China Study Guide
OBJECTIVES:
1. Compare the river valley civilizations (Shang/Zhou China, Indus River Valley,
Mesopotamia) according to society, politics, economics, and culture.
2. How did Confucianism start, where is it practiced, what are the basic principles, what
makes it unique, and what does it have in common with other religions?
3. How did Daoism start, where is it practiced, what are the basic principles, what makes
it unique, and what does it have in common with other religions?
4. Describe the first classical civilization in China.
5. Describe the dynasty that ruled China from roughly 200 BCE to 200 CE.
6. Explain the factors that led to the collapse of Han China.
7. How did Buddhism start, where is it practiced, what are the basic principles, what
makes it unique, and what does it have in common with other religions?
Terms/ People
Qin Dynasty
Shi Huangdi
Expansionism
Warlords
Legalism
Silk Road
Scholar-Gentry
Chinese Buddhism (Mahayana)
Harmony with Nature
Confucianism
Warring States Period
Dynastic Cycle
Shang/Zhou Civilization
Four noble truths
Great Wall
Silk
Mandate of Heaven
Huang River “River of Sorrows”
Geographic Barriers
Eight-fold path
Civil Service System
Daoism
Feudalism
Han Dynasty
Tripitaka
Siddhartha (Buddha)