Download A powerful river valley civilization arose in ancient China. We call it

A powerful river valley civilization arose in ancient China. We call it the Huang River civilization.
It had cities. It had a stable government ruled by kings that were succeeded by their sons
(dynasty). Its society was complex. In these ways it was just like Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the
Indus Valley. But unlike those civilizations, its trade with distant lands was limited. This led
China to create its own culture and unique approaches to solving problems that many ancient
river civilizations faced. One major difference is the way the Chinese viewed their leaders.
They did not view them as gods but as men.
The Shang was the first Chinese dynasty to appear in written records. The Shang kings were
warriors. They expanded their lands through conquest. Shang armies had as many as 5,000
men. They were well-organized and well-armed. Their bronze helmets, knives, axes, and
bronze-tipped spears gave them an advantage over other nearby peoples. So did their horsedrawn chariots.
The Shang believed that the dead king’s spirit went to a kind of heaven. There it joined the
spirits of other ancestors. Ancestors, they thought, had the power make their lives better or
worse. The Shang wanted to keep their ancestors happy. So they worshiped their ancestors as
well as their gods. Shang kings also "talked" with ancestors. They did this through oracle bones.
The king might have asked, "Will we win the battle?" or "Is this a good time to plant?" A priest
chose a flat animal bone or a tortoise shell. He heated this oracle bone until it cracked. The king
interpreted the cracks to "read" the ancestor’s response. A scribe often wrote the answer on
the oracle bone with a sharp instrument. The earliest known Chinese writing was found on
oracle bones.
Like other river valley civilizations, the Shang Dynasty created a calendar based on the sun and
moon. Their calendar had 12 months and 365.25 days per year. It was more precise than the
ones used by the other great civilizations. They had a picture based writing system and were
skilled bronze craftsman. Using a process called bronze casting, they formed bowls and pots.
Priests used most of these bronze containers in religious rituals. The designs on these objects
were complex and beautiful. Bronze crafters also made bells, bronze rings, weapons, and tools.
Silk making was an important industry during the Shang Dynasty. Chinese farmers raised
silkworms. They turned the silkworms’ cocoons into fine silk cloth. In Shang cities, silk making
was an industry. Weavers made silk in workshops just outside the city walls.
The Shang Dynasty started out with a good and fair leader, but things changed. In 1000 BCE
The kings of the Zhou Dynasty overthrew the Shang Dynasty. They argued that they had been
given control of China because of a Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate said that their overthrow
of the Shang Dynasty was the will of the gods. The Duke of Zhou explained to the people of
Shang that the Shang King had misused his power. If the king had not done this, his Mandate
would not have been taken away. As long as it was the will of the gods, the Zhou Dynasty would
continue to rule. If a ruler ceased to be a good one, the gods would give the Mandate to
someone else to rule. Natural disasters were seen as a sign that the current rulers lost the favor
of the gods. The Zhou dynasty created a system of government known as the feudal system.
The feudal system is a system of social life in which a vassal (peasant) serves a lord and receives
protection and land in return. As Chinese politics developed, the Mandate of Heaven was
linked to the cycle of dynasties.
What Were Some of the Contributions of China's Many Dynasties? Chinese Dynasties
contributed bronze and ironwork, new ideas about spirituality and politics, paper and books,
advancements in agriculture, medicine, tea, and the arts. See the chart below for more details
about contributions from each dynasty.
In ancient China, ancestors were very important to Chinese people. An ancestor is usually a
family member who is further back than a grandparent Chinese people living during the Shang
dynasty often made bronze objects to honor ancestors who had died. Ancestors were
worshipped like gods. Ancestors were thought to be very wise. The people believed that dead
ancestors had the power to shape the lives of those they left behind.
The Chinese people also believed in several different gods. These gods were not ancestors.
Instead, they were often gods related to nature. There were gods of weather, such as rain and
wind. There were also gods of direction, such as north or south. In ancient China, the people
believed that ancestors and gods were connected. They could talk to one another. It was
thought that ancestors could persuade the gods to be kind to the living. People believed
strongly that the gods could be angered. An angry god would bring about destruction on earth.
Ancestors were the living’s only hope for keeping the gods happy.
Not just everyday citizens worshipped ancestors. Kings worshipped ancestors, too. They often
asked them for advice. Kings asked about any number of things. They wanted answers for how
to govern their kingdom and other problems they faced. The kings spoke to their ancestors
through a diviner. A diviner is a person who knew how to talk to the dead. The king asked
questions and the diviner gave the ancestor’s answers. These answers were often recorded on
bones or shells.
Confucius is one of China’s most famous philosophers. He believed strongly in ancestor
worship and filial piety. Respect for one’s parents and ancestors is known as filial piety.
Confucius believed that practicing filial piety was key to having a great society. If people treated
their leaders with the same respect they treat their ancestors, then they would become loyal
citizens. Confucius felt that leaders should follow these same teachings. If leaders treated
citizens with the same love and respect they might treat their children, then their citizens
would love them.
Confucius taught that people are part of five important relationships. These include:
 king to subject
 father to son
 husband to wife
 older brother to younger brother
 friend to friend
Confucius pushed people to build good relationships in these five areas. By doing so, society
would become strong. Confucius wrote down his ideas and thoughts. His followers later put all
his ideas into one book. The Analects is a group of Confucius' writings. They explain how
Confucius thought people should live and treat one another. Confucianism is not a religion but
a way of living. Respect for oneself and for others is at the heart of Confucianism.
Laozi was another teacher who lived at the same time as Confucius. Like Confucius, Laozi also
wrote down his ideas. His book of teachings is known as the Dao De Jing. Daoism, or Taoism, is
the name of the religion begun by Laozi. Its name means “way” or “path.” Unlike Confucius,
Laozi taught that a person needed to do more than just be kind to his fellow man. He believed
that both living and non-living things had a force. It is through connecting with this force that
one finds happiness. Laozi taught the idea of wu-wei, or letting nature take its course. Laozi
believed that every living thing had a life-force. The life-force had two sides, which are known
as the yin and the yang. Laozi thought that every person was made up of some yin and some
yang. The life-force should be protected at all costs. Therefore, people should try to avoid war
and killing others.
Laozi did not believe in strict governments. Governments that wrote down strict laws were
trying to make everyone behave the same way. This, according to Laozi, goes against human
nature. People should be free to make their own decisions. .
Han Fei Tzu (280-233 BCE) was a legalist and a philosopher that argued that rulers should rely
on laws and rules. People would respond if there were clear rewards or punishments for their
actions. The first emperor or king of Ming Dynasty, Qin Shi Huangdi, adopted a Han Fei Tzu’s
system called Legalism. Legalism is a system in which laws are strictly followed. Everyone, rich
and poor, followed his code of law. He also set up a police force to make sure the laws were
followed. People who did not follow the laws were quickly and brutally punished. A spy system
was set up to make sure that people obeyed the rules. It was the duty of citizens to tell on
anyone who was not obeying the law. Those who did not tell were punished. He emperor also
thought that books were useless. He ordered that all books be burned. This is known as
censorship. The only books that could be saved were books on medicine and farming.
Qin Shi Huangdi was not a popular ruler, however he did do some good things. He introduced a
meritocracy system that insured that the most qualified people received the most important
government jobs. He created one writing system and standardized weights, measures, and
currency in an effort to support a unified China. This was an excellent idea that allowed
merchants to trade more easily and strengthened the country as a whole. He build roads and
canals. These canals served the purpose of irrigating land and allowing farmers to grow more
crops. They also connected rivers and allowed the army to travel more efficiently by water. He
also began work on the Great Wall of China. Many workers died while working on these public
works. Their deaths, plus the burning of books and killing of scholars, led to Qin Shi Haungdi’s
demise. He died while trying to reach an island in eastern China. He was looking for an elixir of
immortality, guarded by a sea monster, on the island. He was 49 years old when he died in 210
BCE. He was buried with an army of Terracotta soldiers. They were there to protect their
emperor.
Shortly after Qin Shi Haungdi’s death, the Chinese people rebelled against his son, Qin Er Shi.
Two army officers named Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were leading their soldiers when a
rainstorm delayed them. Harsh Legalist laws stated that anyone late for work would be
executed. Since they were not going to arrive on time, they decided to lead their soldiers in a
revolt against the Qin Dynasty instead. Qin Er Shi ruled China for only three years before he
died in 207 BCE. Ziying, Qin Shi Huangdi’s nephew, followed him as Emperor. He took the name
Qin San Shi, meaning “Third Emperor of the Qin Dynasty.” He declared himself King rather than
Emperor. But he was not as strong a leader as his uncle. Less than a year after he became
Emperor, he was overthrown in a rebellion and executed. The rebels destroyed the Qin capital
of Xianyang. The Qin Dynasty was ended. The leader of the second rebellion, a peasant named
Liu Bang, declared himself the first Emperor of a new dynasty, the Han Dynasty.
Under the Han Dynasty, the borders of China expanded. Trade routes over land and sea
provided a constant exchange of goods and ideas. The government was organized enough to be
effective. However, many of the strict Legalist practices were replaced with a more Confucian
approach. The Han Dynasty experienced a golden age.
The Han emperor Wu-Ti opened the Silk Road, which linked China with the West for hundreds
of years. The Silk Road was a network of sea and land routes where goods and ideas were
exchanged. The Silk Road connected China and Rome. During the years of the Han dynasty, it
carried many new foods into China from western Asia. Some of these were grapes, figs,
cucumbers, and walnuts. Furs came from central Asia. Muslin came from India. Glass came
from Rome. Large amounts of silk flowed from China to all these places and more. Ideas,
technology, and disease were also spread on the Silk Road.
The Silk Road was important in the development of China because it allowed a cultural
exchange between the Chinese and Rome. It allowed new people and ideas to flow to China.
Merchants would barter for goods while learning about new ideas. One religion that traveled
to China on the Silk Road from India was Buddhism. Some things the Chinese did not want to
share. The government of ancient China tried to enforce their monopoly on silk by making it a
crime to export silkworms as well as their eggs.