Download ch2 sec4 River Dynasties in China

River Dynasties in
China
Chapter 2 Section 4 pg. 46
Geography of China
 Natural barriers isolate China from other
civilizations
 East- Pacific Ocean
 West- Taklimakan desert
 Southwest- Himalaya Mountains
 North- Gobi Desert
Pacific Ocean, Taklimakan
Desert, Himalayas, and Gobi
Desert
Rivers
 2 major rivers flow
from the mountains
west to the Pacific
Ocean
 Huang He (hwahngHUH) in the north
 Yangtze (yang-SEE)
in Central China
 Mountain ranges dominate 2/3 of China’s
landmass
 90% remaining land that is suitable for farming
is in the small plain between the 2 rivers
 Chinese viewed
those outside of
Chinese civilization
were barbarians
 Own name for China
was the Middle
Kingdom
 China’s 1st civilization developed in a
river valley- the Huang He means “yellow
river”
 Deposited huge amounts of yellow silt
when it overflowed its banks
 Silt is actually fertile soil called loess that
is blown by wind from the desert
 Huang He’s floods could be generous or
ruinous
 One great flood killed nearly 1 million
people in 1887
 Due to geographic isolation, early settlers
had to supply own goods rather than
trading with people
 Natural boundaries didn’t always protect
from invasions
 Invasions from the west and north
occurred again and again in Chinese
history
Civilization Emerges in
Shang Times
 Even before Sumerians
settled in
Mesopotamia, Chinese
cultures building along
the Huang He
 Around 2000 B.C.
turned into China’s
first cities
 China’s first Dynasty
emerged at this time,
the Xia (shyah)
Dynasty
First Dynasties
 Leader of Xia named
Yu
 Controlled flood and
irrigation projects
and helped tame
Huang He and its
tributaries so
settlements could
grow
Shang Dynasty
 Lasted from 1532 to 1027 B.C.
 First family to leave written records
 Built elaborate tombs and palaces
 Oldest and most important Shang city
was Anyang
 Built mostly of wood
 Higher classes lived in timber-framed
houses with walls of clay and straw
 Surrounded cities with massive earthen
walls for protection
Social Classes
 Divided between nobles and peasants
 Governed by ruling class of warriornobles headed by a king
 Professional warriors underwent lengthy
training to learn the techniques of driving
and shooting from horse-drawn chariots
 Chariot was a major tool of war
Origins of Chinese Culture
 People very loyal to 2 important authoritiestheir family and their king or emperor
 Family was central to Chinese society
 Important aspect was respecting parents
 Elder men in family controlled property and
made all decisions
 Women treated as inferiors, expected to obey
husband, father, and eventually own sons.
 Girl would marry between 13-16 to arranged
partner and move into house with husband
 If she gave her husband a son, her status may
improve
Religious beliefs
 Believed that spirits of
family ancestors could
bring good fortune or
disaster
 Didn’t treat them as
gods, but gave them
respect
 Worshiped a supreme
god, Shang Di as well
as many lesser gods
 Shang kings consulted gods through
oracle bones- animal bones and tortoise
shells on which a priest would scratch
questions for the gods, then a priest
applied a hot poker to it causing it to
crack
 The priests interpreted the cracks to see
how the god answered
…kinda like a Magic Eight
Ball
Real Oracle Bones
Development of Writing
 Chinese method of writing each character
stands for an idea, not a sound
 Advantage: people in China could learn the
same system of writing even if languages were
very different
 Disadvantage: enormous amount of written
characters
 Person needed to know over 1,000 characters
to barely be literate, a true scholar needed to
know 10,000 characters
Shang technology and
Artistry
 People who were skilled in crafts made
up a separate class in society
 Like other commoners, they lived outside
the walls of cities
 Made weapons, jewelry, religious items
 Could also make silk cloth 1000 years
before Europe and the rest of world could
Zhou Bring New Ideas
 1027 B.C. people called Zhou (joh)
overthrew Shang and established own
dynasty, and adopted much of Shang
culture
 Justified takeover by declaring Shang
King was such a bad leader that the gods
had taken away the power and given it to
the Zhou
 Justification over
time became
developed into view
that royal authority
came from heaven
 Ruler who had divine
approval known as
the Mandate of
Heaven
Mandate of Heaven
Dynastic Cycle in China
 Floods, riots and other disasters might be signs
that the ancestral spirits were unhappy with a
king’s rule
Control through feudalism
 Zhou dynasty controlled large amounts of
land, governing the area became a
challenge
 Gave different regions of land to different
royal family members and trusted nobles
 Established system of feudalism
Feudalism
 Political system where nobles, or lords,
are granted the use of lands that legally
belong to the king
 The nobles owe loyalty and military
service to the king and protection to the
people who love on the estates
 Gradually the lords grew stronger as
small towns grew into cities and
expanded into neighboring territory
 Local lords became less dependent on
the king and fought among themselves
with neighboring lords for wealth and
land
Improvements in Trade and
Technology by the Zhou
 The Zhou built roads and canals to
supply growing cities
 This stimulated trade and agriculture
 Introduced coined money
 Developed blast furnaces that allowed
them to produce cast iron 1,000 years
before Europeans
 Used iron to create weapons and tools
Ancient Blast Furnace
Modern Blast Furnace
Warring States
 The Zhou ruled from 1027 to 256 B.C.
 Nomads from the north invaded and
murdered the Zhou monarch
 Surviving members moved capital to
Luoyang (lwoh-YAHNG) and pretended
to rule for another 500 years
 Lords claimed to be kings in own territory,
and traditional values collapsed
Assignment:
 On your note sheet, create your own writing
system using only characters for this sentence:
 After school, students do homework,
practice sports, or play video games.