Download Core Knowledge Study Guide

Core Knowledge Study Guide
Ancient China
China has two important rivers. The Yellow River begins in the mountains and flows
across northern China to the Pacific Ocean. The silt in the river makes it look
yellow.
The Yangtze River also begins in the mountains and flows across central China to
the Pacific Ocean. It is the third longest river in the world.
The Chinese spent over 1,000 years digging a canal to connect these two rivers.
The Grand Canal is the oldest and longest canal in the world. It was dug by hand!
Confucius was a wise Chinese man. He believed that if everyone had virtue
(goodness and kindness) the world would be a better place. He also believed family
was the most important thing in life. He believed children should be obedient and
respectful to their parents.
Ancestors are all of the people in your family who lived before you. The people of
ancient China believed that the spirits of your ancestors watched over you. They
thought that you should honor their spirit and keep their memories alive. The
Qing Ming Festival is a party for all the ancestors in your family, and also helps to
welcome spring. People picnic, fly kites, and leave gifts of food and flowers for
their ancestors.
2,200 years ago a very determined military leader named Qin Shihuangdi (chin
shur hwong dee) lived in China. He conquered many kingdoms and joined them
together. He called himself the first emperor of China. Qin began to build an
enormous wall to protect the people of China from the nomads who roamed the
countryside. Parts of a wall had been built earlier, but Qin joined them all
together. It took ten years to complete the first part of the Great Wall. Other
emperors later added to the wall. Today it is 1,500 miles long (about the distance
from Maine to Florida).
In English we make words by combining letters from the alphabet. In Chinese
there is no alphabet. Chinese people have a different picture for each whole word.
These are called characters. There are as many different characters as there are
words! Chinese characters are written in columns up and down the page instead of
across. Writing the Chinese language is so difficult and special it is considered an
art. The art of writing is called calligraphy.
Over thousands of years the Chinese have invented many important inventions.
They were the first to make paper and the first to have paper money. They also
created block printing, fireworks, and porcelain.
Silk is another important product of China. To make silk people must first grow
mulberry trees. Once the trees are grown silkworms can be brought in – they love
to eat mulberry leaves! After they eat plenty of mulberry leaves (it takes about
45 days from when they hatch) the silkworms spin their cocoons. They make a
single strong shiny thread and wrap it around and around themselves. Silk makers
put the cocoons in steam to loosen the thread. They spin several threads together
to make a thicker thread. They then use looms to weave silk cloth. When people
outside of China first saw silk they were willing to travel to China and pay lots of
money for the fabric. So many people began to travel to China for silk that the
main road from Europe to China became known as the Silk Road. Towns sprang up
all along the Silk Road. Many important ideas were exchanged by the people
traveling the Silk Road.
One of the most important Chinese holidays is the Chinese New Year, which
happens in spring. People in China celebrate with fireworks and decorate
everything with the color red. Before the holiday people clean their houses from
top to bottom and sweep out bad luck. They write wishes on red paper and post
them on their walls. Families get together for huge dinners of fish, turnips, and
dumplings. Chinese children get gifts of “lucky money” wrapped in red paper. The
most important part of the celebration is the parade. A line of people hold bright
cloths and the first person wears a dragon mask. They perform a special dragon
dance. The dragon is seen as a sign of hope and he is thought to bring the spring
rain.