Early China
Terms to Know
 Confucius
 Tao
 Ying/Yang
 Legalism
 Dynasty
 Footbinding
 Chinese
Society
 The
Silk Road
 Mongols
 Isolationism
Confucius (Kung Fu-Tzu)*
(551-479 BC)
“Never kiss a fool, or be fooled by a kiss.”
*Family name = Kung (Kong)
Personal name = Zhong-ni
Kung Fu-Tzu (Kong Fu-zi) = “Master Kung”
“Confucius” = Latinization of “Kung Fu-Tzu”
The Life and Legacy of
Confucius

Born in 551B.C.E. to a
noble but poor family.
 Confucius died in 479
B. C. E.
 Confucius was an
exceptional student
who later became a
teacher and a
government official.
Anthem
The ancient
State of Lu
That’s where Confucius
was born & spent most
of his life.
Confucianism originated in China,
but its influence spread to Korea &
Japan over the centuries.
Central concepts in Confucian thought
 TAO (“Way”) - the Ultimate; the
One; the Absolute; the underlying
Power; the Source

Yin/Yang - the dual expression of
TAO; neither is superior to the other
China Dynasties


Chinese history is rarely as neat as it is portrayed, it was rare
for one dynasty to end calmly and give way quickly and
smoothly to a new one. Dynasties were often established before
the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after
they had been defeated.
In addition, China was divided for long periods of its history,
with different regions being ruled over by different groups. At
times there was no dynasty ruling a unified China.
The Post-Han Interim


220 Han Dynasty Collapsed
Regional Kingdoms 400 years

Farm Production Expanded
Technology Improved

Buddhism spread

Nomads invaded but Adopted Chinese Culture
The Tang Dynasty
 Li
Yuan Sui Dynasty General
 Li Shimin (Tang Taizong)





Forced his father to Abdicate
Murdered 2 Brothers
Brilliant General, Government Reformer
Historian, Master Calligrapher
China’s Most Admired Emperor
Expansion under the Tang
 New






Territories
Largest China Ever
Manchuria
Korea
Vietnam
Aral Sea
Tibet
 Tributary
States
Tang Government
 Empress



Wu Zhao
Only Female Chinese emperor in History
Centralized Government
Merit System
• Civil Service Exams

Confucian Philosophy
Tang Decline
 Lost
Central Asia to Arabia
 Corruption
 Rising Taxes
 Drought
 Famine
 907 Rebellion

Huang Chao
Chinese Society
Emperor & His Family
Gentry
1.
2.


Wealthy Land-Owning Class
Government Workers, Business Owners
Peasants
3.

Majority
•
Farmers
Status of Women
 Ran


Family Affairs in the Home
Managing Servants
Family Finances
 Boys
were Favored
 Wives joined Husband’s family @ Marriage


Dowry went to her Father
Never able to Remarry
Footbinding
 Emerged
in Song Dynasty
 Tiny Feet & Stilted Walk became a sign
of nobility and beauty
 Extremely Painful
 Spread to Lower Classes
Arts & Literature
 Essential



Poetry
Painting
Calligraphy
 Chinese



Gentry Education
Landscape Painting
Daoist Traditions
Misty Mountains
Delicate Bamboo Forests
Architecture
 Buddhist
Themes
 Indian Stupa – Chinese Pagoda

Multishaped Temple with Eaves curving up
 Porcelain



Glazes, Vases, Tea Service
Figures of Camels, Ladies playing Polo
Bearded foreigners from the Silk Road
The Silk Road
The region separating China from Europe and Western Asia is not the most
hospitable in the world. Much of it is taken up by the Taklimakan desert, one of
the most hostile environments on our planet. There is very little vegetation, and
almost no rainfall; sandstorms are very common, and have claimed the lives of
countless people. The locals have a very great respect for this `Land of Death'; few
travelers in the past have had anything good to say about it. It covers a vast area,
through which few roads pass; caravans throughout history have skirted its edges,
from one isolated oasis to the next. The climate is harsh; in the summer the daytime
temperatures are very dry and hot. In winter the temperatures dip below minus 0.
Temperatures soar in the sun, but drop very rapidly at dusk. Sand storms here are
very common, and particularly dangerous due to the strength of the winds and the
nature of the surface. Unlike the Gobi desert, where there are a relatively large
number of oases, and water can be found not too far below the surface, the
Taklimakan has much sparser resources.

By the third century B.C., the area had already become a crossroads
of Asia, where Persian, Indian and Greek ideas met.
 In the west, the Greek empire was taken over by the Roman empire.
Even at this stage small quantities of Chinese goods, including silk,
were reaching the west. This is likely to have arrived with individual
traders, who may have started to make the journey in search of new
markets despite the danger or the political situation of the time.

The description of this route to the west as the `Silk Road' is somewhat
misleading. No single route was taken; several different branches
developed, passing through different oasis settlements along the way from
East to West.
 Secondly, the Silk Road was not a trade route that existed solely for the
purpose of trading in silk; many other commodities were also traded,
from gold and ivory to exotic animals and plants. Of all the precious
goods crossing this area, silk was perhaps the most remarkable for the
people of the West. It is often thought that the Romans had first
encountered silk in one of their campaigns against the Parthians in 53 B.C,
and realized that it could not have been produced by this relatively
unsophisticated people. They learned from Parthian prisoners that it came
from a mysterious tribe in the east, who they came to refer to as the silk
people. The Romans obtained samples of this new material, and it quickly
became very popular in Rome, for its soft texture and attractiveness. The
Parthians quickly realized that there was money to be made from trading
the material, and sent trade missions towards the east. The Romans also
sent their own agents out to explore the route, and to try to obtain silk at a
lower price than that set by the Parthians. For this reason, the trade route to
the East was seen by the Romans as a route for silk rather than the other
goods that were traded.
The creation of “Middlemen”

In addition to silk, the route carried many other precious commodities.
Caravans heading towards China carried gold and other precious metals, ivory,
precious stones, and glass, which was not manufactured in China until the fifth
century. In the opposite direction furs, ceramics, jade, bronze objects, lacquer and
iron were carried. Many of these goods were bartered for others along the way, and
objects often changed hands several times. There are no records of Roman traders
being seen in China, nor Chinese merchants in Rome, though their goods were
appreciated in both places. This would obviously have been in the interests of the
Parthians and other middlemen, who took as large a profit from the change of hands
as they could.




Bandits soon learned of the precious goods traveling the route and took
advantage of the terrain to plunder these caravans. Caravans of goods
needed their own defense forces, and this was an added cost for the
merchants making the trip. This was partially overcome by building forts
and defensive walls along part of the route. Sections of `Great Wall' were
built along the route to try to prevent the bandits from harming the
trade. However, these fortifications were not all as effective as intended, as
the Chinese lost control of sections of the route at regular intervals. Many
settlements were set up along the way, mostly in the oasis areas, and
profited from the passing trade. Very few merchants traversed the full
length of the road; most simply covered part of the journey, selling
their wares a little further from home, and then returning with the
proceeds. Goods therefore tended to moved slowly across Asia,
changing hands many times.
The most significant commodity carried along this route was not silk,
but religion. Buddhism came to China from India this way, along the
northern branch of the route.
The new religion spread slowly eastwards, encouraged by an increasing
number of merchants, missionaries and pilgrims.
The Buddhist faith gave birth to a number of different sects in Central Asia.
Of these, the `Pure Land' and `Chan' (Zen) sects were particularly strong,
and were even taken beyond China; they are both still flourishing in Japan.
Decline of the Silk Road

From the point of view of those in the far west, China was still
an unknown territory, and silk production was not understood.
Since the days of Alexander the Great, there had been some
knowledge of India, but there was no real knowledge of, or
contact with China until about the 7th century, when
information started to filter along the Road. It was at this time
that the rise of Islam started to affect Asia. Trade resumed
with the Muslims playing the part of middlemen. The sea
route to China was explored at this time, and the `Sea Silk
Route'opened, eventually holding a more important place
than the land route itself, as the land route became less
profitable.
 But the final shake-up that occurred was to come from a
different direction; the hoards from the grasslands of Mongolia
Mongols
 Nomadic
People of Central Asia
 Constantly Fighting Internally
 Genghiz Khan “World Emperor”

Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe
Genghiz Khan
 Strict

Military Discipline
Often destroyed entire Cities
 Demanded

Rewarded the Most Loyal
 Highly

Absolute Loyalty
Trained, Mobile Army
Most Skilled Horsemen in the World
Mongol Invasion of China
 Walled
Cities
 Cannons & New Weapons

Metal Tubes filled with Gunpowder
 Khan



Descendants continued Conquest
150 Years
Devastated Sichuan
Annihilated Chengdu, the Chinese Capital
Mongol China
 Administrative

Heavy Taxes
 Pax


Toleration
Mongolica (1200s-1300s)
Economic Growth
Controlled the Silk Road
 Inventions

Windmills, Gunpowder, Papermaking
Khan Konquest
Khan – North
 Kublai Khan – South
 Genghiz




70 Years Later 1279
Defeated the Song Dynasty
Capital: Cambulac (Beijing)
Added Korea, Tibet, Vietnam
Kublai Khan
 Resisted


Only Mongols in the Military
Only Mongols in highest Govt. Jobs
 Allowed

Sinicization “becoming Chinese”
Chinese to rule in the Provinces
There were not enough Mongols
 Adopted
a Chinese name: Yuan (yoo ahn)
 Hired Arabs to build his Palace
Kublai Khan
 Capable
but Demanding
 Repaired & Improved the Grand Canal

Many human lives
 Welcome


foreigners
Ibn Battuta, African Muslim
Marco Polo
Marco Polo

The first Europeans to arrive in China were Northern
European traders, who arrived in 1261. However, the most
well known and best documented visitor was the Italian
Marco Polo. As a member of a merchant family from Venice, he
was a good businessman and a keen observer. Starting in 1271,
at the age of only seventeen, his travels with his father and uncle
took him across Persia, and then along the southern branch of
the Silk Road, finally ending at the site of present-day Beijing.
He traveled quite extensively in China, before returning to Italy
by ship.
 He describes the way of life in the cities and small
kingdoms through which he passed, with particular interest
on the trade and marriage customs. His classification of other
races centre mainly on their religion, and he looks at things with
through eyes of the Catholic Church. He judges towns and
countryside in terms of productivity; he appears to be have been
quick to observe available sources of food and water along the
way, and to size up the products and manufacture techniques of
the places they passed through. His description of exotic plants
and beasts are sufficiently accurate to be quite easily
recognizable, and better than most of the textbooks of the
period.
 Sparked European interest in Asia
The Ming Dynasty
 Most



Chinese despised the Mongols
Heavy Taxes
Corruption
Natural Disasters
 Restored


the Civil Service System
Exams were made more Difficult
Instituted a Board of Censors
Ming Economics
 100
Million People
 Increased Rice Production

Improved Fertilization
 New
Crops: Corn & Sweet Potatoes
 Growing Industries


Porcelain
Paper
 Printing
Zheng He
 Chinese
Admiral
 1405 – First of Seven Expeditions
 62 Large Ships (400’)




More Small Ships
25,000 Sailors
Promote Trade
Collect Tribute
Zheng He
 1405-1433
 Southeast
Asia
 India
 Persian
Gulf
 Red Sea
 East Africa
Isolationism
 1433

Zheng He died
Ming banned Ship Building
 China

turned inward
After the Zheng He voyages in the 15th century, the
foreign policy of the Ming Dynasty in China became
increasingly isolationist. One reason China decided on
this was to keep out as much foreign influence on
religious beliefs as possible, especially from European
traders who came into China with Christian missionaries.
The first missionary said to have an impact on Chinese
religious beliefs was an Italian Jesuit called Matteo Ricci.
Many of the educated Chinese opposed this Christianity
introduced by missionaries, but Ricci's scientific
knowledge gained him prestige in these circles, first
introducing the concepts of trigonometry, and predicting
an eclipse of the sun more accurately than Chinese
astronomers of the day.




Isolationism is a foreign policy which combines a noninterventionist military policy and a political policy of economic
protectionism. In other words, it asserts both of the following:
Non-interventionism - Political rulers should avoid entangling
alliances with other nations and avoid all wars not related to
direct territorial self-defense.
Protectionism - There should be legal barriers to control trade
and cultural exchange with people in other states.
The policy or doctrine of trying to isolate one's country from other
nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic
commitments, international agreements, and generally attempting to
make one's economy entirely self-reliant; seeking to devote the
entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement, both
diplomatically and economically, while remaining in a state of peace
by avoiding foreign entanglements and responsibilities.
Learning Log-Early China
(Left Side)
 Essay

(1st-5th periods)
Write a 5 paragraph essay
describing the government and
economy of Early China and what
life was like for Chinese citizens.
Bibliography




MSN. Encarta. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573937/Isolationism.html January 14, 2008
Wild, O. The Silk Road. http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html. December 4, 2007
ChangAn. xy2.youxizhu.com February 22, 2008
The Silk Road. lib.blcu.edu.cn February 22, 2008