From the Yellow Emperor to Hu
Jintao

Mythological Culture Heroes
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Fuxi and Nugua: half animal, half human
Shen Nong: The Divine Farmer
The Yellow Emperor
Xi Ling: The discover of silk and inventor of weaving
Emperor Yao
Emperor Shun
Emperor Yu

Fuxi and Nuwa

Pangu
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…and from his bones the mountains were made, and from his blood the rivers and seas evolved, and from his hairs, the trees and plants were created..
 And human beings?
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…they evolved from his body lice and fleas

Fuxi: The Ox Tamer

Shennong: The Divine Farmer

The Yellow Emperor: the “Father” of the Chinese People

Xi Ling: discoverer of Silk and inventor of Weaving

Unreeling the thread

Emperor Yao

Emperor Shun

Shun performing divinations in the
Palace

Shun escapes the fire

YU: “Without whom we should all have been fishes”

The Xia dynasty: myth or reality?
 The Chinese claim that Yu’s son is the first emperor of the first dynasty
 No written records have been found
 No archeological sites definitely attributed to this dynasty
 But prehistoric cultures existed throughout
China
 Was one of them Xia?

Prehistoric cultures in the Yellow
River Valley

Yangshao Culture

Banpo Village

Shang Dynasty: Religious
Conception of Ancestors

Oracle Bone

Shang Bronzes: symbols of power

Taotie Designs

Last evil King of the Shang: the
“Lake of Wine” and the “forest of meat”

Zhou (Chou) Dynasty: King Wen
(Cultured King)

King Wu (Martial King) and the Duke of Zhou

Map of Western Zhou: 1100-771 BC

Map of Eastern Zhou: 771-221 B.C.

The Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven,
How beautiful and unceasing!
Oh, how glorious
Was the purity of King Wen's virtue!
With blessings he overwhelms us.
We will receive the blessings.
They are a great favor from our King Wen.
May his descendants hold fast to them

Division of Eastern Zhou
 Spring and Autumn Period
– Weak government
– Relative peace
– 200 feudal states
 Warring States Period
– Almost non-existent government
– Anarchy and total warfare
– 7 major states

Warring States Ideal Military
Commander

Who was Confucius? (Kong Fuzi)

Confucius traveled from state to state seeking employment

Confucius playing the Qin (Zither)

Filial Piety (Xiao) is the root of all ethics and politics

Veneration of Ancestors

Ritual is Key to Confucian
Government

Mencius (Mengzi) developed
Confucian ideas

Zhou dynasty tomb

Warring States Artifacts

The Triumph of Qin:
The Fa Jia (Legalist School)
 Lord Yang
 Han Feizi
 Li Su

Qin Shi Huang Di: The Unifier of
China

Map of the Qin Dynasty

Terracotta Warriors

Tomb of Qin Shi Huang

Qin the Unifier
• Standardized writing
• Standardized weights and measures
• Standardized axle widths
• Abolished feudalism and class separation by birth
• Created private property of land and government taxation of land
• Set up centralized governmental structures

Han Dynasty: a class struggle between feudal and centralized government
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Xiang Yu
Liu Bang

Map of the Han Dynasty: China’s first Imperial Dynasty

Map of the Silkroad: the great trading highway between East and
West

Han: 202BC to 220 AD

Han: Centralized government, control of trade

Han dynasty tomb

Iron Dagger

Gold and Silver Acupuncture needles

Achievements of Han
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Establishment of Exam system for selecting civil servants
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Creating silk road trade with Rome and expanding empire
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Adopting Confucianism as state ideology
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State school system
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Invention of Paper

The Three Kingdoms: A Time of
Romance or a Time of Chaos?

Era of Division: 220: 581

Map of Northern and Southern
Dynasties

Arrival of Buddhism

Changes in Era of Division
Integration of the South as central to the
Chinese state
Introduction of Buddhism
Development of Religious Daoism
Intermarriage with non-Chinese
Development of art and literature

Sui dynasty: 581:618
 The Reunification of
China

The Grand Canal

Map of Tang China

Tang Taizong: 2 nd Emperor of Tang

Taizong attended by Palace women

Empress Wu, China’s only female
Emperor

Spirit Way to Empress Wu’s tomb

Empress Wu’s spirit way

Stelae at Empress Wu’s Tomb

The Ultimate cheat sheet

Examination Cells

Emperor Taizu: First Emperor of the
Song Dynasty

Northern Song

Emperor Gaozong of Southern
Song: lover of art and poetry

Southern Song

Yue Fei: supreme loyalty

Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi): Neo-Confucian
Synthesizer

Genghis Khan

Map of Mongol Empire at its height

Khubilai Khan: Yuan Shisi: First
Emperor of Yuan

Shisi’s Empress

Map of Yuan China

Founder of Ming dynasty: Emperor
Taizu

Emperor Chengzu: the Creator of
Imperial Beijing

Temple of Heaven

Forbidden City: Imperial Palace

Ming Tombs

Treasure fleet of Admiral Zheng He

The Great Wall

Founder of Qing Dynasty

Kangxi: longest reigning Emperor in Chinese history: 61 years

Cixi (Tzu Hsi): Ruler from 1861-
1907

The Last Emperor

Sun Yat Sen (Sun Zhongshan) and
Republican China

Chiang Kai Shek (Jiang Jie Shi)

Chairman Mao Zedong (Mao Tse
Tung)

Deng Xiaoping and Zhang Zemin

Hu Jintao