Download Ancient China List five things that the Chinese invented

Ancient China
1. List five things that the Chinese invented.
Wheelbarrow, paddlewheel boat, gunpowder, paper, woodblock printing.
2. What is Chinese history divided into?
Chinese history is divided into dynasties.
3. How was China isolated from the rest of the world?
They were isolated because the Himalaya Mountains cut them off from India, the
Middle East was too far away, and the Pacific Ocean ran along the eastern border.
4. What are the two major rivers in China? List their Chinese names and English
translation.
The main rivers are the Huang Ho, which means “Yellow River,” and the Chang Jiang,
or the “Long River.”
5. Vocabulary: Neolithic.
Neolithic: Of the later Stone Age.
6. What was the yellow dust that covered parts of China called? In what two ways was it
brought into the area?
The yellow dust was called loess. It was ground into fine particles by the glaciers and
carried, then deposited on the plains by the wind, and the Huang Ho River.
7. How did the Chinese cope with the disadvantages of the Huang Ho River?
The Chinese built dams, dikes, and canals to cope with the flooding that occurred after it
rained.
8. According to the text, what is one major way that the Huang Ho is different from the
Nile?
The difference is that the Nile floods annually (one a year, typically), but the Huang Ho
could flood after each and every rainfall.
9. What objects were the first found to contain ancient Chinese writing? What else were
there objects used for?
The Chinese used pictographs instead of hieroglyphics. (Found on oracle bones/dragon
bones)
10. What do scholars feel was the purpose of written language in China initially?
Ancient China
Scholars believes they created writing to record who owned what property.
11. What is the Mandate of Heaven?
The Mandate of Heaven is what the king ruled by. People believed he was the
descendant of the supreme god, Shang Ti, and was therefore told by a greater power what
was to be done.
12. Why did the king have to make responsible decisions?
The king had to be responsible because if he was not the gods would disapprove and the
nobles would no longer support him. Often this disapproval was characterized by floods
or other natural disasters.
13. Draw the Hierarchy of society within the Shang dynasty. Explain what each part of the
hierarchy is responsible for.
King—Making all major decisions.
Nobles
Commoners
Farmers
Slaves
Ancient China
The Qin Dynasty (pronounced “Chin”)
Many dynasties in Ancient China lasted for hundreds of years. But the Qin Dynasty lasted for
only 15 years. Yet, First Emperor Qin accomplished an amazing amount of change.
Qin was the first man to control all of China. He did not want to be called a king.
He called himself First Emperor Qin. He died of natural causes. But in the short time that he
ruled China, he readied China to be pulled together as one country. But at what cost?
First Emperor Qin was a legalist. Legalists believe that people are basically bad. They
believe that it is necessary to control and regulate every minute of people's lives so they have
the discipline needed to work hard in the fields and in battle.
Qin ran his dynasty with absolute control and swift harsh punishment. It was illegal to whine
about Qin's government. If you simply suggested that things might be improved, you could be
put to death without a trial.
Bureaucracy: To control his people, First Emperor Qin developed a system of bureaucracy
(A system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials
rather than by elected representatives.). He divided his empire into 36 provinces. Each
province was divided into districts. He put two government officials in charge of each
province. It was their job to put strong people in charge of each district.
Workers were well trained and paid. They reported to supervisors. People at each level
supervised those below them.
(How is this system different than Canada’s?)
Spy System: To make sure everyone did their job correctly, First Emperor Qin set up a spy
system. People had to spy on each other - it was the law. People had to spy on each at work and
at home in their neighbourhood or village. If people turned in lawbreakers, they were rewarded.
If they did not, they were executed. It was a simple system, and it worked very well.
This organization system gave Qin great power. That power allowed him to make huge changes.
Qin knew that to unify China there had to be big changes. Most of his laws had something to do
with protection.
Changes:
Land: First Emperor Qin took land away from the nobles. He did not want the nobles rising up
against him. Anyone who argued with Qin was either buried alive or put to work building the
Great Wall.
Standardization: He introduced one system of weights, measures, money, written language,
and laws. Nobody argued with him.
Ancient China
Law Code: He introduced a new law code that applied to everybody. He created a huge law
enforcement group, whose job was to enforce the laws.
Peasants: Peasants were assigned a job. They were either assigned the job of farmer or of silk
maker. It they tried to do anything else besides their assigned job, they were sent to work on the
Great Wall. If people were lazy or slow at doing their assigned job, they were sent to work on the
wall.
Censorship: Qin practiced total censorship. He persecuted scholars and destroyed books. He
defined useless books as any book about anything except books about medicine, agriculture, or
prophecy. Useless books were burned. Over 400 scholars who refused to turn in books were
either buried alive or sent to work on the wall. Qin did not believe in any education for the
common man. According to Qin, the more time people spent studying, the less time they had to
grow food. He especially disliked the teachings of Confucius. He had all Confucius' books
burned.
Qin did not think his rule was cruel. He said, "A thousand may die so that a million may
live." He built roads, canals, and bridges. His public works projects probably saved millions of
lives that would have been lost to floods and famine. Although many people died building the
Great Wall, it did provide an advantage in war.
No rebellion occurred during his rule. He died in 210 BCE. Once he was dead, his son took over.
His son did not rule for long. People revolted again the Qin government all over the countryside.
The peasant who led that revolt became the new emperor. His dynasty was called the Han
Dynasty. Life vastly improved during the Han Dynasty.
Qin (also called Ch'in) Dynasty 221-207 BCE
Recap
End of the Feudal System
Forced labour to begin the Great Wall
Standardized money and system of measurement
Burned books, including Confucius texts
Ancient China
The Great Wall of China
The Chinese worked on the Great Wall for over 1700 years. In turn, each emperor who came to
power added pieces of the wall to protect their dynasties. But the wall was not a solid wall. It
was a line of disconnected barricades.
First Emperor Qin wanted a much better barricade to protect his people from the Mongol
invaders to the north. He wanted a strong wall 30 feet wide and 50 feet high.
First Emperor Qin used peasants, captured enemies, criminals, scholars, and anyone else who
irritated him, and put them all to work building the Great Wall. Labourers were not paid for their
work. It was slave labour.
About 3000 people worked on the wall during the Qin Dynasty. Rocks fell on people. Walls
caved in. Workers died of exhaustion and disease. Labourers were fed only enough food to keep
them alive. There is an old Chinese saying, "Each stone in the wall represents a life lost in the
wall's construction.
This project continued long after First Emperor Qin’s death. Building the wall was a project that
continued for many hundreds of years until the wall was over 3700 miles long. Most emperors
used the same system that Qin used, forced labour.
Today, the Great Wall still stands. It can be seen from space, it’s that big!