Download Chapter 2- China

Chapter 2
New Civilizations in the Eastern
and Western Hemispheres,
2200BCE-250 BCE
Essential Questions
• What was the basis of the status, power, and wealth
of elite groups in each society, and how did they
dominate the rest of the population?
• How did the technological and cultural influences of
older centers affect the formation of the new
civilizations?
• Why did societies in the Eastern and Western
Hemispheres acquire complex organizations and
potent technologies at different times and in
different sequences?
Early China, 2000-221 B.C.
– Isolated civilization
• What does this have to do with slavery?
• Geographic Barriers
– Mountains (Himalaya), deserts, jungles, ocean
– Chinese encountered nomadic invaders
• How were they viewed?
• Main Regions
– Heartland along the east coast
• Huang He (Yellow River) and Yangzi River
– Loess-
China Under the Shang 1750-1027 B.C.
– By 2000 B.C. the early Chinese began to make
________.
– Chinese history begins with the rise of power of
the Shang clans, which coincides with the first
written documents and records.
• What was the relationship with the Shang and
nomadic people of the steppe and dessert
regions?
– Prisoners of war lead to:
• Consulting the Ancestors
– Divination– Bronze
• A Difficult Study
– Kanji
– Calligraphy
– Different languages
same written system
The Zhou Dynasty 1027-221 B.C.
– In 1027 B.C., the Zhou overthrew the Shang
dynasty
• The Mandate of Heaven– Propaganda-
• Changes in the new dynasty:
• Continuity:
• Economic Growth
– Iron in 500 B.C. led to what changes?
– New roads, increased population
– Collected taxes, had standardized money
• Contributions
– Learned horseback riding, first to forge steel
• Legalism-
Confucianism, Daoism, and Chinese
Society
• Confucius was born as Kongzi in 551 B.C
– His philosophy and purpose of teachings:
– (ren)
– Know your role
• Filial piety
• Government’s responsibility was to..
• His ideas spread _____ his death throughout:
China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
Daoism: The Unspoken Way
• Not concerned with bringing order to human
affairs, instead it sought to live in harmony
with nature.
Changes in Social Organization
• Private property
• Decline of clans
• Women in a subordinate position. What
Chinese philosophy justified this?
EESPRITE
Olmec
Chavin