Download The Indus River Valley Civilization

Early Civilizations in Asia
The Indus River Valley
And
China
The Indus River Valley
Civilization
Ancient India
Environmental Challenges
 Flooding
 Monsoons
 Mountains
invasion
 Indus
as barriers from
River a link to the sea
Rivers of the Subcontinent
 Indus
River
 Ganges River
 Indus-Ganges
Plain
(stretches
1,500 miles
across
northern
India.)
Monsoons
Seasonal Winds
 Winter
monsoons blow

dry air from
October to May.

Spring
monsoons blow
from the
southwest
starting in June
bringing
moisture from
the ocean.
Cities
The largest cities
were
Kalibangan,
Mohenjo-Daro,
and Harappa.
 Cities were laid
out on a precise
grid system.
 The citadel
(fortified area)
contained the
major buildings
of the city.

 Residential
areas
 Buildings
made of
uniform
bricks
 Sophisticated
plumbing and
sewage
Cities
Culture/Trade
Artifacts
Religion
Clay and
Early Shiva
Wooden Toys artifacts,
Fertility
images,
Worship of
cattle
Economics
Stamp/Seals
made of
carved stone
were used to
identify
goods.
Long
distance
trade
Pictures
The End of Indus Valley Culture
 No
one is sure what happened to
this early culture.
 No floods to provide water,
overfarming, natural disaster,
attack from enemies…???
River Dynasties in China
Geography
 China
has many natural
barriers
 Pacific Ocean
 Taklimakan Desert
 Plateau of Tibet
 Himalaya Mountains
 Gobi Desert
 Mongolian Plateau.
Major Rivers
Huang
He in the
North (Yellow River)
Yangtze in the central
area of China
The Gobi Desert and the
Yangtze River
Challenges
Flooding
(Huang He/
“China’s Sorrow”
Geographic
Invasions
isolation
 Anyang
capital
 Massive
earth walls
for
protection
 Elaborate
palaces
 Tombs
Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty
Social Classes
 King
 Nobles
 Peasants
Family and Society
 Family
was very important.
 The most important virtue was
respect for one’s parents.
 Fathers made decisions;
mothers were inferior.
 Marriages were arranged
between the ages of 13 and 16.
Women hoped to have sons to
improve their station in life.
Religious Beliefs



The spirits of
family ancestors
could bring good
things or
misfortunes.
Every family
member paid
respect/sacrificed
to the ancestors.
Oracle Bones
(animal bones or
turtoise shells that
priests scratched
questions for the gods)

Began with Oracle
Bones.

There were no links
with China’s written
and spoken
language.
Written language
helped unify a large
and diverse land.
Enormous amount of
characters—a
different one for
each idea—1,000


characters to be
literate, 10,000 to be
a scholar!
Writing
Artistry and Technology
Bronzeworking- used in
religious rituals or as symbols of
power
Silk
Production- silk shoes were
a symbol of civilization
Weapons,
jewelry, and
religious items…
Zhou Overthrows Shang
Declared that the
Shang were such
bad rulers that the
gods had taken
over away their
rule
 Justification came
from the Mandate
of Heaven

Mandate of Heaven
Divine
approval
for a
ruler and
dynasty
Dynastic Cycles
 The
rise,
decline, and
replacement
of a dynasty
 Example:
The Zhou
overthrew
the Shang
Nobles
are
granted
land in
exchange
for loyalty
and
military
service
Feudalism
Zhou Dynasty used this
method to control different
regions of the land
Zhou Improvements
Coined
money
Roads
Canals
Iron (daggers, swords, knives,
blades)
Rise and Fall of Chinese Empires
 Qin
Shihuangdi and the Qin
Dynasty—
 Terra Cotta Soldiers
 The Great Wall of China
 Centralized Government
 Legalism
The Han Dynasty
 Confucianism
took the place of
harsh Legalism
 Civil Service
 Han Wudi
 Water mills and
iron casting
 Rudder, rigging
to sail into the
wind
 Confucian
Classics