ANCIENT CHINA

Chapter 6

ACADEMIC VOCABULARY

Instructions: Put the correct letter beside each number a. Civil b. Convert c. Cultural diffusion d. Economic e. Establish f. Excerpt g. Hermitage h. Ideology i. Omit j. Pinnacle k. Prosperous l. relic ___1. cause to change in form, character, or function.

___2. successful in material terms; flourishing financially.

___3. achieve permanent acceptance or recognition for ___4. A place where one can live in seclusion; a retreat. ___5. an object surviving from an earlier time, esp. one of historical or sentimental interest. ___6. Of or relating to citizens and their interrelations with one another or with the state.

___7. Of or relating to the production, development, and management of material wealth, as of a country, household, or business enterprise ___8. a short extract from a film, broadcast, or piece of music or writing.

___9. leave out or exclude (someone or something), either intentionally or forgetfully ___10. The highest point ___11. the spreading out of culture, culture traits, or a cultural pattern from a central point. ___12. a system of ideas and ideals, esp. one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

GEOGRAPHY

About the size of the United States (4 million square miles) North: Gobi (Goh-bee) Desert East: low –lying plains (one of the world’s largest farming regions) Eastern boundary: Pacific Ocean

GEOGRAPHY Climate:

Vary Northeast: cold and dry Northwest: deserts are very dry Eastern Plains: heavy rains Southeast: tropical and wettest region = monsoons

GEOGRAPHY Rivers:

Yellow River (Huang He) in northern China Floods = silt (river often floods and leaves layers of silt = great for farming) (River is know China’s Sorrow because millions of people have died in floods) Yangzi River (Chang Jiang) in southern China Longest river in Asia (cuts through central China) (In early China these two rivers helped link people in eastern part of country with those in the west.)

CIVILIZATION BEGINS

First settled along rivers Farming along Yellow and Yangzi Rivers Yangzi River: rice Yellow River: cereals (millet and wheat) Early Settlements: houses partly underground and maybe straw covered roofs Walls surrounded towns for defense Artifacts: arrowheads, fishhooks, tools, pottery, cloth, some water wells

CIVILIZATION BEGINS

Burial: Tombs with objects: food (suggested a belief in the afterlife) Graves of rich: jewelry and other objects made of jade (a hard gemstone)

Dynasty and Years

Chapter 6: Ancient China

Ruler (s)

Dynasties Chart

Social Class System Achievements

FIRST DYNASTIES Xia

(Shah)

Dynasty

founded by Yu the Great 2200 BC Dug channels to drain water to the ocean (because of the floods) (archaeologists have not yet found evidence of this dynasty. Dynasty is described in ancient historical chronicles such as

Bamboo Annals

,

Classic of History

and

Records of the Grand Historian.

Concrete existence of the Xia is yet to be proven)

Shang Dynasty

established by 1500s BC in northern China Social Order: Highest level: king, royal family, nobles, warrior leaders Nobles owned most of the land which was passed on to sons Middle level: artisans Lived outside city walls. Lived in groups based on what they made. (Made weapons, pottery, tools, clothing)

FIRST DYNASTIES

Lowest level: farmers and slaves Farmers worked long hours. Taxes claimed much of what they earned.

Slaves were important source of labor.

First Writing System

More than 2,000 symbols to express words or idea Writing on cattle bones and turtle shells. Priest carved questions about the future on bones and shells. Heated them, they cracked. Read cracks to predict future. Bones called oracle bones. Oracle is a prediction.

FIRST DYNASTIES

Shang Achievements: Bronze containers for cooking and religious ceremonies, axes, knives, and ornaments from jade, war chariots, powerful bows, bronze body armor, and astrologers developed a calendar based on the cycle of the moon.

ZHOU DYNASTY

Zhou (Joe) Dynasty 1100s BC overthrew the Shang Lasted longer than any other Chinese dynasty.

Political System

Based on the “Mandate of Heaven”. Dynasty life usually around 300 year. Expanded territory to the northwest, east, and south. Granted land in return for loyalty, military support, and other services.

ZHOU DYNASTY Zhou Society Rank

Highest: king who led government and gave land to lords Middle: Lords and warriors. Lords paid taxes to king and provided warriors to protect the lands.

Lowest: Peasants (farmers) farmed the nobles’ land.

ZHOU DYNASTY Zhou Decline

Political order broke down: Lords passed power to sons who were less loyal to the king. Local rulers gained power and rejected authority of Zhou king. Warring States: time of many civil wars.

Changes in Chinese family structure Family had been foundation of life in China. Families broke apart = lost their power. Relatives became rivals. Upper Classes - sons plotted against each other.

QIN DYNASTY

States battled each other for power.

Qin (Chin)

state built strong army that defeated armies of rivaling states.

Qin dynasty

united country under one government.

Qin king,

Ying Zheng,

unified China in 221 BC.

Titled self

Shi Huangdi

(Shee hwahng-dee) = “first emperor”.

Followed Legalist political beliefs = strong government with strict laws and harsh punishments.

Burned writings that did not agree with Legalism. Ex. Books saved – farming, medicine, and predicting the future. Buried 460 scholars who opposed book burning.

QIN DYNASTY

Shi Huangdi used armies to expand empire. When conquered a city destroyed walls and took all the weapons.

He claimed all power and did not share it with the lords.

Divided China into districts, each with its own governor.

Districts subdivided into counties that were governed by appointed officials. Helped in enforcing tax system and enforcing strict chain of command.

Set up a uniform system of law. Rules and punishments were to be the same in all parts of empire.

QIN DYNASTY

Standardized the written language = write using the same set of symbols. People of different regions a sense of shared culture and common identity. New money system = standardized gold and copper coins = currency used in all China.

Weights and measures standardized.

Trade between regions became easier.

QIN DYNASTY Qin Achievements:

Network of roads connected capital to every part of empire. = Travel easier. Roads same width = army moved quickly and easily.

Canals connected rivers. = Improved transportation.

Faster and easier to ship goods north to south.

Irrigation system = more land good for farming.

Great Wall

: A barrier that linked earlier walls across China’s northern frontier. To stop invasions. (Years of labor from hundreds of thousands of workers which many died.)

QIN DYNASTY Terra-cotta Army

6,000 life-size terra cotta or clay soldiers in one chamber 1,400 clay figures of cavalry and chariots Designed to be with Shi Huangdi in the afterlife. Discovered in 1974 in Xi’an

QIN DYNASTY Shi Huangdi’s policies

brought resentment from peasants, scholars, and nobles. Died in 210 BC and empire began to fall apart.

Rebel forces formed. Attacked capital and burned palace.

Country fell into civil war.

CONFUCIUS AND SOCIETY Confucius “Kongfuzi”

: most influential teacher in Chinese history Grew in poverty. Served in minor government position.

China overrun with rude and dishonest people.

Chinese needed to return to ethics/moral values.

Ideas of Confucius = Confucianism Wanted to return to time when people knew their proper roles in society. His ideas complied into book: The Analects

CONFUCIUS

Confucianism: a unique teaching that is both philosophical and religious. A guiding force in human behavior and religious understanding in China.

When people behaved well and acted morally they simply carrying out what heaven expected of them.

Confucius’s ideas about virtue, kindness, and learning became dominant beliefs in China.

DAOISM Daoism

from “Dao” meaning “the way”.

Daoism stressed living in harmony with the Dao, the guiding force of all reality. Dao gave birth to universe and all its things.

Daoism a reaction to Confucianism.

Wanted government to stay out of people’s lives.

People should be like water and simply let things flow in a natural way.

Universe is a balance of opposites: female and male, light and dark, low and high.

Opposing forces should be in harmony.

DAOISM LAOZI “Old Baby”

: most famous Daoist teacher.

People should not try to gain wealth, nor should they seek power.

Wrote basic text of Daoism,

The Way and all Its Powers.

LEGALISM Legalism

: belief that people were bad by nature and needed to be controlled, contrasted with both Confucianism and Daoism.

A political philosophy without religious concerns. It dealt only with government and social control.

Legalists felt society needed strict laws to keep people in line and punishment should fit crimes. Example: citizens should be held responsible for each other’s conduct: guilty person’s relatives and neighbors should be punished.

Unlike Confucianism and Daoism Legalist first to put ideas into practice throughout China.

Confucius Laozi