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Chapter 2.4 River Dynasties in China
1. What is loess? Impact on China?
Loess is the name for the yellow-tinted silt, which was
blown by the winds from the deserts to the west into the
Huang He River…the loess provided much needed
nutrients for the soil…however, the river flooded
unpredictably and earned the nickname Yellow River
(from the loess), and River of Sorrow
2. Describe the Mandate of Heaven, and it’s impact on
China.
The Mandate of Heaven is the concept that the rulers of
China have been given the mantle of leadership from the
gods and ancestors…it was believed that they must be
just rulers, and if not, there could be signs that they had
lost the mandate, including natural disasters, etc. The
Mandate was originally created by the Zhou Dynasty to
justify their seizure of power from the Shang Dynasty
3. What are oracle bones? Impact on China?
Oracle bones were animal bones or tortoise shells that
had questions from the Shang Kings carved on them by
priests…the bones were heated and the resulting cracks
were interpreted by the priests as answers from the gods
to the king’s questions…important because they show
the importance of religion, as well as the earliest forms
of writing in China
Chapter 2.4: River Dynasties in China
I.
The Geography of China
 Natural barriers isolated ancient China from all other
civilizations…east: Pacific Ocean, West: Taklimakan
Desert and plateau of Tibet, Southwest: Himalaya
Mountains; North: Gobi Desert and Mongolian
Plateau…2 major rivers: Huang He in the north and
Yangtze in central China
A. China’s Heartland
 Mountain ranges and deserts dominate about 2/3 of
China’s land mass…remaining arable land is between
the Huang He and Yangtze rivers
 To the Chinese, those people who lived outside of
Chinese civilization were barbarians
 Considered themselves the center of the civilized
world, called themselves the Middle Kingdom (in
between heaven and earth)
B. Environmental Challenges
 China’s first civilization arose in a river valley
 Huang He River, nicknamed the “Yellow River”,
because of the yellow silt, which is fertile soil called
loess (blown by the winds from the deserts to the
west)
 More similar to the Tigris and Euphrates, in that the
Huang He’s floods could be generous or
ruinous…another nickname for the Huang He River is
“China’s Sorrow”
 Because of China’s relative geographic isolation,
early settlers had to be more self-sufficient and selfreliant, rather than trading with outside peoples
 There were invasions from the west and north
II. Civilization Emerges in Shang Times
 China did emerge later than other river valleys, but
humans have inhabited China for about a million
years
 Hominid remains in southwest China date to about
1.7 million years ago
 Homo erectus skeleton, found in 1922, known as
Peking Man…shows that people settled in the river
valley about 500,000 years ago
A. The First Dynasties
 Before the Sumerians settled in Mesopotamia, early
Chinese cultures were building farming settlements
along the Huang He.
 Around 2000BCE- some of these settlements grew
into China’s first cities
 According to Legend, the first Chinese dynasty, the
Xia emerged…led by Yu (an engineer and
mathematician…employed irrigation projects to
tame the Huang He)…there are no actual written
records, so actual events are unknown…farm
surpluses allowed cities to grow
 Around the time of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the
Indus Valley fell to outside invaders, people called
the Shang rose to power in northern China
 Shang Dynasty: 1532 to 1027BCE…first dynasty to
leave written records
o Build elaborate palaces and tombs
B. Early Cities
 One of the oldest and most important Shang cities
was Anyang
o Anyang built mainly of wood
o Higher-classes in timber-framed houses with
walls of clay and straw…inside city
walls…peasants in hovels outside the city
 Shang surrounded their cities with massive earthen
walls for protection…demonstrate great control,
organization of Shang rulers
 Shang peoples also constantly waging war
o CHARIOT introduced from western peoples
o Professional warriors= noble class, lengthy
training to learn the techniques of driving and
shooting from horse-drawn chariots
C. Social Classes
 Shang society was sharply divided between nobles
and peasants
 Shang governed by a ruling class of warrior-nobles,
headed by a king…noble families owned the land,
governed the scattered villages and sent tribute to
the Shang ruler in exchange for local control.
 Peasants tilled the soil for their overlords…no plows,
wooden digging sticks, and hoes/sickles made of
stone
 Shang were renowned for their BRONZE-CASTING
 Could grow two crops/ year: millet, rice, and wheat
III. The Origins of Chinese Culture
 Culture that grew up in China had strong bonds that
made for unity. Group seemed more important than
the individual…duties to their family and their king
or emperor
A. Family and Society
 Family was central to Chinese society
 Most important virtue: respect for one’s parents
(filial piety)
 Patriarchal society: elder men in the family
controlled the family’s property and made important
decisions.
 Women as inferiors…expected to obey their fathers,
their husbands, and later, their own sons
o Arranged marriage, young women’s labor to
husband’s household
B. Religious Beliefs
 China: family was closely linked to religion
 Ancestor veneration: spirits of family ancestors had
the power to bring good fortune or disaster to living
members of the family
 Through the spirits of ancestors, the Shang consulted
the gods
 Supreme God= Shang Di, and lesser gods
 Oracle Bones: used by the Shang kings to consult the
gods…animal bones/ tortoise shells with questions
scratched by priests…cracked with heat, priests then
interpreted the cracks for the kings
C. Development of Writing
 Earliest evidence of Chinese writing comes from the
oracle bones
 Each character stands for an idea, not a sound…very
few links between China’s spoken language and its
written language…one could read Chinese, without
being able to speak it
 People in all parts of China could learn the same
system of writing, even if their spoken language was
different…writing helped unify a large and diverse
land
 Disadvantage: enormous number of written
characters to be memorized…1,000characters=
barely literate…10,000 characters to be a true
scholar…limited the number of literate, educated
Chinese
D.Shang Technology and Artistry
 People who were skilled in special crafts made up a
separate class in Chinese society…lived outside the
walls of cities…manufactured weapons, jewelry, and
religious items
 Bronzeworking: leading craft of Shang artisans…
 Early Shang Times, also learned how to make silk
cloth for the fine threads of a silkworm’s cocoon,
and weaving them into fabric…silk shoes= symbol of
civilization
IV. Zhou Brings New Ideas
 1027BCE: Zhou overthrew the Shang and established
their own dynasty
o Adopted most of the Shang culture
 Justified their conquest with idea that royal
authority to rule came from heaven…Mandate of
Heaven…ruler who was unjust or wicked or foolish
could lose the Mandate of Heaven and the right to
rule
o “The Mandate of Heaven is not easy to gain. It
will be lost when men fail to live up to the
reverent and illustrious virtues of their
forefathers.” Duke of Shao
 Floods, riots, calamities might be signs that the
ancestral spirits were displeased with a king’s
rule…became the explanation for rebellion, civil war,
and rise of new dynasty
 Dynastic Cycle: pattern of rise, decline, and
replacement of dynasties
A. Control Through Feudalism
 Zhou controlled lands far beyond the Huang He and
the Yangtze…turned control over to members of the
royal family and other trusted nobles
 FEUDALISM: political system in which nobles/ lords
were granted the use of lands that legally belong to
the king. In return the nobles owe loyalty and
military service to the king and protection to the
people who live on their estates
 Local lords eventually became less dependent on the
king…fought among themselves and with
neighboring peoples for wealth and territory.
B. Improvements in Technology and Trade
 Warfare was common throughout the Zhou Dynasty
 Many innovations: Zhou build cities and roads and
canals…stimulated trade and agriculture…introduced
coined money…further improved trade
 New class of civil servants emerged (bureaucracy)
 Major technological advancement: use of IRON
o Blast furnaces to produce cast iron
o Created weapons: dagger-axes and swords
o Sickles, knives and spades
o Stronger than bronze, make farm work more
efficient
C. A Period of Warring States
 Zhou ruled from 1027 to 256 BCE
 Generally peaceful and stable in first 300 years of
period
 Zhou rule eventually weakened
 771BCE: nomads from north and west sacked the
city of Hao, Zhou capital…murdered the Zhou
monarch, few members of the royal family escaped
eastward to Luoyang…new capital, attempted to rule
for another 500 years
 Zhou kings at Luoyang were almost
powerless…couldn’t control the nobles…warlords
gained more power…”the time of warring states”
 Warfare changed: professional warriors and
mercenaries set the rules of battle…peasant foot
soldiers replaced chariots as main force…new
weapons= crossbow
 Time of conflict and collapse, desire for order,
harmony, and respect for authority…Next up chapter
4.4