’s Sorrow)

• Chang Jiang, or Yangzi

Development of Farming

• Food– Rice -Cereal millet & wheat

• Location: Huang He & Chang Jiang

• Hunter & Fisherman

• Domestication animals

• Increase Population

Early Settlements

• Houses– Partly underground, covered roofs

• Walls– Surrounded towns

• Animal pens, storage pits, cemeteries

• Potters wheel

2 seperate cultures

• Separate cultures in North & South China

• Sanxingdui

• Hongshan

Burial Sites

• Provide information– Filled tombs with objects

• Food

– Social Hierarchy– Beautiful jewelry

• Jade

Burial Sites

• Provide information– Filled tombs with objects

• Food

– Social Hierarchy– Beautiful jewelry

• Jade

Xia Dynasty

• Yu the Great – founder

• Channels– Flooding to drain the water– Yu dug the channels???

• Stories– Provide Chinese with stories of working

together

Shang Dynasty

• 1500 B.C. In the Huang He Valley– Northern China

• Moved capital several times

• King center of life– Political– religious

Shang Dynasty

Social Order

King: Royal Family & Nobles

Warriors

Artisans: lived outside city walls

Farmers: long hours, high taxes, no $

Slaves: source of labor

Shang Advancements

• China's first writing system– Writing found on oracle bones

• Cattle bones & turtle shells

• Priest would interpret the cracks

• Oracle: is a prediction

• Bronze containers

• Axes, ornaments, knives, war chariots, bows, body armor, calender

Section 2 Overview

• Zhou Dynasty expanded China but then declined

• Confucius offered ideas to bring order to the Chinese

• Daoism and Legalism also gained followers

Big Idea

• The Zhou dynasty brought political stability and new ways to deal with political and social changes in ancient China

Zhou Dynasty

• Overthrew the Shang

• Kings gained power through Heaven– Mandate of Heaven

• Lords & Peasants– Taxes & soldiers

• Lack of Loyalty from generation to generation

Decline of Zhou Power

• Fire• Warring States Period

– A time of many civil wars– China lacked a strong government to stop

power struggles within the ruling class families

• Internal Problems– Families broke apart—decrease in loyalty

Confucius

• China was rude and people dishonest

• Wanted to restore family order and social harmony

Confucius Guidelines

• Fathers should display high moral values to inspire their families

• Children should respect and obey their parents

• All family members should be loyal to each other

Ideas on Government

• Moral leadership, not laws

• A king should lead by example inspiring good behavior in all of his subjects

• The lower classes would learn by following the example of their superiors.

Confucius

• Great Teacher

• The Analects

Daoism

• Reaction to Confucianism

• Government stay out of peoples lives

• Be like water

• Balance of opposites: low high

• Dao

• Natural world

• Laozi

Legalism

• Political Philosophy

• Government & Social Control

• Reject Confucianism and Daoism

• Society-Strict laws– People and neighbors and family punished

• Always be ready for war to expand territory

The Qin Dynasty

• Main Ideas– The first Qin Emperor created a strong but

strict government.– A unified China was created through Qin

policies and achievements.

The Qin Dynasty

• Main Ideas– The first Qin Emperor created a strong but

strict government.– A unified China was created through Qin

policies and achievements.

Big Idea

• The Qin Dynasty unified China with a strong government and a system of standardization.

Qin Dynasty

• Developed a strong military during the Warring State (civil war period)

• Qin king Ying Zheng:– Named himself: Shi Huangdi “first emperor”

• Legalism

• Strong government

• Strict laws

• Harsh punishments

Shi Huangdi

• Must follow his policies

• Burning of books– Opposition buried alive

• Expanded Empire– When they conquered a city they destroyed the

walls and took all the weapons

Change in the Rules

• He did not share power

• He took away land from nobles

• He forced people to work on government buildings

• He controlled China by dividing it into districts with governors being which enforced the tax system

Unified China

• Uniform system of laws (everyone does the same thing)– Rules – Laws– Writing Symbols– Money System– Weight & Measures

Unified China

• Trade became easier

• Severe Punishments if you did not obey

Qin Achievements

• Roads- connected to the capital

• Water system-canals

• Irrigation System- still used today

• Great Wall

The Fall of the Qin

• New policies stirred resentment– Peasant, scholars, nobles

• Shi Huangdi died in 210 B.C.

• Rebels formed and said the received the “Mandate of Heaven”

• Country falls to civil war