•Huang He or
Yellow River –
“China’s
Sorrow.”
•Carries yellow
mud downstream.
Map of China above.
Can you find the Huang
He?
•River runs
roughly 2,900
miles.
Men fishing in the Yellow River.
•Chang Jiang or
Yangtze river
flows 3,400 miles.
Map of China above.
Can you find the Yangtze?
•Along with the
Yellow river,
these two rivers
supported one of
the great food
producing areas
of the world.
Natural barriers
•Pacific Ocean
•Himalaya Mtns.
•Gobi Desert
•Taklimakan
Desert.
Global satellite image
of China
•Plateaus
•Only 10% of the land
was good for farming.
•The Chinese
developed in isolation.
•Conflicts with
northern regions, or
“barbarians” was a
constant problem.
•Last civilization to
develop.
•1,500 years after Ur and
1,000 years after the
building of the pyramids.
•Called the “Middle
Kingdom” reflecting that
China was heaven on
earth.
•Huang Di or the “Yellow
Emperor” ruled from 2698
BC – 2599 BC.
•He is credited with
developing Chinese
medicine, the compass,
and the Chinese calendar.
•His wife, Luo Zu taught
the Chinese how to weave
silk from the silkworm. The “Yellow Emperor” – image
Wikipedia Commons.
•Production and
cultivation of silk
worms.
•These worms
form the silken
cocoons that silk
threads are made
from.
•The most popular Chinese export was
silk. The Silk Road carried this valuable
commodity. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
•Cultural Diffusion - when
a cultural trait, material
object, idea, or behavior
pattern is spread from
one society to another.
•The Silk Road allowed
greater opportunities for
the exchange of products
and ideas between the
East and West.
•Xia (Hsia) Dynasty
•2205 B.C. -1766 B.C.
•1st King was Yu the
Great.
•Contributions to
culture – irrigation
canals, bronze, silk,
potter’s wheel,
chariots.
Yu the Great – leader of the
Xia Dynasty.
Excavation site of the capital of Xia. This
was the first to develop along the river
Huang He.
•Cities were carefully
planned.
•1st with a simple,
written language.
•Social classes
developed.
Simple pictographs
of the Shang
Dynasty.
•Most people were
farmers.
•Shangs – Warlike
kings.
•Ruled a Feudal
Society.
•Capital was at Anyang.
•Left large royal
palaces and tombs.
•Warlords are given land to rule and farm by
the Shang King.
•In return, if the king goes to war, the warlord
and his army show up to defend the king.
•Shang Craftsmen
were legend –
especially the
bronze casters.
•Chief exports of the
Shang were silk,
salt, iron, cloth and
bronze vessels.
Shang Bronze – Elephant
and warrior’s vessel.
Bronze owl and
container above.
•Oracle Bones –
Communicate with the
gods.
Oracle bones – image
Wikipedia Commons.
•A question was written
on the bone, then a
priest read the cracks,
believing this could tell
the future or answer to
a problem.
Disney’s
Mulan had
an
ancestor
named
Moo-Shu!
•Ancestor Worship –
the belief that spirits
of family ancestors
could bring good
advice/luck, or evil
fortune to the living
family members.
•This was the longest
lasting dynasty in
Chinese history.
•Lasted 800 years.
•The Zhou’s were the
first to claim a
Mandate of Heaven,
right to rule.
•Mandate of Heaven The king had direct
authority from heaven
to rule and to keep
order in the universe.
•New leaders will
challenge kings for the
“Mandate of Heaven.”
Good luck,
crops, no
disasters or
attacks.
•Zhou king-link between
heaven and earth.
•Kings perform ritual,
ceremonial acts.
•King in charge of the
army and defense of the
country.
•King rules proper
“Way”, Dao.
•Da’Mo – Founder of
Zen Buddhism.
•He established the
Shaolin Monks.
•He developed ritual
exercises to work the
body – called
“learned skill” or
Kung-Fu.
•A candidate begged the
master to teach him.
•He shaved his head, he
obeyed the master, and he
swore an oath to the
master.
•The Shaolin had to master
5 forms of combat to be
considered Masters.
•“Temple of Heaven” – Beijing.
•Site for sacrificial rituals during the
Zhou Dynasty. Image courtesy of Microsoft Office Online.
•Basic economic and
social unit.
•Families had a
sacred quality that
symbolized the entire
Chinese social order.
•Filial piety was key.
•Filial piety – a love and
respect for one’s parents and
ancestors. Your needs and
desires are put aside to honor
your country and your
parents.
•Confucius taught this - it is
considered the 1st virtue in
Chinese culture.
•Simple text
developed during
Shang dynasty.
Original drawings
from the Shang
period.
•Pictographs/picture
symbols or
characters form
their language.
Mountain
•Each picture
represents an object
or idea.
•If you can read
1,000 characters –
literate.
•10,000 – Scholar!
•(221 – 206 BC)
•Named for Qin
Shihuangdi – “The First
Qin Emperor.”
•Where we get the name,
“China.”
•A strong leader who
adopted legalism.
•People who
opposed him were
punished or
executed.
•Scholars were
killed, books that
criticized him –
burned.
•Qin unified the
Chinese World.
•Built
connecting
roads, coined
money, and cast
better tools.
•He began the
Great Wall of
China as
protection from
Northern tribe,
Xiongnu.
Section of the Great Wall of China –
Image Wikipedia Commons.
•Finished 1500
years later.
Both were built by Emperor Qin Shihuangdi .
•202 BC – 220 AD
•One of the most inventive
and creative dynasties.
•Founder Liu Bang –
“Exalted Emperor of Han”.
•Ruled 20-60 million
people.
Map of the Han Dynasty –
image courtesy of
•On the following slides are a sample of their
Wikipedia Commons.
creations.
•Paper making
from bamboo
stems.
•Developed in
2nd or 1st BC –
used in China
by 105 AD.
•During the Han
Dynasty, a
seismograph for
detecting
earthquakes
was developed.
•Xia Dynasty: Silk
•Shang: Bronze casting
•Zhou: Mandate of Heaven.
•Qin: Great Wall of China
and the Terra Cotta
Warriors.
•HAN: Glazed porcelain,
paper, seismograph.
Paper being made from bamboo –
Image courtesy of Wikipedia
Commons.