Download China - Fulton County Schools

China
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Xia Dynasty
2000 B.C.E
• Known to us from legends
• Not enough evidence to prove it existed
• Farming begins along Huang He…..
The Shang Dynasty
1700 B.C.-1100 B.C.E.
• The First dynasty to be dated
from written records
Map of the Shang
Major Accomplishments
• Built walled cities to keep
invaders out
• Made ivory & jade statues
• Wove silk into elegant
colored clothes
• Perfected metal castingproduced some of the
finest bronze objects ever
made
More Bronze Work….
Oracle Bones
• 1st known examples of writing in China.
• Used to predict the future
Oracle Bones…
Zhou Dynasty
(1100 B.C.E.- 221 B.C.E.)
• Wu, the former leader of Shang
territory took over capital and
established the Zhou
Map of Zhou
About the Zhou…..
• Zhou in its heyday- the “Imperial Period”
• Mandate of Heaven- authority to rule
comes from heaven
• set up agricultural system- nobles own
land and peasants worked land
Technological advances….
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Iron came into general use
Built roads, and expanded foreign trade
crossbow
cavalry
Iron plow, irrigation system and flood
control
The Hundred Schools of
Thought….
• The Hundred Schools of thought
were said to have developed during
the Zhou dynasty. Examples
include:
• Confucianism
• Legalism
• Daoism
• These philosophies focused very
little on supernatural or eternal life,
instead focused on life in this world
and how it should be lived
The Downfall of the Zhou Dynasty
• Toward the end of the dynasty, nobles
began to fight among each other for power
• Farmers had to fight in armies which
produced many crop failures and food
shortages
• Soon the empire was weak and taken over
by a more powerful king
Qin Dynasty
221 B.C.E. to 206 B.C.E.
• For the first time, China was
completely united as one empire
Map of Qin
ShiHuangdi
• The First (Shi) Emperor (Huangdi)
The Rule of Qin Shihuangdi
the good…
• New ideas about communication helped unify
China
• Reorganized the empire into military districtskeep local lords from taking over
• Developed a system of weights and measures
and standardized coins
• Instituted a uniform writing system
• Educated men, not nobles ran the country
the bad…..
• Relied heavily on scholar advisersbecame a very strict ruler
• Imposed taxes on land owners and took
away land from local lords
the ugly……
• Censored books and burned books that
were not practical subjects
• Scholars could not even talk of the past
The Background of the Excavation
o In 1974, workers digging a well discovered a
pottery head of a human figure
o What they found was an ancient burial-site of
the first Chinese Emperor Qin Shihuangdi.
o Qin wanted the afterlife to be the same as his life
on earth.
o To substitute for the actual humans, Qin
ordered a massive clay army to be produced for
his protection.
• Some 8,000 figures have been uncovered
grouped in battle order, facing east, to
protect the emperor, who lies in his
mausoleum
• The army consisted of 7,000 warriors:
archers, foot soldiers, cavalrymen, and
charioteers of various rank, 500 chariot
horses, 130 war chariots, and 110 cavalry
horses
The End of Qin
• After Shi Huangdi’s death, peasants
revolted and formed a strong army to
defeat the emperor
• Liu Bang, a military officer from a peasant
background, led the defeat of the Qin
Dynasty and declared himself emperor of
the new Han dynasty……….
The Glorious Han
207 B.C.E to 220 C.E.
Map of the Han
Accomplishments Under Wudi
• Wudi reigned from 141 B.C.E to 87 B.C.E.
is considered one of the most dynamic
rulers in Chinese History
• Followed the teachings of Confucius
• Expanded empire- conquered lands to the
north, including Korea and Manchuria,
south into Southeast Asia and as far as
northern India
• Learned about the Roman culture
Expanded trade routes (known today as
the silk road)
More of Wudi’s
Accomplishments
• Government jobs were given to
educated people (in the past given to
family members or the aristocracy).
• Wudi’s system of government called
Civil Service (based on merit)
• Mandarins- well educated civil servants
controlled the government until the
early 1900s
More Accomplishments of the Han
• Ruled during the Pax Sinica- 400 year
period of prosperity and stability
• Learning became the main focus of
society- expanded the language and wrote
the first Chinese dictionary
• Buddhism brought to China
• Invention of paper made printing books
easier
The End of the Han
• As the empire grew in size, its borders
were often under attack. Eventually, the
empire’s great expansion became its
downfall.
Confucianism
522 B.C.E- Confucius begins to teach
Taught social harmony and good
government would come to China if people
lived according to principles of ethics,
good conduct and moral judgment
Reciprocity
“Do not do unto others as you would not
want others to do unto you”
Five Relationships
 Ruler/Subject
 Parent/Child
 Husband/Wife
 Old/Young
 Friend/Friend
• Each relationship has certain responsibilities to
follow
• 479 B.C.E- teachings were collected into works
called Analects
Legalism
• Founder- Hanfeizi (200’s B.C.E.)
• Like Confucianism stressed importance of an
orderly society, but in the opposite way.
• Belief in highly efficient and powerful
government along with harsh law were the key
to restoring power.
• People were by nature selfish and untrustworthy
thus peace and prosperity only achieved by
threatening severe punishment
Yin and Yang
◘ Chinese theory related to Daoism
◘ Two opposing forces believed to be
present in all nature
◘ Yin- cool, dark, female, and submissive
◘ Yang- warm, light, male, and aggressive
◘ For harmony the two must be in
balance
Daoism
 Daoist ideas traced to teachings of a scholar
named Laozi.
 500 B.C.E. emerges as a major philosophy
 Emphasized harmony with nature- rejected
formal social structures and idea that people
must fill specific roles in society.
 People should renounce worldly ambitions and
turn to nature and the Dao, universal force that
guides all things.
 Where Confucianism provided one’s place in the
social order, Daoism emphasized harmony
within the individual, one could be both