Eastern River Valleys (2)
(2500BC – 1000BC)
Huang Ho Valley
- Geography
o Huang Ho River
 Flooded yearly
 Provided rich soil
o Valley
 Cut off from other civilizations
 Farmed & used river for travel & trade
- Legend
o Pangu – worked 18,000 years  universe
o Yü the Great (a man-god)(23rd cent. bce) drove dragons out of valley
o Drained the land
o Found Xia kingdom
Xia Dynasty (2205 – 1766bce)
 Improved agriculture
 Writing system
o Government
 King (hereditary) – ruled clan & geographical region
 Performed rituals, sacrifices, waged war
 Constructed irrigation & flood control works
 Mediated btwn humans & god of the spirits
Shang Dynasty (1766 – 1122bce)
 1st records of Chinese civilization
 Invaders
 Introduced irrigation & flood control
o Government
 King (hereditary)
 Bureaucracy – organized by levels and tasks
 Military maintained territory
 Organized work gangs for water control
o Economy
 Class system: rich / poor
 Segregated cemetaries
 Agriculture: millet, barely, rice
 Silkworms: spin thread from cocoons  silk
 Artisans
 Jewelry: jade, ivory, bone
 Ceramics
 Potters: kaolin & glaze
 Bronze castings
 Mining: copper & tin
o Astronomy

Calendars (sun & moon)
 Lunar: record events
o 10 days x 3 = 1 month
o 1 month x 12 = year
o 5 days added by priest-astronomers
o Language
 Spoken
 Monosyllabic
 No variations of words
 Written
 1 symbol per word
 Pictographs  ideographs
 Signifier + phonetic = pronunciation
 Calligraphy
o Religion
 Animism (spirits live in everything) + ancestor worship
 Dragon
 Symbol of Chinese rulers
 Shang Ti – principle god
 Controls destiny & forces of nature
 Intercession through ancestors
 Gave rulers divine justification
 Priests
 Foretold future: learn wishes of spirits/ancestors
 Oracle bones
o Questions written  heated  read cracks
 Reconstruction solves historical & cultural questions
o Fall of the Shang
 Herders from Gobi Desert & Tian Shan foothills move in
 1100 BC - Battles w/ neighboring states
 Tribal alliance
 Zhou & neighboring tribes work against Shang
 Ki-xin (last emperor) cannot defend
 Zhou claim Shang are unfit & corrupt
The Zhou, Qin & Han Dynasties
- Zhou Dynasty (1100 – 200 bce)
o Mandate of Heaven – gods determined ruler of China
 Command
 Keep gods contented
 Perform rites to ensure fertile soil
 Control rivers
 Subsequent rulers justify takeover using mandate
o Population growth
 Trade increase
 Copper coins
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 Iron tools & plows
 Canals, dikes, reservoirs for irrigation
o Government
 Territories granted to royal family & allies
 Gave tribute & military service
 Hereditary – renew pledge each generation
 800’s bce – Zhou king loosing control to local rulers
 711 bce – Zhou capital invaded
 Fled to east – Eastern Zhou
o Warring States
 Compete for China in vacuum left by Zhou
 Local rulers fight to expand
Qin Dynasty (221 bce)
o Shi Huangdi – “first emperor” – founder
o 1st Chinese empire
 Xi’an – capital
 Accomplishments
 Standardized weights, measures, coinage
 Uniform system of writing
 Ruling
 Conquered central China
 Divided area into military districts
 Code of Qin
o Uniform system of laws
o Uniform taxation system
o The Great Wall begins (1500m)
 Guard against invaders
 Northern & northwestern territories
o Autocracy
 Emperor in total power
 Scholars suppressed or executed; books burned
 Forced labor in public works
 202 bce – Liu Bang overthrows empire – Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty (202 – 220 ad)
o Centralized government (less harsh)
 Less violent than Qin
 Modern Chinese – “Sons of Han”
o Emperor Wu Di (140 – 87 bce)
 Xi’an - capital
 Extended into Manchuria, Korea, Southeast & Central Asia
o Civil Service System
 Manage day-to-day business of empire
 Examination system
 Imperial university
 Candidates
 Family connections
 Wealthy enough for books & schooling
o Accomplishments
 Leveling: gov’t evens out farm products
 Safe surplus for shortage times
 Pax Sinica – Chinese peace
 Silk Road – trade route from China to Mediterranean
 Silk, jade for wools, gold & silver
 Pop. Of 60m
Philosophies of Ancient China
Confucianism
Daoism
- Confucius (Kong Fuzi) (c551-479 bce)
Dao – “Way”
Little to do w/ gods, meaning of death, life after
-Not concerned with meaning of
death
the universe
Philosophy taught:
-Proper behavior
Importance of family
-Withdraw from world &
Respect for elders
contemplate nature to
Reverence for ancestors
understand
View of Dao
-Strive for harmony w/ Dao
Duty – family & social order come before
Quiet, thoughtful, humble
individual
Shunned politics;
Humanity – compassion & empathy for others
don’t seek power or
End political disorder
material wealth
People should accept role in society &
-Appealed to peasants, artists,
perform duties
poets, Confucianists
Government should be virtuous
Honest & show concerns for others
Well-educated & morally excellent officials
Set good example
Virtue – correct behavior toward others
Golden rule: “What you do not wish for
yourself, do not do to others.”
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Dualism of nature
o Balance of complementary forces
 Yin – female, dark, passive, night
 Yang – male, bright, active, day
Buddhism
o Missionaries from India
o Mahayana Buddhism
 Buddha is savior committed to helping humans escape miseries
 Offered comfort & tranquility
 Universal charity & compassion
Effects of religion on Chinese society
o Legalists: centralized political ideas
o Confucianism: reverence for past & emphasis on family
 Revere ancestors & worship emperor as divine being
Concern
Pow
Law
Peop
nature)
Peac
o Daoism & Buddhism: humility, contentment, loyalty, justice, wisdom,
obedience
Chinese Life & Culture
- Family & Social Life
o Individual position determine by family position
o All members of family live in same house sharing duties
o Family structure
 Men
 Older, more authority
 Age respected as wisdom
 Father is head
o Arranged grand & children’s marriages
o Decide how much education sons receive
o Choose son’s career
 Women
 Subordinate to men
 No property rights
 New wife: “Servant” in husband’s family’s household
 Power w/in household
o After birth of child (son)
 Family keeps genealogy – record of family tree
 Member dies - honored ancestor
 Altar & offerings
- Economy
o People live as village farmers
 Nature: too much, too little rain – destroy crops
 North: millet & wheat
 South: rice
 Government: pay taxes, laborers
 Leave farm to work on roads, canals, local projects
o Trade
 Improved during Qin Dynasty
 Standardized currency, weights, measures
 Silk Road links China to west
o Literature
 Five Classics: basis for scholar education
 Book of Poetry: 300+ songs of love, joy, politics &
domestic life
 Book of History: speeches & documents about gov’t
 Book of Divination: art of foretelling future
 Spring & Autumn Annals: events in city-state of Lu
 Book of Rites: etiquette & ceremonies
 Added The Analects by Confucius
 Helped create common culture
- Science & Technology
o Astronomy
 Computed year: 365 ¼ days
 28 bce: first sun spots
 Instruments to observe movement of planets
o Seismograph – register earthquakes
o Paper (105 ad)
 Hemp, old rags, fishing nets, mulberry tree bark
 Replaced papyrus
o Printing process
o Sundial, water clock
o Chemistry
 Dyeing cloth
 Glazing pottery
 Medicine: herbs & minerals
o Acupuncture
 Good health depends on movement of life-force energy
 Illness/pain results from interference
 Needle into points to enable life-force to move
 May effect nervous system
 Modern use: anesthetic, arthritis, cancer