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pp. 6-41 [ch.1-7] 1/29/02 2:18 PM Page 18 EARLY CIVILIZATION IN CHINA SECTION 3 TEXT SUMMARY China covers a huge area, but until recent times most people lived only along the east coast or in the river valleys. China is surrounded by mountains, jungles, deserts, and an ocean. Therefore, China was more isolated, or cut off, from the rest of the world than other early civilizations were. Chinese civilization arose around the Huang He and Yangzi river valleys. About 1650 B.C., a Chinese people called T H E BIG I D E A the Shang gained control of part of northern China. During the Early Chinese people Shang dynasty, kings controlled developed a complex only a small amount of land. civilization. They Groups of families called clans made many advances controlled most of the land. in learning and in Merchants and craftspeople the arts. earned a living in cities. However, most people were peasants who lived in farming villages. In 1027 B.C., the Zhou people overthrew the Shang and set up their own dynasty. The Zhou told the people that the gods had become angry with the Shang and now had chosen the Zhou to rule. The right to rule was called the Mandate of Heaven, or the divine right to rule. From that time on, each new dynasty would claim the Mandate of Heaven. (See diagram below.) The Chinese made progress in many areas during the Shang and Zhou periods. They developed a complex religion. The Chinese created a system of writing and made the first books. They learned to produce bronze and made detailed figures. They discovered how to make silk thread from the cocoons of silkworms. The Chinese also studied astronomy, recording eclipses of the sun and inventing an accurate calendar. GRAPHIC SUMMARY: The Mandate of Heaven rat Gene ions go by. New dynasty become s. . . NEW DYNASTY OLD DYNASTY • brings peace • builds roads and canals • gives land to peasants • protects people THE DYNASTY CYCLE • taxes people too much • stops protecting people • lets roads and walls fall apart • treats people unfairly PROBLEMS New dynasty claims Mandate of Heaven • floods, earthquakes • peasants revolt • invaders attack empire • bandits raid in provinces Old dynasty loses Mandate of Heaven The Mandate of Heaven helped explain the rise and fall of dynasties. REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Why was China isolated from the rest of the world? 18 Survey Edition CHAPTER 3 Guide to the Essentials 2. Diagram Skills What were two reasons why an old dynasty might lose the Mandate of Heaven? © Prentice-Hall, Inc.