Download Early Chinese Civilization

Early Chinese
Civilization
Geography of China
• China was much more geographically isolated than the other
early river valley civilizations. It had:
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High mountain ranges in the west and southwest
Thick Jungles to the southeast
The Gobi desert to the North
The vast Pacific Ocean to the East
• This geographic isolation helped lead China to believe they
were the center of the world.
• The Chinese did make some trade & contact with the outside
world, but the outsiders were generally invading nomads,
whom the Chinese viewed as Barbarians.
China’s Rivers
• The Early Chinese lived along rivers
that they manipulated for farming.
• Peasants constantly built and
repaired dikes to prevent floods
that would destroy crops and bring
massive starvation
• The Chinese heartland lay along
the east coast and the valleys of
the:
• Huang He River to the north: (aka
the Yellow River)
• & the Yangtze River to the South
• These fertile faming regions
supported the largest populations
China under the Shang 16501027 BCE
• About 1650 BCE, a Chinese people called the Shang gained
control of northern China, along the Huang He River.
• During the Shang period Chinese Civilization first took shape
Life under the Shang
• Kings controlled only a small area, while loyal princes and
nobles governed most of the land
• The Social Hierarchy was similar to most ancient civilizations
• Royal Family & Class of Nobles
• Merchants & Artisans
• Peasants/Farmers
• Most people were peasants that clustered in farming villages
• Peasants led tough lives where everyone worked in the field,
repaired dikes constantly, and was ready to fight wars if called
upon by their local prince
Shang Religion
• Polytheistic
• Chief god was Shang di, the mother god who brought plants &
animals to earth
• The king was seen as the link to Shang Di
• Gods would not respond to the pleas of mortals so the
Chinese prayed to their great ancestors who might be able to
get the gods to listen to their pleas
• The Chinese believed the universe reflected a delicate balance
between Yin (earth, dark, female)and Yang (heaven, light,
male).
• These forces, though opposites, were not in opposition. Rather,
the well being of the universe required a balance between yin &
yang
Zhou Dynasty
• In 1027 BC, the battle-hardened Zhou marched out of the
west to overthrow the Shang and establish the Zhou Dynasty
• The Zhou Dynasty lasted until 256 BC
• To Justify this rebellion, the Zhou invented the idea of the
Mandate of Heaven, or divine right to rule
• The cruelty of the last Shang king, the claimed, had so outraged
the gods that they had sent ruin on him.
• The gods then passed the Mandate of Heaven to the Zhou
• The Mandate of Heaven would be a primary driver of Chinese
History for thousands of years after this.
• The Chinese would expand this idea to explain the Dynastic
Cycle, or rise and fall of dynasties.
Dynastic Cycle
Zhou Feudalism
Chinese Writing & Inventions
• The Chinese writing, like cuneiform hieroglyphics, relied on
images that would represent each concept or thing.
• Chinese scholars turned calligraphy, or fine handwriting, into
an elegant art form
• The written language fostered unity for the large Chinese
civilization
• The Chinese made the first books using thin strips of
bamboo
• China developed iron improving farming and warfare
• The Chinese developed the use of money and coins as their
economy developed more
• The Chinese learned to make silk from the cocoons of silk
worms
• Silk became China’s most valuable export
• The trade route that would eventually link China to the
Middle East was known as the silk road.
• Dynastic Cycle Activity