China’s First Civilizations
Chapter 7, Section 1 Objectives
• After this lesson, students will be able to:
– describe how rivers, mountains, and deserts helped
shape Chinese civilization.
– explain how rulers known as the Shang became
powerful because they controlled land and had strong
armies.
– describe how Chinese rulers claimed the right to rule by
a Mandate of Heaven.
Why is China Important?
• world’s largest population
• one of the fastest growing
economies in the world
• experiencing major
infrastructure growth
• leader in sciences (computers
& mathematics)
• historically and culturally
significant
• communist government
• a new superpower?
China’s Geography – page 224
• Huang He (Yellow River) –
flows from Mongolia to the
Pacific Ocean
– particularly fertile due to
loess
• Chang Jiang (Yangtze
River) – flows east across
China and empties into the
Yellow Sea
China’s Geography – page 226
• Less than 1/10 of China’s
land is arable (fit for
farming)
– Himalayas – southwest
– Kunlun Shan & Tian Shan –
western border
– Gobi & Taklimakan Deserts
• Gobi – a cold, rocky desert
east of the Kunlun Shan
and Tian Shan Mountains
The Shang Dynasty – page 226
• The Huang He valley was the site of the first
Chinese civilizations.
• Xia dynasty (?)
• Shang dynasty – founded c. 1750 B.C.
– most historians use the rise of this dynasty as the
beginning of Chinese civilization
– made the city of Anyang China’s first capital city
The Shang Dynasty – page 226
• Shang dynasty
– strong monarchy
– aristocracy (nobles
whose wealth comes
from the land they own)
made of warlords and
officials
– large army
– agricultural society (farmers
could be pulled for other
projects)
Spirits and Ancestors – page 227
• spirits in mountains, rivers, etc.
• ancestor worship
– family was central to society
– believed departed ancestors could bring good fortune
and good luck
– offerings made even today
Telling the Future – page 228
• government and religion
closely linked
• oracle bones – first
example of Chinese
writing
The Chinese Language – page 228
• pictographs – characters that stand for objects
• ideographs – a character that joins two or more
pictographs to represent an idea
– advantage: people from all over could read = unity
– disadvantage: too many characters too remember (needed
to know 1,500 to be barely literate)
Shang Artists – page 229
• bronze casting – the best-known Shang art form
The Zhou Dynasty – page 229
• Wu Wang led a rebellion
against the Shang, and
created the Zhou
dynasty (1045 B.C. – 256
B.C.).
– dynasty lased for more than
800 years
– developed the idea of the
Mandate of Heaven
What Was the Mandate of Heaven? – page 230
• mandate – a formal order
• Mandate of Heaven – idea that the king had been
chosen by heavenly order to rule; Zhou claimed
that principle gave them the right to rule
– catches:
• Dao – the proper way kings were expected to rule
• people had the right to overthrow an unjust king or one that
has apparently lost the Mandate of Heaven
– dynastic cycle
The Dynastic
Cycle in China
New dynasty gains
power, restores peace
and order, and claims
to have the Mandate of
Heaven.
Dynasty is overthrown
through rebellion and
bloodshed; new
dynasty emerges.
Strong dynasty
establishes peace and
prosperity; it is
considered to have the
Mandate of Heaven.
Old dynasty is seen as
having loss the
Mandate of Heaven;
rebellion is justified.
In time, dynasty
declines and becomes
corrupt; taxes are
raised; power grows
weaker..
Disasters such as
floods, famines,
peasant revolts, and
invasions occur.
New Tools and Trade – page 230
• iron
– population boom
• roads and canals
• coined money introduced
• silk
The Zhou Empire Falls – page 231
• “Period of the Warring States”
• invention of the saddle and stirrup allowed for
mounted combat
Chapter 7, Section 1 Questions
1. Between which two rivers is the heartland of China
found?
2. Why is China’s arable land limited?
3. What is a dynasty?
4. What were oracle bones and how were they used?
5. What is the Mandate of Heaven and which dynasty
used it as a justification for their rise to power?
6. How is the dynastic cycle connected to the
Mandate of Heaven?
Life in Ancient China
Chapter 7, Section 2, page 233
Chapter 7, Section 2 Objectives
• After this lesson, students will be able to:
– describe the three main social classes Chinese society,
landowning aristocrats, farmers, and merchants.
– explain how Chinese philosophies grew out of a need
for order in China.
Life in Ancient China – page 233
• Chinese social classes
• tenant farmers – people
pay rent by giving the
landlord a portion of
their crops
landowning
aristocrats
peasant
farmers
merchants
What was Life Like in a Chinese Family? – page 234
• Family was the basic building block of Chinese
society.
• filial piety – practice that requires children to
respect their parents and older relatives
• The leader of the family was usually the oldest
male.
Who Was Confucius? – page 236
• Confucius – China’s first
great teacher and thinker
– goal: to bring peace to
society
– basic premise: people
needed to have a sense of
duty
– Confucianism – taught
that if each person does
his or her duty, society as
a whole will do well
What Is Daoism? – page 238
• Laozi – the “Old
Master”(?) founded
Daoism
– people should give up their
worldly desires
– turn to nature and the Dao
– turn away from worldly
concerns and live in
peace with nature
– Dao De Jing
Confucius and Laozi – page 238
What Is Legalism? – page 239
• Hanfeizi – thought people were naturally evil
– developed Legalism – taught that people needed
harsh laws and punishment to make them live
rightly
– strong ruler necessary
– aristocrats liked Legalism
Chinese Ethical Systems – page 239
Chinese Ethical Systems
Confucianism
Daoism
Legalism
• Social order, harmony,
and good government
should be based on family
relationships.
• Respect for parents and
elders is important to a well
ordered society.
• Education is important to
both the welfare of the
individual and to society.
• The natural order is more
important than social order.
• A universal force guides
all things.
• Human beings should live
simply and in harmony with
nature.
• A highly efficient and
powerful government is the
key to social order.
• Punishments are useful to
maintain order.
• Thinkers and their ideas
should be strictly controlled
by the government.
Chapter 7, Section 2 Questions
1. What is unique about the ancient Chinese social
structure?
2. Define filial piety.
3. Name the founders of Confucianism, Daoism, and
Legalism.
4. Which philosophy was centered around a strong
system of laws and punishments in order to keep
society in order?
5. Compare Confucianism and Daoism.
The Qin and Han Dynasties
Chapter 7, Section 3, page 240
Emperor Qin Shihuangdi – page 241
• Period of the Warring
States – period of
violence that made
people look for a way to
restore order
• Qin Shihuangdi (sp) –
“First Qin Emperor” (221
B.C.)
– from the state of Qin
(China)
– establishes the Qin Dynasty
(221 B.C. – 206 B.C.)
A Powerful Ruler – page 241
• Qin Shihuangdi
– based his rule on the
ideas of Legalism
• eliminated opposition
• burned books
• instituted a practice called
“strengthening the trunk and
weakening the branches”
– created an autocracy – a
government that has
unlimited power and uses
it in an arbitrary manner
A Powerful Ruler – page 242
• accomplishments
– set standards for writing,
law, currency, weights, and
measures
– over 4,000 miles of roads
constructed
– irrigation projects improved
farm production
– early Great Wall (one we
know today built in the Ming
Dynasty)
Why Did the People Rebel? – page 242
• Four years after Qin Shihuangdi’s death, the Qin
dynasty was overthrown.
– farmers, scholars, and aristocrats were all displeased
with how he had ruled
The Han Dynasty – page 244
• Liu Bang – founded the
Han Dynasty (202 B.C. –
A.D. 220)
• Han Wudi – wanted
talented people to work
in government;
developed the civil
service exam
– population reaches 60
million under Han Wudi
– expansion policy –”Martial
Emperor”
An Era of New Inventions – page 245
•
•
•
•
•
•
waterwheels
iron drill bits
steel
paper
rudder
advances in medicine
– acupuncture – treatment that is supposed to ease
pain by sticking needles into the skin
The Silk Road – page 246
• Silk Road – network of
trade routes that
stretched from China to
southwest Asia
– China exported silk,
spices, tea, & porcelain
– Zhang Qian – explored
areas west of China;
brought back stories of
the Roman Empire