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The first ancient Chinese villages were located along the mighty rivers
of the Huang He and the Chiang Jiang.
G
Around 10,000 BCE, the
Yangshao people built villages along the Huang He River and its tributary,
the Wei River. They were farmers who built irrigation canals and dams to
control the rivers when they flooded and to help with farming.
One
G
ancient city that archaeologists uncovered was called Banpo. The homes of
Banpo were built partially underground and used huge logs to hold up the
roof. The floors were plastered.
G
Since the Yangshao were farmers
who used stone tools and weapons they were considered Neolithic.
G/E
About 7,000 years later or around 3,000 BCE, another group of people
settled in northeast China. They were known as the Longshan people. The
Longshan raised cattle, sheep, pigs and dogs.
G
They raised crops such
as wheat and millet and later as they moved to the south where it was
wetter, they learned how to grow rice which had to be planted in flooded
fields.
G/E/A
The Longshan were the first people to figure out how to
A
raise silkworms and use their cocoons to make silk thread.
They
created simple numbers and symbols to communicate.
Although these two cultures made great progress, they were not
dynasties. China’s first dynasty lasted for 300 years and it was known as
the Xia (shee uh) was established by a man known as Lu.
A/P
Lu
earned
the name of “Great Engineer” because he helped build massive irrigation
projects. Eventually, the Xia dynasty was replaced by the Shang dynasty
which lasted over 700 years.
P
Unlike the Yangshao, Longshan and
Xia, the Shang Dynasty was the first to make bronze which meant that they
1
were no longer Neolithic but members of the Bronze Age.
A/E
the first Chinese to make and use bronze coins.
They
A
were
Like most ancient
Chinese, the Shang were polytheistic, although they did have a supreme god
known as Shang di.
They also believed that only the priests could
R
communicate with the gods. The Shang thought that their ancestors became
gods and controlled their lives which led to them worshipping their ancestors
with offerings to keep them happy.
R
They buried their
dead with
objects just like the Egyptians had done because they believed in an afterlife. One tomb/burial site belonging to a Shang king was shaped like a cross.
This tomb was found at Anyang and it contained 9 guards, 9 dogs, 4 horses
and 3 armed warriors with a chariot for its prince. Oracle bones were used
R
by priests to make predictions about daily life.
These
were
made
from bones and tortoise shells. Over 100,000 oracle bones have been found.
First the king’s question was written on the bone and then it was heated and
it cracked and the priest read the patterns created. The writing on these
oracle bones is evidence that the Shang created and refined China’s first
real written language.
A
Yet, people from different parts of China spoke
different dialects or types of Chinese. This made it hard for people from
different areas to understand one another. Many years after the Shang
dynasty, the Zhou dynasty solved this problem. The Zhou made the written
word have the same meaning for everyone; even if they pronounced it
differently it would still mean the same thing!
A
The
new
language ended up having over 3,000 different characters.
Chinese
Having the
Chinese language written the same all over China not only made it easier for
people from different parts of China to communicate BUT it also unified
China. It also helped to spread Chinese culture.
2
When the Zhou dynasty replaced the Shang dynasty,
P
they not
Ponly standardized the Chinese written language but they made other
changes as well. First of all, the new Zhou (Joh) leader justified his take
over of the Chinese government with the new idea called “Mandate of
Heaven.”
P/R
Its’ main idea was that each king had been given the right
to rule by the gods and if the ruler did not do a good job then the gods
would revoke his “mandate” or order to rule. The people would know that the
mandate had been revoked when the gods allowed a new ruler to successfully
overthrow the last ruler. From that point on, most Chinese rulers used the
idea of a Mandate from Heaven to justify their right to rule China.
Unfortunately, near the end of the Zhou dynasty there was much chaos
(confusion) and fighting over who was in charge. It was during this time that
one of the world’s greatest leaders was born. This man went by the name of
Kung fu tze or by his more common name, Confucius.
P/S
Growing up in a
time of confusion and as an orphan, helped shape his beliefs. Although he
was from a noble family, he grew up poor. Yet he was well educated and
taught the Chinese how to best achieve peace in a time of turmoil.
He
preached the Golden Rule “Do not do to others what you would not want
them to do to you.” Confucius also taught about “ren” which means “one
person existing in harmony with another”.
P/S
To achieve ren, one had to
use his philosophy which preached that there were five basic relationships.
These relationships included: Husband and Wife, Father and Son, Older
Brother and Younger Brother, Friend and Friend and Ruler and Subjects.
Each of these relationships is based on sincerity, loyalty and mutual respect.
He said that rulers had the right to rule but that the government should be
based on goodness not laws and punishment.
3
He said that government
workers should get jobs based on talent not family connections. These ideas
angered rulers and they banned his teachings the reason his teachings were
written on hidden cave walls instead of in books. Nearly 100 years after his
death, his follower, Mencius helped spread these ideas. Mencius believed
human nature was good and that bad leaders should be driven from the
throne.
P
Still there were others who did not agree with Confucius and
Mencius.
One of the first groups to disagree with Confucius was the Moists.
Their leader was Mozi and they believed in universal love, equality for all
people not just rulers.
P
Another group called themselves the Legalists.
They thought people were bad by nature and that only a strong government,
with strict laws and harsh punishments could keep evil under control.
P
The third group was known as the Daoists. Their leader was Laozi who said
the best leaders work quietly in the background, not taking credit for what
they did. They also believe in a simple society and being in harmony with
nature, known as the Way.
P
Of these three groups, only one could
compare with Confucianism and that was the group known as the Legalists.
It seemed like people in China embraced Confucianism but many of the
leaders liked to use Legalism to help them rule China.
P
Emperor Qin (chin) who replaced the last of the Zhou rulers, did not
like Confucianism and instead used Legalism to rule China.
P
Qin ruled
China using a system of rewards and punishments. In fact, he urged people
to spy on their neighbors and turn in lawbreakers! His advisor went even
further and ordered books to be burned if they were not about medicine,
agriculture (farming) or prophecy. He did not allow anyone to read or study
the teachings of Confucius.
Qin shihuangdi ordered the building of the
4
Great Wall of China to protect its northern border.
A/P
He also set up a
bureaucracy (a system in which each worker is appointed and trained to do a
certain job) to help rule China. To help unify China, he made everyone use
the same written language, money, weights and measurements.
Many of
Qin’s changes were lasting and in fact still influence China today. The name
for China even came from his name!
A/P
China was not a pleasant place to live during the reign (rule) of
Emperor Qin and people were constantly plotting to overthrow or
assassinate him. He was suspicious of everyone and began planning for his
death and afterlife as soon as he became emperor. In fact, he was buried
with over 6,000 life size clay (terra cotta) soldiers who he thought would
magically come to life and serve him in the after life.
R
Qin only served as emperor for 15 years, although he hoped to start a
dynasty that would last 10,000 years. After his death, he was replaced by
someone from another family who started a new dynasty called the Han
Dynasty.
P
Much great advancement took place during the Han Dynasty.
example, the seismograph was invented.
A
For
Other achievements included
learning to calculate the length of the year and predict eclipses.
They
invented a new kind of medicine using needles called acupuncture. Chinese
engineers were the first to use iron tipped bamboo poles for drilling into the
earth. They even invented paper!
A
During this time scholars completed
the first Chinese dictionary and Sima Qian completed the first book to tell
the full history of China.
It’s possible that so many great things were
achieved during the Han dynasty because they used a combination of
5
Confucianism and Legalism which helped to promote free and creative
thinking that was not allowed under the Legalist government of Qin.
By combining Legalism and Confucianism, the Han leaders were using
what came to be known as “yin and yang.”
A
These are opposite ideas but
the theory is that one cannot exist without the other. This new philosophy
of yin and yang allowed the Chinese to keep the Legalist idea of a strong
ruler and a strict set of laws while at the same time using the Confucian idea
that a ruler should act like a good father to his people and set a good
example for them instead of just using threats of harsh punishments. Yin
represented the qualities of darkness, calm and weakness. Earth, winter,
sorrow, and death are examples of yin. Yang represented the qualities of
strength and active. Heaven, summer, joy and life are examples of yang. It
was thought that there is no light without darkness or no life without death.
Opposites worked together to create the whole.
It was during this time that China began to look outward. Emperor
Wudi sent a military officer naming Zheng Qian out to explore other lands.
He traveled and brought back glassware from Syria, gold from Rome and new
crops such as alfalfa and grapes. China now realized that there was a whole
other world outside of itself. These new developments led to the creation
of the “Silk Road.”
A/E
The Silk Road was not a road made of silk but a
long trade route that stretched from China’s eastern border all the way to
Rome and the Middle East. It got its name because of the large quantities
of silk the Chinese sent to other parts of the world. Thanks to the Silk
Road, the rest of the world was introduced to not only silk, but also paper
which would drastically change life for people in the west.
6
The lines between the Chinese classes were not as clear as those of
India. Most Chinese were farmers while very few were of noble birth. More
people lived in small country villages than in cities. By the time of the Han
dynasty, only one in ten people lived in the city.
S
These cities were laid
out neatly using compass directions. The cities were centers of government,
education, and trade with busy marketplaces. Both rich and poor lived in the
city. The poor Chinese living in the city had a life not unlike the poor in many
of today’s modern cities. Houses were packed closely together and many of
the youngsters joined gangs which roamed the city terrorizing its people.
The rich that lived in the city had huge houses built around a private
courtyard.
S
They decorated their homes with fine rugs and draperies.
They wore belted robes with long sleeves and had winter coats made of
squirrel or fox fur. They even had leather slippers lined with silk. People
were entertained by jugglers, acrobats and musicians.
S
Those that lived in the country had a very different life. Most of
these were farmers and many were poor. These poor farmers lived in simple
mud brick homes built on earthen platforms, with tile or straw roofs.
Several families lived together. Poor farmer had to carry buckets of water
to their fields while wealthier farmers had simple machines to help water his
fields. The wealthy could afford oxen to pull their plows (and carts) instead
of hoeing (digging) the land by hand with wooden tools like the poorer
farmers had to do.
Most farmers wore simple, rough clothes made of
scratchy cloth and sandals made from straw.
padded quilt-like jackets to keep warm.
In the winter, they wore
Life was hard for most Chinese
except the very few who were born privileged.
7
S/G
Today, China like India, is one of the most populated countries in the
world. It is bordered by the Himalayas to its southwest, the South China
Sea to its south and the East China Sea to its east.
G
To its northeast
lies the Yellow Sea and not far off that coast lies Korea. China is bordered
by Mongolia and Russia to its north. Its climate is very diverse. There are
vast deserts like the Gobi and warm moist areas in its south. There are
areas where the winters are cold and the summers are hot. China is a large
country and its many rivers have helped to unite the country.
8
G