A Blessing and a Sorrow: Huang He River Valley Civilization
E. Napp
Objective: To identify the location of the Huang He River in China and explain its impact
on the development of civilization as well as describing key characteristics of early Chinese
civilization
Do Now:
The Huang He River is also known as “China’s Sorrow”. Why do you think a river would
be referred to as a “sorrow”? Isn’t a river a “blessing”? Explain your answer.
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Questions:
1. List two facts about the
Huang He river:
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2. Where is the river’s
source?
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3. Why is the Huang He or
Yellow River yellow?
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4. Why is the Huang He
River the “cradle of
Chinese civilization”?
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5. What does the Huang He
River provide?
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6. Why is the Huang He
River a “sorrow”?
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 Known as the mother river by all the
Chinese people, the Huang He River, also
known as the Yellow River, is the second
longest river in China after the Yangtze
River.
 The river’s source is the Kunlun Mountains
in Northwest China.
 It is agreed upon by almost all the Chinese
people that the Yellow River is the cradle
of Chinese civilization.
 The Huang He River is called the Yellow
River because of its yellow-ochre-color. It
is a yellow color because silt or the soil
particles the water picks up as it flows has
particles of mica, quartz, and feldspar.
The minerals give the water its color.
 The Huang He River provides water for
farming and irrigation. A Neolithic
Revolution occurred in the river’s valley.
 However, the Huang He River floods
regularly. The river is shallow or has little
depth. The water can overflow its banks.
 The flood of 1943 destroyed crops in Henan,
and 3 million people starved to death.
 The Great Yu once said, “Whoever controls
the Yellow River controls China." The
Great Yu is credited with the first
"taming" of the river around 2200 BC.
7. What happened in 1943 in China?
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8. How did the event of 1943 affect the Chinese
people?
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9. Who was the Great Yu?
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The Shang Dynasty, 1600 – 1050 B.C.E.
The Shang Dynasty was a dynasty that made great contributions to Chinese civilization.
Scholars do not fully agree on the dates and details of the earliest Chinese dynasties, but
most accept that the Shang Dynasty is the first one to have left behind written records and
solid archaeological evidence of its existence. The Shang is the second dynasty of the Three
Dynasties Period. Legends speak of the earlier Xia dynasty, but no written records from
that time have been found to confirm this. Even though texts written later than the
Shang Dynasty mention the Xia Dynasty, Western scholars argue that they are not enough
to prove it truly existed. Therefore, most Western scholars regard the legendary Xia as an
early civilization that existed between the Neolithic and Shang cultures. But many
Chinese scholars firmly believe that the Xia did indeed exist even if written records have
never been found. ~stanford.edu
Shang Dynasty
Facts about the
Shang Dynasty:
Notes about the Xia
Dynasty:
This is an
actual
oracle
bone.
Chinese scholars’
views on these
dynasties:
By the way,
a dynasty is
a ruling
family.
Oracle Bones
The king or professional diviners hired by the king used oracle bones to make predictions
about the future or to answer questions such as, “Will the king have a son?”, “ Will it rain
tomorrow?”, “If we send 3,000 men into battle, will we succeed?”, or even “Is the long
drought caused by ancestor X?”
The scribe carved the question onto a bone (most often the shoulder bones of water
buffalo or other cattle) or a tortoise plastron. On the other side of the bone or plastron he
would carve a number of small pits. He then inserted a hot metal rod into these pits until
the bone cracked; and the king or diviner interpreted the cracks. Then, on the other side of
the bone, the scribe carved the answer and the eventual outcome.
By analyzing oracle bone inscriptions, other artifacts, and archaeological sites such as
tombs and ancient cities, scholars have been able to piece together many details of Shang
civilization. They have confirmed the names of its kings, its style of government, its
military history, its religious beliefs and rituals, and its society.
Questions:
 Provide one example of a question asked on an oracle bone.
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 What kind of bone was an actual oracle bone?
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 Why was a hot metal rod inserted in the oracle bone?
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 Why are oracle bones important to archaeologists?
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Civilization in China emerged around 1500 B.C. It emerged gradually out of Neolithic
farming and pottery making cultures that had long been present in the Yellow River region
of East Asia. The establishment of the Shang kingdom at this point in time gave political
expression to a combination of civilizing trends. The appearance of a
distinctive and increasingly specialized elite supported by the peasant majority of the
Chinese people, the growth of towns and the first cities, the spread of trade, and the
formulation of a written language all indicated that a major civilization was emerging in
China.
Though the political dominance of the Shang came to an end in 1122 B.C.E. under the new
royal house of the Zhou, civilized development in China was enriched and extended as the
Chinese people migrated east and south from their original Yellow River heartland. By the
end of the Zhou era, which would last officially until 256 B.C., many of the central elements
in Chinese civilization, one of humankind's oldest, were firmly established. Some of those
elements have persisted to the present day. ~Adapted Peter N. Stearns
Questions:
 What happened in China that gave rise to civilization?
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 What were several characteristics of early Chinese civilization during the Shang
dynasty?
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 What dynasty replaced the Shang dynasty?
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Using the Chart:
 What is the title of the chart?
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 Define the word “cycle”.
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 What does a new dynasty
receive?
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 What can a dynasty lose?
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Analyzing the Chart: The Dynastic Cycle and the Mandate of Heaven
What does a new dynasty bring and/or do?
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By the new dynasty has become an old dynasty, what is occurring or happening?
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What does the old dynasty lose?
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Another term for the “Mandate of Heaven” is the “right to rule”. What do you
think this means?
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What are problems that occur as a dynasty becomes an old dynasty?
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After the old dynasty is overthrown, what does the new dynasty claim?
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So, why is this called the dynastic cycle?
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Until 1911, China had dynasties and a dynastic cycle. For your summary, define
the following terms:
Dynasty:
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Mandate of Heaven:
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Dynastic Cycle:
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