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Pre-IB World History
Chapter 5 notes
Early Society in East Asia
I Political Organization in Early China
A. Early Agricultural Society and the Xia Dynasty
1. The Huang He takes its name for the vast quantities of loess which it
gathers along the route from its source in the high mountains of Tibet to its
mouth as it empties into the Yellow Sea.
2. More than 2,900 miles long, the Huang He is also known as China’s
sorrow as its unpredictable flooding can destroy fields, villages, granaries
and anything else in its path.
3. Despite periodic devastation, the river has supported the development
of complex societies along its banks.
4. Unlike Egypt or Mesopotamia adequate rainfall made vast irrigation
systems unnecessary, but early Chinese people needed to work together to
dredge the river to deepen its bed, thus reducing the frequency of floods.
5. The need to coordinate these public work projects as well as to
maintain order and resolve disputes as populations became more
concentrated provided the basis for the earlier governments in China.
6. The three ancient Chinese dynasties-Xia, Shang, and Zhou-were
hereditary states that extended control over increasingly larger regions.
7. Archaeologists have only recently begun to study the Xia dynasty,
which they believe first emerged 2000 B.C.E. Ancient legends credit
Xia’s founder Yu with establishing the precedent for hereditary
monarchical rule in China, effective flood control projects, and the
development of metallurgy.
B. The Shang Dynasty
1. Much more is known about the Shang dynasty than the Xia because
the Shang left written records as well as an extensive amount of
material remains, especially bronze works.
2. Bronze metallurgy, as well as horses, chariots, and other wheeled
vehicles, had come to China with Indo-European migrants 2000
B.C.E.
3. The Shang Dynasty dominated bronze production by controlling
access to copper and tin ores and by employing artisans to make large
quantities of weapons for the government only.
4. This large arsenal of bronze weapons, a large army and the
confiscation of surplus agricultural production made it easy for the
Shang government to subdue northeastern China.
5. Shang society revolved around several large cities including Ao and
Yin.
6. Shang kings have a large corps of political allies who supported the
king in exchange for a share of the kingdom’s agricultural output and
access to metal works.
7. Several large cities, highly fortified with thick, tall walls, testify to the
centralized political power and central rule of Shang kings.
8. This power is further reflected in Shang royal tombs which include
thousands of objects demonstrating the abundance and diversity of
Shang material culture, trade items from other regions in Asia, and
human sacrificial remains.
9. Shang rulers ruled by proclamation or decree and trusted their military
forces and political allies to enforce their will; they do not appear to
have developed a law code.
C. The Zhou Dynasty
1. The Zhou dynasty developed along the Wei River in northwestern
China.
2. They emerged first as allies of the Shang against nomadic invaders for
the north, but their toughness and ability to organize their allies more
successfully than the Shang led to their victory.
3. Eventually, the Zhou overcame the corrupt Shang king who, according
to legend succumbed to wine, women and greed.
4. The Zhou dynasty ruled China from 1122 B.C.E. until 256 B.C.E.
5. The concept of Mandate of Heaven developed during the Zhou
dynasty and continued to dominate Chinese political thinking well into
the 20th century.
6. The emperor’s rule reflected his role as “son of heaven” and as long
as he governed conscientiously, the cosmos would enjoy harmonious
stability.
7. If the ruler failed in his duties, however, the heavens would withdraw
their mandate and transfer it to a more deserving person.
8. The size of the Zhou state made it impossible to govern from a central
court, so the Zhou relied on a decentralized administration of loyal
subordinates who provided the Zhou with allegiance, tribute, and
military support in exchange for power in each smaller region.
9. At first the decentralized system worked well and subordinate rulers
delivered taxes and tribute and even married into the Zhou line.
10. However, over time, these subordinates began to solidify their own
power independent of and eventually in competition with the Zhou
rule.
11. The Zhou emperors could not easily control the local production of
bronze and, with the introduction of easily produced iron technologies
to China 1000 B.C.E.; the Zhou lost their monopoly on weapons
production.
12. The last years of the Zhou Dynasty are known as the Period of
Warring States.
13. The Zhou were attacked by nomadic people from the west; their
former subordinate states first refused to defend the Zhou territory and
eventually attacked each other in an attempt to establish themselves as
a new political order. The Qin was among these ambitious former
subordinates and was ultimately successfully establishing a new
central government in China.
II. Society and Family in Ancient China
A. The Social Order
1. The ruling elites of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties
included the royal family and allied noble families.
2. The nobles controlled the production of bronze weaponry as
well as highly prized and beautiful bronze utensils and vessels.
3. Next in the social hierarchy were the hereditary aristocrats
who rose from the political allies of the Shang and Zhou rulers.
a. They filled administrative or military leadership
positions in the empire and held a lot of land and were
worked by slaves.
4. Trade routes between China and the India and southwest Asia
were clearly established by 2000 B.C.E.
5. During the Shang dynasty, Chinese maritime technology,
including oar-propelled vessels as well as sailing ships,
connected China with Korea and other East Asian regions.
6. They used the stars to guide them.
7. Peasants and slaves provided the bulk of labor for the Xia,
Shang, and Zhou eras.
a. Peasants owned no land and were promised protection
by the aristocratic lords for their agricultural and
military labor.
b. Slaves were used for the hard labor and some were
sacrificed during religious ceremonies.
8. Chinese Women during the 3 eras
a. They managed the household and produced children.
b. Aristocratic women had the responsibility to for
maintaining a nice home and a setting for the formal
and informal actions of government.
c. Peasant women worked in the field and were also
responsible for winemaking, weaving and the
cultivation of silkworms.
B. Family and Patriarchy
1. Chinese family served as the principal institution for
socialization of children and the preserver of Chinese culture
and traditions.
2. The veneration of ancestors in Chinese families has its origins
in Neolithic times as the family was considered an institution
that linked departed generations to the living.
3. The family patriarch, the eldest male member, possessed
tremendous authority.
a. presided at rites and ceremonies honoring ancestors
spirits
b. As time went on Chinese women continued to have
fewer rights.
III. Early Chinese Writing and Cultural Development
1. No organized religion in China
2. No supreme deity
3. Tian-an impersonal power responsible for bestowing or revoking the
Mandate of Heaven, not for monitoring of judging individuals.
B. Oracle Bones and Chinese Writing
1. Earliest Chinese writings served the interests of rulers as scribes at the
Shang courts kept records on bamboo or silk strips.
2. Diviners would use oracle bones, specially prepared broad bones, to
determine an answer to important question of state such as whether or
not to attack an enemy.
C. Thought and Literature in Ancient China
1. The Book of Songs contains poems on serious and lighthearted topics.
2. Qin dynasty destroyed most of the works so not to encourage
independence.
IV. Ancient China and the Larger World
A. The Southern Expansion of Chinese Society
1. Chinese influence spread south from the Chang Jiang region into
modern Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand during this era.
2. By the Zhou era, this southern region had adopted Chinese political and
social traditions and was eventually conquered by the Zhou military to
become part of the emerging larger Chinese society.