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Chinese During Foundations
Amanda G.
Arundel High School
Political Systems
•First Dynasty of China,
esatblished by Yu the Great
•Credited with taming the great
floods of China and dividing it into
nine reigions
Misc
•Disputed dynasty due to
lack of reliable historical
evidence
Technology
•Development of calender on
oracle bones
•Evidence of Bronze Casting
Political System
•Rather than being based on fatherson relationship, descent relied on
eldest brother-youngest brother
lineage
Social environment
•Slaves were often owned
by state, rather than private
ownership
•Feudal government with many
territories
•Last Shang king overthrown by rebel
slaves
•When slave owner died,
slaves would be buried alive
in rituals
•Social hierachy existed with
kings over military nobility,
peasants, slaves
Historical Background
•First recorded dynasty of China
Religious Practices
Economic Status
•Favored crops such as millet, wheat, barely
•Domesticated silkworms, oxen, pigs, dogs, sheep
•A lot of government involvenment in agriculture
•Besides ancestor worship, believed to
have gone back to prehistoric China,
worhsipped Shang Ti
•Practiced human sacrifices when
royalty died or commemorating a new
temple.
Economic Developments
Political periods
•Money economy
Western Zhou;
•Greater markets
•When Zhou first came to power until
barbarian invasions forced them East
Eastern Zhou:
•Spring and Autumn Period; feudal
lords taking advantage of weak king
•Warring States Period; one territory
of China trying to gain control of the
other
Religion
Cultural Continuity
•Banned human sacrifice and
praticed cult of heaven
•Became a golden age of
Chinese thought
•Used Shang gods in their
mythology
•Legalism; belief in need for
strong government to control
wicked citizens
Rise to Power
•Semi-nomadic tribe that settled in China
•Gained power and used alliances with
city states to overcome Shang
Misc
•Added Yangtze River to territory
•Standardized spoken language
•Confucianism: way of
harmonizing man with man
through different
relationships
•Taoism: way of harmonizing
man with nature, great
emphasis placed on life and
search of immortality
Importance
•Very short dynasty
•Lasted for about a decade
•China’s name derived from Qin,
also known as Chin
•Began the Great Wall
•Great weight placed on legalism
•Strict rule, caused resentment
and was overthrown after first
emperor’s death
Trade
•Development of Silk Road
increased trade and cultural
diffusion
Technology and Resources
•Increased Iron production
•Led to relations with Rome
and the Kushan empire to the
introduction of Buddhism from
India
•Use of canals and irrigation
•Ox-drawn plows used for efficient
agriculture
•Water powered mills
•Paper
Political Pratices
•Contrary to popular belief, Han dynasty
believed to have slowly implemented
Confucian ideals into Legalist government
Social Status
•Used Legalist system for common people
yet reserved Confucian pratices for
bureacracy
•Increased social stratification of the elite,
peasants/artisans, and unskilled laborers
•Patriarchial emphasis grew
•Gave civil service exams; mostly intended
for educated
•Abolished the feudal system, centralized
the government
Fall of Han
•Han Dynasty fell after 9 CE, but was later restored
•Second Dynasty did not reunify China as it had
intended
Intellectual
•Greatest Chinese historian Sima Qian wrote
historical records of early China
Bibliography
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history
http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History
http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/chinahist