Chapter 2: Classical Civilizations :
China
Objectives
•Examine the indicators of civilization,
including writing, labor specialization, cities,
technology, trade, and political and cultural
institutions in early civilizations
• Trace the development and assess the
achievements in the arts, sciences and
technology of early river civilizations,
including those around the Huang-He
(China), Indus (India), Nile (Egypt), and
Tigris-Euphrates (Mesopotamia) rivers
Continuity
Trace the nature of
the continuity of
Chinese culture
over time
Continuity
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Classical governments promoted strong family
Devotion to the emperor
Emphasis on economic growth
Technological innovation
All these thing were supported by the ideas of
Confucius
• All these uniquely meshed into a coherent
sense of what it meant to be Chinese
Technology
Trace the development
and use of technology
in classical China
Technology
• Technology was promoted by the emperors
and the bureaucracy as a way to grow the
economy
• This in turn created incentives to develop
more tech.
• The Great Wall, canals, advanced irrigation
and many other developments incorporated
technologies far ahead of those in the rest of
the world