Download Ancient China

Ancient China
Big Idea
• China's physical geography made farming
possible but travel & communication
difficult
• Developed along 2 rivers
• China's first dynasties helped Chinese
society develop and made many other
achievements
Review Section 1
• Geography
– Gobi Desert
– Low-lying plains: farmland
– Quinling Shandi: mountains
• Separates north/south China
– Monsoons
– Developed
• Huang He or Yellow River (China’s Sorrow)
• Chang Jiang, or Yangzi
Development of Farming
• Food
– Rice -Cereal millet & wheat
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Location: Huang He & Chang Jiang
Hunter & Fisherman
Domestication animals
Increase Population
Early Settlements
• Houses
– Partly underground, covered roofs
• Walls
– Surrounded towns
• Animal pens, storage pits, cemeteries
• Potters wheel
2 seperate cultures
• Separate cultures in North & South China
• Sanxingdui
• Hongshan
Burial Sites
• Provide information
– Filled tombs with objects
• Food
– Social Hierarchy
– Beautiful jewelry
• Jade
Burial Sites
• Provide information
– Filled tombs with objects
• Food
– Social Hierarchy
– Beautiful jewelry
• Jade
Xia Dynasty
• Yu the Great
– founder
• Channels
– Flooding to drain the water
– Yu dug the channels???
• Stories
– Provide Chinese with stories of working
together
Shang Dynasty
• 1500 B.C. In the Huang He Valley
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Northern China
• Moved capital several times
• King center of life
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Political
religious
Shang Dynasty
Social Order
King: Royal Family & Nobles
Warriors
Artisans: lived outside city walls
Farmers: long hours, high taxes, no $
Slaves: source of labor
Shang Advancements
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China's first writing system
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Writing found on oracle bones
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Cattle bones & turtle shells
Priest would interpret the cracks
Oracle: is a prediction
Bronze containers
Axes, ornaments, knives, war chariots,
bows, body armor, calender
Section 2 Overview
• Zhou Dynasty expanded China but then
declined
• Confucius offered ideas to bring order to
the Chinese
• Daoism and Legalism also gained
followers
Big Idea
• The Zhou dynasty brought political
stability and new ways to deal with
political and social changes in ancient
China
Zhou Dynasty
• Overthrew the Shang
• Kings gained power through Heaven
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Mandate of Heaven
• Lords & Peasants
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Taxes & soldiers
• Lack of Loyalty from generation to
generation
Decline of Zhou Power
• Fire
• Warring States Period
– A time of many civil wars
– China lacked a strong government to stop
power struggles within the ruling class
families
• Internal Problems
– Families broke apart—decrease in loyalty
Confucius
• China was rude and people dishonest
• Wanted to restore family order and social
harmony
Confucius Guidelines
• Fathers should display high moral values to
inspire their families
• Children should respect and obey their
parents
• All family members should be loyal to
each other
Ideas on Government
• Moral leadership, not laws
• A king should lead by example inspiring
good behavior in all of his subjects
• The lower classes would learn by
following the example of their superiors.
Confucius
• Great Teacher
• The Analects
Daoism
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Reaction to Confucianism
Government stay out of peoples lives
Be like water
Balance of opposites: low high
Dao
Natural world
Laozi
Legalism
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Political Philosophy
Government & Social Control
Reject Confucianism and Daoism
Society-Strict laws
– People and neighbors and family punished
• Always be ready for war to expand
territory
The Qin Dynasty
• Main Ideas
– The first Qin Emperor created a strong but
strict government.
– A unified China was created through Qin
policies and achievements.
The Qin Dynasty
• Main Ideas
– The first Qin Emperor created a strong but
strict government.
– A unified China was created through Qin
policies and achievements.
Big Idea
• The Qin Dynasty unified China with a
strong government and a system of
standardization.
Qin Dynasty
• Developed a strong military during the
Warring State (civil war period)
• Qin king Ying Zheng:
– Named himself: Shi Huangdi “first emperor”
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Legalism
Strong government
Strict laws
Harsh punishments
Shi Huangdi
• Must follow his policies
• Burning of books
– Opposition buried alive
• Expanded Empire
– When they conquered a city they destroyed the
walls and took all the weapons
Change in the Rules
• He did not share power
• He took away land from nobles
• He forced people to work on government
buildings
• He controlled China by dividing it into
districts with governors being which
enforced the tax system
Unified China
• Uniform system of laws (everyone does the
same thing)
– Rules
– Laws
– Writing Symbols
– Money System
– Weight & Measures
Unified China
• Trade became easier
• Severe Punishments if you did not obey
Qin Achievements
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Roads- connected to the capital
Water system-canals
Irrigation System- still used today
Great Wall
The Fall of the Qin
• New policies stirred resentment
– Peasant, scholars, nobles
• Shi Huangdi died in 210 B.C.
• Rebels formed and said the received the
“Mandate of Heaven”
• Country falls to civil war