Download Early China - Miss Caspers` Classroom

Early China
Warmup
• Take a guess (just for fun!): how many Chinese
characters there are in the modern-day language?
• Altogether there are over 50,000 characters, though
a comprehensive modern dictionary will rarely list
over 20,000 in use. An educated Chinese person will
know about 8,000 characters, but you will only need
about 2-3,000 to be able to read a newspaper.
Geography of China
• The Huang He River is more than 2900
miles long.
– It flows across central china and
empties into Yellow Sea
• 12 percent of the total land is suitable for
farming.
• Much of China is mountainous and
contains deserts.
• The mountains and desert acted as
barriers, separating the Chinese from the
rest of the Asia
• China is isolated because of natural
barriers
Huang He River
– Referred to as “China’s
Sorrows” because floods,
caused by the loess-clogged
river, destroyed crops and led
to mass starvation
– Provided a source of water for
cities
– Linked cities within dynastic
region
– Flooding in China deposited
rich soil for farming
Ancient China
• Dynasty – A series of rulers from a
single family.
Origins of Chinese Culture
• Family and Society
–Chief loyalty
throughout life was
to the family, then to
the King, then to the
country.
Origins of Chinese
Culture
• Religious Beliefs
– Ancestral Worship – to
show respect and honor
of the family
– They believed their
ancestors had the power
to bring good/bad fortune
to living family members
– Oracle Bones – used to
communicate with the
gods
Origins of Chinese
Culture
• Calligraphy
– Each character represents one
idea rather than a letter.
– Literate – 1,000 characters
– Educated – 10,000 characters
– Difficult to learn because so
many characters
Art as a Societal Reflection
• During the Shang and
Zhou dynasties, bronze
statues, textiles, and
lacquerware were highly
regulated by the royal
court
• The court could choose to
allow you to work on your
artwork
– Or not!
Bronze statue
Silk clothing
Lacquer bowl
Art as a Societal Reflection
• During the Han dynasty, a
landowning and merchant
class appeared and grew
• Those people started
having “leisure time” to
paint, draw, create poetry
& learn calligraphy
• Professional artists versus
common people became a
class distinction
Calligraphy
Paintings
Art as a Social Reflection
• Religion, especially
Confucianism, Buddhism,
and Daoism, became very
influential in artwork
• Buddhist artwork showed
a lot of peace, nature, and
of course Buddha
• Daoism was very
influenced by the natural
flow of life
• Confucianism stressed
filial piety in its artwork
Loyalty to the emperor
Buddha
Landscape
Chinese Government
• Mandate of Heaven
–In China, it is divine
approval thought to
be the basis of royal
authority.
–God-given right to
rule
Chinese Government
• Dynastic Cycle
• The historical pattern of the rise,
decline and replacement of ruling
dynasties.
• Dynastic Cycle=Mandate of Heaven
• Example: Zhou dynasty overthrew the
Shang Dynasty claiming that the gods
had given them the Mandate of Heaven
GREAT WALL OF CHINA
• Shi Huangdi
forced poor
people to build it
• Built for
protection from
barbarians
(Mongolian
ancestors of
Genghis Khan)
• Great Wall of
China
An Empire Unifies
China
Zhou and Qin Dynasties
Zhou Dynasty
• Kings ruled China from
1027 BC to 256 BC
• Did not follow Chinese
values of social order,
harmony, and respect
for authority
Zhou Dynasty Inventions
Bronze coins
Iron-tipped ox-drawn
plows
Confucius
551-479 BC
• China’s most influential scholar
– Wanted to restore China’s ancient values of
conformity and respect
• Confucianism became the foundation for the Chinese government
and social order
– Bureaucracy – civil service exam to see who can get
governments jobs
– Education became very important in order to get better jobs
• The teachings of Confucius had a philosophical impact on China
giving the Scholars a higher social status
Confucius
• Believed social order, harmony, and good government could
be restored in China if society was organized around five basic
relationships.
1. Ruler and Subject
2. Father and Son
-Filial Piety – respect for
parents/elders
3. Husband and Wife
4. Older Brother and Younger Brother
5. Friend and Friend
Yin and Yang
• Two powers that represented the natural rhythms of
life
– Yin = feminine
– Yang = masculine
• Both complement/complete
each other
Qin Dynasty
• Replaced Zhou
Dynasty
– Conquered the other
Chinese states through
complete annihilation
– War used to be “a
gentleman’s affair”
• Shi Huangdi – First
Chinese Emperor
– Began rule at age 13
– Employed Legalist
ideas
Qin Dynasty
• Highly efficient and powerful government that
crushed opponents
• Burned books by Confucius and other people
who disagreed with the Emperor
• Established an autocracy
Autocracy
• A government in which the
ruler has unlimited power
– Dictatorship/monarchy
– Totalitarianism
How does the cartoon represent
an autocracy?
Qin Dynasty
• Set uniform standards for writing, law, currency, and
measures
• Forced peasants to build over 4,000 miles worth of roads
• Irrigation systems helped improve farm production
• Used forced labor to build the Great Wall of China to prevent
invaders (Mongol descendants of Genghis Khan) from
entering China
Great Wall of China
• Built by peasants who were forced to work or
face death
– Around 1 million died
• 1,400 miles long and 20-25 ft. high
• CANNOT SEE THIS FROM
SPACE WITH THE NAKED
EYE!
Activity
•
Timeline of Dynasties
– Seven (7) groups of 4
•
•
•
One group will make the physical timeline
of dynasties
The other groups will make:
1) lists of contributions/inventions
2) draw pictures
3) list famous
scholars/emperors/artists/explorers/general
s from those dynasties
4) list important events and religions
MAKE THESE COLORFUL AND AWESOME!
•
•
•
•
Xia (2070 – 1600 BC)
Qin (221 – 207 BC)
Han (206BC – 220 AD)
Middle Dynasties (220
– 960 AD)
• Song and Yuan (960 –
1368 AD)
• Ming and Qing (1368 –
1796 AD)
Example
Timeline of Dynasties
List of
inventions
Pictures
Important
people
Important
events
and
religions