Download Early China - kyle

River Valley Civs in China
World History
Ms. Guerin
By the end of this lesson you should
be able to answer:
• 1. Why is the Yellow River yellow? How is the Yellow
River Valley different from Mesopotamia and Egypt?
• 2. What system of government and social structure did
ancient China have?
• 3. What is the Mandate of Heaven?
• 4. Explain family hierarchy and ancestor importance
(religious).
• 5. Why is emperor Qin Shi Huangdi famous?
• 6. What are some tech advances made in ancient China?
China’s geography
• Yellow River valley – starts in
Tibetan plateau – name comes
from color of loess soil
(powderlike, from glaciers) –
fertile, but violent floods
• Lots of rain– don’t need to
irrigate, unlike Mesopotamia,
but need to control floods
• pottery and bone tools by 5000
BCE
• Agriculture also in Yangzi R.
valley
Three Ancient Dynasties: Xia, Shang,
and Zhou
dynasty maps
Xia
• (2200 – 1700 BCE) established hereditary
monarchical rule
• Xia emperor Yu “tamed the Yellow River (Huang
He)” by building canals and dredging silt from
river – part legend
• Reflects values of social harmony, selflessness,
dedication to work –similar to AES values 
• Bronze metallurgy – rulers controlled village
leaders w/ bronze weapons
Second ancient dynasty: Shang
• 1766-1122 BCE
• Bronze metallurgy and horse-drawn chariots (from IndoEuropean migrants – names show Indo –Euro origin)
probably enabled takeover of Xia
• State monopoly on bronze production by controlling
access to tin and copper ore
• Bigger than Xia
• Military forces, walled towns
• Royal graves included dogs, servants, cowry shells, etc.
• Writing! - on oracle bones – predictions
Development of writing in China
• Unlike Meso, Indus R. civs, Shang developed
writing to serve rulers, not track sales
•Diviners used broad bones from sheep, turtles, scratched
question then heated bone, interpreted cracks that
developed.
Can you interpret the
cracks here? Read
translation on next page.
Shang Oracle Bone reading
.
Question: Will there be harm in the next 10 days?
The king, reading the cracks, said, "There will be no harm;
there will perhaps be the coming of alarming news.“
[Verification:] When it came to the fifth day, ding-you, there
really was the the coming of alarming news from the west.
Zhi Guo, reporting, said, "The Du Fang [a border people] are
besieging in our eastern borders and have harmed two
settlements." The Gong-fang also raided the fields of our
western borders.
Fu Hao – powerful Shang concubine
• Tomb shows high status– lots of bronze, cowry
shells
• Served as general on military campaigns
• Supervised own estate and presided over
sacrificial ceremonies that were traditionally male
responsibility
Third ancient dynasty: Zhou
• Dates 1122-221, but includes Period of Warring
States, 403-221 BCE, when Zhou fighting for
control
• defeated Shang dynasty through effective
organization of allies in western region
• NEW Political theory – “mandate of heaven” –
emperor intermediary between heaven and earth –
but duty to rule w/ high standards, harmony –
otherwise, displeased heavenly powers withdraw
mandate
Class structure
• Royalty– owned lots of bronze
• Hereditary aristocrats – landowners, most lived in cities,
worked as administrators – published table etiquette manual
• Free artisans/craftsmen,
“comfortable” economically
• Merchants traded w/ oar-propelled boats – w/ Korea in Shang
years, more shipbuilding in Zhou
• Peasants - like Sumerian “dependent clients” – owned no
land but worked in exchange for plot usage – underground
houses (3 ft down)
• Slaves – most were enemy warriors – heavy labor and
sacrificial victims
Importance of family
• Veneration of ancestors– belief that if ancestors
respected, they support you – family cooperation
and solidarity important
• No organized religion (unlike Nile River civ),
but family patriarch presided at ancestral rites
• Before Zhou, male power came through
matrilineal descent, this encouraged families to
honor females – during Zhou, Chinese society
became more patriarchal
Demise of the Zhou
• Zhou state larger than
Shang –decentralized
• Uh-oh - regions set up
own armies, built up own
stockpiles of bronze
weapons and, after 1000
BCE, iron (cheaper!)
• Yet another blow to Zhou
(rhymes) - all over for
Zhou dominance.
Warring States Period
China’s Great Unifier – Emperor
Qin Shi Huangdi
The Qin Dynasty – 221
B.C.E. – 207 B.C.E.
Qin Shi Huangdi
• Qin kingdom dominated other states during the warring
period
• 221 B.C.E. imposed centralized imperial rule
• divided China into administrative regions
• standardized laws, currency, weights, measures, and
script
• built roads to help communication and the movement of
armies
• built foundation of modern Great Wall of China
• Built own tomb w/ thousands of individualized terra cotta
warriors
The Great Wall with Towers
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Army
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Soldiers
& Cavalrymen
The “Dark Side” of Qin Shi Huangdi
• scholars who criticized him were buried alive
• burned all books on ethics, literature, and
philosophy  many lost (sob) forever
• kept only books on military strategy, agriculture
• Fall of Qin dynasty – 207 BCE.
• laborers used on public work projects angry; after
Qin Shihuangdi’s death they revolted
Do Now:
• 1. Why is the Yellow River yellow? How is the Yellow
River Valley different from Mesopotamia and Egypt?
• 2. What system of government and social structure did
ancient China have?
• 3. What is the Mandate of Heaven?
• 4. Explain family hierarchy and ancestor importance
(religious).
• 5. Why is emperor Qin Shi Huangdi famous?
• 6. What are some tech advances made in ancient China?