China’s First Civilizations

Chapter 7, Section 1 Objectives • After this lesson, students will be able to: – describe how rivers, mountains, and deserts helped shape Chinese civilization.

– explain how rulers known as the Shang became powerful because they controlled land and had strong armies.

– describe how Chinese rulers claimed the right to rule by a Mandate of Heaven.

Why is China Important?

• • • • • • • world’s largest population one of the fastest growing economies in the world experiencing major infrastructure growth leader in sciences (computers & mathematics) historically and culturally significant communist government a new superpower?

China’s Geography – page 224 • • Huang He (Yellow River) – flows from Mongolia to the Pacific Ocean – particularly fertile due to

loess

Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) – flows east across China and empties into the Yellow Sea

China’s Geography – page 226 •

Less than 1/10 of China’s land is arable (fit for farming)

– – – Himalayas – southwest Kunlun Shan & Tian Shan – western border Gobi & Taklimakan Deserts •

Gobi – a cold, rocky desert east of the Kunlun Shan and Tian Shan Mountains

The Shang Dynasty – page 226 • • •

The Huang He valley was the site of the first Chinese civilizations.

Xia dynasty (?)

Shang dynasty

– founded c. 1750 B.C.

– most historians use the rise of this dynasty as the beginning of Chinese civilization –

made the city of Anyang China’s first capital city

The Shang Dynasty – page 226 • Shang dynasty – – – – strong monarchy

aristocracy (nobles whose wealth comes from the land they own)

made of warlords and officials large army agricultural society (farmers could be pulled for other projects)

Spirits and Ancestors – page 227 • • spirits in mountains, rivers, etc.

ancestor worship – family was central to society – believed departed ancestors could bring good fortune and good luck – offerings made even today

Telling the Future – page 228 • • government and religion closely linked

oracle bones – first example of Chinese writing

The Chinese Language – page 228 • •

pictographs – characters that stand for objects ideographs – a character that joins two or more pictographs to represent an idea

– advantage: people from all over could read = unity – disadvantage: too many characters too remember (needed to know 1,500 to be barely literate)

Shang Artists – page 229 •

bronze casting – the best-known Shang art form

The Zhou Dynasty – page 229 •

Wu Wang led a rebellion against the Shang, and created the Zhou dynasty

(1045 B.C. – 256 B.C.).

– – dynasty lased for more than 800 years developed the idea of the Mandate of Heaven

What Was the Mandate of Heaven? – page 230 • •

mandate – a formal order Mandate of Heaven – idea that the king had been chosen by heavenly order to rule; Zhou claimed that principle gave them the right to rule

– catches: • • Dao – the proper way kings were expected to rule people had the right to overthrow an unjust king or one that has apparently lost the Mandate of Heaven – dynastic cycle

The Dynastic Cycle in China Dynasty is overthrown through rebellion and bloodshed; new dynasty emerges.

New dynasty gains power, restores peace and order, and claims to have the Mandate of Heaven.

Strong dynasty establishes peace and prosperity; it is considered to have the Mandate of Heaven.

Old dynasty is seen as having loss the Mandate of Heaven; rebellion is justified.

Disasters such as floods, famines, peasant revolts, and invasions occur.

In time, dynasty declines and becomes corrupt; taxes are raised; power grows weaker..

New Tools and Trade – page 230 • • • • iron – population boom roads and canals coined money introduced silk

The Zhou Empire Falls – page 231 • • “Period of the Warring States”

invention of the saddle and stirrup allowed for mounted combat

Chapter 7, Section 1 Questions 1. Between which two rivers is the heartland of China found?

2. Why is China’s arable land limited?

3. What is a dynasty?

4. What were oracle bones and how were they used?

5. What is the Mandate of Heaven and which dynasty used it as a justification for their rise to power?

6. How is the dynastic cycle connected to the Mandate of Heaven?

Life in Ancient China Chapter 7, Section 2, page 233

Chapter 7, Section 2 Objectives • After this lesson, students will be able to: – describe the three main social classes Chinese society, landowning aristocrats, farmers, and merchants.

– explain how Chinese philosophies grew out of a need for order in China.

Life in Ancient China – page 233 • • Chinese social classes

tenant farmers – people pay rent by giving the landlord a portion of their crops

landowning aristocrats peasant farmers merchants

What was Life Like in a Chinese Family? – page 234 • • • Family was the basic building block of Chinese society.

filial piety – practice that requires children to respect their parents and older relatives The leader of the family was usually the oldest male.

Who Was Confucius? – page 236 •

Confucius – China’s first great teacher and thinker

– goal: to bring peace to society – – basic premise: people needed to have a sense of

duty Confucianism – taught that if each person does his or her duty, society as a whole will do well

What Is Daoism? – page 238 •

Laozi – the “Old

Master”(?) founded

Daoism

– – – – people should give up their worldly desires turn to nature and the Dao

turn away from worldly concerns and live in peace with nature

Dao De Jing

Confucius and Laozi – page 238

What Is Legalism? – page 239 •

Hanfeizi – thought people were naturally evil

–

developed Legalism – taught that people needed harsh laws and punishment to make them live rightly

– strong ruler necessary – aristocrats liked Legalism

Chinese Ethical Systems – page 239

Chinese Ethical Systems Confucianism

• Social order, harmony, and good government should be based on family relationships.

• Respect for parents and elders is important to a well ordered society.

• Education is important to both the welfare of the individual and to society.

Daoism

• The natural order is more important than social order.

• A universal force guides all things.

• Human beings should live simply and in harmony with nature.

Legalism

• A highly efficient and powerful government is the key to social order.

• Punishments are useful to maintain order.

• Thinkers and their ideas should be strictly controlled by the government.

Chapter 7, Section 2 Questions 1. What is unique about the ancient Chinese social structure?

2. Define filial piety.

3. Name the founders of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism.

4. Which philosophy was centered around a strong system of laws and punishments in order to keep society in order?

5. Compare Confucianism and Daoism.

The Qin and Han Dynasties Chapter 7, Section 3, page 240

Emperor Qin Shihuangdi – page 241 • •

Period of the Warring States – period of violence that made people look for a way to restore order Qin Shihuangdi

(sp)

– “First Qin Emperor”

B.C.) (221 – – from the state of Qin (China) establishes the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C. – 206 B.C.)

A Powerful Ruler – page 241 • Qin Shihuangdi – –

based his rule on the ideas of Legalism

• • • eliminated opposition burned books instituted a practice called “strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches” created an

autocracy – a government that has unlimited power and uses it in an arbitrary manner

A Powerful Ruler – page 242 • accomplishments – – – – set standards for writing, law, currency, weights, and measures over 4,000 miles of roads constructed irrigation projects improved farm production early Great Wall (one we know today built in the Ming Dynasty)

Why Did the People Rebel? – page 242 • Four years after Qin Shihuangdi’s death, the Qin dynasty was overthrown.

– farmers, scholars, and aristocrats were all displeased with how he had ruled

The Han Dynasty – page 244 • •

Liu Bang – founded the Han Dynasty

(202 B.C. – A.D. 220)

Han Wudi – wanted talented people to work in government; developed the civil service exam

– – population reaches 60 million under Han Wudi expansion policy –”Martial Emperor”

An Era of New Inventions – page 245 • • • • • • waterwheels iron drill bits steel paper rudder

advances in medicine

–

acupuncture – treatment that is supposed to ease pain by sticking needles into the skin

The Silk Road – page 246 •

Silk Road – network of trade routes that stretched from China to southwest Asia

– –

China exported silk, spices, tea, & porcelain Zhang Qian – explored areas west of China; brought back stories of the Roman Empire