SHANG AND ZHOU DYNASTIES
CHINA
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Civilization
Empire
Dynastic History 
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Mongols
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Republic
Communism
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Shang
Zhou
Qin
Han
Sui
Tang
Song
Yuan
Ming
Qing
FOUNDATION ACCORDING TO LEGEND

Series of rulers
 Fu
Xi -> First domesticated animals and started
family life
 Shen
Nang -> Divine Farmer
 Bent
wood for plows
 Taught people how to farm
 Huang
Di (Yellow Emperor)
 Created
bow and arrow
 Created writing
FOUNDATION ACCORDING TO LEGEND

Should we take this literally? (No)

This is an attempt for them to explain place in the
world
 Explain

their civilization
Also, explains characteristics of Chinese Civilization
 Interaction
between nomadic and agricultural peoples
 Importance of the family as the basic unit of Chinese life
 Development of a unique system of writing
AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES
(During Neolithic Era)
 Villages along Yellow River
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

Yangshao and Longshan  Differentiated by their
pottery
Other villages along Yangtze River

Cultivation of rice
Both developed simultaneously
 Will develop into civilization
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NON AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES

First we need to understand the geography
OK…..
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Arable land
 Located
around Yellow and Yangtze Rivers
 Food producing areas

Only 12% of Chinese land is arable
 (23%

of United States is)
They will develop an isolated feel to the outside
world.

Why do all of the
people live in the
East?
REST OF CHINA: ARID

Sea:
 Not
a huge threat
 Haven for pirates and occasional monsoons

Frontier
 Source
of fear/concern
 They do not have agriculture
 They are very skilled in warfare
DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION

Xia is the first civ
 Develops

out of agricultural communities
Shang is the second dynasty
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
Agriculture
 Aristocrats were ruling class

 Main
occupation: making war
 Horse

How did they get them?



drawn Chariots
Interaction with neighboring regions?
Did the Shang migrate into China?
Technology led to their establishment of control
POLITICAL STRUCTURE

King (Transcendent Importance)
 Central
bureaucracy
 Chieftains

controlled parts of kingdom
And were in charge of war
RELIGION

Had a clear sense of life and afterlife
 Life
is not viewed as terrible like India
Sacrifices
 Veneration of ancestors

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Shang: Classes developing
 Peasants
 Not
everyone had land (poorer worked on richer people’s
lands)
 Government
officials
 Some slaves (criminals or POWs), merchants, and
artisans (known for bronze making)
1045-221 BCE
THE ZHOU DYNASTY
RISE OF ZHOU

Zhou
 800
years (longest in Chinese history)
 One capital in middle
 Another
in East
POLITICAL STRUCTURE

Adopted a lot from Shang
 Divided
kingdom into territories
 Governed
by officials appointed by king
Hereditary
 Supposedly always under king’s authority

 Expanded
 Also
Bureaucracy
had ministries for rites, education, law, and public
works
POLITICAL STRUCTURE CONT’D

Mandate of Heaven
 Concept
of heaven:
 Not
a deity, just a part of nature
 Generally benevolent
 Not beyond human understanding
 Heaven
maintained order in the universe through
the Zhou King
 King
 Will
is a representation of heaven, NOT a divine being
continue to be used throughout Chinese history
POLITICAL STRUCTURE CONT’D

Mandate of Heaven
 King
is chosen for virtue and talent
 Was
 King
also responsible for appeasing gods

 In
supposed to be compassionate
With sacrifices to protect people from disaster and famine
theory, could be replaced
POLITICAL STRUCTURE CONT’D
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500s BCE: Decline of central government starts
 Local
kingdoms assert more power
 Become
rivalries with each other
 Local leaders have become hereditary
POLITICAL STRUCTURE CONT’D
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Local Assertion of Power
 Local

rulers regulate the economy
Want more power and need money for an expanding army
 Uniform
tax
 Government monopoly on commodities (mostly salt and
iron)
ECONOMY

Land ownership (like Shang)
 Rich
own it
 Poor work it
 But,
it was better for the poor
 Well
field system
ECONOMY CONT’D
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Merchants in cities
 Under
lord
 Property of the lord (could be sold or traded)
ECONOMY CONT’D
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Major growth in later period 500s – 300s
 Major
water control projects
 Some
still in use today
 Agriculture
improvements
 Plows
capable of plowing deeper
 Natural fertilizer
 Idea of leaving fields unused to replenish
 Rice
takes over as main staple
ECONOMY CONT’D

As agriculture goes up
 Population
goes up
 Commerce increases
 Trade increases
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Wealth will begin to replace hereditary birth as
the source of power and influence
ECONOMY CONT’D
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Evidence of silk road in 400s BCE
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Movement toward a money economy
 Seashells
 Coins
 Most
with hole in them
used barter
 Even
rent and taxes often paid in grain
RELIGION
Legalism
 Confucianism
 Daoism
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These are not mutually exclusive
CONFUCIUS

Confucian qualities
 Ren
– benevolence (kindness)
 Li – propriety (courtesy)
 Xiao – filial piety (respect family/ancestors)
Good leaders would bring order and inspire the
population
 Major influence on Chinese thought
 His ideas are broad and lend themselves to
interpretation
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DAOISM
Laozi – founder of Daoism
 His life is shrouded in mystery
 Criticized Confucian thought
 Introspection, reflection, nature
 Don’t try to solve problems that have no
solution
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DAOISM
The Dao – the “way”, cosmic force and source
of all creation
 Daodejing – book of Daoist belief
 Disengage from the world
 Less government
 Ideally tiny self-sufficient communities
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