Download River Dynasties in China

River Dynasties in China
Geography
• Two Rivers: Huang He (Yellow River) in the
north, Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) in central
China.
• Talimakan Desert in west China
• Gobi Desert in north China
• Himalaya Mountains in the southwest
Environmental Challenges
• The Huang He’s floods could be disastrous.
Floods could destroy whole villages, “China’s
Sorrow.”
• Early Chinese settlers had to supply their own
goods. Limited trading because of isolated
location.
China’s Heartland
• Only 10 percent of China’s land is suitable for
farming, land between the two rivers.
• Its farmland is known as the North China Plain
or “China’s heartland.”
• The yellowish silt deposited by the Huang He
River is fertile soil called loess.
The First Dynasties
• Around 2000 BC, China’s first dynasty, the Xia
Dynasty emerged.
• Its first leader, Yu, developed flood control and
irrigation projects.
• Around 1700 BC, the Shang Dynasty came to
power.
• They were the first family to leave written
records.
• Shang Dynasty built elaborate tombs and palaces.
Early Cities
• Anyang was one of the capitals of the Shang
Dynasty.
• Higher classes lived inside the Anyang city
walls. Built houses of wood, clay, and straw.
• Peasants and craftsmen lived in huts outside
the city walls.
• The city walls encircled a 1.2 square mile area
Family
• Central to Chinese society
• Women were expected to obey their fathers,
husbands, and later their own sons
• Girls were married through arranged
marriages between 13 and 16 years old.
• Men owned property and made decisions
Social Classes
• Warrior-nobles headed by a king, governed
over China during the Shang dynasty.
• Noble families governed the scattered villages
and paid tribute to the Shang ruler in
exchange for local control.
• Peasants worked for the nobles.
Religious Beliefs
• Believed that the spirits of family ancestors
had the power to bring good fortune or
disaster to their living family members.
• These were viewed as helpful or troublesome
spirits, not gods.
• Families paid respect to the father’s ancestors
and made sacrifices in their honor.
• Worshipped a supreme god, Shang Di.
Oracle Bones
• Priests scratched questions for the gods onto
tortoise shells and animal bones.
• Placed a hot poker to it which caused it to
crack.
• Priests interpreted the cracks as answers to
the questions.
Chinese Writing
• No links between Chinese spoken language
and written language.
• One could read Chinese without being able to
speak it.
• Over 50,000 characters in the Chinese
language.
• Each character represented a different word.
Chinese Writing
Zhou Dynasty
• Around 1027 BC, the Zhou overthrew the
Shang and established their own dynasty.
• Zhou justified overthrowing the Shang by
proclaiming the Mandate of Heaven.
Mandate of Heaven
• Became central to the Chinese view of
government.
• A just ruler had divine approval from the gods
• A wicked or foolish ruler could lose the
Mandate of Heaven.
• Floods and riots might be a sign that the gods
were displeased with the king’s rule.
Dynastic Cycle
• The pattern of rise, decline, and replacement
of dynasties
Feudalism
• A political system in which nobles, or lords,
are granted the use of lands that legally
belong to the king.
• In return, the nobles owe loyalty and military
service to the king and protection to the
people who live on their estates.
Improvements in Technology and
Trade
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Roads and Canals
Coined money
Blast furnaces that produced cast iron
The Zhou used iron to create daggers, axes,
sickles, knives, and spades.
• Iron made farming easier and more productive
End of the Zhou Dynasty
• Ruled from 1027 to 256 BC.
• In 771 BC, nomads from the north and west
attacked the Zhou capital and murdered the
Zhou ruler.
• A few members of the royal family escaped
and set up a new capital at Luoyang.
• These royal family members were powerless
as the different lords waged war on one
another.