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China
Did you know…
Chinese Inventions
 Ice cream was invented in 2000 BC by placing rice milk in the snow.
 They created the oldest known calendar based on the cycles of the
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moon (12 Zodiac signs) around 2600 BC
They were the first to use natural gas as fuel.
Paper, the compass, gunpowder, printing, parachutes, umbrellas,
fireworks, kites are all inventions by the Chinese.
The oldest silk artifact also comes from China.
Chinese Civilization is one of the few ancient civilizations to have its
individual writing script. The Chinese language has over 20,000
characters. The average Chinese only learns about 5,000 of these in his
lifetime.
Acupuncture treats illnesses with inserting sharp thin needles in
various pressure spots, it originated over 5000 years ago from China.
Compass, crossbow
Grenade and fire lance
Dynasties
 Xia 2100-1600 BC
 Shang 1600-1046 BC
A dynasty is a series of rulers
descended from one family.
 Zhou 1045-256 BC
 Qin 221-206 BC
 Han206-220 BC
 Tang 618-907
 Song 960-1279
 Ming 1368-1644
 Qing 1644-1911
China has a long history of
dynasties(I didn’t include
them all); which ones have
you heard of?
Terra Cotta Warriors from the Qin Dynasty
Great Wall from the Qin, Han, Ming Dynasties
From Dynasty to Nationalist Party
 Chiang Kai-shek (warlord) and
his Kuomintang army (the
Chinese Nationalist Party)
defeated the Qing Dynasty ruler in
1928 and established and the
Republic of China.
 From 1937 to 1941, China fought
Japan with some economic help
from Nazi Germany (until 1938),
the Soviet Union (1937-1940) and
the United States (Pearl Harbor
1941).
Mao Zedong and Communism
 In 1948 Chiang Kai-shek tried to eradicate the communists
in their country and was defeated by communist leader Mao
Zedong who established the People’s Republic of
China.
 The Great Leap Forward 1958-61
 agriculturalization, industrialization, and collectivization
 The Great Chinese Famine 1960’s
 The Cultural Revolution 1966-76 (Red Guards led by
Mao’s wife Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four)
 Mao died in 1976 and was succeeded by communist Deng
Xiaoping (trended toward socialism)
Legacy of Communism
Mao Zedong
Deng Xiaoping
Jiang Qing (Mao’s last wife) and the
Red Guard of the Cultural Revolution
The Little Red Book - Maoism
How should we judge whether a youth is a revolutionary? How
can we tell? There can only be one criterion, namely, whether
or not he is willing to integrate himself with the broad
masses of workers and peasants and does so in practice. If he
is willing to do so and actually does so, he is a revolutionary;
otherwise he is a nonrevolutionary or a counterrevolutionary. If today he integrates himself with the masses
of workers and peasants, then today he is a revolutionary; if
tomorrow he ceases to do so or turns round to oppress the
common people, then he becomes a nonrevolutionary or a
counter revolutionary. - Mao Zedong
Philosophy in China
 I Ching – Book of Changes (divination)
 Confucius 551-479 BC
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
If you enjoy what you do, you'll never work another day in your life.
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
The superior man is firm in the right way, and not merely firm.
A fool despises good counsel, but a wise man takes it to heart.
Ignorance is the night of mind, a night without moon or star.
They must often change who would be constant in happiness or
wisdom.
Religion in China
 Pluralism
 Ancestor Worship and paganism
 Daoism (Taoism) 30%
 Tao Te Ching by Laozi
 Compassion, Moderation, Humility
 Traditional Chinese Medicine, qidong breathing, martial arts,
fengshui, vegan
 Buddhism 50-80 %
 Christianity 4%
 Islam1.5%
Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism are one
Chinese Facts
 4th largest country in the world (land mass) – slightly smaller than the
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U.S.
Population of 1.338 billion
Shanghai and Beijing are two of the largest and most populous cities in
the world. The Tienanmen Square is the world's largest public gathering
place and the Three Gorges Dam is the biggest dam.
One fifth of the world’s population lives in China
Current President Hu Jintao (since 2003)
China has an obligatory Military service of 2 years for all men between
18 and 22. Women of the same age group are also recruited for specific
military jobs.
The Han Chinese is the largest majority group in China. Mandarin
Chinese is the official language . However in total, 55 official minorities
and 206 listed languages are mentioned.
298 million web users (surpassed the U.S. in 2008)
73.36 mil members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2007
Hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics in the capital - Bejing
China/U.S comparison statistics
Statistical Comparison China and US.doc