Key Terms - China

The Huang He River The Yangtze River Dynastic Cycle Mandate of Heaven Emperor Zhou Dynasty Civil Service Exam Calligraphy

Confucianism Five Key

Relationships Qin Dynasty Shi Huangdi Legalism The Great Wall of

China

Geography of China China is a massive country located in Central Asia. The cultural hearth or heartland of China lied in the

Huang He River Valley The Huang He River is also known as the Yellow

River because of the loess that sits on the river bed.

Geography of China (cont.)

The industrial area of China was the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze River runs through the center of China from West to East.

It is today one of the main sources of electricity for China and also a boundary between Northern and Southern China

The Dynastic Cycle

Rulers of China were chosen via the Dynastic Cycle.

Dynastic Cycle → system by which dynasties in China would begin their rule and also find their end.

Rulers were allowed to rule via the Mandate of Heaven → god given right to rule China.

Government

Dynastic cycle would help decide who would become emperor → ruler of a large empire or group of territories.

Emperors would centralized (strengthen) their power in many ways, whether by harsh laws and punishments or by establishing effective bureaucracies.

Zhou Dynasty (1027-256 B.C.)

Zhou would come into power by overthrowing the first dynasty of China which was the Shang Dynasty.

Claimed that the former emperor was unfit to rule therefore the gods did not favor him and favored someone else.

Zhou Dynasty (cont.)

Zhou Dynasty expanded their rule into other parts of China adding the Huang He River Valley and parts of the Yangtze River.

Zhou would set up an effective bureaucracy through civil service.

Civil Service Exam → exam broken into three parts that allowed citizens to apply for government jobs.

Chinese Writing and the Arts

Under the Zhou, the Chinese were able to establish a refined writing system.

Calligraphy would be used to write the Chinese characters initially. Calligraphy → fine

handwriting.

Chinese Writing and the Arts (cont.)

Chinese would also engage in landscape painting and literature.

The I Ching or the Book of Changes was one of the first major pieces of literature written during the Classical Chinese period.

Chinese Belief System - Confucianism

An imperial advisor named Confucius would create a belief system based on responsibility and efficiency.

Confucianism → belief system that stated if everyone knew their responsibilities and roles, good government would follow.

The Five Key Relationships

Confucius believed that there were Five Key Relationships that shaped the life of every citizen.

They were: Husband to wife Father to son Elder brother to

younger brother Ruler to subject Friend to friend

Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.)

Different provinces would engage in war with each other ushering in the Era of Warring States.

The Qin ruler would rise above the other warring states and establish the Qin Dynasty which only had one ruler, Shi Huangdi

Shi Huangdi → Qin ruler who ushered in legalism and built the Great Wall

Legalism

The Qin ruler would maintain a strict code of law out of fear of another rebellion.

He would employ the Legalist belief system constructed by Hanfeizi.

Legalism posited that the best way to govern is to have extremely harsh punishments for crimes and infractions

The Great Wall of China

Using the smaller walls that were built during the Zhou dynasty, Shi Huandi would have many Chinese workers merge the walls and fortify them across Northern China.

The wall would extend over 1500 miles and is visible from satellite images

Decline of the Qin Dynasty

Shi Huangdi sought to suppress any dissentious (rebellious) thinking; he did this by burning and destroying Confucian writings and jailing Confucian philosophers.

Shi Huangdi was also criticized for overworking Chinese citizens during the construction of the Great Wall.

These two issues led to a rebellion fomenting and culminating in a coup d'etat by Liu Bang, a Qin general. He would construct the Han Dynasty and end the Qin Dynasty.