Classical Civilization 1: China
Shang - Han Dynasties
AP World History
From Ancient to Classical Civilization
• Most ancient river valley civilizations declined after 1200 B.C.E.
• The classical civilizations, which began to emerge around 1000
B.C.E., were measurably different than their river valley
predecessors.
• They grew noticeably larger through trade and conquest.
• Classical civilizations developed in China, India, Greece, and
Rome. China was the 1st and the largest of the classical civs.
• Though all the classical civilizations had declined by 500 C.E.,
they left an indelible mark on world civilization.
• Great developments in philosophy, politics, and art in classical
civilizations formed the foundation for subsequent civilizations.
• Patriarchal culture prevailed in each of the classical
civilizations.
Ancient Chinese Civilization
• Chinese civilization along the Huanghe
(Yellow River) developed in relative isolation,
save for some overland trading with India and
the Middle East.
• By around 1500 B.C.E. a line of kings called
the Shang ruled over the Huanghe River
Valley. They began the dynastic cycle that
would endure until the 20th century.
Chinese Dynasty Song
Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
sheng, jo, chin, hahn
Sui, Tang, Song
Sui, Tang, Song
sway, tang, song
Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
yooan, ming, ching, Republic
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
miao ze dong
Dynastic Cycle
• Dynastic cycle lasted from 1700 BCE
until the early part of the 20th century.
• Dynasty=family of kings.
• 3 Dynasties of classical China: Zhou,
Qin, and Han.
Shang (1700 - 1027 BCE)
• First recorded Dynasty
• Ruled by a belligerent aristocracy
• First Chinese cities, center of
court life
• Villages organized by clans, not
nuclear families.
• Cast bronze, created silk
• Developed writing. Ideas through
pictographs. Thousands of
characters.
• Honored ancestors, used oracle
bones
• Shang tyrant emperor overthrown
by Zhou, who ushered in the 2nd
dynasty.
Shang Bronzes
Dao
• Early Chinese philosophy stressed the basic
harmony of nature: every feature is balanced
by an opposite (yin and yang). For hot there
is cold, for male, female.
• Forms basis of Daoism, a philosophy by
which a individual seeks a way, called Dao, to
relate to this harmony, avoiding excess and
appreciating balance of opposites.
Zhou (Jo) (ca1027 - 250 BCE)
• Longest lasting Chinese Dynasty.
• First classical era dynasty.
• First period of territorial expansion (complicated
problems of central rule).
• Featured decentralized politics but important cultural
innovations incl. Confucianism, Mandate of Heaven,
and Chinese language.
• Est system of currency
• China’s feudal period (rulers gave land to their
supporters in exchange for defense).
Zhou Coins - bronze
Zhou (Jo) (ca1027 - 250 BCE)
• Zhou rulers claimed direct links to the Shang rulers.
• Also asserted that heaven had transferred its
mandate to rule China to the Zhou emperorsMandate of Heaven.
• Mandate of Heaven remained a key justification for
Chinese imperial rule in all subsequent dynasties
(think Divine Right).
• Promoted linguistic unity via a standard spoken
language (Mandarin Chinese). Largest single group
of people speaking the same language in the world at
this time.
Confucius
• As a wandering scholar-philosopher in Zhou China,
Kung Fuzi (Confucius) undertook a quest to become
chief advisor to a ruler who possessed the wisdom to
restore centralized control, peace, and order in his
realm (like Aristotle philosopher-king).
• Though he never fulfilled this goal in his lifetime, his
students preserved, spread, and debated his
teachings after his death in the early 5th c B.C.E., and
compiled his teachings in the Analects. (Consider
Greek philos, the Buddha, and Jesus’ disciples).
• His social and political teachings formed the basis for
one of humanity’s greatest and most enduring civs.
551 – 479 B.C.E.
Born in the feudal
state of Liu.
Became a teacher
and editor of books.
Confucianism 101
• Idealized strong rulers and consolidation of political
power.
• Advocated rule by highly educated, exclusively male
elite (think Aristotle).
• Began as an ethical rather than religious system.
• Est norms for all aspects of Chinese life, from familial
relationships, filial piety, ancestor veneration, and
male authority.
• Est norms for etiquette of rulers and scholar
bureaucrats.
• Influenced art, music, calligraphy
• Formed basis of Chinese philosophical and religious
beliefs for more than 2000 years.
• Confucianism waxed and waned during
subsequent dynasties, but continues to
influence Chinese culture today.
• Also exerted influence on other Asian
societies: Korea, Japan.
Zhou (Jo) (ca1027 - 250 BCE)
• The breakdown of the Zhou dynasty’s ability to
control its vassals in the 8th c B.C.E. led to a long
period of political conflict (i.e. land-owning aristocrats
solidified their own power base and disregarded the
central govt.)
• Internal conflicts left China vulnerable to outside
invaders between 8th-3rd c B.C.E.
Qin (221 - 207 BCE)
• By 221 BCE, warrior Ying Zheng brought an
end to the years of civil strife and disunity,
ushering in the Qin Dynasty.
• Ying Zheng vanquished all his rivals and
founded a new imperial court.
Qin (221 - 207 BCE)
• Self appointed title Qin Shi
Huangdi , meaning First August
Emperor.
• The name Qin conferred on the
whole country its name of China.
• Brutal yet effective. Organized
China into large provinces ruled
by bureaucrats.
• Shi Huangdi appointed officials
from non-aristocratic groups, so
that they would not dare to
develop their own independent
bases of power.
Qin (221 - 207 BCE)
• For defense, built first Great Wall
(Ming built other part later),
extending 3000+ miles. Largest
construction project in human hist.
• Adopted Legalism: achieve order
through strict laws and impose
harsh punishments. (Hanfeizi)
• Ordered national census,
standardized currency, weights
measurements, laws, and unified
written script throughout the realm.
• Banned Confucianism, burned
books. Attacks on intellectuals and
high taxes made him fiercely
unpopular.
Han (202 BCE - 221 CE)
• After Shi Huangdi’s death, massive peasant revolts broke
out. Two peasants led a revolt against Qin oppression,
toppling the dynasty, giving rise to the Han dynasty.
• Lasted for 400+ years. Most effective, & most enduring
bureaucracy in the preindustrial world.
• Legalism replaced by Confucianism
• Introduced civil service examination (process of selecting
govt officials based on merit rather than noble birth).
Limited power of emperor (checks & balances)
• Expanded Chinese territory into Korea, Indochina, and
central Asia. Silk Roads developed, opens trade
Han (202 BCE - 220 CE)
• Peace brought great prosperity.
• Wu Ti erected shrines to Confucius, and he was
established as a god. Official state philosophy.
• Buddhism introduced, paper invented
• Great increase in population
• Government sponsored public works projects
including complex irrigation & canal systems
(compare to Rome)
• Not highly militaristic.
Decline
• Nomadic raiders
• Corruption, weak leaders
Han (202 BCE - 220 CE)
• Han dynasty overturned by a nomadic tribe, the
Huns
• Warlords control china - no centralized gov’t
• Non-Chinese nomads control much of China
• Buddhism becomes popular - Confucianism failed
• (Invaders like Huns might topple a dynasty, but
they couldn’t devise a better system to run the
country, so the system & its bureaucratic
administrators normally endured).
Religion
•
•
•
•
Confucianism
Daoism
Buddhism
Confucianists & Daoists tolerated each
other. You could be politically a
Confucianist & spiritually a Daoist.
Economy & Society
• Considerable gap between landed elite and the masses
(peasant farmers). Strength of agrarian base allowed China
to carry about 1/5 of the total human population from the last
centuries BCE to the present day.
• Slavery waned after the Zhou dynasty.
• 3 main social groups:
– Landowning aristocracy (educated bureaucrats or
mandarins)
– Laboring masses (peasant farmers, urban artisans)
– Mean people (unskilled laborers, performing artists).
Required to wear green scarves for identification.
Punished for crime more harshly
Economy & Society
• According to Confucianism, men superior to women, old
superior to young, etc.
• “There are no wrongdoing parents.” Courts didn’t prosecute
parents who injured or killed children, but would punish a
disobedient child.
• Strict control over one’s emotions.
• Trade became important during Zhou & Han. Focused on
luxury items: silk, porcelain.
• Confucian emphasis on learning and political service led to
scorn of lives devoted to moneymaking. Therefore, wealthy
merchants had low prestige in social hierarchy
• Chinese civ evolved with very little outside contact.
• China as an island of civilization in a sea of barbarians with
nothing to offer except threat of invasion. They saw no need
to learn from other societies.
• Spread of Buddhism is exception to this rule: came from
India during & after the Han decline.
• Chinese technologies later disseminated over much of
Eurasia & northern Africa: paper & compass, etc
contributing to tech transformations in Japan, Korea, Rome,
Mid East.
• China’s silk became valued in Mid East & Roman Empire.
Trade of silk and other luxury products generated a network
of roads thru ctrl Asia known as the Silk Road. Han actively
encouraged Silk Road trade.