Download Oracle Bones and China World History/Napp “Even before the

Oracle Bones and China
World History/Napp
“Even before the Sumerians settled in southern Mesopotamia, early Chinese cultures were
building farming settlements along the Huang He. Around 2000 B.C., some of these
settlements grew into China’s first cities. According to legend, the first Chinese dynasty,
the Xia Dynasty, emerged about this time. Its leader was an engineer and mathematician
named Yu. His flood-control and irrigation projects helped tame the Huang He and its
tributaries so that settlements could grow. The legend of Yu reflects the level of technology
of a society making the transition to civilization.
About the time the civilization of the Indus Valley fell to outside invaders, a people called
the Shang rose to power in northern China. The Shang Dynasty lasted from around 1700
B.C. to 1027 B.C. It was the first family of Chinese rulers to leave written records. The
Shang kings built elaborate palaces and tombs that have been uncovered by archaeologists.
Among the oldest and most important Shang cities was Anyang, one of the capitals of the
Shang Dynasty. Unlike the cities of the Indus Valley, Anyang was built mainly of wood.
The city stood in a forest clearing. The higher classes lived in timber-framed houses with
walls of clay and straw. These houses lay inside the city walls. The peasants and
craftspeople lived in huts outside the city. The Shang surrounded their cities with massive
earthen walls for protection. These walls demonstrate the Shang rulers’ ability to raise and
control large forces of workers. Shang peoples needed walled cities because they were
constantly waging war. The chariot, one of the major tools of war, was probably first
introduced by contact with cultures from western Asia. Professional warriors underwent
lengthy training to learn the techniques of driving and shooting from horse-drawn chariots.
In the Chinese view, people who lived outside of Chinese civilization were barbarians.
Because the Chinese saw their country as the center of the civilized world, their own name
for China was the Middle Kingdom. The culture that grew up in China had strong
unifying bonds. From earliest times, the group seems to have been more important than the
individual. A person’s chief loyalty throughout life was to the family. Beyond this, people
owed obedience and respect to the ruler of the Middle Kingdom, just as they did to the
elders in their family.” ~ World History
1- By what river did civilization first arise in China?
2- Who was Yu and what did he do that benefitted the Chinese people?
3- What was the Shang Dynasty the first to do?
4- Describe Anyang.
5- Why did the Shang build walled cities?
6- What did the Chinese view people living outside China as?
7- What was the Middle Kingdom and what loyalties were expected of the Chinese?
Describe the location of the
Huang He in terms of where
it begins and ends.
What area did the Shang
dynasty control?
Identify China’s location in
Asia as well as its neighbors?
Geography
- Natural barriers
somewhat isolated
ancient China from
all other civilizations
- To China’s east lay
the Yellow Sea, the
East China Sea, and
the Pacific Ocean
- Mountain ranges
and deserts
dominate about twothirds of China’s
landmass
- In west China lay
the Taklimakan
Desert and the icy
15,000-foot Plateau
of Tibet
- To the southwest
are the Himalayas
- And to the north
are the desolate Gobi
Desert and the
Mongolian Plateau
Rivers
- Two major river
systems flow from
the mountainous
west to the
Pacific Ocean
Challenges
- The Huang He’s
floods could be
disastrous
- Sometimes floods
devoured whole
- The Huang He, also villages, earning the
known as the Yellow river the nickname
River, is found in the “China’s Sorrow”
north
- China’s natural
- In central China,
boundaries did not
the Chang Jiang,
completely protect
also called Yangtze,
these settlers from
flows east to the
outsiders
Yellow Sea
- Invasions from the
- The Huang He,
west and north
whose name means
occurred again and
“yellow river,”
again in Chinese
deposits huge
history
amounts of yellowish
silt when it overflows
its banks
- This silt is actually
fertile soil called
loess, which is blown
by the winds from
deserts
Heartland
- Only about 10
percent of China’s
land is suitable for
farming
- Much of the land
lies within the small
plain between the
Huang He and the
Chang Jiang in
eastern China
- This plain, known
as the North China
Plain, is China’s
heartland
- The heartland has
remained the center
of Chinese
civilization
Family
- The family was
central to Chinese
society.
Mandate of Heaven
- Around 1027 B.C.,
a people called the
Zhou overthrew the
Shang
- The most
important virtue was - The Zhou had
respect for one’s
adopted much of the
parents
Shang culture
Oracle Bones
- Shang kings
consulted the gods
through the use of
oracle bones, animal
bones and tortoise
shells on which
priests had scratched
questions for the
gods
Feudalism
- The Zhou Dynasty
controlled lands that
stretched far beyond
the Huang He in the
north to the Chang
Jiang in the south
- To govern this vast
area, it gave control
- Women were
- To justify their
over different
treated as inferiors
conquest, the Zhou
- After inscribing a
regions to members
leaders declared that question on the bone, of the royal family
- Only by bearing
the final Shang king a priest applied a hot and other nobles
sons for her
had been such a poor poker to it, which
husband’s family
ruler that the gods
caused it to crack
- This established a
could she hope to
had taken away the
system called
improve her status
Shang’s rule and
- The priests then
feudalism
given it to the Zhou
interpreted the
cracks to see how the - Feudalism is a
- A just ruler had
gods had answered
political system in
divine approval,
which nobles, or
known as the
lords, are granted
Mandate of Heaven
the use of lands that
legally belong to the
- A unjust ruler
king; in return, the
could lose the
nobles owe loyalty
Mandate of Heaven
and military service
1- What geographic features somewhat isolated China?
2- Identify two important Chinese rivers and define silt.
3- Why is the Huang He known as “China’s Sorrow”?
4- Where is the Chinese heartland? Why?
5- What is the most important virtue?
6- Define the Mandate of Heaven.
7- How can a ruler lose the Mandate of Heaven?
8- What are oracle bones and how may they have influenced the development of writing?
9- Define feudalism.
The Yellow River earned its nickname
“China’s Sorrow” because
(1) It was a turbulent river.
(2) Its frequent floods were very destructive
to agricultural society.
(3) It carried a heavy load of loess.
(4) It was a common place for people to
commit suicide.
According to Zhou political theory, the
Zhou king overthrew the Shang dynasty
because
(1) The Shang lost the mandate of heaven.
(2) The subjects of Shang shifted their
loyalty to Zhou.
(3) The last Shang king was a criminal fool.
(4) The Zhou was a much larger state than
the Shang.
The Chinese king was called the “son of
heaven” and served as
(1) A ruler who could not be challenged.
(2) A link between heaven and earth.
(3) A divine king.
(4) The living son of the first emperor.
During the early dynasties, Chinese diviners
used oracle bones
(1) As objects of art.
(2) As drugs to cure people's diseases.
(3) To record manuals of etiquette.
(4) To predict the future and answer
questions.
In which region did China’s earliest
civilizations develop?
(1) Gobi Desert
(2) Himalaya Mountains
(3) Yellow River Valley
(4) Tibetan Plateau
The Zhou system of decentralized
government, in which rule was conducted by
landowners who owed loyalty and military
service to their superiors and protection to
those under them, was called fengjian,
meaning:
(1) imperialism
(2) republicanism
(3) feudalism
(4) Confucianism
Historically, the Huang He has also been
known as the “River of Sorrows” because
(1) frozen ports have made trade difficult
(2) cataracts have made transportation
impossible
(3) floods have destroyed crops and villages
(4) burials have taken place at the sacred
waters
One similarity between the ancient
civilizations in Egypt and in China is that
they developed
(1) nomadic lifestyles
(2) monotheistic belief systems
(3) democratic governments
(4) written forms of communication
In which region did China’s earliest
civilizations develop?
(1) Gobi Desert
(2) Himalaya Mountains
(3) Yellow River Valley
(4) Tibetan Plateau
Both the ancient Romans and the ancient
Chinese viewed foreigners as barbarians.
This is an example of
(1) cultural diffusion
(2) materialism
(3) imperialism
(4) ethnocentrism