Download Huang He & Yangzi River Valleys

Do-Now
answer the following question:
How do you think the collecting of
the Buddha’s teachings (Tripitaka)
helped the religion to spread beyond
India?
Huang He & Yangzi
River Valleys
Shang Civilization
Fertile soil anyone?
China’s Topography
• North: Gobi desert
• South: Jungles
• West: Himalaya
mountains
• East: Ocean
Isolation
Why might geographic
barriers make it easier
for a civilization to
develop?
Mt. Everest
• The Chinese referred to themselves as the
middle kingdom due to their isolation from
the rest of the world
Demographics
• The majority of the population lived in the eastern
part of the kingdom
Shang Dynasty (1766 B.C.-1122
B.C.)
• The Shang family took
control & set up the
first dynasty
Social Classes
•
•
•
•
Shang King
Noble warriors
Merchants & Artisans
Peasant farmers
Does this sound familiar?
The Zhou Dynasty (1122 B.C.256 B.C.)
• Promoted the
“mandate of
heaven”
Fuedalism
• A system of government in which local
lords governed their own lands but owed
military service and other forms of support
to the ruler.
Dynastic Cycle
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Te
rritories_of_Dynasties_in_China.gi
f
Dynastic Cycle
1. The concept of the “mandate of heaven”
was promoted by which dynasty to
justify them overthrowing the previous
dynasty?
1. Social Classes developed under which
Chinese dynasty?
2. What are two major belief systems that
take root in Zhou China?
Religion
• Polytheistic
• Pray to their dead ancestors to
intercede with gods for help
– Fear ghosts
– Use fireworks to scare ghosts
– Use Oracle bones to communicate
with spirits
Contributions
• Chinese writing
– Thousands of
characters
– Ideographs: drawings
of ideas
– Calligraphy: fine
handwriting
– Only the wealthy had
time and money to
learn to read and write
Contributions
• Silk
Trade routes become
known as Silk Road
Contributions
• Ying Yang
YING
YANG
Earth
Heaven
Darkness
Light
Female forces
Male forces