Download CHW3M- Ancient China Unit 2-1

Government
and Leaders
Ancient China
 Neolithic cultures developed along the Yellow River
in Northern China from 7000 BCE
 A distinctive civilization was formed through cultural
mixing between settlements
 Earliest records are from 1600-1500 BCE.
Geography
 In early times a number of intensive farming communities
existed along the North China Plain (not resembling
present geography until the first century BCE.
 China’s physical environment posed challenges and
opportunities for civilization to develop.
 China has a wide range of crops, making the Chinese selfsufficient for food and natural resources.
The Yellow River
 Early Chinese civilization spanned along the Yellow River
(also called “China’s Sorrow”) because of the lives claimed
by its flooding.
 Chinese also believe that their civilization is a gift of the
Yellow River. This is because the yellow river also
watered the North China Plain, which was a region that
saw little rain.
 Cultivation of wheat, millet, and legumes were possible as
a result of the flooding of the Yellow River.
 People fished and hunted with bow and arrows.
 The early Chinese eventually domesticated animals such
as pigs and sheep.
Yangtze River
 The Yangtze is China’s second major river spanning 5148
km long (800 km longer than the Yellow River)
 This area was ideal for the cultivation of rice, but was not
fully developed as an agricultural region until after the
North Plain settlement was established.
 High mountains, deserts and steppes of central Asia and
the vast Pacific Ocean keep China isolated from the rest of
the world.
 Throughout China’s long history it has dealt with issues of
regionalism and provincial rivalries due to its internal
geography of mountain ranges and river systems, which
created natural provincial boundaries.
Periods in Chinese History
 Historians have debated the extensive time-line of
Chinese History and its people time line. This time line fits
periods that most historians have accepted. The
Formative Period is the earliest period recorded
evidence can justify civilization.
The Formative Period
The Classical Age
The First Empire
The Second Empire
The third Empire
The last Empire
1600-1027 BCE
1027-221 BCE
221 BCE- 589 CE
589-960
960-1368
1368-1911
• Chinese people developed all over China along the Huang
He in the South and the Sanxingdui (Sahn-shing-dway) in
the North.
• After 3000 BCE Chinese culture began to become more
complex. People began using a potter’s wheel and learned
to dig water wells.
• Burial sites indicate that, like Egyptians, they filled their
tombs with objects – the difference in objects lead to the
belief that a social hierarchy had been established.
 Chinese Elite adhered to the Confucian value system
-Strived fro stability rather than change and
-Balance and harmony over innovation
 Confucianism became the state ideology in 124 BCE and a
number of institutions were created to promote stability.
The stability of dynastic China was owed to the principal
factors of Confucianism.
Confucian Systems
 System of ruler ship headed by an emperor whose
position was guaranteed by Heaven.
 Civil service education hardly changed in over 2000
years.
 Economy encouraged agriculture, but discouraged
commerce and entrepreneurship
 A social system based on an ethic of authority and
obedience, recognizing that the places of old and young,
man, woman and child were fixed (with the belief that
this system of order was in perfect balance).
Structure of Government
 The emperor was the supreme figure in the Chinese
government. He was the one person the kept the universe
in balance.
 The emperor made the laws (he was above all law)
educated his people and was responsible for their
welfare.
 The emperor was not worshiped as a god and he did not
rule by divine right.
 The Mandate of Heaven was a political doctrine, which
was the source of the emperor’s power. The doctrine
stated that Heaven chose the ruler and that Heaven could
get rid of a ruler. Warnings from Heaven would be sent to
the emperor in the form of floods, earthquakes and other
strange occurrences. If the emperor did not learn from
these warnings, the people, as representatives of Heaven,
would rise up against him. Therefore, the people had a
right of rebellion that existed nowhere else.
Education
 Most Chinese remained illiterate during the pre-modern
era.
 Five to ten percent of the population, the elite, educated
their sons and daughters together until age eight. At this
time boys and girls were separated.
 Mothers took on the education of girls in the home, while
boys prepared to take the civil service exams.
 The civil service examinations were a grueling process in
which boys began preparation at age two or three.
 Women and people of low professions, like merchants,
were not allowed into the civil service.
Law
 The Chinese had a very sophisticated government system.
 Below the emperor were a group of chief ministers, three
departments, six boards and nine courts.
 The ministers discussed policy with the emperor and the
departments implemented their decisions.
 The departments (the chancellery, the state affairs and
the secretariat).
 The boards were responsible for issues of taxation,
defense, public works, and the civil service.
 The courts dealt with less important matters like foreign
visitors and regulation of clergy.
 The Han law code was administered by one of the boards.
This became the model for later law and was very
different from western law.
 Chinese law codes were detailed and specific. The law
treated people differently even if they had committed the
same offence. Women and officials were treated more
leniently than common men. Penalties were less severe
than in the West. Flogging, exile and work camps were
punishments for most crimes. The death penalty was only
doled out for murder and high treason.
 If a person was accused before the law, they were thrown
into jail until they could be proven innocent (opposite to
the western beliefs of innocent until proven guilty).
 Chinese prisons were terrible places (small, filthy and
only water was provided to inmates). A prisoner’s family
could bring them food; otherwise they would starve to
death.
 The Han law code has continued to be contained in
modern Chinese law, but in very fragmented form. The
Han law code hindered the development of human rights
throughout dynastic China as it did not prescribe to the
doctrine of “innocent until proven guilty” and “equality
before the law”.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)
Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.
Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart.
Respect yourself and others will respect you.
Study the past if you would define the future.
The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come.
When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is
orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not
endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved.
To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle.
When anger rises, think of the consequences.
Have no friends not equal to yourself.
He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.
He with whom neither slander that gradually soaks into the mind, nor
statements that startle like a wound in the flesh, are successful may be called
intelligent indeed.
The dynastic cycle refers to the rise and fall of dynasties
Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.
Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness.
The scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.
When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a
thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge.
Qin (First Empire)
221 – 206 BCE
• Qin defeated the other kingdoms, united
China and founded the empire.
• He took the name Qin Shihuangdi –
which means First Qin Emperor.
• He built the Great Wall of China and
tomb.
• Believed in Philosophy of Legalism.
Chinese Dynasties
Prehistoric Times
Xia Dynasty
Shang Dynasty *
Period
1.7 million years - the 21st century BC
21st - 17th century BC
17th - 11th century BC
Western Zhou (11th century BC - 771 BC)
Eastern Zhou
Zhou Dynasty
-Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476
BC)
-Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC)
Qin Dynasty
221 BC - 207 BC
Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD)
** Han Dynasty **
Eastern Han (25 - 220)
Three Kingdoms Period
220 - 280
Western Jin (265 - 316)
Jin Dynasty
Eastern Jin (317 - 420)
Northern Dynasties (386 - 581)
Southern and Northern Dynasties
Southern Dynasties (420 - 589)
Sui Dynasty
581 - 618
Tang Dynasty
618 - 907
Five Dynasties
---- Later Liang (907 - 923)
---- Later Tang (923 - 936)
---- Later Jin (936 - 946)
Five Dynasties and Ten States
---- Later Han (947 - 951)
---- Later Zhou (951 - 960)
Ten States (902 - 979)
Northern Song (960 - 1127)
Song Dynasty
Southern Song (1127 - 1279)
Liao Dynasty
916 --- 1125
Jin Dynasty
1115 --- 1234
Yuan Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
1271 --- 1368
1368 --- 1644
1644 --- 1911
Religion
Religion
 Religious life in the Song Dynasty was very diverse.
 The Chinese were not monotheistic people, meaning that
they rarely gave their sole allegiance to one religion. This is
the reason that Chinese history is free of religious wars,
persecutions and inquisitions.
 The belief was that there were many paths to salvation and
many desired to worship. They believed that all deities
should be respected in order to avoid calamity in their
present life and to ensure happiness in their next life.
 Before the scientific revolution Chinese peasants were
guided by superstitious beliefs, but the educated class were
was skeptical of these popular folk beliefs.
 Common belief to all Chinese classes was ancestor
veneration. Strict respect was given to the deceased and
rituals practiced to preserve their memory.
CHINESE CREATION STORY
-Go to this link for a narrated and
illustrated version of this Chinese
creation story.
http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/
In the beginning, there was an enormous egg containing chaos. On
the inside the chaos raged on and on- both yin and yang were
mixed together. All the opposites were writhing together; male and
female, cold and hot, wet and dry, dark and light.
Finally the egg burst open, and out leapt the giant dragon Pan-gu.
Yin and yang swirled around him and he pushed the two shell
halves apart. Thus the opposites were separated and the earth
began to take shape.
Every day for 18,000 years Pan-gu grew ten feet – thus the sky
was raised a little higher every day. Once the sky was 30,000 miles
above the ground, Pan-gu stopped and began to hammer out the
mountains and fill the valley with water to form great oceans.
He created rivers with his fingers and stamped the earth down to
create flat lands. He gathered raw light and tossed them into the
sky to become stars.
After 18,000 years, Pan-gu had grown old and tired. He had made
the world with his hands and formed the basic principles of yin
and yang. He wanted to lay down and sleep forever. Once he lay
down he never rose again. When Pan-gu died, his body formed
huge mountains. His skull formed the top of the sky, his hair
formed all flowers and plants, his bones turned to jade and pearl
and his arms and legs the four directions.
His blood became the rivers, his breath turned into the wind and
his voice to thunder. One eye became the sun and the other the
moon.
For many years the world was a very beautiful place but also
lonely; there were no people.
The half-dragon goddess Nuwa was born after Pan-gu died, from
part of the mixture of yin and yang that he had separated. She
decided to create humans to have some other beings to talk to
and share ideas with, but mostly just to love.
Nuwa went down to the edge of the Yellow River where there
were vast, soft mud banks. She began forming figures out of clay.
She decided that it would be much more practical for her
creations to have legs instead of a dragon tail, thus her humans
were not made in her image.
No sooner did she set the first little mud man on the ground did
he start to jump, and dance and sing. He began to speak. “Look at
me!”
Nuwa was delighted and began making more and more humans.
She made hundreds and hundreds of mud humans, but soon
realized that it would take centuries for her to make enough
people to fill the vast earth completely. Nuwa grabbed hold of a
muddy stick and flung drops of mud across the land.
As the sun dried each drop, it became a new man or woman.
Some say that these humans were the less intelligent ones. Those
formed by Nuwa’s own hands became great leaders.
She told them to go and populate the earth. As they grew she
loved them and protected them, and was revered as the mother
of all humans.
Science,
Technology
and Arts
Sun Tzu’s Art of War
Chapter 1: Laying Plans
1.Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the
State.
2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or
to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no
account be neglected.
3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in
one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.
4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method
and discipline.
5,6. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that
they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.
7. Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.
8. Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and
narrow passes; the chances of life and death.
9. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and
strictness.
10. By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its
proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads
by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.
11. These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be
victorious; he who knows them not will fail.
12. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions,
let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:--
13. (1) Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law?
(2) Which of the two generals has most ability?
(3) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?
(4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?
(5) Which army is stronger?
(6) On which side are officers and men more highly trained?
(7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?
14. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.
15. The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be
retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer
defeat:--let such a one be dismissed!
16. While heading the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over
and beyond the ordinary rules.
17. According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.
18. All warfare is based on deception.
19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem
inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away,
we must make him believe we are near.
20. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
21. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.
22. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to
irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
23. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.
24. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
25. These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.
26. Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is
fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many
calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all!
It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.
(QIN) Shi Huangdi’s Terracota Warriors
Shi Huangdi united China
1. He replaced feudal states with military districts governed by
loyal officials (state ruler ship over landlord/elite ruler ship).
2. He sent spies to report on local officials.
3. He forced noble families to live in his capital so he could
monitor them.
4. He jailed, tortured, and killed those who opposed his rule.
5. He had all books of philosophy and literature burned.
6. He standardized weights & measures.
7. He connected the various parts of the Great Wall and
expanded it.
Technology, Trade
and Fine Art in the
Song Dynasty
 Progress was made in the art of shipbuilding, ceramics and
the production of coal and iron.
 The Chinese were the first to use blast furnaces to smelt and
carbonize iron for the production of steel.
 Gunpowder was discovered and used for the mining of iron
and coal.
 The Chinese refined papermaking, invented block printing
and changed education by making books more widely
available.
 Kaifeng and other cities became manufacturing centers.
 Guilds (trade unions) were formed for every profession.
 Agriculture progressed
rapidly as China’s population
had reached 100 million.
There were advances in
fertilizers and water control.
In the south people adopted
crop rotation practices.
 The song court turned to commerce commerce for
revenue because of the loss of rich agricultural land in the
north.
 This was the first and last time in China’s History where
private capitalism was allowed to flourish without
government restrictions. Paper money was used as
currency for exchange in commerce. Barter still existed,
primarily, for maritime trade.
 Foreign trade was encouraged during this period, but
China only imported luxury goods.
 The Song Dynasty is known for their porcelains,
distinctively blue and green, translucent, and eggshellthin.
 Junks, Chinese ships carried crews of 500-600 and were
lead by the world’s first magnetic compasses. Junks were
equipped with other advances in marine technology.
 The Song Dynasty represents the high point of Chinese
visual arts. Before this period only scholars exchanged
and enjoyed art. Artists began seeing their art as a means
for profit. Landscape paintings were popular and enjoyed
by all.
The Silk Road
 New inventions, religious beliefs, artistic styles, languages,
and social customs, as well as goods and raw materials, were
transmitted by people moving from one place to another to
conduct business.
 "The Silk Road" is a term to describe an ancient the trade
route between Central Asia and China. In ancient times,
Chinese people transported silk, tea and other products to
exchange for horses with small kingdoms in west of China.
 The famous explorer Marco Polo opened this trade route to
the Middle East, Western Europe and North Africa. Over
time the Silk Road became one of the most important trade
routes linking China and Europe. Chinese goods, especially
fine silks, were imported into Europe. Fine Silks were also a
sign of social status and wealth.
 The Romans called China the “land of silk”. The Silk Road
was an interconnected trade route linking two empires, the
Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty.
Way of Life
The Mystery Dynasty:
Xia Dynasty 2205-1806 BCE
• For many years, the Xia (shee-uh) Dynasty was thought to be
a part of a myth that the Chinese tell as part of their history.
• The Xia Dynasty was in oral histories, but no archaeological
evidence was found of it until 1959.
Shang Dynasty 1600-1027 BCE
(Formative Period)
• Earliest period of Chinese history with a
lot of evidence left behind.
• China was divided into several kingdoms
during this period.
• Picture writing was developed during
this time period.
• This Dynasty is famous for their bronze.
Bronze was made into vessels for religious
ceremonies and used for the consumption
of wine.
• Silk was produced.
The society lived a very structured life on the North China plain.
King
Scribe-priest
Farmer
Artisan
The Frame work for society (top down
hierarchy with the king at the top)
Merchant
Merchant
Slave
• In spite of early positions of power in Shang society, men
were able to perform ancestor veneration and work the
fields and became preferred to daughters.
The Zhou (Classical Age)
• The Zhou (joe) from northwest China conquered the Shang
in 1027 BCE.
• 1027 - 221 BCE- China was several small domains that were
not united.
• The Zhou is split into two periods Eastern and Western
Zhou.
• The seven Rose to Power: Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, and
Qin.
Western Zhou
1027 – 771 BCE
• Overthrew the Shang Dynasty in western China
• Many smaller kingdoms continued to exist but where ruled
by the Zhou.
• Iron, plows, crossbows, coins and chopsticks were all used
for the first time.
Eastern Zhou
771 – 221 BCE
• Later in their rule the Zhou moved their capital city to the
east as their power over other kingdoms lessened.
• This time period became known as the Warring States
period (between the Zhou, Qin and Chu)
• Great armies fought each other in battles where thousands
were killed.
Han 206 BCE – 220 CE
• Lasted longer than any other dynasty
• Han emperors started the civil service that ran the country
for the next 2,000 years
• Constructed the famous “Forbidden City” in Chang’an
• Over spending resulted in higher taxes
• Peasants forced to sell land = Powerful landlord families
Disunity 220-589 CE &
Sui 589 – 618 CE
• Lasted for 350 years after the fall of the Han. The empire
was broken up and disunity arose.
• Eventually the empire divided between 3 kingdoms.
• Known as the “Dark Ages” of China (Mongol ancestors
rule the north).
• The Buddhist religion began to spread during these years.
• A general from the north, Yang Jian reunited the country,
founding the Sui dynasty.
The golden Age of China- Tang Dynasty
 Culture flourished like never before. This was the brightest
era in China’s history.
 Women wore low-cut silken dresses, wore their hair piled
high topped with golden and jeweled hairpins.
 The early Tang dynasty was called the Golden Age because
of its high culture, stable government, expansive foreign
relations and a degree of prosperity enjoyed by all levels of
society.
Song Dynasty
 The Song Dynasty is known for its revolutionary economic
changes and artistic achievements that surpassed anything
before or after in Chinese history.
 Industry, agriculture, and commerce formed the bases of a
commercial revolution.
 China was the world’s most advanced economy during this
period.
Women
 Women wore their hair up in a bun with as many as dozens
of metal and pearl hairpins. They wore white make-up,
rouge on their cheeks and painted their fingernails pink.
Their clothing was colorful; bright red, green and yellow silk
dresses reached the ground. Women wore knee length
blouses underneath their dresses. Sometime women wore a
jacket of gold brocade.
 However, poor women wore drab pajama suits of hempen
cloth.
 Women were mostly confined to the home, which was
mandated by social custom.
 Foot binding, a new practice, also restricted their mobility.
At the age of five or six, women would have their feet bound
with bandages in order to keep their feet between 10 to 15
cm long.
 Song Dynasty women were called the “women of the lotus
leaf” because in golden slippers their feet were said to have
resembled the petals of a lotus.

Men
 Clothing was a sign of social status for men. They also
wore colorful clothing.
 Men wore their hair long, bathed every tenth day, and on
their bath-day holiday, had their hair, face, and goatee
oiled.
 Officials of wealthy men carried a parasol to protect them
from the sun. They also wore black silk caps to
distinguish themselves from common people.
 Common men sore a turban style head covering instead of
a cap.
 Long silk robes with flowering sleeves were normal
fashion. Men carried fan or wallets in their sleeves.
 It was essential that men wore a very wide sash (almost
like a girdle) with a decorative plaque on the front.
Food and Medicine
Food
 Frequent famines in Chinese history taught the Chinese to
use every edible food available to them. The idea was to
waste nothing, from fish lips to bear paws.
 The invention of the wok occurred because wood and
charcoal was scare.
 People experimented with unusual food ingredients in
search of the recipe for a long life.
Medicine
 The concept of Chi was central to the way that the
Chinese viewed health, wellness and the body.
 Most illnesses were treated with herbs.
 Massage and acupuncture were also widely used in the
Song Dynasty, but had been used for 2000 years.
 Mixibustion, a practice of placing stacks of herbs on
acupuncture points and then burning them, was also
prescribed.
 Surgery was not a common practice used by the Chinese.
 The Chinese discovered the concept of blood circulation
during the second century BCE.
 Most people believe blood circulation was discovered by
William Harvey in 1628, but there are other recorded
notations dating back to the writings of an Arab of
Damascus, al-Nafis (died 1288). However, circulation
appears discussed in full and complex form in The Yellow
Emperor's Manual of Corporeal Medicine in China by the
second century BC.
Map of Forbidden City- Beijing, China
 The Forbidden City, situated in the very heart of Beijing, was
home to 24 emperors of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing
(1644–1911) Dynasties.
 The construction of the palace started in the fourth year of
Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1406), and ended in
1420.
 In ancient times, the emperor was said to be a son of
Heaven, and therefore Heaven’s supreme power was
bestowed upon him. The emperors’ residence on earth was
built as a replica of the Purple Palace where God was
thought to live in Heaven.
 Origin of Name: Such a divine place was certainly forbidden
to ordinary people and that is why the Forbidden City is so
named. Originally called Zijin Cheng ('Purple Forbidden
City'), in China now it is usually called Gugong (故宫 /googong), the 'Former/Old Palace'.
*See Virtual Tour of Forbidden City Lab Activity Handout*
-Go to http://www.chinavista.com/beijing/gugong/map.html
Geography
• China covers over 4 million square miles.
• A physical barrier to its neighbors is the Gobi Desert.
• East of the Gobi Desert are low lying plains – these form
the world’s largest farming regions.
• The Pacific Ocean forms the eastern boundary.
• Rugged mountains make up the western frontier.
• The most important mountain range is the Qinling Shandi
because it separates northern China from Southern China.
Rivers of China
• The Yellow River stretches for nearly 3,000 miles across
northern China.
• The river often floods leaving layers of silt behind.
• In the south the Yangzi River cuts through central China
into the Pacific Ocean.
Legacy
Legacy
Compass
Cross-bow
Gunpowder
Seismometer
Paper money
Silk
Tea
Confucius
Period
Limitations
From the Discovery Education Documentary, “What the Ancients
Knew”: Chinese History”, from this unit, and from your text bookfill in the chart. Include inventions and new ideas/thought.