Download Unit 1 Study Guide

ASIA 110: Introduction to Asia (China)
Instructor: Jennifer Lundin Ritchie
Unit 1 Study Guide
Important Things to Understand / Remember
What is China?
Map of China:
 can you label the basic geography? mountains, deserts, plateaus, main rivers, where crops grow, etc.
How do we define ‘China’? How is ‘China’ considered a unit?
 What are some stereotypes of ‘China’? Which facts did we learn that break these stereotypes?
 Give some examples of ways that Chinese official histories create an illusion of ‘one China’ over time.
 Why is there pressure to describe China as a single and enduring unit? Who benefits and how?
 Why would some people claim “there is no China”? What do they mean?
 What is the majority language of China today? Can everyone understand it? Why/why not?
 What is the majority ethnicity of China today? How many minorities are there?
 What is the benefit of saying that “all people in China are Chinese”? Who benefits? How?
 Describe a few ways minorities are ‘assimilated’ into ‘Chinese’ culture in different eras.
Historiography
What is the difference between ‘The Past’ and ‘History’?
What kinds of source materials can we use to learn history?
What kinds of questions should we ask when looking at any historical account?
When there are conflicting stories (‘histories’), how do we determine what/who to believe?
What is ‘hermeneutics’? What kinds of things can we interpret?
What makes someone ‘a hermeneut’? Why do assumptions matter to the study of history?
Can you relate all the above historiography questions to the different source materials we studied in class?
Can you relate them to specific stories (‘histories’) we studied in class? e.g. Shang/Zhou, You, Wen/Xiqi, etc
Prehistory
Pre-Neolithic (‘before the stone age’) Humans / Homo Erectus (e.g. Yuanmou Man, Peking Man):
 When (how long ago) and where (basic locations) did they exist, approximately?
 What evidence did we find of Pre-Neolithic humans?
 What does the evidence tell us about Pre-Neolithic humans? What things can it not tell us about them?
 Why do we have an accurate image of what Peking Man looks like, but not Yuanmou Man?
 Why was discovering Pre-Neolithic humans in China important? What impact did it have globally?
Neolithic (‘stone age’) Humans  three major groups: Yangshao, Longshan, Erlitou
 When (how long ago) and where (which location) did they exist, approximately?
 What evidence did we find of Neolithic humans?
 What does this evidence tell us about Neolithic humans? What can it not tell us about them?
 Which 3 stereotypical/traditional ‘Chinese’ foods/drinks were NOT being eaten by these peoples?
 Compare the housing and pottery of each group: How are they the same/different?
 Were these the only groups of humans living in China at that time?
 Describe the 2 theories of the origins of ‘Chinese’ civilization. What are some problems with each
theory? Why don’t we know for a fact how early Chinese civilization developed?
Mythology
 Why do I call this section ‘mythology’ instead of ‘history’?
 Could you recognize the names of the sage kings of Chinese creation myths?
 What patterns do we notice when looking at the ‘history’ of the endings and beginnings of dynasties?
Why do these patterns happen? How did these patterns benefit the Zhou rulers?
 How could the Zhou have written Shang and Xia ‘histories’ when their educated elites said the Zhou
did NOT know the facts of these peoples? Why would they have written these histories anyway?
 Which of the three last ‘mythological’ dynasties (Xia, Shang, Zhou) are real? How do we know?
ASIA 110: Introduction to Asia (China)
Instructor: Jennifer Lundin Ritchie
Shang Dynasty
Lady Fu Hao’s Tomb at Anyang:
 When and Where was the Shang dynasty located, approximately?
 When (approximately) did we find the large collection of items in Lady Fu Hao’s tomb?
 Why was finding that tomb so important to history? (it was the first time…)
 What do EACH of the items found in the tomb (see list below) tell us about the Shang dynasty? What
kinds of things do they not tell us about the Shang dynasty?
1. Oracle bones:
 What are oracle bones made of? What were they used for in the Shang? in modern China (ca. 1900)?
 What tools did the Shang use to write on the oracle bones? How did the writing tools affect the shape
or style of the characters/writing?
 How much can we trust what is written on the oracle bones? Why?
2. Human Sacrifices:
 What are the main types of human sacrifices found in Fu Hao’s tomb?
 What are the purpose(s) of these sacrifices?
3. Bronzes:
 What kinds of items were made of bronze in this era? Which kinds of people own/use Shang bronzes?
 What was written on the bronzes? How much can we trust what is written on the bronzes? Why?
 How did people write on the bronzes? How did this affect the shape or style of the characters/writing?
 Drinking from the bronzes affected the Shang’s personality/behavior: why / how were they affected?
4. Chariots:
 Where did they come from?What were they used for?How did Shang change them?How do we know?
The Fall of the Shang:
 What do Shang historical records say about the Zhou? What can we learn about the Zhou from this?
 What does it mean that ‘Heaven took the Mandate from Shang and gave it to Zhou’? Why would
Heaven do this? Which source material(s) tells us this story? Who wrote this ‘history’? Do you
recognize this story as a pattern from previous dynasties? Why does this pattern exist? Do we have
any reason to doubt this story/pattern? Why? What is a more mundane—and more likely—reason(s)
the Zhou overthrew the Shang?
 Name some problems with saying: “The first dynasties in Chinese history were Xia, Shang, Zhou”?
The Western Zhou Dynasty
The Founding of the W Zhou:
 What is the mythical origin of the Zhou people? What does this myth tell us about the Zhou culture?
 What is the mundane theory of where the Zhou people came from? What does this tell us about them?
 Who was the father-and-son team who conquered the Shang?
 Where was the W Zhou dynasty located (approximately)? Why was it called The ‘Western’ Zhou?
 What happened to the Shang royalty and elites who surrendered and pledged loyalty to the Zhou?
 How did the W Zhou kings rule over such a large territory? What strategy did they come up with?
What was a problem it caused? How was it different from the way the Shang organized their territory?
Main Sources of Zhou history:
 What are the main sources of writing we use to learn Zhou history?
 For EACH source: When was it written? What kinds of things does it write about? Can we trust it
100%? Why? How is it different or the same as earlier writing (e.g. Shang oracle bones & bronzes)?
 What tools did people use to write on bamboo? How did tools affect the shape / style of the writing?
The Fall of the W Zhou:
 How was the fall of the W.Zhou related to Hegemons? Who do you believe: Chong’er or Xiqi? Why?
 How was the fall of the W Zhou related to King You?What version of the story do you believe?Why?
ASIA 110: Introduction to Asia (China)
Instructor: Jennifer Lundin Ritchie
The Eastern Zhou Dynasty
The Founding of the E Zhou:
 Why was it called The ‘Eastern’ Zhou? Who started this dynasty? Why and how did he take charge?
 What are the two periods of the E Zhou? Which came first? Second? How are they different?
 Where was the E Zhou dynasty located, approximately?
 Can you label the important states of Zhou, Chu, Qin, Song, Jin, Qi on a map?
 Out of Jin, Qi, Chu, and Qin: which states supported Zhou and which challenged Zhou?
 Why were Qi, Chu, and Song more independent than other states? What made them unique?
 Did Chu culture disappear after Qin unified China? How do we know?
 What are 4 major developments of the E Zhou era? Why were they good/bad/important?
The Chuci (Songs of Chu, Songs of the South):
 Where and When was it written (approximately)? Can we trust it 100%? Why?
 What kinds of things does it write about? How is it different from the Shijing (Book of Odes)? What
does a comparison of the Shijing and the Chuci tell us about the two cultures that wrote them?
 Who is Qu Yuan? What is his story (in brief)?
Warfare:
 What are two ways the Warring States used walls? What is significant about this?
 How did warfare change from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period?
 What do these changes in warfare tell us about the changes happening in society in general?
 Why did warfare in the Warring States lead to the rise of ‘The 100 Schools of Thought’?
The 100 Schools of Thought:
 Who were 7 major philosophers of this era? Were they all real people? Who came first, later?
 Who ‘followed’ (agreed with, learned from) who? Who disagreed with who?
 What were their backgrounds (royalty, nobility, poor, unknown) and working positions (teacher,
official, politician, artisan, none)? How could these affect / influence their opinions and writings?
 What was each of their worldviews (what did they value)?
 What style of book did they each write (poetry, essays, conversations, etc.)?
 Who actually wrote their book? Themselves? Followers? Others? In which ways can authorship affect
how trustworthy/accurate the book is in telling us what the philosopher thought?
 What were EACH of their opinions on: Ritual (Li), expenditure (spending $) on luxuries and rituals,
government service, filial piety / partiality (xiao), learning (zhi), Heaven, ‘The Way’, the ways of the
past kings, Human Nature, rule by force (law, punishments) vs. virtue (modeling a good way to live)
 What type (social class) of followers did each of them have? What made their way of thinking
attractive to these followers? What kinds of world conditions changed their popularity over time?
 What items did we find at Guodian? Why was Guodian important? What 2 things did it tell us?
The Qin Dynasty
Where was this dynasty located, approximately?
Why is the Qin dynasty so significant? (it was the first dynasty to…)
Li Si:
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Which philosophy did he follow? Who was his teacher? Classmate? Why did he execute Han Feizi?
Who was the first Qin ‘Legalist’? What kind of ideas/policies did that guy implement in Qin state?
Why did Li Si go to Qin? What position (job) did he hold in Qin? What policies did he implement?
First Emperor of China ‘Qin Shi Huang Di’ (King Zheng of the state of Qin):
 Which philosophy did he follow? What things was the Qin Emperor most famous for?
ASIA 110: Introduction to Asia (China)
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Instructor: Jennifer Lundin Ritchie
What were 4 ‘faults’ of the Qin? What were 3 positive advances of the Qin? How did they help Qin?
What are the two different images/portraits of the Qin Emperor? What evidence do we have that the
Qin was a terrible dynasty? What evidence do we have that the Qin was a great/successful dynasty?
Who wrote the records? Can we trust them 100%? Why? Which story do you believe about Qin?
What are the two stories of the ‘Great Wall’ of the Qin? Which do you believe? Why?
Why did the Qin dynasty fall? What happened to the First Qin Emperor? To Li Si?
Seal Script:
 What tools did people use to write on the stone seals? How did this affect the shape of the characters?
 What is the benefit(s) of having a standardized script? What is the problem(s) with having it?
Western Han Dynasty
Where was this dynasty located, approximately? Why was it called The ‘Western’ Han?
Compare: How was the Western Han different / similar to the Zhou, Warring States, and Qin?
What were new the new ideas of the Han? Why are the Mawangdui texts considered so important?
Liu Bang (Gaozu):
 Who were the two rebel leaders who emerged after the fall of the Qin? Can you describe each one?
What were their backgrounds? What were they each good at? Who won, out of the two?
 Why was Liu Bang special? (first person to …)
 Which philosophy did he follow?
 What kind of style of rule did he have? (warlike, aggressive, peaceful, diplomatic, etc)
 What kind of international relations (IR) did he have? How did he deal with the Xiongnu people?
 What problems did he have during his rule? How did he deal with (resolve) these problems?
The Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian)
 When was it written (approximately)? Who wrote it? What kinds of things does it write about?
 How much can we trust this source of history? Why? How did his life events relate to what he wrote?
How does the trustworthiness compare to other Han histories, like Ban Gu’s Han Shu (Book of Han)?
Empress Dowager Lu Zhi:
 Who was she? How did she gain and keep power? What kind of ruler was she?
 Why is she significant? (first person to …)
Emperor Wu:
 How did he gain the throne? How was it different from how Liu Bang (Gaozu) and Lu Zhi did it?
 Which philosophy did he follow? What other intellectual developments happened at this time?
 How is his style of rule different than Liu Bang?What kind of international relations (IR) did he have?
 What problems did he have? How did he deal with (resolve) these problems?Why did the W Han fall?
Xin Dynasty
Wang Mang:
 Which philosophy did he follow? How did he gain the throne?
 Why did he decide to establish the Xin? Do you think he was a ‘usurper’ or a ‘savior’? Why?
 What problems did he have? Why did the Xin fall?
Eastern Han Dynasty
Emperor Guangwu:
 How is his rule different than Liu Bang (Gaozu) and Emperor Wu? Which philosophy did he follow?
 What problems did he have during his rule? Why did the E Han fall?