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China’s Dynasties
Nichols - World History
Chinese Dynasty
Pronunciation
Shang
Zhou
“shang”
“joe”
Qin
“chin”
Han
“hahn”
Dynasty Map
Ancient Chinese Civilization
• Chinese civilization along the Huang He
(Yellow River) developed in relative
isolation, save for some overland
trading with India and the Middle East.
• By around 1500 B.C.E. a line of kings
called the Shang ruled over the Huang
He valley. They began the dynastic
cycle that would endure until the 20th
century.
Shang Dynasty
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First recorded Dynasty
Ruled by a king
First Chinese cities, center of court life
“Anyang” was its capital
Villages organized by clans, not nuclear
families.
Cast bronze, created silk
Developed writing. Ideas through
pictographs. Thousands of characters.
Honored ancestors, through worship and
used oracle bones
Shang tyrant emperor overthrown by
Zhou, who ushered in the 2nd dynasty.
Silk Worms
Shang Artifacts
Bronze
Oracle
Bone
Spoke Wheel
Jade
Ritual
Vessel
Dynastic Cycle
• Dynastic cycle is a process of birth and
death of dynasties.
• Dynasty=family of kings.
• 3 Dynasties of Classical China: Zhou,
Qin, and Han.
• The ones after these 3 were known as
the Post Classical China
Zhou (Chou-”Joe”) Dynasty
• Zhou rulers claimed direct links to the Shang rulers.
• Also said that heaven had transferred its mandate to
rule China to the Zhou emperors- Mandate of
Heaven.
• Mandate of Heaven remained a key justification for
Chinese imperial rule in all subsequent dynasties
(They believed it was their Divine Right).
• Promoted unity via a standard spoken language
(Mandarin Chinese). Largest single group of people
speaking the same language in the world at this time.
Zhou (Chou-”Joe”) Dynasty
• Longest lasting Chinese Dynasty.
• First period of territorial expansion (complicated
problems of central rule).
• Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism were 3 main
philosophies
• Created system of currency (First coins)
• Known for iron weapons, plows, hydraulics, and Kites
(Scare enemy)
Zhou Coins - bronze
Confucius
• As a wondering scholar-philosopher in Zhou China,
Kung Fuzi (Confucius) undertook a quest to become
chief advisor to a ruler who possessed the wisdom to
restore centralized control, peace, and order.
• Though he never fulfilled this goal in his lifetime, his
students preserved, spread, and debated his
teachings after his death, and compiled his teachings
in the Analects. (How to Book)
• His social and political teachings formed the basis for
many of China’s ideas today.
551 – 479 B.C.E.
Became a teacher
and editor of books.
Confucianism 101
• Advocated rule by highly educated, exclusively male
elite .
• Began as an ethical rather than religious system.
• Created norms for all aspects of Chinese life, from
familial relationships, respect for elders, ancestors,
and male authority.
• Created norms for etiquette of rulers and scholar
bureaucrats (The elite).
• Influenced art, music, calligraphy (Artistic Writing)
• Formed basis of Chinese philosophical and religious
beliefs for more than 2000 years.
• Confucianism waxed and waned during
subsequent dynasties, but continues to
influence Chinese culture today.
• Also exerted influence on other Asian
societies incl Japan and Korea.
Dao
• Created by Laozi
• Early Chinese philosophy stressed the basic
harmony of nature: every feature is balanced
by an opposite (yin and yang). For hot there
is cold, for male, female.
• Forms basis for Daoism, a philosophy by
which a individual seeks a way, called Dao, to
relate to this harmony, avoiding excess and
appreciating balance of opposites.
Legalism
• Created by Han Fei Zi
• Legalism is a Classical Chinese
philosophy that emphasizes the need
for order above all other human
concerns.
Zhou (Chou) Dynasty
• The breakdown of the Zhou dynasty’s
ability to control its peasants and slaves
led to a long period of political conflict
(Land-owning aristocrats, wealthy,
created their own power base and
disregarded the central govt.)
• Internal conflicts left China vulnerable to
outside invaders.
Qin (Chin) Dynasty
• By 221 BCE, warrior Shi Huangdi brought an end to the years of
civil war and developed the Qin Dynasty.
• Shi Huangdi destroyed or banished all his rivals and was seen
as a harsh man Self appointed title Qin Shi Huangdi , meaning
First Emperor.
• The name Qin conferred on the whole country its name of
China.
• Brutal yet effective. Organized China into large provinces ruled
by bureaucrats.
Qin Dynasty
• For defense, built first Great Wall (Ming
built other part later), extending 3000+
miles. Largest construction project in
human history.
• Adopted Legalism: only way to achieve
order was to pass strict laws and
impose harsh punishments. (Hanfeizi)
• Ordered census, standardized
currency, weights measurements,
laws, and unified written script
throughout the realm.
• Banned Confucianism, burned books.
Attacks on intellectuals and high taxes
made him fiercely unpopular.
Emperor Qin
• Shi Huangdi appointed
officials from non-aristocratic
(poor) groups, so that they
would not dare to develop
their own independent bases
of power.
• Shi Huangdi looked for
potions to make him
immortal, but the Qin
Dynasty ended shortly after
his death.
Han (202 BCE - 221 CE)
• After Shi Huangdi’s death, massive peasant revolts
broke out. Two peasants led a revolt against Qin
oppression, toppling the dynasty, giving rise to the
Han dynasty.
• Largest of the dynasties.
• Legalism replaced by Confucianism
• Introduced civil service examination (process of
selecting govt officials based on merit rather than
noble birth). Ltd. power of emperor (checks &
balances)
• Expanded Chinese territory into Korea, Indochina,
and central Asia. Silk Roads developed, opens trade
Han (202 BCE - 221 CE)
• Peace brought great prosperity.
• They erected shrines to Confucius, and the idea was
established as official state of philosophy.
• Buddhism introduced through trade
• Paper invented
• Great increase in population
• Govt sponsored public works projects like complex
irrigation & canal systems
Decline
• Nomadic raiders
• Corruption, weak leaders
End of the Classical Era
• Han dynasty overturned by a nomadic tribe,
the Huns
• Warlords control china - no centralized gov’t
• Non-Chinese nomads control much of China
• Buddhism becomes popular - Confucianism
failed
• (Invaders like Huns might topple a dynasty,
but they couldn’t devise a better system to
run the country, so the system & its
bureaucratic administrators normally
endured).
Classical vs. Post Classical
China
• China entered a long period of turmoil and unrest
after the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220 A.D.
• Several warring kingdoms arose, and science, art ,
and culture declined
• Everything after is known as the Post Classical
• At the same time, Buddhism spread through much of
China
• It took several hundred years before China reemerged as a leading civilization and experience a
“Golden Age” better than the Han.
Post Classical China