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Summary
STATION 1
Zhou Dynasty 1027-256 BCE
The Zhou overthrew the Shang and setup their own dynasty in 1027 BCE. They explained their actions by claiming
the Mandate of Heaven, or divine right of rule. The Mandate of Heaven was later used to explain the Dynastic
Cycle. A dynasty would remain in power only as long as it was providing good government. When a dynasty went
into decline, and began to abuse its power, it was said to lose the Mandate of Heaven, or the favor of the gods. A
strong leader would usually emerge to claim the Mandate, and establish a new dynasty. The dynastic cycle would
then begin again.
Summary
STATION 2
Chinese Silk
Under the Zhou, the Chinese discovered how to make silk from the cocoons of silkworms. Silk would become
China’s most valuable export, eventually linking them with most of the world through trade. For the longest time,
silk production remained a Chinese secret. It is obtained by unraveling the cocoon of the silk moth just before the
moth hatches. The cocoons are boiled to kill the moth and loosen the filament which is then unwound and combined
into threads to be woven into cloth. Each cocoon is composed of a single filament about 1000 m long. About 100
cocoons are needed for a tie and 650 for a blouse.
Through raids and smuggling, the technology first leaked out to Japan, then India. Then around 550, the Byzantine
emperor Justinian recruited two Persian monks and sent them into China as industrial spies. Two years later, the
monks returned to Constantinople (now Istanbul) with silkworm eggs and mulberry seeds concealed within their
hollow bamboo canes. About 600 years later, crusaders brought the secret of silk production to Western Europe.
regentsprep.org/Regents/global/themes/.../china.cfm
www.iro.umontreal.ca/~vaucher/.../ChinaOverview.html
Article
STATION 3
The Terracotta Army
An Army of Terracotta for the Afterlife
By K. Kris Hirst
The exquisite terracotta army of the first Qin Dynasty ruler Shihuangdi represents the emperor’s ability to control the
resources of the newly unified China, and his attempt to recreate and maintain that empire in the afterlife. The first
emperor of all China was a fellow named Ying Zheng, born in 260 BC during the "Warring States Period", a chaotic,
fierce, and dangerous time in Chinese history. He was a member of the Qin dynasty, and ascended to the throne in
247 BC at the age of twelve and a half. In 221 BC King Zheng united all of what is now China and renamed himself
Qin Shihuangdi ("First Emperor of Qin"), although ‘united’ is rather a tranquil word to be using for the bloody
conquest of the region’s small polities. According to the Shiji records of the Han dynasty court historian Sima Qian,
Qin Shihuangdi was a phenomenal leader, who began connecting existing walls to create the first version of the Great
Wall of China, constructed an extensive network of roads and canals throughout his empire, standardized written
language and money, and abolished feudalism, establishing in its place provinces run by civilian governors. Qin
Shihuangdi died in 210 BC, and the Qin dynasty was quickly extinguished within a few years by the early members
of the Han dynasty. But, during the brief period of Shihuangdi’s rule, a remarkable testament to his control of the
countryside and its resources was constructed: a semi-subterranean mausoleum complex and an army of 7,000 lifesize sculpted clay terracotta soldiers, chariots, and horses.
Terracotta Army and Shihuangdi's Necropolis
Shihuangdi’s necropolis was surely large enough to merit the name of city of death. The outer wall of the mausoleum
precinct measured 2100 x 975 meters and enclosed administrative buildings, horse stables and cemeteries; the heart of
the precinct was the 500x500 meter tomb for Shihuangdi. Found in the precinct were ceramic and bronze sculptures,
including cranes, horses, chariots, stone carved armor for humans and horses, and human sculptures that
archaeologists have interpreted as representing officials and acrobats. The three pits containing the now-famous
terracotta army are located 600 meters east of the mausoleum precinct, in a farm field where they were re-discovered
by a well-digger in the 1920s.
The mausoleum precinct was built beginning shortly after Zheng became king, in 246 BC, and construction continued
until about 209 BC. Four pits were excavated to hold the terracotta army, although only three were filled by the time
construction ceased. The construction of the pits included excavation, placement of a brick floor, and construction of
a sequence of rammed earth partitions and tunnels. The floors of the tunnels were covered with mats, the life-sized
statuary was placed erect on the mats and the tunnels were covered with logs. Finally each pit was buried. In the
largest pit (14,000 square meters), the infantry was placed in rows four deep. Pit 2 includes a U-shaped layout of
chariots, cavalry and infantry; and Pit 3 contains a command headquarters. Only about 1,000 soldiers have been
excavated so far; archaeologists estimate that there are over 7,000 soldiers (infantry to generals), 130 chariots with
horses, and 110 cavalry horses.
The statues of the infantry soldiers range between 5 foot 8 inches and 6 foot 2 inches; the commanders are 6 and half
feet tall. The lower half of the kiln-fired ceramic bodies were made of solid terracotta clay, the upper half hollow. It is
evident that the statues were vividly painted including a color called Chinese purple; although most of that paint has
flown, traces of it may be seen on some of the statues.
Chinese excavations have been conducted at Shihuangdi’s mausoleum complex since 1974, and have included
excavations in and around the mausoleum complex; they continue to reveal astonishing findings. As Xiaoneng Yang
describes Shihuangdi’s mausoleum complex, “Ample evidence demonstrates the First Emperor’s ambition: not only
to control all aspects of the empire during his lifetime but to recreate the entire empire in microcosm for his after life.”
Summary
STATION 4
Shi Huangdi and Centralization
Hammurabi’s code of laws and Qin dynasty legalism are similar in that both promoted the idea that harsh
punishments for crimes will lead to a more orderly society. By 221 BCE a leader of the Qin dynasty united all of the
warring factions into China’s first centralized empire. The Qin king adopted the title of Shi Huangdi (first emperor).
He believed in legalistic principles. Some of the main ideas of legalism were that a highly efficient government was
the key to social order, and harsh punishments were necessary to ensure social order. Shi Huangdi believed that
people were not necessarily good and needed a strong government to punish those who committees bad acts. For
example, anyone caught outside his own village without a travel permit would have his ears or nose chopped off. To
silence criticism of his government, Shi Huangdi established a government with unlimited power and used it in an
arbitrary manner. The government created a uniform system of writing and weights and measurements through out
the empire. Shi Huangdi’s sweeping program of centralization, which included the building of a highway network
of more than 4, 00 miles, resulted in peasants working on the roads against their will. Shi Huangdi unified China and
brought order but at the expense of human freedom. Following his death, the people rebelled against his harsh rule.
Barron's Regents Exams and Answers: Global History and Geography by Phillip Lefton
Summary
STATION 5
The Great Wall
Defensive walls, such as that measuring 7 km at Zhengzhou, Henan, were a feature of Chinese cities from at least the
Shang period (c. 1600–c. 1050 BC). Such building skills were extended to much grander projects; construction of the
Great Wall may have been started in the 7th century BC, but its true origins lie in the walls erected by some states as
protection against each other after the collapse of central power exercised by the Zhou dynasty (c. 1050–256 BC)
during the period of the Warring States (403–221 BC). In particular, the powerful northern states of Yan, Zhao and
Qin sought protection both from each other and from the Xiongnu nomads; walls provided more or less effective
barriers against the horses on which the nomads relied for conquest. When the independent kingdoms were unified in
221 BC under Qin Shi Huangdi (259–210 BC), the first emperor of China, a general, Meng Tian (d 209 BC), was
appointed to organize an extensive building program. Tens of thousands of peasants and political prisoners were
commandeered from throughout the empire and set to work for ten years to establish a single, continuous structure.
According to tradition, those who died during its construction were interred within it. It probably ran across the
Liaodong Peninsula (modern Liaoning Province) in the east, further north than the surviving Great Wall, to Gansu in
the west. The structure followed the route dictated by the pre-existing walls, as it would continue to do throughout its
history. Only small portions of the wall dating to this period remain, for example in Lintao County, Gansu.
kinabaloo.com
www.mahalo.com/the-great-wall-of-china