Ancient China
The Middle Kingdom" - the chinese believed that they were the center of the Earth
Geographic barriers1. Very little contact with outside world
2. To the West and southwest, high mountains (Tien Shan Himalayas) and brutal deserts
block easy movement of people
3. To the North is the Gobi Desert
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To the East is the endless Pacific Ocean
The Two main regions in Ancient China are the
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Yellow River Valley ( Huang He ) and the Yangzi river Valley
Today these two regions are still the most densely populated areas
Chinese History began In the Huang He Valley where Neolithic people learned to farm
The Huang He got it's name from the loess fine windblown yellow soil that it carries from
Siberia and Mongolia
" RIVER OF SORROWS"
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As the loess settles on the bottom of the river it raises the water level
Peasants constantly working to hold the water back from flooding
If dikes broke the water burst over the land
When it raised the water swelled the river and nothing could hold it back
The Shang Dynasty
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Small villages slowely developed into towns and cities
Capital- Anyang
Oracle Bones recorded the names of all the rulers
Shang kings claimed ownership of the land for themselves, but allowed other people to
own land on their behalf
The Shang kept slaves in cruel conditions sometimes sacrificed to honor dead ancestors
Kings kept only a small area
Princes and nobles ( heads of clans – or groups of families who claimed a common
ancestor) were loyal to the Shang Kings
SOCIAL CLASSES
1. Royal Family
2. Noble Warriors ( owned land, leather armor, bronze weapons, chariots)
3. Artisans ( produced goods for nobles)
4. Peasants (farming villages) hard lives if not in fields were working on the dikes
Religion
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Complex religious beliefs
Prayed to many gods
Shang Di Mother goddess
Yin and YangChinese believed the universe reflected a delicate balance between two
forces Yin and Yang
Yin Earth, Darkness and female forces
YangHeaven, light , and male forces
The well being of the universe depended on harmony between Yin and Yang
System Of Writing
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Pictographs- pictures that stood for words
Ideographs- signs that expressed thoughts or ideas
The oldest examples of Chinese writing are on oracle bones , used by priests to predict
the future
Animal bones or turtle shells, ask priest question, hested the shell till it cracked
Priest would interpret the pattern of the cracks to provide answers
Chinese Writing - 10,0000 characters
One of the most difficult languages to learn
Only the rich could afford years of studying
Zhou Dynasty
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In 1027 BC the Zhou people attacked the Shang and overthrew them
Started the Zhou dynasty which lasted until 256BC
To justify rebellion they promoted the idea of the "Mandate of Heaven"(divine right to
rule)
They said that the Gods were upset with the last Shang ruler and passed the right to rule
onto them
Dynastic Cycle
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The rise and fall of dynasties as long as Dynasty provided good government they keep
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mandate of heaven ( sometimes natural disasters showed that the gods were upset and
they were losing the mandate)
Feudalism
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System of government in which local lords governed their own lands but owed military
service and other forms of support to the ruler
PROGRESS
During the Shang and Zhou the was progress made in many areas
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astronomers observed Halley’s Comet
studied the movement of planets
recorded eclipses of the sun
accurate 365 ¼ day calendar
silkmaking
 made silk from thread from cocoons of silkworms
 worms eat only from the leaves of the mulberry tree
 women did the work of making the silk
 also wove silk into cloth
 silk became China’s main export
 kept process of silk making