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Xia Dynasty and Ancient Beliefs Xia Dynasty The first group to settle in China was the Yangshuo. Settled near Huang He River – mostly farming communities These people learned how to work with jade and plaster Silk is harvested from silk worms Potter’s wheel is invented Bricks are baked for buildings o Women were highly valued in the society Each village had a “wise woman” who would be consulted in times of difficulty o Each spring, young men and women from all villages would come together to meet and find a wife or husband If you did not marry at this festival, you had to wait until the next year o Around 2,000 BC, the “Great Engineer”, Yu, founded the Xia dynasty Dynasty is a line of rulers who belong to the same family and pass control from one generation to the net There are no written records from this time period because they had no written language! o All of our knowledge comes from ruins of towns, and ancient stories and legends Ancient Beliefs Luck The Ancient Chinese believed in the idea of luck and fell back on this quite frequently o If something went wrong, their bad luck was to blame o If something good happened, their good luck was responsible Good luck was always meant to be shared If you did not share your good luck, you would lose it This built a culture of cooperation and sharing o Everyone made sure everyone else had enough Gods Gods of Nature – these gods were responsible for the events that happened in nature o God of heaven, war, fire, and thunder o Goddess of mercy Household Gods o Smaller gods were connected to almost every aspect of daily life God of the well, god of the door, god of the oven These gods would help people and also spy on them o Each year, household gods would travel to heaven to report one people to the Jade Emperor of Heaven Your luck was directly related to the report you received Ancestor Worship All people in ancient China believed in ghosts o The ghosts they believed in were their dead family members These ancestors would watch them, help them and even punish them with bad luck if they were bad Chinese found this belief to be comforting To keep ancestors happy, people would leave gifts and offerings at temples Believed ancestors could tell the future o Sent visions of the future through dreams and signs to help them find happiness Oracle Bones One way to communicate with ancestors was to your oracle bones – if you were an emperor! o Oracle bones came from an animal – usually a larger one like a cow or ox, or from a turtle’s shell The emperor would ask a question about the future, their priest would carve the question into the bone The priest would heat a bronze pin and place the pin on the bone. This created a pattern of cracks on the bone The priest would study the pattern to find an answer