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China
Where is China in the world?
What continent is China on?
Which ocean borders China?
Which countries border China?
In ancient times…
China was isolated from the rest of the
world.
Why?
Himalaya Mountains (India)
Barren plains (west)
Pacific Ocean (east)
If you were going to settle in China
where do you think the best place
would be to settle? (Think of where
other societies have first settled)
Importance of rivers…
Huang Ho – “Yellow River”
Yellow silt
Very fertile when irrigated
Was carried onto fields when the rivers
flooded
Chang Jiang – “Long River”
Cuts deep gorges through mountains
Served as transportation route
Water, drinking, washing, irrigation
Unpredictability of floods:
Egyptian people would experience floods
once a year (the Nile)
Chinese had to deal with floods unexpectedly
with summer rains
Dams, canals, and irrigation systems to control
water flow
Discovery of the Shang Dynasty
“Dragon bones”
Writing
Used in Medicine
Later discovered as Dinosaurs
In search for dragon bones found a
settlement that was believed to be the
capital of the Shang dynasty
Complete Maps
Development of Writing
Development of Writing
 Shang dynasty was earliest dynasty in China to
communicate with writing
 4500 characters have been found
 Approx. 1000 can be translated to current characters
 Bones told stories about past rulers
 Historians believe
 Drawings of owned objects
 Pictographs
 Later written language was standardized so that all
Chinese people could understand
Make your own pictographs
 Create and draw at least four pictographs for four different words on
the back of your handout. Then create at least two new
words/pictographs by combining two of your original pictographs. Do
not label your combined pictographs and trade papers with someone
else. See if they can guess what word you are displaying in your
combined pictographs.
 Learn Mandarin!
Government
Shang territory was ruled by a king
all decisions made by him
believed to rule by the mandate of heaven or
divine right (descendant of Shang Ti)
Supreme God Shang Ti, sun and moon guided all
kings decisions
 Decisions were also made using oracle
bones
 Piece of ox bone or tortoise shell
would be written on, then heated,
causing the bone to crack
 The cracks on the bone were read by the
king and could be read as yes, no, lucky, or
unlucky
 If king was irresponsible nobles would withdraw
their support
Social Organization
 King:
 Was also the religious leader
 Nobles:
 Were the warrior leaders
 Commoners:
 Craftspeople
 Created very fine bronze work and delicate
carvings from marble and jade
 Made weapons, tools, jewellery, and pottery
 Weavers made fine silk cloth that the nobles
wore
Merchants:
Used rice or cowrie shells to pay for
goods and services
Metal coins invented in 5th c. BCE.
First coins were long, thin and
shaped like knives
Later coins were round with a hole
punched in the middle, was strung
around belt or string around neck
Farmers:
Largest group in society
Grew food for all members of society
Often poorly treated, rented land from
nobles, did not own it
At times of war became soldiers for king
Had to work on buildings of the kingdom
**Building a new capital city took 10,000 men
20 years to build**
Slaves:
Also worked on kings buildings
Owned by noblemen and kings
Prisoners of war, working under the threat
of death
Used as human sacrifices and buried in
king’s tomb or within the foundation of a
building as it was being built
 Create your own unique representation of the
Shang hierarchy. Include all five levels within
the society and use pictures or symbols to
represent each group. You must also label
each section. /10
(5 marks for representing each area, 2 marks for
creativity, 2 marks for neatness and 1 mark for it
being on time (handed in tomorrow).
Religious Beliefs
 Believed in the spirit world and an afterlife
 Worshipped deities
 Most important god- Tien
 Practiced ancestral worship (see video)
 Filial piety- younger family members were
respectful of elder members of the family
and community

 Commoners did not believe in same gods as the
nobles
 worshipped gods that controlled the earth and
crops
 People consulted sorcerers (also known as a wu)
 provided spells to protect people from evil spirits
 could also provide the help of friendly spirits
 could also work magic on nature
 (e.x. wu danced under sun until he/she began to
sweat. Sweat of the wu was supposed to bring on
badly needed rain for crops)
The Burial of the King
 When a ruler died a pit was dug with ramps
leading downwards (see page 112 in text)
 Accompanied in death by all things he may
need in the afterlife (weapons, ornaments,
bronze ceremonial vessels, horses, chariots, and
dogs)
 Humans were sacrificed so they could continue
to serve the ruler
 **In one tomb 247 servants were found**
The Military
 Shang military often involved in battles with people living
along the Chang Jiang River (see page 105)
 Nobles were the warriors and led the armies
 Armed with bronze axes and daggers
 Rode into battle on chariots
 Troops were farmers and were called to serve whenever
king needed them
 Foot soldiers fought at close range using spears and knives
 Military leaders were not always men
 Noblewoman- Lady Hao, was the third wife of the last Shang ruler
waged several military campaigns
 When she died, she was buried in a large tomb surrounded by
treasures of bronze and jade
What they ate:
 Millet- kind of cereal, barley and wheat were also
grown (also grown by Egypt)
 Peasants grew beans and many other vegetables in
their own gardens
 Ate fish from rivers- carp
 Hunted animals such as deer and bears
 Used onions and garlic to add flavor
 Domesticated pigs, goats, sheep, water buffalo, an
some fowl similar to chickens
 Often experienced famine or starvation
due to droughts or flooding
 Sometimes impossible to produce food
 Had to turn to whatever they could find
 Included insects which eventually became a part of
their diet
 Used chopsticks for eating
 Food was usually boiled, steamed, or stir fried
 Tea
 People from China have been drinking
tea for centuries (so have people from
India and Japan)
 According to Chinese mythology an ancient
emperor was sitting beneath a wild tea tree while
his servant was boiling the drinking water. A leaf fell
into the water and the emperor decided to have a
taste.
 Was originally very bitter, used for digestive
problems
 Later people began adding flavourings like ginger
or orange
 By the T’ang dynasty tea was China’s national drink
 Became a valuable trading product (English)
What They Wore
 Made clothing from animal skins (like many other
cultures)
 Men - long, belted tunics with a jacket over top
- style was same throughout classes
- type of fabric and amount/type of decoration
displayed social ranking
 Women- plain jackets and belted skirts over simple
tunic dresses
 Peasants- wore similar styles to nobility but was made
out of rougher materials (hemp or banana leaf)
 Wool is used as padding in outerwear and
was woven into thick fabrics
 People that worked in the fields had to
adapt their clothing so they could work
 Also used hats or kerchiefs on their head until more
elaborate hairstyles became popular
 Men wore hair in a heavy roll with a short pig tail
hanging down the back
 Women’s hairstyles were more elaborate
 Held in place with jade, bone, and ivory
combs or hairpins
 Women also wore necklaces and pendants
shaped like birds-phoenix or hawk or animals- like a
tiger or an elephant
 Peasants wore straw sandals
 Wealthy wore fine cloth slippers
Silk
 Sericulture originated in China in about
5000 and became an important art and
industry
 For centuries only the ruler and his close family could
wear silk
 Eventually other members of society wore silk
 Was also used for strings on instruments, fishing line,
and bowstring
 Highly valued- during Han dynasty silk was worth as
much as gold
 Became sought after item by 1000 BCE and was very
important to the economy- those who revealed the
secrets of sericulture were punished to death
 “Silk Road”- route taken by traders going to and
from China (and India) to trade silk and many other
products (mainly silk and porcelain)
 Very difficult route as traders faced storms,
robbers, famine, dying animals, and hostile rulers
 So why make the journey?
 Traders could make 100 to 1000 times what they
paid by selling the silk they bought
Housing
 Commoners lived in homes made from
wooden pillars, walls made of twigs plastered
with clay, and thatched roofs
 Homes were built around a central courtyard with some
homes built on parallel streets
 In the winter farmers lived in small villages in simple oneroom huts with dirt floors, mud walls, and thatched roofs
 In the summer farmers moved to their fields where they
lived in bamboo huts
 Many Shang cities had earth walls built around them to
protect them from attack
The Fall of the Shang Dynasty
 Dynasty ruled for more than five centuries
 Last Shang ruler had a cruel wife - Ta Chi who was
known for the torture she inflicted on those who did
not show her proper respect
 People began to revolt due to the poor treatment
and it has been said that the king set fire to his
palace and committed suicide
The First Emperor of China
 Qin Shi Huang Di (CHIN- shih- hwong- dee)
had longest lasting effect on China because
of the changes he made
 Rule from 221 BCE- 206 BCE, beginning when he was 13
yrs old
 He unified the country and declared himself the first
emperor of China
 China was named after his dynasty Ch’in
 He set standards for writing, weights and measures,
money, and law and the entire country abided by
these rules
 Most of the emperor’s rules worked well to
unify the country but people feared him
 He did not support the teachings of
Confucius and he burned many books as well
as people who supported Confucianism
 If a man disagreed with an emperor he was killed and so
was his family
 Who was Confucius?
 What did he believe/preach?
 Why do you think Qin Shi Huang Di did not approve of his
ideas?
Confucius
 Spoke of a philosophy of living that involved
doing what was best for everyone not just yourself (very
similar to Golden Rule)
 Confucianism involved strong family loyalty, ancestor
worship, and respect for elders.
 Supported idea of powerful emperor but wanted to lessen
the emperor’s power to encourage people to be honest
and tp believe that change was possible
 Many rulers did not approve of Confucius’ ideas so he was
not welcome in many areas in China
 When he died many people started to follow his teachings,
creating temples in his name
Contributions of Qin Shi Huang Di
 Qin Shi Huang Di had many things built during his
reign: Grand Canal, Great Wall, and the Terra Cotta
Soldiers of Xi’an
The Grand Canal
 Worlds largest and oldest human made
canal system
 1795 km long and has 60 bridges
 Took approximately 100 years to build
 Runs from Hangzhou, southwest of Shanghai, north to
Tianjin and then to Beijing
 Runs along the most fertile and heavily populated
areas
 Was used as a transportation route for trade and
goods unifying the country
 Still serves as a transportation for goods today
The Great Wall
 One of the few objects that can be seen
from space
 One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
 UNESCO World Heritage Site
 Chinese say it looks like a giant dragon as it winds
across deserts, mountains, and grasslands,
stretching approximately 6700 km from East to West
 Walls are about 12 m high
 Hundreds of watchtowers
 Built more than 2000 years ago so some parts are
ruins
 Giant defense project
 All rival kings had built walls around their territories but
when Qin Shi Huang Di unified China these walls
were joined to form one
 Took about a million people to build (out of a
population of 5 million)
 Many workers died and are enclosed within the wall
Terra Cotta Soldiers of Xi’an
 Discovered in 1974 when farmers were trying to sink a
well
 Bronze weapons and pieces of terra cotta were the first
things found
 2000 life size statues of soldiers have been found
 Also found life size statues of horses, chariots, wagons,
and lots of weapons (bows, arrows, and spears)
 All of these were part of the burial grounds of Qin Shi
Huang Di
 Underground pit was full of statues of
people and animals to go to the next life
with him
 Burial ground employed at least 720,000
people and took about 39 years to build
 Many laborers died during the building of the tomb
 It has also been said that many were killed when the
project was finished so they would not be able to
come back and rob the tomb
Contributions China Has Made
to the World!
 Paper
 Enabled them to keep records of the property
they owned and communicate ideas
 Before paper and printing was invented
pictographs were written on silk cloth
 Eventually it was found that old rags, hemp, and
tree bark could be made into paper
 Starch was added to make paper stronger
 Egyptians started using Chinese paper in the 9th c.
 Printing
 Used pear or jujube wood and cut the wood to
the size of two book pages
 Carved the design into the wood so that the
area that was to be printed was raised
 Printer brushed wood with ink on the characters
then pressed onto a piece of paper
 Porcelain
 Invented during the T’ang dynasty
 Added a mineral called feldspar to the clay
which made the finished product a lot stronger
 Used today in expensive dishes called china,
and in industrial products such as electrical
insulators
 Gunpowder and Fireworks
 Gunpowder was initially used as entertainment in
the form of fireworks
 In the 7th c. the Chinese had learned to combine
potassium nitrate with charcoal to make an
explosive
 Did not use technique for war until 11th c.
 The Europeans were not aware of this invention until
the 1300’s
“Fun” Fact for the Day!
 Footbinding
 Was a custom applied to girls of the wealthy
class
 Involved binding strips of linen around very young girls’
feet causing the feet to become crescent or lotusshaped
 Tiny bound feet were a sing of beauty and reminded
women that they were not free
 Mothers began binding feet at 3yrs old
 Goal was to have feet shorter than 10 cm
 1st toe was usually broken
 Women with bound feet were often unable to work
 More popular in the north than in the south because wet
rice fields in south