Transcript CHINA’S FLOURISHING CIVILIZION 1100 BCE – 200 CE

CHINA’S FLOURISHING
CIVILIZATION
1100 BCE – 200 CE
Version 2
The Three Dynasties
Three Ways of Life
Society and Culture
The Enduring Zhou
Chinese keep track
of time by the last
name of the ruling
family.
Zhou (JOH) dynasty
Qin (CHIN) dynasty
Han (HAHN) dynasty
The Enduring Zhou
Claiming “Mandate
of Heaven” the Zhou
family defeated the
ruling Shang family
in 1028 BCE.
Zhou emperors ruled
for 800 years!
The Enduring Zhou
Called their kings
the Son of Heaven.
Who would defy a
ruler called that????
Zhou Powers
First few Zhou
emperors invaded
and conquered
many of the lands
that make up China.
They set up “states”
and put relatives in
charge.
Figured on family
loyalty.
Zhou Powers
The relative who
was governor of the
state could give out
land to nobles –
depending on the
nobles’ loyalty.
Peasants worked the
land under the
nobles’ orders.
Did the System Work?
Family loyalty vs.
GREED.
Greed won!
Zhou Power
Local lord had total
authority on his
lands and built his
own army.
In time, they were
stronger than any
“Son of Heaven”
Zhou.
Lack of Zhou Power
771 BCE – Zhou
kings realized they
were being
outpowered on the
battlefields.
Were not major
power players
between 771 – 200
BCE.
Maybe the Zhous were not the
most powerful kings – BUT they
are remembered for …
Building roads
Expanded foreign trade.
Obtained horses and
created CAVALRY.
The crossbow.
Iron plows for farming
Irrigation
Writing by symbols.
Zhou China
Became the most
densely populated
country in the world.
No famines = lots of
people.
Wars were just
between nobles =
not many people
died = lots of
people.
The Mighty Qin
China gets their name
from the Qin family.
221 BCE Qins had
wiped out the Zhous.
Conquered northern
China.
Strong, centralized
authority!
The Mighty Qin
Qin Shihuangdi (SHURHWONG-DEE)
Kept local nobles from
becoming too powerful to
control.
Devised weight and
measure system
Standardized money
Standardized writing
Law code for all China.
The Mighty Qin
Shihuangdi wasn’t
QUITE a nice guy.
Used slaves and
forced labor to
accomplish all that
building.
The Great Wall of China
The Qin realized
they needed better
defense in the
north.
Nomadic attacks
The Great Wall of China
Walls had been
built, but none were
connected.
Qin changed that!
300,000 peasants
toiled to build the
1,400 mile wall.
Thousands died.
Qin’s Strict Rules
Qin Shihuangdi in 213
BCE ordered all books
burned not dealing with
“practical” things
Agriculture
Medicine
Magic
460 scholars who
resisted were executed.
Qin’s Strict Rules
“Anyone referring to
the past to criticize
the present … shall
be put to death.”
Qin Shihuangdi
Qin’s Strict Rule
Subjects hated him.
Thought he had lost
the Mandate of
Heaven.
Nobles hated his
destroying their
power.
Peasants hated his
forced labor gangs.
Scholars hated his
burning of books.
210 BCE: Qin Died
The dynasty itself
came to an end.
BUT New ways of of
organizing a nation
were kept for nearly
2000 years.
The Glorious Han
207 BCE: Liu Bang
(LYOH BONG)
overthrew the Qin
government.
Military official with
a peasant
background.
202 BCE defeated all
who challenged him.
The Glorious Han
Family ruled until
220 CE, more than
400 years.
Used Qin
government
structure but
without the cruelty.
Well, MOSTLY
without cruelty.
The Glorious Han
Greatest Leader was
Wudi (WOO-DEE).
Ruled 141 – 87 BCE.
Dynamic and
talented.
Expanded China’s
borders.
The Glorious Han
Wudi sent a general
and explorer to see
what was west of
China.
General Zhang
Quian (JAHNG
CHYEN) came back
13 years later.
The Glorious Han
General Zhang Quian
had his army wiped out
and had been a captive
for ten years.
Described a people with
huge cities of people
with short hair, riding in
chariots and wore
embroidered robes.
Who?
General Zhang
Quian had been to
ROME.
For the first time,
China was made
aware there was
another kingdom as
great as theirs.
The Silk Road
Wudi, hearing the tales,
started expanding trade
routes called THE SILK
ROAD.
Allowed trade of
Chinese silk for Middle
Eastern and European
products like gold,
glassware, wool and
linen.
Took 7 years for a
round-trip!
Pax Sinica
Pax Sinica = Chinese
Peace.
400 years of
prosperity and
stability.
Wudi Reforms during the Pax
Sinica
Government agents
stored excess food in
good times – to use in
famine times.
Chose government
people on skills NOT
because of family
connections.
Took tests in what
became the CIVIL
SERVICE.
Rise of the Mandarins
Since usually only
the rich could afford
an education – they
were the ones that
could pass the tests.
Mandarins: Welleducation civil
servants controlled
the government
until the 1900s CE.
End of the Hans
220 CE.
Left a lasting legacy
in government,
technology, science
and the arts.
Section 2: Three Ways of Life
Confucianism
Daoism (Taoism)
Buddhism
Confucianism
Kongzi
Born 551 BCE to poor
family
12 years he wandered
China looking for a
position as a government
advisor.
Found a better way to
spread his ideas for
peace – be a teacher.
Basic Beliefs of Confucianism
Ethics to live by:
Respect for family,
especially elders.
Filial Piety
Reverence for past
and its traditions
Confucianism
Taught “filial piety”
(children’s respect
for parents)
Believed parent /
child relationship
represents society in
miniature and that
teachings at home
prepare children for
life in community.
Confucianism
Government was to
set example of
righteous conduct.
Rulers must be
Ethical
Have integrity
Inspire loyalty
Understand proper
behavior
Appreciate culture
Confucianism After Confucius
The Zhou
government did not
accept Confucius’s
teachings during his
life.
Later scholars added
their ideas.
Made Confucianism
into a religion.
Confucianism After Confucius
During the Han
Dynasty, Confucius’
teachings provided
the basics for
Wudi’s civil service
system.
Basis of Chinese
society and
government until
1900s.
Daoism
Time: 500 BCE
Origination: China
Founder: Laozi “Old
Master”
Written Documents:
Dao De Jing, a
classical writing.
Laozi (LOW-DZUH)
Rejected formal
social structures of
Confucius.
Shunned public life –
so little is known
about him.
Basic Beliefs of Daoism
Emphasis on
harmony and
nature, simplicity
Ying and Yang, two
opposing forces
present in all nature;
must be in balance
to achieve harmony.
Daoism
By emphasizing
harmony with
nature, Daoists
deeply influenced
Chinese painting
and poetry.
A person could be BOTH a
Daoist and Confucian
Confucianism was
knowing your place
in the social order.
Daoism emphasized
harmony with the
individual attuned to
nature.
Buddhism in China
Buddhism reached
China as the Han
Dynasty was
collapsing.
Emphasis on
personal salvation in
Nirvana appealed to
many.
Pagodas instead of
Stupas
Buddhism Blended with
Chinese Religions
Confucianism could
follow its Eightfold
Path.
Daoists could admire
the meditation.
Buddhism was
widely embraced by
China by 400 CE.
Section 3: Society and Culture
Family Life
Family did not relate
as equals.
Hierarchy – levels of
importance.
Head of Family was
eldest male.
Next was all the
males by age.
Family Life Hierarchy
Next was the
mother
All daughters down
to youngest or
childless daughterin-laws.
All family expected
obedience from
those beneath them.
Family Rules
Family members
knew their rules and
not doing their
duties as expected
brought dishonor on
the family.
Duty to ancestors
kept you loyal even
after death.
Family Rules
Han Families were not
EXTENDED.
Different generations
living together.
Aunts, Uncles, Cousins,
Grandparents.
Families were like
today’s NUCLEAR
FAMILIES.
Parents and Children
Family Rules
Father assigned
children’s careers,
determined education,
arranged marriages,
controlled finances and
gave rewards and
punishments.
Had to provide for old,
sick and even lazy.
Status of Women
Women were
SUBORDINATE to men.
Girls subservient to
fathers and brothers.
When married,
subsurvient to husbands
and inlaws.
If she became a mother
of a son – her son had
authority over her when
he grew up.
Status of Women under the
Han
Women could inherit
property
Own something on
their own after they
married.
Could remarry after
a husband’s death.
Society and Economy
Three Classes.
Landowners
Peasants
90% of the
population!
Merchants
The Landowners
Lived in mansions
surrounded by walls to
protect them from
bandits.
Wealth rarely lasted
past a few generations.
ALL sons inherited from
their father.
The “pie” of land became
smaller and smaller.
Less power.
The Peasants
Supported the rich by
their labor.
Lived in villages and
tended the land of the
nobles.
Paid rent for the land.
Paid taxes and one
month a year had to do
public works projects.
Later they could be
drafted into the army.
The Peasants
Floods and famines
took their toll.
Taxes also
prevented them
from getting ahead.
The Bottom of the Social Ladder:
The Merchants
Shopkeepers, traders,
bankers, government
workers.
Tended to be richer
than the landowners.
Held in contempt
because pursuing profit
was “unworthy” of a
“superior” individual.
Literature in China
Five Classics
Written before
Confucius.
Oldest is BOOK OF
SONGS
Written 1000 – 600
BCE.
305 of earlies poems.
Politics, ritual,
romance themes
The Five Classics
Book of Documents
Early Zhou history
Book of Changes
Kind of a Nostradamus
book
Spring and Autumn
Annals
History
Analects
Confucius
Science and Technology
Chinese
astronomers had
calculated the
proper length of a
year.
365 ¼ days = 1 year
Science and Technology
First to use
telescopes in China.
240 BCE first to
record what is today
known as Halley’s
Comet.
Chinese Medicine
First to recognize
that nutrition was
important.
Herbal medicine
Acupuncture –
restores the balance
between the Yin and
Yang
Farming and Transport
Irrigation diverted
rivers to get water
to remote fields.
Realized fertilizer
helped land.
Veterinary medicine
began.
Canals used as
roadways.
Inventions
Silk – made from
worms.
Paper invented 100
BCE.
Used first for
wrapping and
clothing before they
discovered excellent
for writing.
Inventions
Wheelbarrows
Casting bronze and
iron.
Suspension bridge
The compass,
Gunpowder.
China had these a
thousand years
before Europe.
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