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Ancient China
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degree of isolation
distance from Middle East
youngest Primary Phase culture in the
Old World
Prehistoric Society: Yangshao
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5000-3000 BCE
Ban Po Village
Painted pottery
Bronze tools
Unique features
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intensive garden-style agriculture
do not adopt the plow until very late
unique soil: loess
Neolithic village at
Ban Po
Early History
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legendary outline
three principal Neolithic Cultures
later tradition: the Hsia dynasty
– no traces
first historical civilization: the Shang
dynasty
Pre-dynastic
cultures of
China
Neolithic period
The Earliest Dynasties
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Xia (Hsia)
– C. 2200 BCE
– Organized through
village network
– Hereditary monarchy
– Flood control
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Shang
– 1766-1122 BCE
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Zhou
– 1122-256 BCE
The Shang Dynasty
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Yellow River
– near the frontier
traditional date: 1500 B.C.
invaders
eventually absorbed
Shang Dynasty
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Bronze metallurgy from 1200 BCE
– State monopoly
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Horse-drawn chariots, other wheeled vehicles
Large armies
Political organization: network of fortified cities,
loyal to center
– 1000 cities
– Capital moved six times
• Impressive architecture at Ao, Yin
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Other regional kingdoms coexist: San Xingdui
Distinct Characteristics
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silk
no animal milk or milk products
ancestor worship
central place of the family
Operative unit of Society
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the family
not the individual
not the state
not the religion
Other features
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ornate architecture
chopsticks
ideographic script
– still readable by modern Chinese
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divination
Oracle bone with early
ideographic script
An example of
Shang bronze
(religious objects)
cast using a “lost
wax” process
More bronze ware, with early ideograms
A bronze temple bell
-many will strike two
distinct and separate
notes, depending on
which part of the bell
is struck
Organization
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peasants support nobles, officials,
bureaucracy, etc.
government centered in towns
warrior elite
poor live in primitive conditions
Distinctions
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between rich and poor
between male and female
– infanticide
– footbinding
– arranged marriages
– multiple wives
Early ideology
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Yin and Yang
Yin: female, dark, weak, wet, passive
Yang: male, bright, strong, dry, active
balance of opposites
End of the Primary Phase
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not as serious in China
nomadic invaders
the Zhou dynasty
– 1027 B.C.
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replaced one ruling class with another
– “meet the new boss...same as the old
boss.”
Zhou dynasty 1100-256 B.C.
Zhou (Chou) Dynasty, 1122-256
BCE
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No law codes: rule by decree
– “Mandate of Heaven”
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Aggregation of villages opposed to Shang
leadership
– Decentralization of authority
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Development of cheap iron weaponry ends
Shang monopoly on Bronze
Early money economy
Decline of the Zhou Dynasty
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Decentralized leadership style allows for
building of regional powers
– Increasing local independence, refusal to
pay Zhou taxes
Iron metallurgy allows for widespread creation
of weaponry
Northern invaders weaken Zhou dynasty,
beginning 8th c BCE
771 B.C. Zhou driven east
– Internal dissention: the Period of the Warring States
(403-221 BCE)
The Eastern Zhou
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ruled until 256 B.C.
power held by local aristocrats
first Chinese literature
evolution of bronze technology
Political theory
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the mandate of Heaven
universal monarch
– favors consolidation
– xenophobic
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Emperor is the Son of Heaven
feudal monarchy
The Period of Warring States
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771 B.C.
dozen-plus states
balance of power until 500’s
period of consolidation by warfare
– warfare chronic
The Period of the
Warring States,
ca. 500 B.C.
Intellectual development
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response to crisis and uncertainty
Confucianism
– a sort of philosophy
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Taoism
– a sort of religion
The Good Old Days
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breakdown of “traditional family values”
no trust or confidence in government
– filled with thieves, liars, and murderers
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no respect for the ancestors
“Why do the wicked flourish?”
Confucius (ca. 551-479 B.C.)
(Kung Fu Tse)
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poor family
well-educated in the “classics”
ambitious (wanted to be a bureaucrat...)
couldn’t get honest work...so he
became a teacher
Kung Fu-Tse
Tomb of Master Kung
Confucius, con’t
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wrote nothing--his followers wrote about
him
difficult to separate myth from fact
the Analects
– his “sayings”
The Analects
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looked back to the “good old days”
but favored some new ideas along with
the old
rejection of the idea of in-born nobility
proper training, education, and aptitude
make a “gentleman”
– not simply birth into a certain family
Marks of gentility
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goodness, wisdom, courage
moderation of outer and inner emotions
knowledge of traditional rites
dissociation from all men who did not
practice these things
– simple satisfaction in the practice of virtue
for its own sake
Circumstances favoring his
ideas
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lack of mythopoetic urge
lack of a strong religious tradition and
experience
lack of prophets
lack of anthropomorphic gods
Important Confucian concepts
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Ren – innate goodness in human
beings
Li – normal standard of conduct
the TAO –what is appropriate
no speculation on metaphysics
Confucian Ideas
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Ethics and politics
– Avoided religion, metaphysics
– Role in government service
Confucius, con’t
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a failure?
ideas spread by students
adopted by the Han dynasty
Taoism
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supplied the metaphysical
multiple lines of thought
very fluid
Taoism
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Critics of Confucianism/Taoism
– Passivism, rejection of active attempts to
change the course of events
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Founder: Laozi, 6th c. BCE
The Tao te Ching (Classic of Way and
of Virtue)
Zhuangzi (named for author, 369-236
BCE)
Basic concepts
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pursuit of justice and righteousness
Wu wei wu: “
– Doing by not doing.”
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withdrawal and contemplation
withdrawal from society
The Zhou (Chou) and Qin
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rise of the Qin
new technology
gave land to peasants
new military draft
new bureaucracy
The Qin and the Legalist
tradition
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ideology of rule
absolute power of the ruler
people existed to serve the state
destroy Confucian philosophy?
The First Emperor
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Qin Shihuangdi (r. 221-210 BCE)
founds new dynasty as “First Emperor”
Dynasty ends in 207, but sets dramatic
precedent
Basis of rule: centralized bureacracy
Massive public works begun
– Incl. precursor to Great Wall
Shi Huangdi
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united China in 221 B.C.
ruled by the Legalist theory
massive conscription for labor
China under the Qin dynasty,
221-207 B.C.E.
Resistance to Qin Policies
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Emperor orders execution of all critics
Orders burning of all ideological works
Some 460 scholars buried alive
Others exiled
Massive cultural losses
Tomb of Shi Huangdi
Rise of the Han
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rebellion of peasants
Lui Bang
a successful failure
Han dynasty
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ruled for 400 years
new bureaucracy
emphasis on centralization
– weakening of the aristocracy
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imperial expansion
destruction of the Legalists
The Han Dynasty
Han society
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the Confucian educated elite
free peasants
non-free peasants
improvement in women's’ status
beginnings of “secret societies”
Population Growth in the Han
Dynasty
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60
50
40
30
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20
10
0
220 BCE
9 CE
Population (millions)
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General prosperity
Increased
agricultural
productivity
Taxes small part of
overall income
Produce
occasionally spoiling
in state granaries