Download Purple Book Ch. 19 - Geography Notes

Chapter 19 - Geography and Early Settlement of China
p.183
19.2 - Overview of China’s Geography
-third largest country in the world.
-covers 3.7 million square miles
-population about 1.2 billion people
-China was much smaller in ancient times, being about less than half of what it is
today.
I. Geography of Outer China
a. southwest - Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Very very cold.
b. northwest - includes deserts like the Taklimakan Desert, and the Turfan
Depression, 2nd lowest place on earth.
c. northeast - Northeastern Plain, land of low hills and plains. Short hot
summers, long and dry winters.
II. The Geography of Inner China
a. Includes the southeastern part of modern China
b. land of rolling hills, river valleys, plains.
c. rivers flow through area, flooding the land, making it good for growing
d. 2 main regions - North China Plain: dry and cool, and Chang Jiang Basins:
warm and wet.
19.3 - The Tibet-Qinghai Plateau
a. also known as Tibetan Plateau and “Roof of the World”
b. Avg. elevation 13,500 feet or 2 miles above sea level
c. Rocky, surrounded by mts, includes Himalayas and Mt. Everest
d. 2 major rivers of China start here, the Huang He, and the Chang Jiang.
e. Very hard place to live, mostly scrub brushes, animals include yaks and
antelope.
19.4 - The Northwestern Deserts
a. Northwestern China known for the Taklimakan and Gobi Deserts
b. only survivable at oases.
A.Taklimakan Desert
a.about 105,000 square miles
b.considered one of the most dangerous deserts in the world
c.huge sand dunes
d.too dry for vegetation, except at oases
B.The Gobi Desert
a. stretches over 500,000 square miles, covers part of China and present-day
Mongolia.
b. very few sand dunes, more stony and hard.
19.5 - The Northeastern Plain
a. sometimes called Inner Mongolia or Manchuria
b. low hills and plains, mostly prairie grass, good for raising herd animals.
c. 2 major rivers, used as roads when frozen
d. has short, warm summers, parts are dry and cold in winter or mild and wetter
in winter. Not great for growing crops.
19.6 - The North China Plain
a. flat region of grassland in Inner China.
b. sometimes called “Land of the Yellow Earth” because of the yellow limestone
silt coming from the Gobi Desert.
c. Home to the the Huang He (Yellow River), one of the longest and muddiest
rivers in the world. The river makes the NCP a very good place to grow crops,
but is also known for bad flooding throughout history.
19.7 - The Middle and Lower Chang Jiang Basins
a. low, wet coastal plains, located along the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) River.
b. river used to move goods between western and eastern regions
c. floods less often than the Huang He
d. Basins not great for farming or herding, but great for growing rice.
19.8 - Early Settlement in Ancient China
a. Archaeologists believe people where living in China as far back as 500,000
years ago.
b. People lived in caves, hunting and fishing.
c. When they started farming, they settled near the Huang He. Region was good
for farming, mild climate.
19.9 - Ancient China’s Isolation
a. Inner China was isolated by huge mountain ranges and rocky plateaus to the
southwest, and deserts to the north.
19.10 - 10 Different Regions, Different Ways of Life
I. Life in Outer China
a. Fewer people settled in Outer China than Inner China.
b. Herders could raise livestock, like yaks on the Plateau. Yaks provide meat, and
milk for butter and yogurt. Yak wool made great warm clothing and tents.
c. In the deserts, people who lived near oases could grow cotton, winter wheat,
and maize (corn). They ate noodles, bread, and mutton.
d. On the Northwestern Plain, nomadic herders raised sheep, goats, cattle, and
horses.
II. Life in Inner China
a. Inner China supported larger and more settled populations.
b. On the North China Plain people grew wheat and millet. They also raised
cattle, sheep, oxen, pigs, and chickens, water buffalo, and horses.
c. In the Chang Jiang Basins, people began growing rice as far back as 10,000
BCE. They raised pigs and birds and ate seafood.