Download Chinese Civilization

Will Lyman, Jacoby Henderson, Amber Davis, Chelsea Davis, De’Von
Johnson, Osman Khan, Cristina Rios
CHINESE
CIVILIZATION
Political Rulers
 Qin Shi Huang:
 After ruling for over 20 years, the Qin ruler assumed the name Shi






Huangdi.
He started his reign by stopping the internal battles that had
decreased China’s strength.
His next step was to defeat invaders and eliminating any
resistance in China to his rule
Victories over invaders doubled China's size.
He acted decisively to elimanate any political opposition to him
in China
He introduced a policy called "strengthening the trunk and
weakening the branches" to eliminate the power of rival
warlords.
He commanded that all the noble families of China to live in the
capital city where he can watch them.
Political Rulers







After seizing the noble families land he carved china into 36
administrative districts.
To prevent criticism he and his prime minsister, named Li Su who was a
Legalist philosopher, murdered hundereds of Confucian scholoars.
They also burned books with the works of Confucian thinkers and poets
who disagreed with the Legalists'.
Shi Huangdi had established an autocracy which is a governement that
has unlimited power and uses it in an arbitrary manner.
Shi Huangdi's made a program of centralization in which it made a
highway network of more than 4,000 miles.
This program he made also included setting the samed standards
throughout China for writing, law. currenty, and weights and measures.
During his rule irrigation projects increased farm production
Political Rulers
 The new road system had let trading blossom.
 Despite these advancements the Qin regime were unpopular due





to the harsh governement and no human freedom.
Earlier, Zhou rulers had erected smaller walls to discourage
attacks by northern nomads but Shi Huangdi determined to close
the gaps and extend the wall which is now known as the Great
Wall of China
The Great Wall of China almost covered the length of the
empire's border.
The Qin Dynasty lasted for only a short time period.
Peasants had rebelled only three years after Shi Huangdi son's
was declared emperor.
The peasants marched into the capital city and gave way to the
Han Dynasty.
Political Rulers
 Mandate of Heaven:
 Around 1027 B.C, people called the Zhour
overhrew the Shang and made their own dynasty
 To justify their objective the Zhou leaders had
declared that the final Shang king had been such
a poor ruler that the Gods had taken
 away Shang's rule and gave it to the Zhou.
 This justification grew over time into a broader
view that royal authority had came from heaven
and had told them to do this.
Political Rulers
 A just ruler had a divine apporoval over things which




is known has the Mandate of Heaven.
A foolish or evil king could lose the Mandate of
Heaven and lose the right to rule along with it.
The Mandate of Heaven had become the central to
the Chinese view of the government.
Bad events such as floods, riots, etc. might be signs
from the ancestral spirits that they are displeased
with the King's rule. If this happens then the
Mandate of Heaven may pass to another noble
family.
The Mandate of Heaven is the Chinese explanation
for rebellion, civil war, and the rise of a new dynasty.
Political Rulers
 Dynastic Cycle:
 What the Chinese call
the Mandate of Heaven
is what we consider as
the Dynastic Cycle.
 The Dynastic cycle is a
chart shown below
 HONORS WORLD BOOK
AS SOURCE for the Qin
stuff to dynastic cycle
Political Rulers
 Han Dynasty- "Golden Age"
 - After the Qin dynasty China was reunited under
the Han dynasty.
 -Poetry, literature, and philosophy flourished
under the reign of emperor Wudi.
 -Wudi established Confucianism as the basis for
correct official and individual conduct and the
educational curriculum.
 -Under Wudi China regained control of territories
which were conquered in the Qin dynasty.
Political Rulers
 -The conquest of Ferghana and neighboring regions in 101
B.C., which allowed the Han to seize a large number of the
"heavenly" long-legged horses valued for cavalry
maneuvers, also gave China control of the trade routes
running north and south of the Taklamakan Desert.
- China traded silk and gold for wine, spices, woolen fabrics,
grapes, pomegranates, sesame, broad beans, and alfafa.
 - This Dynasty is seperated into two major periods called
Western Han and Eastern Han.
 -Dispute among factions contributed to the end of the
Western Han period.
 -After a generation China flourished again in the Eastern
Han dynasty period.
Social Structure




http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/tang.html
·
http://www.yutopian.com/history/tang.html
·
Honors World History Textbook
1. During the Tang dynasty the power long held by the old aristocratic
families began to fade. A new upper class began to form from the
scholar officials and their families. This class of well to do people was
known as the gentry. Land ownership was formerly a source for power.
However the Gentry acquired power through education and by holding
civil service positions. The class below the gentry was sort of an urban
middle class. People in this class had the following occupations:
merchants, shopkeepers, skilled artisans, minor officials, ect.
 2. The lowest class which sat even below the urban middle class
consisted of common laborers, servants, and soldiers.
 3. Separated from the cities of ancient China were the poorest
citizens. They were groups of peasants living on the countryside. They
often fought with wealthy landowners violently for many centuries.
Religion/Faith
 Buddhism-
Founder: Siddhartha Gautama
Four Noble Truths:
1. Life is filled with suffering and sorrow
2. All suffering is caused by selfish desires for temporary
pleasures
3. The way to end all suffering is to end all desires
4. Follow the Eightfold Path to attain enlightenment and
overcome desires
Eightfold Path: the guide to behavior- following leads to Nirvana
Nirvana: release from selfishness and pain
Buddhists believed in reincarnation
Religion/Faith cont.
 Daoism-
Founder: Laozi
Natural order (relationships amongst living things) above social order
Dao “the way”- universal force that guides all things; encourages living
according to “natural rhythms”
Understanding for nature  scientific contributions ( alchemy,
astronomy, medicine)
 LegalismFounders: Hanfeizi and Li Si
Powerful and efficient govt.  order in society
Rewarded the good/ punished the bad (stressed more than rewards)
Control ideas and actions
Religion/Faith cont.
 Confucianism- *not official religion, accepted principles of
wrong and right
Founder: Confucius
Restoration of China based on five relationships:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Ruler & subject
Father & son
Husband & wife
Older & younger brother
Friend & friend
Stressed filial piety- respect for parents and ancestors; honoring
memories
Bureaucracy- trained civil service; those that run the govt.
Four virtues (courteous, punctilious, just, generous)
Technology
 The system of weights and measures was used
about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. Supposedly , the
Yellow Emperor established the measurement
unit called "wuliang"
 The earliest measurement units were not
accurate at all. The limbs of the human body
were used to measure length. The length of a
forearm was considered as one chi, and the
length of a finger was considered as one cun.
And the amount a hand could hold was called a
"ju" (handful), and the amount two hands could
hold was called a "yi" (double handful).
Technology cont.
 During the time of Yu the Great, measurement
units were standardized by using celebrities’
(limb lengths) and were officially units of
measure. With the start of exchanging valuables,
weights and measures became more and more
standardized.
 In the Warring States Period, metal instruments
were widely used in all areas as measurement
units. When Emperor Qinshihuang unified the
country, he made all measurement units unified.
 http://history.culturalchina.com/en/56History2758.html
Technology cont.
http://history.culturalchina.com/en/56History2758.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/im
agepages/9171.htm
Economy/Trade
 Silk Road:
 Most well known trading route in China
 Trade in silk grew under the Han Dynasty ( 202 BC -
AD 220) in the first and second centuries AD
 The Chinese originally traded silk internally in the
empire
 Caravans from empires interior would carry silk to
western edges of the region.
 Chan Ch’ien came up with idea to expand silk trade
to lesser tribes and forge alliance with these Central
Asian nomads.

Economy/trade cont.







The route grew from the rise of the Roman Empire because China gave
silk to the Roman-Asian government as gifts.
It was 7000 mile route and it spanned China, Central Asia, Northern
India, and the Parthian and Roman empires.
It connected the yellow river to the Mediterranean sea and passed
through Chinese cities such as Kansu and Sinkiang and present day
countries Iran, Iraq, and Syria.
Northwestern who lived near the Ganges River played prominent roles
such as middlemen in the China-Mediterranean silk trade
The Northwestern Indian’s understood that silk was a lucrative product
of the Chinese Empire.
The trading relationship between China and India grew stronger with
increased Han expansion into Central Asia.
The Chinese would trade their silk for precious metals and stones like
jade, gold, and silver and the Indians would trade the silk they received
from China to the Roman Empire.
Economy/trade cont.
 The trading relationship between China and India grew stronger





with increased Han expansion into Central Asia.
The Chinese would trade their silk for precious metals and stones
like jade, gold, and silver and the Indians would trade the silk
they received from China to the Roman Empire.
Silk was an expensive import for the Roman Empire since its
trade from India to Central Asia was controlled by the Parithian
Empire
Trading silk had a minor role in China
Trading silk increased the number of foreign merchents present
in China in the Han dynasty which exposed many cultures and
religions to China
By 760 AD during the Tang Dynasty the silk trade had declined
Economy/trade cont.









It had revived tremendously under the Sung Dynasty around the time
that China became dependent on the silk trade
The chinese traded silk for medicines, perfumes, and slaves also with
precious stones.
By the end of the fourteenth century travel and trading along this road
had declined.
http://library.thinkquest.org/13406/sr/
The silk road is an achient international trade route
This road bridged the cultures of China, India, Persia, Arabia, Greek and
Rome.
it was used for around 1,600 years
The road begins in Chang'an and reaches Dunhuang where it divides into
three parts called the Southern Route, Central Route, and the Northern
Route. These three routes extended as far as Pakistan, India, and even
Rome.
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/silk-road/
Economy/Trade cont.
 Chinese Civil service:
 The Chinese Civil Service is an adminstrative system




of the traditional Chinese government in which the
members are selected in a competitive examination.
This system gave the chinese empire stability for
over 2000 years and it also provided one of the
major outlets for social mobility in Chinese society.
The Qin Dynasty had established this system first
The Qin dynasty needed this because it established
the first Chinese Bureacratic Empire
Chin abolished this system
This system is a civil-service system
Economy/Trade cont.
 The Han dynasty established an university to train and test





officials
The Sui dynasty improved the Han’s system to be more a
method of official recruitment
The Sui Dynasty also started that officials of a prefecture
must be appointees of a central government.
The Tang dynasty created schools where scholars could
pursue their studies. The Song Dynasty is considered when
the Civil Service exam reached its highest point
In the Ming dynasty the Civil service exam reached its final
form in where the next dynasty, the Quing Dynasty, copied
the exam exactly.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/112424/Chine
se-civil-service
Writing System
 Earliest Chinese Writing
 The earliest form of Chinese writing is called
Oracle Bone Script, and it was used between
1500 and 1000 BCE.
 This script was etched into turtle shells and
animal bones, which were heated until cracks
would appear.
 The invention of block printing started in the
Tang dynasty (618-906) between the 4th and 7th
century AD.
Writing system cont.
 They were first used to write small Buddhist text and religious




writings.
The Chinese writing system is made up of thousands of elaborate
“characters” that represent words and phrases. This is the
primary writing system for millions of people.
This writing style started 3,500 years ago and has evolved and
changed overtime. This has become the longest continually used
writing system in the world.
An extremely common and complex feature of early Chinese
writing is the constant use of “rebus writing”. This is when the
symbol for one word is used to write another word with a same or
similar sound.
The Chinese also used “polysemy” which means one word or
symbol is used for one word with vastly different sounds, but
similar meanings.
City Structure/Architecture
 Architecture and City Structure
 The Chinese have large and extravagant temples, and beautiful




palaces that have extremely detailed roofs that are never
duplicated.
Chinese structure is based on symmetry and balance, and all
buildings follow this principle to structure on an axis.
The space given to each person in a home or building, reflect social
and ethical status or hierarchy.
The Forbidden City in Beijing is a moated palace with religious sects
within the moat. This was also built in the Qin dynasty.
The Forbidden City holds many treasures and great art.

There are many animal statues used to stand guard outside, and they are
placed around the city in particular places for protection against evil
spirits.
 They are also just used for decoration.
China Landmarks
 Chinese Landmarks
 The Great Wall of China was originally created to defend their
country against the invading Mongols, under the Qin Dynasty.
 The northern nomadic tribes were blocked from China so they
wouldn’t steal property and return back to their homeland.
 The Terracotta army consists of 7,000 life size and elaborate
horses, chariots and warriors. They were made from earth and
clay alone.
 The warriors were created because of Qin Shi Hong’s belief in the
afterlife, and his army was going to be reborn and come back to
Earth again. These warriors were created after Qin passed away.
They were meticulously made with each having individual
features, hairstyles, facial expressions, and attire.
Law Codes/Legal System
 Ruled by dynasties: a series of rulers from a single
family
 In dynasties, the superior is the emperor
 Confucianism & Legalism:
Confucianism laid foundation for govt. and social orderbureaucracy
Legalism suggested govt. control ideas and actions of
people
 Autocracy:
Introduced by Shi Huangdi during Qin Dynasty
A govt. that has unlimited power and uses it in a
irresponsible and unreasonable manner
Role of Women
 Women in Confucian China
 Confucianism was founded by Confucius in (770 B.C. - 476
B.C.), and was developed by Mencius, and was called The
Way of Confucius and Mencius.
 Confucianism was an androcentrism when women have no
dignity and human rights. According to Confucianism, women
had to obey their fathers when they were not married, and
obey their husbands after in the marriage and to obey their
sons. Morality, proper speech, modest manner and diligent
work were basic qualities they had to have. When women
were barren, disobedient, talkative, jealous, heavily sick, or in
adultery and theft, they would be divorced no matter what the
reasons were.
 FROM: http://www.china-travel-tour-guide.com/aboutchina/confucianism.shtml
Roles of women cont.
 The majority of women in china at this time would be
peasants who would work in the fields and do all the
domestic work as well. Many women would work as
servants.
Most women would expect to be married, and they
were generally expected to be obedient to their
husbands. Having children was very important and
children were taught to respect both their parents, and
at that time a mother of a family had a position of
great honor and respect.
Middle-class and upper class women were sometimes
very well educated, and some women became wellknown as writers and artists. A few upper-class women
gained positions of power, and were very successful.
General Geography
 The yellow river is the second longest river in
china .
 The yellow river has devastated lands around
it.
 It’s also one of the major rivers that flow from
the mountainous west to the Pacific Ocean
Military
 Calvary is a private company categorized
under churches temples and shrines.
 China started fighting for own protection
 China vows to further military cooperation
with Egypt
According to Buddhism, how
can one achieve peace in the
life on Earth?
 To achieve peace, Buddha says you must
let go of all desires and earthly wants.
Living your life according to the Four
Noble Truths will also help.
What is an autocracy and
during what dynasty was it
established?
 The Qin dynasty brought about the idea of
autocracy. This is when a govt. rules over
everything and dose so in an irrational
fashion.
What was the earliest form
of Chinese writing called?
 The oracle bone script was the first form of
writing and it was etched into turtle shells
and animal bones.
http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/mal
e_turtles_cant_stand_the_heat/
Why was the Great Wall of
China built?
 The Great Wall of China was built to defend
their country against the invading Mongols,
under the Qin Dynasty; And to not allow
items to be stolen from China.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22079885@N02
/2954192396/
What are the two reasons
animal statues are placed
around China?
 Statues are placed around China are one for
protection against evil spirits, and they are
also just placed around for protection.
http://www.laputanlogic.com/articles/2004/11/
index.html
Which religion is not an
official religion?
 In ancient China Confusionism is not an
official religion, but more an interpretation of
guidelines, rules to live by and principals.
http://www.thespiritualsanctuary.org/Confuci
anism/Confucianism.html
What kind of government was
China ruled by?
 In ancient China the Chinese people were
ruled by powerful dynasties, that conquered
for many years because a dynasty is within
the family. The emperor is a responsibility
passed down through a family, and will rule
as long as possible.
http://qwickstep.com/search/the-emperor-ofchina.html
Who in the Chinese family
would do all the domestic
work and work in the yard?
The women of the house would be doing all of
the hard labor, and contributing in keeping
the house in order. The women were an
obedient people, and were peasants to their
male superiors.
http://www.blog.skaarpictures.com/labels/Chi
na.html
What is the total length of
the yellow river?
 The total length of the yellow river is 5,464
kilometers
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2006/10/yellowriver-turns-red-in-northwest-china-pti/
Does china have a strong
military?
 China is trying to catch up by modernizing its
weapons in the last twenty years, is
considered a strong military in the East Asia
region.
http://www.newworldorderwar.com/tag/newworld-order-news/