Chapter ¾: China
Geography
• Isolated  felt they were the center of the
Earth
• Zhongguo – Middle Kingdom
•W & SW  high mountain ranges (Tien
Shen and Himalayas & Deserts
•SE Thick jungles
• N  Gobi Desert
•E  Pacific Ocean
• Limited trading
• “River of Sorrows”
– Huang He River Valley
– Loess – fine windblown soil
• Settles in the Huang He and raises water levels
• More loess = more flooding
SHANG DYNASTY
1650 – 1027 BC
Government
Social Classes
• Kings
• Nobles
• Artisans & Merchants
• Peasants
– Lead nobles to battle
- Heads of clans loyal to
kings
– Most of population
– Work on nobles’ fields
– Works as nobles’
warriors
Religion
• Polytheistic
• Respect towards ancestors
• Shang Di – Chief god
– Ruler is closely linked
YIN – earth, darkness, female
forces
YANG – heaven, light, males
forces
Arts & Sciences
• System of writing
Pictograms  ideograms
Found on oracle bones used to tell the future
• 10,000+ characters
• *** in China: Different spoken language,
but, Same Written language***
• Calligraphy – fine handwriting in art form
• Use bronze for art
Mandate of Heaven
Right to Rule
given directly by
the gods: divine
right to rule
Zhou Dynasty
1027-265 BC
Government
• Feudalism – system of gov.’t in which
local lords govern their own land, but in
return owe military service and support
their rulers.
Social Classes
- Nobles
- Artisans & Merchants
- Peasants
Religion
-Polytheistic
-
-
-
Arts & Sciences
First books created
Book of Songs –
poems describing
lives of farmers
Movement of planets
& sun
Eclipses
365 ¼ day calendar
Silk Making
- Secret process to
ensure $$$; only
nobles can afford
Economy
- Copper coins
- Iron tools  more
farm production
- More trade due to
new roads and canals
Qin Dynasty
221 – 206 bc
Established China’s first empire
 Shi Huangdi “First Emperor”
Legalist rule
– Bureaucratic administration
– Centralized control
– Military expansion
– All nobles must must live in capital
– Peasants receive nobles’ land
– Book burnings  targeted
Confucianists
• Buried protestors alive!
• Built the Great Wall
– Old walls of various towns joined together for
defense
– Does not keep invaders our, but shows how
an emperor can control a large project
• Shi Huangdi dies in 210 BC
• People are ANGRY!!!!
– Why?
• Heavy taxes, forced labor, cruel policies
REVOLTS!! (peasants revolt)
HAN DYNASTY
206 BC – 220 AD
How does it all start???
• Liu Bang (illiterate peasant) takes over
and begins new dynasty
– Restores order
– Lower taxes
– eases Legalist policies
Emperor Wudi (141 – 87 BC)
• Chooses educated officials
– Confucian way of life
- Started public schools
- Monopoly –
- (complete control of a product)
- Iron and salt  $$$ for gov.’t
- EXPANSIONISM – increases the amount of territory
Silk Road
• 4,000 mile trade route from China to
Fertile Crescent
• Cultural Diffusion – new food!
Confucian Influence
• Well educated officials
• Civil service exam
– Get job based on merit, not family
– Anyone can take the exam, but only those
that can afford to study would take them
– One family member getting a gov.’t job =
whole family moves up the social ladder
ACHIEVEMENTS
• Science
– Textbooks in chemistry, zoology and botany
– Movement of stars and planets
• Calendars
• Time keeping
– Seismograph – measures earthquakes
• Medicine
– acupuncture
• Technology
– Paper (from
wood)
– Shipbuilding
– Rudder to steer
ship
– Iron stirrups
– Fishing reels
– Wheel barrows
– Suspension
bridges
• Art
– Temples, palaces, parks
– Jade and ivory carvings
– Lessons for a Woman (by Ban Zhao)
• Handbook of behavior for men and women
• Equal education for boys and girls
• Women should be obedient, respectful and
submissive
• COLLAPSE
– Warlords and local military leaders gain
control
– China broken into several smaller kingdoms