Download Xia Dynasty

Xia Dynasty
By: Ehren Graff
5-3-16
Early Kings Solve Problems
Flooding of the Yellow River was a major problem in the Xia Dynasty.
It would destroy many homes and farm land. According to legend, a man
named Gun worked trying to build a wall to stop the floods. Being
unsuccessful he worked hard for a lot of his life to build canals that led
the flood water away to the sea. Another problem there was tyrant of
the king with his luxury lifestyle and cruel behaviors. Eventually that
problem was solved when a soon to be emperor, Shang and the people at
the time overthrew him.
Social Classes
The Chinese social class is like any other with the ruler or in this case
emperor at the very top. The next layer underneath is court members,
nobles, and government officials. These people were the second most
important. The next layer below is peasants, but not what you think.
They classify as farmers, soldiers, and common people who made up
Ancient China. Underneath the peasants were artisans. They made things
by hand like clothing, jewelry, and some were even blacksmiths. Second
to last on the pyramid were merchants. These people would travel
trading anything they can to bring back to China. Finally, at the bottom
were slaves. They were captured by the Chinese soldiers and taken
prisoner.
Culture
The culture of the Xia Dynasty was like any other. The traditional
feast and parties were done throughout Ancient China. Along with that
was the famous ceramics where they made pottery such as vases, plates,
bowls, and so on. They played music and had visual arts such as paintings
or sculptures. Of course like any festival they had food all around.
Martial arts was a big part of all dynasties in Ancient China. In the Xia
Dynasty they worshiped one god called Shang Di. Those who didn't
worship him were worshiping the Jade Emperor or Buddha.
Government
Throughout Ancient China there wasn't one set government, it was run
by dynasties. There was always a competition between different
dynasties trying to gain power. The dynasties believed in Confucianism
which helped to get the point across when they were talking about
serious matters like barbarian invasions. Like today good governance and
merit earns a higher place on the government level. Their government
made people do this on and on until someone was decided as the new
emperor.
Conclusion
After doing research, reading, and writing about the Xia Dynasty I
learned a lot more about Ancient China and its dynasties. I learned about
the problems they had and how they solved them, their social classes,
their culture, and finally their government. For example one of their
problems was the Yellow River flooding. Their social class was expected.
The ruler is at the top, the slaves are at the bottom and ever body else
falls somewhere in the middle. Their culture was unique and interesting
to learn about. There government was unique in the way they decided
who was emperor. Their government was ruled by dynasties.
Bibliography
Www.ancient.eu/Xia_Dynasty/
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/xia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_culture
http://www.ancientmilitary.com/ancient-china-government.htm