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Farming
•Rivers: Huang He & Chang Jiang
•Fertile soil for farming; fish; animals to hunt
•Farming – 7000 B.C.
•Began domesticating animals: pigs and sheep
•Population grew
Characteristics of Civilization
•Food surplus
•Specialization of skills
•Government
•Social Classes
•Religion
•Cities
•Writing
•Arts/Architecture
•Public works
Civilization Develops
•Settlements – villages – large towns
•Walls around towns…
keep out flood waters and invaders
Earliest Cultures
•Little known about these
•Sanxindui & Hongshon
•Eventually absorbed into other cultures
•3000 B.C. – potters wheel, pottery, water wells
•Increased population = spread of towns
Archeological Findings
Few artifacts…
Tombs in Burial Sites
•Tombs are filled with objects and food…
suggests belief in afterlife
•Some graves had more items than others…
suggests a social order had developed
•Some had beautiful jewelry and objects out of jade
(hard gemstone)
suggests specialization and wealth
Artifacts showed Chinese
society continued to grow
more complex!
Xia Dynasty
•China’s first dynasty
•2200 B.C.
•Cut off from other civilizations
•Founder: Yu the Great
•Much of what we know comes from legends
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Beginning of 1 Dynasty - Legend
•Terrible floods struck China
•Yu dug channels to drain water to the ocean
•Took 10 years
•Yu – created major waterways of Northern China
Fact or Fiction?
Early rulers were important to
ancient Chinese because…
•Showed how kings helped people solve problems by
working together
•Explained geography and the impact it had on
people’s lives
Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty
st
•1 evidence of a dynasty
•1500’s B.C.
•Huang He River Valley
•Moved capitals several times…
-avoid floods
-attack by enemies
Shang Social Order
•City was arranged by social class
•City home of wealthy, learned, & skilled
•Most people did not live in the city
•King – center of political & religious life
•Nobles
Nobles
•advisors or lesser government & religious leaders
•royal family
•owned much land
•passed wealth & power on to sons
•Large homes in city
Shang Nobles
•Under king
•nobles – people of high rank in a kingdom
•Prepared for war
•Fought against one another over land
•United in times of rebellion from people who
refused Shang rule
Shang Social Order
• King – center of political & religious life
• Nobles
•Warrior leaders
•Artisans – lived in groups based on what they made
(outside city walls)
•Farmers – long hours; little money; heavily taxed
•Slaves – important source of labor
The Shang
Advancements
Chinese Writing
•1st writing system
•More than 2000 symbols to express words or
ideas
•Chinese writing based on writing of Shang
•Archeological evidence: Oracle Bones
Crack Readers
•Oracles – predictors of the future
•Turtle shells and cattle bones
Oracle Bones
•Priest carved questions about the future on
bones
•Heated; Cracked
•Priest believed they could “read” these cracks to
predict the future
Other Achievements
•Bronze containers
•Jade – axes, knives, ornaments
•Military – chariots, bows, bronze body armor
•Astrology – lunar calendar
Shang Religion
•Worshipped spirits (supernatural beings)
•Spirits in mountains, rivers, & seas
•Must please spirits
Shang Ancestors
•Ancestors – those from whom one is descended
•Influenced fortunes
•Respect for family
Decline of the Shang
•Gap between rich and poor
•No loyalty towards each other
End of the Shang
•1122 B.C.
•Zhou invaded Shang
•Shang were not united and could not hold off
invaders
•Civilization came to an end
Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
•1100s B.C.
•Lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese
history
•Claimed to have the Mandate of Heaven
Mandate of Heaven
•Heaven gave power to king / leader and
no one ruled without heaven’s permission
•Bad king = heaven supported a new
leader
Zhou vs Shang
•West of Shang
•Offered protection of Shang’s western border
•Believed Shang leaders became corrupt
•Used Mandate of Heaven to justify rebellion against the Shang
•Conquered Shang – 1122 B.C.
•Expanded to Chang Jiang
Zhou Political Order
•Brought order to China
•Granted land in exchange for…
-loyalty
-military support
-other services
Zhou Social Order
•King
•Lords (people of high rank)
-land was given by kings
-paid taxes and provided soldiers
•Peasants – farmers with small farms; farmed
additional land for nobles/lord
Changes in Political Order
•Lords passed rule to sons
•Sons less loyal to king
•Local rulers gained more power
•Many refused to fight against invasions
•Rejected the authority of the king
Legend - Decline of the Zhou
•King lit warning fires to entertain friend
•Armies rushed to defend
•Real attack – no one came
Decline of Zhou Dynasty
•771 B.C.
•Zhou were invaded
•Zhou lost battle but survived
Warring States Period
•481 B.C.
•A time of many civil wars
•Lords began fighting each other
•Lasted more than 200 years
•Fighting – brutal & cruel; fighting for territory not
honor
Internal Problems for the Zhou
•Changes in Chinese family structure (way
something is set up or organized)
•Family had been foundation of life in China
•Large families formed powerful groups
•Loyalty weakened in small families
•Eventually…
•Families broke apart & became rivals
•Sons plotted against each other & their fathers over
inheritances
Result - Warring States Period
•China lacked a strong central government to stop
power struggles within ruling class
•Chinese society fell into a period of disorder