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World History
Chapter Three
Section Four
Rise of Civilization in China
• Geography’s influence
• Distance and physical barriers –
mountains, rivers, deserts, rainforests,
Pacific Ocean – separated China from
most other areas
• Because of this they believed they thought
they were the center of the world and
source of civilization
Contact
• Even with these barriers they did have
some contact with others
• Traded with neighbors – Chinese goods,
reached the Middle East
• Nomadic invaders were often absorbed
into Chinese society
Regions
• Heartland of China – included the Huang
and Chang rivers – fertile areas,
transportation, supported large
populations
• Xinjiang and Mongolia – harsh climates
and rugged terrain – mostly occupied by
nomads and subsistence farmers
• Stretched to the Himalayas and Tibet
River of Sorrows
• Civilization began in Huang river valley when
Neolithic people learned to farm
• Learned how to control the river – needed strong
government to lead in such projects
• Huang river got its name from loess – yellow,
wind blown soil
• Filled up rivers – would cause floods and people
would have to rebuild dikes
• Flood waters would destroy crops and lead to
starvation
Shang Dynasty
• Anyang – capital of the Shang dynasty
• Arose to protect people from invading
nomads
• King only controlled small areas – princes
and nobles were in charge of most of the
land
• Were head of important clans – groups of
families that have common ancestors
Social Classes
• Top: Shang royal family and noble
warriors
• Warriors – used leather armor, bronze
weapons and horse-drawn chariots
• Middle: artisans, merchants
• Artisans made: silk robes, weapons, jade
jewelry
• Merchants exchanged: food, crafts, salt,
shells
Society
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Bottom: Peasants – most people
Lived in farming villages
Thatch-roofed pit houses
All family members worked in the fields
Used stone tools to plant and harvest
When not in fields – had to repair dikes
If war…fight in nobles army with their lord
Zhou Dynasty
• Overthrew the Shang in 1122 B.C.
• Justified the rebellion by the Mandate of
Heaven – the divine right to rule
• Last Shang King was so bad – gods had
sent him to ruin
• Chinese expanded the idea of the
Mandate of Heaven to the dynastic cycle
or the rise and fall of dynasties
Dynasty
• As long as the dynasty was good they had
the Mandate of Heaven – if they became
corrupt the heaven would withdrawal its
support
• Floods, famines, catastrophes were a sign
that the dynasty lost its favor from heaven
Feudal State
• Rewarded supporters of their dynasty by giving
them control over regions – developing into a
feudal state
• Feudalism – system of government in which
lords governed their own land but owed military
service and other support to the ruler
• Feudal lords grew powerful and wealthy – they
eventually became the ones in charge displacing
the king
Economic Growth
• Economy Grew – when the technology of
Iron reached china – they were able to
produce more food = more people
• Began to grow soybeans
• Some feudal lords organized large scale
irrigation works – making farming more
productive
Economy
Began to use money – copper coins with a
hole in the center so they could be put on
cords
Made trade easier using money
Good economy led to larger population
Expanded into further regions of territory
with feudal lords expanding their land and
encouraging peasants to settle new land
End of Zhou
• China was large and wealthy but the
feudal lords became more powerful than
the emperor –
• Ignored emperor’s rules and battled in war
• Ended Zhou dynasty and replaced it with
the Qin dynasty
Religious Beliefs
• Complex religion developed
• Early Chinese prayed to many gods and
spirits
• Shang Di was supreme god and the king
was the link between the people and
Shang Di
• Chinese believed great gods like Shang Di
would not listen to mortals – only the
spirits of the king’s ancestors could make
the god listen
Religion
• Confucius – born in 551 B.C. – brilliant scholar – born
poor
• Studied ancient texts to learn rules of his ancestors
• Wandered from court to court looking for a permanent
job
• Turned to teaching – reputation for wisdom grew –
attracted many students
• Never wrote anything down, his followers did
• Like Siddhartha and Socrates
• Did not take interest in spiritual matters, he developed
a philosophy – system of ideas – concerned with
worldly goals – social order and good government
Confucius
• Harmony results when people accept their
place in society
• Five Key Relationships:
• 1 – ruler to subject
• 2 – parent to child
• 3 – husband to wife
• 4 – older brother to younger brother
• 5 – friend to friend
Confucius
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No relationship equal – except for friends
Older superior to younger, men superior to women
Everyone has duties and responsibilities
Superiors should care for inferiors
Inferiors should be loyal and obedient
Correct behavior would bring stability
Filial Piety – respect for parents – most important
duty
• Other values: honesty, hard work, concern for
others “do not do to others, what you do not wish
for yourself”
Confucius
• Ruler’s responsibility to provide a good
government
• People in turn would be respectful and
loyal
• Believed government officials should be
well educated
• Learning is what sets us apart from others
Confucius Influence
• Chinese rulers relied on his ideas and
chose Confucius scholars to help guide
them
• Yin and Yang – two forces of the universe
• Yin – earth, darkness, females
• Yang – heaven, light, males
• Well being of the universe depended on
the balance of yin and yang
Daoism
• Laozi “old master” – lived during the same
time as Confucius and founded philosophy
called Daoism
• Not concerned about order for human affairs
• Wanted to live in harmony with nature
• Look beyond everyday cares and focus on
the Dao, or “the way” of the universe
• Dao is hard to explain and put into words, so
people who do not know the Dao do not
speak about it
Daoism
• To know the Dao – reject conflict and strife
• Stressed simple ways of nature and virtue
• Water, does not resist, but yields to outside
pressures, yet it is an unstoppable force
• Many Daoists turn from the “unnatural” ways
of society and become hermits, artists, poets
• The best government is the one that governs
the least – hands off approach
Changes
• Daoism eventually changed to include
gods, goddesses and magical practices
• Peasants used Daoist charms to protect
themselves from unseen forces
• Daoism and Confucian thought was
merged by Chinese – took from both
• Confucianism told them how to behave
and Daoism told them how to view the
world
Achievements
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Created the calendar with 365 ¼ days
Improved bronze making
Silk making – from the cocoons of silk worms
Cultivated silkworms on mulberry trees
Only royalty could afford robes made of silk
Became China’s most valuable export
Kept the process of silk making a secret
Writing
• Created complex writing system
• Oracle bones – Shang priests wrote
questions on bones or turtle shells to gods
• Then heated the bone or shell until it cracked,
they interpreted the cracks for meaning
• Writing included thousands of characters
• Each character represents a entire word or
idea
• One of the most difficult to read and write
Writing
• Because there are so many characters
only the rich could afford to learn to read
and write
• It took years of practice and learning
• Calligraphy – writing turned into an elegant
art form
First Books
• Under the Zhou dynasty the Chinese
made the first books
• They bound together thin strips of bamboo
or wood and drew characters on them with
a brush an ink