Download Ch 3 Sec 3 – Early Civilizations in China

Ch 3 Sec 3 – Early Civilizations in China
I.
II.
Geography of China
A. Geographic Barriers
1. To the SW, Tien Shan & Himalayas (mountains) blocked easy
_______________________________________________
2. To the SE, ________________ divided China from SE Asia
3. To the N, the Gobi desert
4. To the E, the Pacific Ocean
5. Despite barriers, Chinese _____________ with neighboring people
B. Main Regions
1. Chinese heartland – along _____________ of the Huang He
(Yellow River) & Yangzi
a.) Fertile farming regions supported ____________ populations
b.) Rivers provided ___________ for irrigation & transportation
2. Xinjiang (sheen jee AHNG), Mongolia, Manchuria
a.) First 2 had ___________ climates and ___________terrain
b.) Also mostly occupied by ___________ & _____________
c.) All 3 played a key role in __________________________
C. River of Sorrows
1. Huang He Valley – Neolithic people ________________________
2. Large water projects led to rise of a strong central government
3. “River of Sorrows” – Chinese peasants labored to _____________
_____________________________________________________
a.) Such disasters destroyed crops & brought mass ___________
b.) ________________________ reflected in Chinese writing
China under the Shang
A. Shang – 1650 BC gained control of N. China until 1027 B.C.
B. Government
1. Shang rulers had large ______________ and _________________
2. Kings led _____________________________________________
3. Fu Hao – wife of King Wu Ding
a.) artifacts showed that she _______________________ &
helped lead a large _______________________________
b.) Noble women had _______________________________
4. Clans – groups of families who claimed a ____________________
5. More closely resembled _________________of Sumer than
Egyptian pharaohs
C. Social Classes
1. Shang society mirrored that in other ________________________
2. Alongside the royal family was a class of ____________________
a.) Used leather, armor, bronze weapons, horse-drawn carriages
3. Supported a class of ________________&__________________
a.) artisans produced _________________________________
b.) merchants exchanged food & crafts made by local artisans
D. Peasant Life
1. Most __________________________________________
III.
IV.
V.
2. Clustered together in _________________________________
3. All family members __________________________________
Religious beliefs
A. Shang Di
1. Chief ______ & mother _______________ who brought plants &
animals to earth
2. King seen as link between ___________& _________________
3. Believed only the spirits of the greatest mortals could __________
_____________________________________________________
4. Chinese believed in yin and yang
a.) Yin – ___________________________________________
b.) Yang – __________________________________________
c.) These forces were not in opposition but maintained balance
System of Writing
A. Consulting the Ancestors
1. Oracle bones
a.) Shang priests wrote _______________________________
on animal bones or turtles shells
b.) They then heated it until it cracked and _________________
_______________________ of cracks to obtain their answers
B. A Difficult Study
1. Written Chinese evolved to include tens of thousands of characters
a.) Each character represented ___________________________
2. Only the ________________ could afford the years of study
3. Chinese scholars turned calligraphy (fine handwriting) into an art
The Zhou (Joh) Dynasty – overthrew the Shangs in 1027 BC
A. Mandate of Heaven
1. ______________________________
2. Zhou said the cruelty of the last Shang king had so outraged the
gods that they had ___________________________________
3. Dynastic cycle – rise and fall of dynasties
a.) As long as the dynasty provided good government, it enjoyed
the _________________________________
b.) Floods, famine, etc. were signs that a dynasty had _________
_________________________________________________
B. A Feudal state
1. Feudalism – a system of government in which local lords governed
_______________________ but owed military service to the ruler
C. Economic Growth
1. China’s ____________________ grew during the Zhou Dynasty
2. Farmers produced more ____________ with iron tools
3. Peasants began to grow new crops such as ___________________
4. Chinese began to use ______________ for the first time
5. Led to _______________________________________
VI.
Chinese Achievements – developed a _________________________________
A. Silkmaking
1. By 1000 B.C., figured out how to make ____________________
from the cocoons of ___________________
2. Women tended the silkworms and _________________________
_____________________________________________________
3. Only royalty & nobles could afford _________________________
4. Silk became China’s most valuable _________________
5. Process _______________________________________
B. The First Books
1. Bound thin strips of wood or bamboo together and then carefully
drew characters on the flat surface with a brush and ink
2. Book of Songs – _______________________________________
a.) Many of its poems describe such events in the lives of
farming people as ________________ and ______________
b.) Others ____________________ or describe court ceremonies