Download Ancient China

Ancient China
Crops
•  Most of eastern China covered with fertile soils; some regions better
suited than others for growing certain crops
•  Southern China—warm, receives plenty of rainfall, excellent region for
growing rice
•  Further north—climate cooler, drier; suitable for grains, wheat, millet
Isolation
•  Combination of rivers for irrigation, fertile soil for planting allowed
Chinese to thrive, as did China’s relative isolation
•  Mountains, hills, desert protected China from invasion
•  Himalaya Mountains separate southern China from India, rest of
southern Asia; vast Gobi Desert prevented reaching China from west
Xia
•  Archaeological discoveries
suggest Chinese
civilization began in
Huang He valley
•  People started growing
crops there 9,000 years
ago
•  Legend says earliest
Chinese ruled by Xia
dynasty
•  No written, archaeological
evidence Xia dynasty
existed
•  Most historians date
beginning of Chinese
civilization to rise of Shang
dynasty
Government and
Society
•  China ruled by
strong monarchy
•  At capital city,
Anyang, kings
surrounded by
court
•  Rituals performed
to strengthen
kingdom, keep safe
Order
•  King’s governors
ruled distant parts
of kingdom
•  King also had large
army at disposal
•  Prevented
rebellions, fought
outside opponents
Agricultural Society
•  Shang China
largely agricultural
•  Most tended crops
in fields
•  Farmers called on
to fight in army,
work on building
projects—tombs,
palaces, walls
Leisure
•  Ruling elite had free time to pursue leisure activities, hunting for sport
•  Wealthy enjoyed collecting expensive bronze, jade objects
Afterlife
•  Tombs held remains of
sacrificed prisoners of war
•  Believed in afterlife where ruler
would need riches, servants
Ancestor Worship
•  Shang offered gifts to deceased
ancestors to keep them happy
in afterlife
Oracle Bones
As part of worship, Shang asked ancestors for
advice
•  Sought advice through use of oracle bones
–  Inscribed bits of animal bone, turtle shell
–  Living person asked question of ancestor
–  Hot piece of metal applied to oracle bone resulting in cracks on
bone’s surface
–  Specially trained priests interpreted meaning of cracks to learn
answer
Writing
•  Development of Chinese writing closely tied to use of oracle bones
•  Earliest examples of Chinese writing, questions written on bones themselves
•  Early Shang texts used picture symbols to represent objects, ideas
Bronze
•  Shang religion led to great advances in working with bronze
•  Highly decorative bronze vessels, objects created for religious rituals
•  Also built huge structures like tombs; created calendar, first money systems
End of Dynasty
•  Shang ruled for more than 600 years, until about 1100 BC
•  Ruling China’s growing population proved too much for Shang
•  Armies from nearby tribe, Zhou, invaded, established new ruling dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Wen Wang 1131- 1115
BC , founder of the Zhou Dynasty
Government
•  When Zhou conquered Shang,
leaders worried Chinese people
would not accept them
•  Introduced idea they ruled by
Mandate of Heaven
•  Gods would support just ruler,
not allow anyone corrupt to hold
power
Dynastic Cycle
•  Zhou said Shang overthrown
because they lost gods’ favor
•  Later rulers used Mandate of
Heaven to explain dynastic
cycle, rise and fall of dynasties
in China
•  If dynasty lost power, it
obviously had become corrupt
In that case, they said, it was the will of the gods that that dynasty be
overthrown and a new one take power.
Start hereà
Emperor is
defeated !!
Rebel bands find
strong leader who
unites them.
Attack the emperor.
Poor lose
respect for govt.
They join rebels
& attack landlords.
A new
dynasty
comes to power.
The emperor
reforms the govt.
& makes it more
efficient.
The
Dynastic
Cycle
Droughts,
floods,
famines occur.
Lives of common
people improved;
taxes reduced;
farming encouraged.
Problems begin
(extensive wars,
invasions, etc.)
Taxes increase;
men forced to
work for army.
Farming neglected.
Govt. increases
spending;
corruption.
Zhou Achievements
Result of rebellions was -
Warring States Period
•  403 BC to 221 BC,
number of small states
fought each other for land,
power
•  Zhou still nominally in
charge, but power almost
nonexistent by mid-200s
BC
•  Qin, new dynasty, arose to
bring end to Warring
States Period, Zhou
dynasty
Small States
Fight
Qin (Ch’in)
•  The Qin Dynasty was the dynasty that redefined China.
•  The emperor of this era wanted to conquer the warring states
that the Chou dynasty had in essence created.
•  This emperor succeeded and China was one nation once more.
Upon conquering all the warring states, the emperor
pronounced himself as the first emperor of China or, Shih
Huang Ti.
•  The unified China was larger than it ever was.
•  This was the first time outside forces acknowledged the
existence of another race of people, and aptly named the nation
China after the then current dynasty, the Qin.
New Philosophies
The conflicts of the late Zhou period led many Chinese thinkers to
question the nature of society and people’s roles in it.
- Effort to make sense of chaos led to
creation of many new Chinese
philosophies, or ways of looking at the
world
- Of many philosophies created during
late Zhou period, two became
influential in later Chinese history:
•  Confucianism
•  Daoism
Confucianism
Confucius
•  Confucianism based on teachings of scholar named Kongfuzi, better known
as Confucius, who thought people should treat one another humanely
•  Should express love, respect for others, honor one’s ancestors
Love and Respect
•  Believed that love, respect had disappeared and was responsible for
violence in society; restoring respect for tradition would make society stable
•  Thoughts on how to improve society collected in book, Analects
Analects
•  Ruler should treat subjects fairly; subjects reward ruler with respect, loyalty
•  People should respect members of family, devote selves to public service
•  Confucian ideas spread elsewhere in Asia, including Korea, Japan, Vietnam
Daoism
•  Unlike Confucianism, which focuses on improving society, Daoism
encourages people to retreat from laws of society, yield to law of
nature
•  Heart of Daoism is concept of the dao, or the way
•  Dao is the limitless force that is part of all creation
•  Through the dao, all things in nature connected
•  Finding one’s place in nature allows person to achieve harmony
with universe
Yin and Yang
•  Daoism embraced Chinese concept of
yin and yang, representing balancing
aspect of nature—male, female; dark,
light; hot, cold
•  Neither can exist without other
•  Important for two to remain balanced
for perfect harmony
•  Origins of Daoist teachings attributed to
philosopher named Laozi
•  Wrote book called Dao De Jing
•  Laozi worshipped by some as a god
Some Lasting Effects
Daoism eventually proved less influential than
Confucianism in Chinese history
• 
Still played major role in later dynasties
• 
Idea of balance key concept in China for centuries as
result of Daoist teaching
• 
Daoist philosophy led many followers to work for
preservation, protection of natural environment