Download Lesson 2 China`s Past

Lesson 2
China’s Past
Picturing the Past

Anyang- Chinese town where people
found ancient artifacts.
 People
found tortoise shells with writing that
they thought were dragon bones.
 Pictographs-
the Chinese use pictures that
represent words.
Pictographs
Chinese Writing
Ancient Voices

Pangu- According to Chinese legend, the
creator of the universe.
Stories of superheroes who invented useful
things or taught people how to survive by
finding food, clothing, and shelter were
written in ancient China.
Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty- China’s first Dynasty:
between 1760 and 1500 B.C.
 Bronze Age- period during which tools
and weapons were made of bronze
 Bronze- created by melting copper and
adding a small amount of tin
 Oracle Bones- Bones used to predict the
future. (commonly on tortoise shells)
 Anyang- capital of Shang Dynasty.

Shang Dynasty
The Longest Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty- Conquered (took over) the
Shang Dynasty.
 The longest Chinese dynasty; 800 years.
 Can be separated into two periods:

 Western
Zhou
 Easter Zhou
The First Emperor
Shi Huangdi- first emperor
 Qin Dynasty- powerful dynasty divided
into 36 provinces
 Provinces- political divisions
 Great Wall of China- built to protect the
empire from northern invaders.
 The emperor imprisoned anyone who
spoke badly of him and was very
oppressive. (people did not like him)

The First Emperor And the Great Wall
Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty- Began in 206 B.C. and
lasted until 220 A.D.
 Han Gaozu- first han ruler
 Gaozu- meant high ancestor
 Ancestor- A relative who lived longer ago
than a grandparent
 Wu Di- another Han emperor
 Sima Qian- wrote first complete history
book on China

Han Dynasty

Civil Service- using skills and talents to
work in government.

Inventions
 Middlemen-
people who go between buyers
and sellers
 Porcelain, Paper, Ink
 Silk Road- connected China with the rest of
the world on land.
Han Dynasty