Download The Zhou Dynasty and Chinese Philosophy

Mr. Kuhn Class Three
Shape of the Day
• Video: What Was the Mandate of Heaven?
• Presentation: The Zhou Dynasty
• Group Work: Chinese Philosophies
• Work Sheet: Confucius and Human Nature
In pairs discuss the following
question…
• What was “The Mandate of
Heaven?”
The idea that the emperor, the
son of Heaven, has the support of
gods as long as he rules correctly
What was the Zhou Dynasty?
In 1027 B.C.E, the Zhou
rulers attacked and
replaced the Shang
Dynasty in China
The Zhou defended their
decision by claiming the Shang
rulers had failed the people
and had therefore lost the
Mandate of Heaven
With the Zhou Dynasty, the borders of
China grew
How was it organised?
Like the Shang, the Zhou was
separated into territories, each
ruled by a lord
The rulers of the three territories
owed both loyalty and tribute to
the Zhou King
The Lords were responsible for
both the land and the peasants of
their territory
The Zhou
Dynasty and
Chinese
Philosophy
The Lower Class
The lower class was
made up of peasants,
merchants, and
artisans
Like in Shang, the lower
classes owed the following to
the nobles:
Food
Labour
Military Service
Improvements by the Zhou
Roads and Canals were
created which made
transportation much
easier and faster
Farming was improved
and food production
grew immensely due to
irrigation projects
Did You Know: Rice
• China eats more rice than
any other country in the
world. They eat 135
million metric tonnes a
year
• 3.5 Billion people around
the world depend on rice
to live
• Rice was placed in
ancient Chinese walls for
strength and stability
Elephants often way a metric tonne. Now
rethink about how much rice the Chinese
eat
Iron
• While there were few examples of iron
being used in the Shang Dynasty, by the
Zhou it became more common
Modern Chinese Writing
• Modern Chinese writing was created during
this period
Money
• The Zhou Dynasty was one of the first
civilizations to have a currency
A Few Things About Money…
• What did people use before
money?
• Shells, bat feces, cows, gold, favours,
ect…
• China was the first country to
create paper money, this
happened 1500 years ago
• Not only did China create paper
money, it has the most of it. As of
2014 China now has the biggest
economy at $17.6 Trillion
The Fall of the Zhou
• In the 8th century BCE, the
Zhou Dynasty began to fall
apart
• The Lords of the three
territories all began to
fight for more land and
take over the dynasty
• By 770 BCE, the King of the
Zhou Dynasty was forced
to flee east to Luoyang
 The fighting became so severe that the years from 481256 BCE were called the “Warring States” period
 By 256 BCE, the Zhou Dynasty collapsed
Chinese Philosophy Jigsaw
• You will be numbered off into groups of four
(remember your number)
• Depending on your number, you will be describing
a different Chinese Philosophy
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–
–
–
•
One: Confucianism (p.82)
Two: Legalism (p.83)
Three: Daoism (p. 85)
Four: Buddhism (p.91)
In the middle, your group will list any similarities
that the philosophies you are describing share
1
Questions to Answer
1. Who created
your philosophy?
2. What does your
philosophy
believe?
3. How did it effect
the history of
China?
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5
3
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