EAST ASIA
CHPT 28: CHINA AND MONGOLIA
PHYS GEO OF CHINA
• 2 parts: mountains and
plateaus (west); plains and
hills (east)
• Mountains: Kunlun Shan
(central west) and Tian Shan
(northcentral west)
• Create the Tarim Basin
• Tarim Basin has Taklimakan
Desert
• Gobi Desert in north-central
China and southern Mongolia
RIVERS
• Huang He (Yellow): called
“China’s Sorrow”; made
“yellow” by Loess—yellowishbrown sediment made of silt
and clay
• Chiang Jiang (Yangtze):
China’s longest river
• Xi (West): with tributaries,
forms largest major river
system in China
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
CHINA
• DYNASTIES: ruling houses or
continuing family of rulers
• Chinese culture dates back
5000 years
• Began in the Wei River Valley
• 1st dynasty: C. 1776 B.C.
(Shang Dynasty)
• Ruled by “mandate of
heaven” (approval of gods
and goddesses)
• Shang ruled for 700 years
ZHOU DYNASTY
• Ruled for 800 years
• Trade grew
• Chinese culture spread
• Iron tools
• Confucius: founded
Confucianism---based on
discipline and proper moral
conduct
• Lao-Tzu: founder of Taoism—
harmony with nature and
simple living
QIN DYNASTY
• Founded by Qin Shihuangdi
• 1st to unify the country
• Built the Great Wall of China
OTHER DYNASTIES
• Han and Tang saw rise of traders and missionaries
• Ming Dynasty: exploration opens; Zheng He sails to Africa
(1400s)
• Qing Dynasty: last dynasty
END OF DYNASTIES
• Dynasties ended in 1911
(rebellion led by Sun Yat-sen)
• 1925: Chang Kai-shek forms
Nationalist govt of Republic of
China
• Rivaled by Mao Zedong, leader
of the communist party
• Civil War
• 1949: Communists take over and
set up the People’s Republic of
China
• Republic of China moved to
Taiwan
COMMUNIST CHINA
• 1950s: “Great Leap Forward”—
small farms replaced by large
govt farms
• Not enough food produced;
millions die of starvation
• Mao wanted a classless society
• 1966: Great Proletarian Cultural
Revolution—urban and
educated Chinese sent to work
on farms; meant to cleanse
elements of capitalism
• Late 1970s: Deng Xiaoping
opens some free-market
MONGOLIA
• Early inhabitants were the
Xiongnu
• Genghis Khan (12th and 13th
centuries) leads the Mongol
Empire to conquer much of
China, Russia, and Central
Asia
• Fell to the Qing Dynasty
(called Outer Mongolia)
• Qing overthrown in 1911;
Mongolia created
SOCIETY AND CULTURE TODAY
EDUCATION
• Mao Zedong closed schools b/c educated people were
seen as a threat
• Policy reversed after his death
LANGUAGE
• Mandarin is the dominant
language
• Uses IDEOGRAMS: pictorial
character that represents a
specific meaning or idea
• Thousands of ideograms in
use
• Very difficult to learn
RELIGION
• Buddhism, Taoism, and Islam are practiced
• Many identify as atheist
• Buddhism is restricted in Tibet
ECONOMICS
• Shift from communes to small, family farms
• China is the world’s largest exporter of goods
HUMAN RIGHTS
• DISSIDENTS: a citizen who speaks
out against govt policies
• 1989: Tiananmen Square—
students protest for democratic
reform; Chinese govt responds
brutally
• U.S., Japan, and EU (major trade
partners w/China) impose
ECONOMIC SANCTIONS: trade
restrictions
• China released several
dissidents; U.S. relented
HONG KONG
• Under British control until 1997
• Has a strong economy
• In a SPECIAL ECONOMIC
ZONE (SEZ): small district in
China that is fully open to
global commerce