ANCIENT CHINA
Chapter 6
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
Instructions: Put the correct letter beside each number
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
Civil
Convert
Cultural diffusion
Economic
Establish
Excerpt
Hermitage
Ideology
Omit
Pinnacle
Prosperous
relic
___1. cause to change in form, character, or function.
___2. successful in material terms; flourishing financially.
___3. achieve permanent acceptance or recognition for
___4. A place where one can live in seclusion; a retreat.
___5. an object surviving from an earlier time, esp. one of
historical or sentimental interest.
___6. Of or relating to citizens and their interrelations with one
another or with the state.
___7. Of or relating to the production, development, and
management of material wealth, as of a country, household,
or business enterprise
___8. a short extract from a film, broadcast, or piece of music or
writing.
___9. leave out or exclude (someone or something), either
intentionally or forgetfully
___10. The highest point
___11. the spreading out of culture, culture traits, or a cultural
pattern from a central point.
___12. a system of ideas and ideals, esp. one that forms the basis
of economic or political theory and policy.
GEOGRAPHY
About the size of the United States (4 million square miles)
North: Gobi (Goh-bee) Desert
East: low –lying plains (one of the world’s largest farming regions)
Eastern boundary: Pacific Ocean
GEOGRAPHY
Climate: Vary
Northeast: cold and dry
Northwest: deserts are very dry
Eastern Plains: heavy rains
Southeast: tropical and wettest region = monsoons
GEOGRAPHY
Rivers:
Yellow River (Huang He) in northern China
Floods = silt (river often floods and leaves layers of silt = great for
farming)
(River is know China’s Sorrow because millions of people have died in floods)
Yangzi River (Chang Jiang) in southern China
Longest river in Asia (cuts through central China)
(In early China these two rivers helped link people in eastern part of country
with those in the west.)
CIVILIZATION BEGINS
First settled along rivers
Farming along Yellow and Yangzi Rivers
Yangzi River: rice
Yellow River: cereals (millet and wheat)
Early Settlements: houses partly underground and maybe strawcovered roofs
Walls surrounded towns for defense
Artifacts: arrowheads, fishhooks, tools, pottery, cloth, some
water wells
CIVILIZATION BEGINS
Burial: Tombs with objects: food (suggested a belief in the afterlife)
Graves of rich: jewelry and other objects made of jade (a hard
gemstone)
Chapter 6: Ancient China
Dynasties Chart
Dynasty and
Years
Ruler (s)
Social Class
System
Achievements
FIRST DYNASTIES
Xia (Shah) Dynasty founded by Yu the Great 2200 BC
Dug channels to drain water to the ocean (because of the floods)
(archaeologists have not yet found evidence of this dynasty. Dynasty is
described in ancient historical chronicles such as Bamboo Annals, Classic of
History and Records of the Grand Historian.
Concrete existence of the Xia is yet to be proven)
Shang Dynasty established by 1500s BC in northern China
Social Order:
Highest level: king, royal family, nobles, warrior leaders
Nobles owned most of the land which was passed on to sons
Middle level: artisans
Lived outside city walls. Lived in groups based on what they
made. (Made weapons, pottery, tools, clothing)
FIRST DYNASTIES
Lowest level: farmers and slaves
Farmers worked long hours. Taxes claimed much of what they
earned.
Slaves were important source of labor.
First Writing System
More than 2,000 symbols to express words or idea
Writing on cattle bones and turtle shells. Priest carved questions
about the future on bones and shells. Heated them, they cracked.
Read cracks to predict future.
Bones called oracle bones. Oracle is a prediction.
FIRST DYNASTIES
Shang Achievements:
Bronze containers for cooking and religious ceremonies, axes,
knives, and ornaments from jade, war chariots, powerful bows,
bronze body armor, and astrologers developed a calendar based
on the cycle of the moon.
ZHOU DYNASTY
Zhou (Joe) Dynasty 1100s BC overthrew the Shang
Lasted longer than any other Chinese dynasty.
Political System
Based on the “Mandate of Heaven”. Dynasty life usually around
300 year.
Expanded territory to the northwest, east, and south.
Granted land in return for loyalty, military support, and other
services.
ZHOU DYNASTY
Zhou Society Rank
Highest: king who led government and gave land to lords
Middle: Lords and warriors. Lords paid taxes to king and
provided warriors to protect the lands.
Lowest: Peasants (farmers) farmed the nobles’ land.
ZHOU DYNASTY
Zhou Decline
Political order broke down: Lords passed power to sons who
were less loyal to the king. Local rulers gained power and
rejected authority of Zhou king.
Warring States: time of many civil wars.
Changes in Chinese family structure
Family had been foundation of life in China. Families broke
apart = lost their power. Relatives became rivals.
Upper Classes - sons plotted against each other.
QIN DYNASTY
States battled each other for power. Qin (Chin) state built strong
army that defeated armies of rivaling states.
Qin dynasty united country under one government.
Qin king, Ying Zheng, unified China in 221 BC.
Titled self Shi Huangdi(Shee hwahng-dee) = “first emperor”.
Followed Legalist political beliefs = strong government with
strict laws and harsh punishments.
Burned writings that did not agree with Legalism. Ex. Books
saved
– farming, medicine, and predicting the future. Buried 460
scholars who opposed book burning.
QIN DYNASTY
Shi Huangdi used armies to expand empire. When conquered a
city destroyed walls and took all the weapons.
He claimed all power and did not share it with the lords.
Divided China into districts, each with its own governor.
Districts subdivided into counties that were governed by
appointed officials.
Helped in enforcing tax system and enforcing strict chain of
command.
Set up a uniform system of law. Rules and punishments were to
be the same in all parts of empire.
QIN DYNASTY
Standardized the written language = write using the same set of
symbols.
People of different regions a sense of shared culture
and common identity.
New money system = standardized gold and copper coins =
currency used in all China.
Weights and measures standardized.
Trade between regions became easier.
QIN DYNASTY
Qin Achievements:
Network of roads connected capital to every part of empire. =
Travel easier. Roads same width = army moved quickly and
easily.
Canals connected rivers. = Improved transportation.
Faster and easier to ship goods north to south.
Irrigation system = more land good for farming.
Great Wall: A barrier that linked earlier walls across China’s
northern frontier. To stop invasions. (Years of labor from hundreds of
thousands of workers which many died.)
QIN DYNASTY
Terra-cotta Army
6,000 life-size terra cotta or clay soldiers in one chamber
1,400 clay figures of cavalry and chariots
Designed to be with Shi Huangdi in the afterlife.
Discovered in 1974 in Xi’an
QIN DYNASTY
Shi Huangdi’s policies brought resentment from peasants,
scholars, and nobles.
Died in 210 BC and empire began to fall apart.
Rebel forces formed. Attacked capital and burned palace.
Country fell into civil war.
3 Major Chinese
Philosophies
Use the Tri-Venn to explain Confucianism, Daoism, and
Legalism
Instructions: Must have
Pages: 169-171
at least 3 things in the
major circles and at least
1 thing in the minor
circles.
Confucianism
•••-
•-
Daoism
•-
Legalism
•-
•-
•-
•-
•-
•-
••-
Use the Tri-Venn to explain Confucianism, Daoism, and
Legalism
Instructions: Must have
Pages: 169-171
at least 3 things in the
major circles and at least
1 thing in the minor
circles.
Confucianism
•-Confucius
•-China was rude and needed to return to having good ethics
and morals (respectful and loyal)
•-focus starts on the family and continuous learning
•Government shouldn’t have to be harsh with good people
and rulers should inspire not scare.
•A philosophy that
turned into a religion
to some
Daoism
•Famous
teacher/founders
•Laozi
•-go with the flow and let
nature take its course (the
way)
•-yin and yang (everything
has a force)
•People shouldn’t fight and
government shouldn’t make
rules (stay out of people’s
lives)
•A philosophy
•A philosophy
•How people should
behave and how
government should rule
•Popular beliefs and
competed for followers
•-Involves
Nature
Legalism
•-first to put their ideas into
practice in China
•people were bad and needed to
be controlled with laws by
harsh rulers to have order
•-political and social
philosophy that does not involve
religion
CONFUCIUS AND SOCIETY
Confucius “Kongfuzi”: most influential teacher
in Chinese history
Grew in poverty. Served in minor government
position.
China overrun with rude and dishonest people.
Chinese needed to return to ethics/moral values.
Ideas of Confucius = Confucianism
Wanted to return to time when people knew their proper roles in
society.
His ideas complied into book: The Analects
CONFUCIUS
Confucianism: a unique teaching that is both philosophical and
religious.
A guiding force in human behavior and religious understanding in
China.
When people behaved well and acted morally they simply
carrying out what heaven expected of them.
Confucius’s ideas about virtue, kindness, and learning became
dominant beliefs in China.
DAOISM
Daoism from “Dao” meaning “the way”.
Daoism stressed living in harmony with the Dao, the guiding
force of all reality.
Dao gave birth to universe and all its things.
Daoism a reaction to Confucianism.
Wanted government to stay out of people’s lives.
People should be like water and simply let things flow in a
natural way.
Universe is a balance of opposites: female and male, light and
dark, low and high.
Opposing forces should be in harmony.
DAOISM
LAOZI “Old Baby”: most famous Daoist teacher.
People should not try to gain wealth, nor should they seek power.
Wrote basic text of Daoism, The Way and all Its Powers.
LEGALISM
Legalism: belief that people were bad by nature and needed to be
controlled, contrasted with both Confucianism and Daoism.
A political philosophy without religious concerns. It dealt only
with government and social control.
Legalists felt society needed strict laws to keep people in line and
punishment should fit crimes.
Example: citizens should be held responsible for each other’s
conduct: guilty person’s relatives and neighbors should be
punished.
Unlike Confucianism and Daoism Legalist first to put ideas into
practice throughout China.
HANS DYNASTY GOVERNMENT
Liu Bang (lee-oo-bang) first emperor of Hans Dynasty 206 BC
A peasant and first common person to become emperor.
Lasted more than 400 years.
Lowered taxes for farmers and made punishments less severe.
Set up government structure that built on foundation begun by
Qin. Relied on educated officials to help him rule.
HANS DYNASTY GOVERNMENT
Emperor Wudi (Woo-dee) 140 BC
Strong central government: took land from lords, raised taxes,
placed supply of grain under control of government
Confucianism- China’s official government philosophy
Possible good government position if pass exam on Confucian
teachings. Exams only open to people who had been
recommended for government service.
Result: wealthy or influential families control government
FAMILY LIFE
Four classes
Upper class: emperor, his court, and scholars
Second class: the largest – peasants were poor
Third class: artisans – produced items for daily life and some
luxury goods
Lowest class: merchants, non producers, bought and sold what
others made. Some were wealthy and powerful.
Military not in an official class
Joining army offered chance to rise in social status
FAMILY LIFE
Classes divided people into social rank and did not indicate
wealth or power.
Emperor and his court lived in palace.
Wealthy families owned large estates.
Private army to defend estates. Expensive decoration in homes:
paintings, pottery, bronze lamps, jade figures, hired musicians
for entertainment
90% of population were peasants who lived in countryside,
worked long hours in fields. In winter worked on building
projects for government
Simple lives in small villages and in small wood-framed houses
with walls made of mud or stamped earth
FAMILY LIFE
Confucian teachings on family:
Children respect their elders. Disobeying parents = crime
Father head of house= absolute power
Women’s duty=obey husband
Strong family and obey father =obey emperor
Children serve parents even dead parent with ceremonies and
offerings.
Boys were valued more than girls since sons carried family line
and took care of parents
Daughters became part of husband’s family.
HAN ACHIEVEMENTS
Art
Figure painting: portraits of people of religious figures and
Confucian scholars
Paintings of realistic scenes from everyday life
Literature
Poetry: fu style most popular and poets combined prose and
poetry to create long works
Shi style = short lines of verse that could be sung.
Works of History: Historian Sima Qian – complete history of all
dynasties through early Han.
HAN ACHIEVEMENTS
Inventions and Advances
Invented paper
Scholars produced “books”. Pasted several pieces of paper
together into a long sheet. Rolled sheet into a scroll.
Sundial: uses position of shadows cast by the sun to tell time of
day.
Seismograph: device that measures the strength of an
earthquake.
Emperors believed earthquake were signs of future evil events.
Acupuncture: practice of inserting fine needles through skin at
specific points to cure disease or relieve pain.