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Ancient China
Geography of Ancient China
I.
Ancient China was a river valley civilization that developed
along the Huang River.
A) Chinese farmers depended on the Huang River to
provide fertile soil and water for agriculture.
B) These farmers had to learn to control the river by
building dirt levees and irrigation canals.
II.
The fertile soil provided by the Huang River was called
Loess (LES).
A) Loess was very fertile type of soil, but it was also very
fine and powdery.
B) This meant it was easily eroded by both water (river
flooding) and wind.
C) Loess also clogged the irrigation canals forcing them to
have to be cleaned constantly.
D) Loess is a yellow soil that was brought in by the wind;
the yellow soil gave the Huang its other name
The Yellow River.
III.
Like the people of other river valleys, farmers along the
Huang grew many crops.
A) Farmers grew: rice, millet (grain), wheat, green onions
and ginger.
B) They also harvested: grapes, peaches, plums, and wild
chestnuts.
The First Dynasty
I.
Around 1700 B.C. the Shang state won control over the
Huang River.
A) This became the First of China’s many dynasties.
B) This Dynasty (family rule), lasted 600 years to100 B.C.
II.
Shang rulers expanded the size of their dynasty by allowing
the building of towns
and cities.
A) Shang rulers gave land to relatives and nobles to
oversee construction of new towns and they became the
town’s rulers.
B) They paid taxes to the king, but basically controlled
their own towns. There was no central government to
control the whole dynasty.
C) Nobles controlled their towns, but helped to protect the
dynasty.
III.
Religion was important to Shang rulers who believed they
were helped by their
ancestors.
A) Oracle bones were used to answer questions about the
future.
B) The people of the Shang Dynasty worshiped many
Gods (polytheistic).
C) Shang religious beliefs and style of government would
last hundreds of years.
The Emperor’s Clay Army - The Qin Dynasty
I.
Shihuangdi (SHEE hwahng dee), gained control of the Qin
State and later conquered the Huang River Valley.
A) Shihuangdi becomes emperor of the Qin Dynasty.
B) He creates a central government and limits the power
of the Nobles.
C) He creates a standard writing system and money
system across the empire.
II.
During the Qin Dynasty the emperor gave land to the
farmers instead of Nobles.
A) This weakened the Nobles power. He also took away
their weapons and made them all move to his captain city.
III.
Farmers became the backbone of the Qin economy.
A) They produced food to feed the empire.
B) They built a system of roads through out the empire
(this made traveling easier), and began to work on the
Great Wall of China.
C) They also served as part time soldiers to help defend the
empire.
IV.
The Qin Dynasty lasted only 15 years, but it left a lasting
legacy.
A) Shihuangdi created a central government (1emperor) a
centralized money and writing system that lived on for
centuries.
Confucius Changes China – The Han Dynasty
I.
The Han Dynasty adopted many ideas from the Qin Dynasty.
They borrowed the writing system, the system of
government, and money.
A) Han rulers tried to rule fairly and gave jobs to
educated people not just the nobles and family
members.
B) Confucian ideas about duty and education
influenced life in China during the Han Dynasty.
C) The Han emperor Wudi, started many Confucian
schools to educate government workers.
II.
Confucius was a Chinese philosopher who lived from
551 B.C. – 479 B.C. His teachings became basis of the Han
Dynasty.
A) His ideas became known as Confucianism. He
believed the ancient traditions had made China
great.
B) He believed that through education people from
rulers to farmers could become good people and this
would make for a good civilization.
C) The central idea of Confucianism was respect for
family and others.
D) This belief was also applied to the government and
its rulers. Emperors receive the right to rule from
god Mandate from Heaven, but they should be fair
and just rulers.
Many of Confucius’ writings were recorded by his students.
This book became known as The Analects.
A) These writings outline Confucius’ basic outlook on
life, government and country.
III. The Han Dynasty produced many great achievements in
science, mathematics, the arts, and trade.
A) One of these achievements was the seismograph.
An instrument that can predict earthquakes (this is
still used today).
IV.
As in other dynasties, farmers during the Han Dynasty
produced foods and goods that brought China great wealth.
A) Farmers were the backbone of China’s economy.
They produced food, how the public worked their
jobs, roads, palaces, etc.