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XI) The Chinese Empire A) When we last left China they were in the over 700 year old Zhou dynasty – What’s a dynasty again? B) Towards the end of the Zhou dynasty though the government started to fall apart as parts of the government tried to take control away from the king C) Along came Confucius [also known as Kongzi (KOONG-DZUH)] who would form a philosophy known as Confucianism 1) he was born into a poor family in 551BCE 2) he became a teacher of: a) history b) music c) ethics* – What’s that? 3) he believed that people were good at heart as shown by the polite relationships people have with others such as: a) ruler and subject b) father and son c) husband and wife d) older and younger brother e) friend and friend 4) in order to make the most of these relationships and to be a productive member 1 of society, the key was to “know your role” or duty in life – How? a) by practicing good behavior (especially towards one’s elder/ancestors – this idea is also known as filial piety*) b) you need to be loyal c) you need to be consistent (act the same all of the time) d) you need to be aware of the past and get a good education e) if you wish to go against these ideas you face the wrath of your elders or you faced reciprocity* – or “doing unto others as you would have others do unto you” 5) still Confucius wanted to do more so he tried to help the government so he went looking for a government job – unfortunately no one would hire him because he came from a poor family 6) eventually after 12 years though Confucius returned back to teaching and established schools to teach future Chinese people how to be proper members of society (and how to get a good government job) a) he taught his students to always be polite b) he taught his students to respect everyone’s individuality 2 c) he taught them that anyone could succeed (be they rich or poor) as long as they had the skills to do the job right – Why would Confucius argue that poor people could do a job just as well as a rich person? d) to measure the success of his students Confucius would give tests – those who got the highest scores got the government job 7) eventually Confucius would die in 479 BCE but... a) his writings would be collected in a book called the Analects b) the Chinese bureaucracy (or divisions of government) would use Confucius’ tests to create civil service exams* to test candidates for government jobs 1) these tests at first measured how well you knew Confucius’ writings 2) today these tests are used to test certain job skills in China (and other parts of the world) D) On the other hand there was Laozi (LOW-DZUH) and his religion Taoism/Daoism that also started in China 3 1) according to legend he was born with white hair and wrinkly skin (supposedly due to the fact that he was carried in his mother’s womb for 62 years!) 2) in the 6th century he wrote a book called the Dao DeJing 3) in the book, Laozi described how to follow “the Dao” (or “way”) 4) And how do you follow the Dao? (or the Laozi’s religion that grew out of it, Daoism/Taoism) a) Act in harmony and peace with nature and accept all the changes that the earth presents you b) Keep your lives simple (don’t act – go with the flow – relax) – How is this different from Confucianism? c) Discard/remove: 1) Desire 2) Impulse 3) Aggression 4) Formal structure (like a strict government) Removing these 4 things helps you become more humble – what does that mean? 4 5) Today many people associate the even older symbol of the yin-yang (from the book I Ching) with the religion of Taoism/Daoism a) yin-cool, dark, female, submissive b) yang- warm, light, male, aggressive c) notice how both symbols are represented equally – what do you think this means? 6) How do people who believe in Daoism/Taoism worship? – Meditation and readings of the Dao De Jing E) Finally one group who thought that they had all the answers to China’s problems were the Legalists 1) the founders of this philosophy (Hanfezi and LiSi) believed that the government should rule harshly with strict laws (laws=legal=legalist) because they believed that all people were evil at heart a) those that were good citizens should be rewarded b) anyone who went against the government though should be punished – for example, if you’re out after curfew, you could get your ears and nose chopped off c) they also did not allow freedom of the press – what does that mean? 5 2) not surprisingly, the royal family of the Zhou dynasty liked the Legalists – Why? F) Eventually, the Zhou dynasty was replaced by the Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE) 1) its first emperor of the dynasty, Shi Huangdi (SIHR HWANG-DEE), first got all of the parts of China together a) he ordered that all of the rival noble families to move to the capital city (so he could keep an eye on them) b) to satisfy the nobles thirst for more land and power, he sent out the armies(using the theories of Sun Tzu and his book The Art of War) that expanded China’s boundaries all the way down to present day Vietnam – see pg. 100 Academic c) to also help satisfy the nobles, he murdered hundreds of the followers of Confucius and burned his books – why would nobles not like the ideas of Confucius? d) he then divided China and its newly conquered parts into 36 districts that would be controlled by government workers e) Would Shi Huangdi agree with the Legalists? Why or why not? 6 2) under the emperor’s autocracy (or government in which the ruler has unlimited power) he tried to improve China’s economy and safety a) he built over 4,000 miles of roads (no matter how many peasants were killed working on it) which helped trade b) he created one currency, a census (a means for counting up all the people in a country) law system, writing and system of weights and measures that would be used in all of China c) he created new ways to irrigate fields so they could grow more food (again, no matter how many peasants were killed in the process) d) the emperor would go too far when he ordered the expansion of the Great Wall of China to protect China’s western borders from invaders (more specifically a group of nomads on horseback from the north) 1) it covered 1,400 miles of China’s territory 2) every 200 to 300 yards, there was a watchtower to look out for attackers 3) its over 25 ft. tall and is 15 to 30 ft. across 7 4) it was built by poor workers – What do you think would happen to the workers if they refused to work on the wall? 5) those workers that died due to the beatings, exhaustion, and/or starvation were put into the wall G) Finally, the poor people had had enough 1) when Shi Huangdi’s son took over, the peasants, led by a man from the Han province took over 2) thus started the Han dynasty 8