Ancient Chinese History: Xia through Han Dynasties
A major source of evidence about China's earliest dynasties comes from the famous Chinese historian
Sima QIan. His most famous book is Records of the Grand Historian. This history text goes back to about
2500 B.C.E, and includes biographies of emperors of China's first three dynasties: the Xia, Shang and
Zhou dynasties.
Even though we do not have written records of the Xia Dynasty, we say it's China's earliest civilization.
It lasted from about 2070 to 1600 B.C.E. and arose along the Huang He (yellow River) space in
northeastern China. They were a patrilineal society organized into clans. The head of the Xia Clan served
as the emperor. Their rulers. Performed complex rituals to communicate with the gods. This was a
farming society known for its pottery and bronzeware.
China's earliest palace may have been Erlitou Palace. It was built with post-and beam construction and a
foundation made out of rammed earth. Rammed earth construction was used in many building projects,
including the Great Wall of China, which was built in the 200 B.C.E.
, legend says that the Xia Dynasty had 8 bronze vessels made for use in ancestor worship rituals. Rituals
were designed to legitimize the position of the Emperor as ruler. When the Shang Dynasty took over,
they took possession of these bronze vessels. This became an important tradition in Chinese dynasties.
The Shang Dynasty ruled China from 1600 to 1046 B.C.E. The earliest recognized Shang site is located at
Anyang. The Shang were most known for their oracle bones, which were used by priests to predict the
future. These priests wrote questions on the oracle bones, touched them with a hot poker or burnt stick
and interpreted the cracks that resulted from the heat. China's earliest writing is found on these oracle
bones.
The Shang Dynasty is very well known for its elaborate bronzework. There bronze vessels, called dings,
were used by emperors as part of ancestor worship rituals that legitimized their rule (see earlier notes
on the Xia Dynasty).
The Zhou Dynasty (1045 2 256 B.C.E.) w the first Chinese dynasty to justify overthrowing the previous
dynasty by arguing that it had the mandate of heaven. A dynasty is a family rulers. The circular pattern
of the rise, fall and replacement of dynasties justified using the idea of mandate of heaven is called the
dynastic cycle. This pattern repeated itself all the way up to the early 20th century in Chinese history.
Signs that a ruling dynasty lost the mandate of heaven included developments such as famine, natural
disasters, war and rebellion.
Confucianism is one of the three major ancient Chinese philosophies. These include Confucianism,
Daoism and legalism. Confucius lived from 551 to 479 B.C.E. His major goal was to be an advisor to a
great political leader and to get that leader to rule based on Confucius's ideas. He was never able to get
a leader to do this. He never actually wrote down any of his ideas. Our evidence comes from texts
written down by students or later Confucian thinkers. His ideas ultimately became very popular in East
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and Southeast Asia. Countries like China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia have been
heavily influenced by the ideas of Confucius.
Confucius believed that education was extremely important to good government. This idea became
the central idea behind China's examination system, which was begun by the Han Dynasty. For much
of Chinese history, many government officials would be chosen based on their performance on these
tests. Thus, they were chosen based on merit (skills) rather than connections (who they were related to
or who they were friends with).
Confucius also believed that if people fulfilled their roles in what he called the five constant
relationships, society would run harmoniously (times would be good). These relationships included the
following: 1) ruler and subject, 2) husband and wife, 3) father and son, 4) elder brother and younger
brother and 5) elder friend and younger friend.
Confucius also believed in the importance of ritual (Li) in making society run harmoniously. In other
words, things had to be done in a very specific way based on tradition. For example, ancestor worship
was very important to Confucius. It was extremely important for one to regularly pay respect to one's
ancestors. Even up to the present day, not properly worshiping one's ancestors could bring one bad
luck.
Sayings attributed to Confucius have been written down the book called the Analects.
The most important Confucian thinker to come after Confucius was Mencius, a student of a grandson of
Confucius. His ideas became the basis of Orthodox Confucianism.
Daoism is another extremely important ancient Chinese philosophy that still influences people today in
East and Southeast Asia. The term Dao means "the way," or "the path." Daoists believe "the way" to
bring about harmony in society is to live in harmony with nature. Daoists believe that time is cyclical
and that balance of opposing forces is important to creating harmony in the universe. The balance of
opposites is symbolized by the Yin Yang symbol, which is a circle that is one – half black and one – half
white, each part symbolizing a fish. Within each half is a little bit of the other half's color in the form of a
dot. Daoists also emphasize what they call the "three jewels." These include compassion, moderation
and humility.
The most famous Daoist text is called the Dao de Jing (Way of Power). It was written by Laozi ("old
master.") He is the most famous and most important of the Daoist philosophers. Daoists believe that
one should live in harmony with the Dao ("way" or "path.") Another way to understand the Dao is to
understand it as the natural order of the universe. One can best understand the Dao by observing
nature. The term De means virtue and demonstrates the importance of moral behavior to living in
harmony with the Dao. Even though it is a book of only 5000 words, the Dao de Jing deals with
everything from the nature of the universe to politics to the cultivation of moral character.
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Daoists strongly promote health and vitality. To do this, they believe one must balance the qi, or life
force, flowing through one's body. This is the idea behind acupuncture, a traditional form of Chinese
medicine that uses needles stuck in certain points of the body to help balance the flow of qi in the body.
The practice of feng shui is based on Daoist ideas as well. Properly arranging furniture in one's office, for
example, can bring one more good luck and economic success.
The Qin Dynasty (221 to 206 B.C.E.) was one of most important dynasties in Chinese history. In spite of
the short time that it ruled China. It started with the reign of Qin Shihuangdi (221 to 210 B.C.E.) Prior to
his role, China had been divided into warring states for about 500 years. He used a huge army to
conquer and unite much of China. He ordered the construction of the Great Wall of China to protect
China from attacks from the North. He united the Chinese by creating a single writing system for all of
China. People speak different languages in China today, but can understand each other because China
has a single writing system. Qin Shihuangdi also created a standard system of weights and measures to
make trade and government business easier. He built a huge tomb with thousands of terra-cotta (clay)
warriors that has only been recently rediscovered.
Qin Shihuangdi believed in a ruling philosophy called legalism. According to legalists, one needed to
clearly write the laws and display them in public. They also believe that people should be rewarded for
being the loss and severely punished for disobeying the laws. Legalists also believed that ruler should
use whatever tactics necessary to keep others from gaining control of the state (government). Qin
Shihuangdi is famous for ordering the execution of Confucians and the burning of their texts because he
perceived them to be a threat to his rule.
The Qin Dynasty fell soon after Qin Shihuangdi died.
Eventually, by 202 B.C.E., the revolutionary Liu Bang defeated his rivals and established the Han Dynasty.
One of the most important developments during this dynasty was the establishment of the Confucian
civil service exam system by the Emperor Wudi. In this system, people who wanted to be government
officials took a series of exams to qualify for government jobs. Though the exams were open to anyone,
rich or poor, only the rich could really afford to take time off from work to study and could afford the
tutoring that would help them pass the tests.
The vast majority of material that people were tested on in the civil service examination system was
about Confucianism. This included not only the ideas of Confucius, but also the many, many books
written about Confucius.
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