Early India and China
Main Ideas
Early civilization arose in the Indus River Valley, flourished, and then
mysteriously died out.
China’s river valley civilizations built the foundations of a long-shared
Chinese culture. The achievements of the Shang and Zhou dynasties
can be felt to this day.
Objectives
• Students will explore how India’s and China’s geography affected the
development of civilization.
• Students will demonstrate the defining features of the Indus Valley
Civilization
• Students will identify the achievements of the Shang dynasty?
• Students will investigate how China changed during the Zhou
dynasty.
India’s Geography
Indus River flows across northwest edge of Indian
subcontinent—large landmass, part of a continent
Fertile Region
• Flood deposits from Indus,
Ganges, Brahmaputra rivers enrich
soil of Northern Plains, make it
very fertile
• Heavy rains also add to fertility of
plains
• Much of rain brought to India by
seasonal winds, monsoons
The people of India’s first civilizations
depended upon the monsoons to
bring the water that their crops
needed.
• Monsoon rains too heavy— crops,
homes, lives could be lost
• Monsoon rains too late, did not last
long enough—people could not
grow crops; famine became danger
Indus Valley Civilization
People have lived in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent for
thousands of years. At first people lived as hunter-gatherers, but slowly
people began to settle down in farming communities.
First Civilization
• Farm communities
gave rise to India’s
first civilization
• Developed in valley
of Indus River
• Began 2500 BC, when
people first
developed writing
system
Cities, Settlements
• 1920s,remains of two
large cities first ruins
found
– Harappa
– Mohenjo Daro
• Civilization called
Harappan
Indus Society
• Settlements well
planned, carefully
laid out
• Streets ran in grid
pattern; major
avenues twice as
wide as minor streets
Economy
• Economy likely based on agriculture, trade
• Most probably farmed, herded livestock
• In cities, many specialized in crafts like pottery, metalwork, jewelry
• Indus traded goods with people nearby, distant civilizations
• Traders from Indus Valley brought goods to locations as distant as Central Asia,
Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia
Few Details
• Archaeologists, historians not able to learn many details about Indus society
• Had writing system, but historians not able to read it
• Some say Indus civilization single society, rather than collection of city-states
Decline
• Civilization thrived from about 2500 BC to 2000 BC, then began to decline
• No one knows what led to decline, or if single cause
• Environmental damage suspected; flooding, disappearance of Sarasvati river
• Invasion, disease may also have helped end civilization
Creative Writing
•Write a letter as if you are an individual
living in Ancient India before its collapse. In
this letter provide an explanation as to what
exactly happened to your civilization.
•Use clues from what we have covered in
the notes to make your story plausible.
•Write this letter to a family member,
friend, or simply to who may stumble upon
it.
China’s Geography
The development of civilization in early China was aided by features like long rivers,
fertile soils, temperate climates, and isolated valleys.
Rivers, Soils, Climates
Loess
• China’s first civilizations developed in
river valleys
• Annual floods deposited rich soil,
loess, on flood plains
• Two major rivers supplied water for
earliest civilizations
• Valley of Huang He particularly fertile
due to loess
– Chang Jiang, also called Yangzi
– Fine dusty soil
– Huang He, or Yellow River
– Carried into China by desert
winds
– Both flow east from Plateau of
Tibet to Yellow Sea
Crops
• Most of eastern China covered with fertile soils; some regions better suited than
others for growing certain crops
• Southern China—warm, receives plenty of rainfall, excellent region for growing rice
• Further north—climate cooler, drier; suitable for grains, wheat.
Isolation
• Combination of rivers for irrigation, fertile soil for planting allowed Chinese to
thrive, as did China’s relative isolation
• Mountains, hills, desert protected China from invasion
• Himalaya Mountains separate southern China from India, rest of southern Asia; vast
Gobi Desert prevented reaching China from west
The Shang Dynasty
According to ancient Chinese records, the Shang dynasty formed around 1766 BC,
although many archaeologists believe it actually began somewhat later than that.
Government and Society
• China ruled by strong
monarchy
• At capital city, Anyang,
kings surrounded by
court
• Functioned to
strengthen kingdom,
keep safe
To Keep Order
• King’s governors ruled
distant parts of
kingdom
• King also had large
army at disposal
• Prevented rebellions,
fought outside
opponents
Agricultural Society
• Shang China largely
agricultural
• Most tended crops in
fields
• Farmers called on to
fight in army, work on
building projects—
tombs, palaces, walls
Oracle Bones
As part of worship, Shang asked ancestors for advice
• Sought advice through use of oracle bones
– Inscribed bits of animal bone, turtle shell
– Living person asked question of ancestor
– Hot piece of metal applied to oracle bone resulting in cracks on bone’s
surface
– Specially trained priests interpreted meaning
of cracks to learn answer
Shang Achievements and Decline
Writing
• Development of Chinese writing closely tied to use of oracle bones
• Earliest examples of Chinese writing, questions written on bones themselves
• Early Shang texts used picture symbols to represent objects, ideas
Bronze
• Shang religion led to great advances in working with bronze
• Highly decorative bronze vessels, objects created for religious rituals
• Also built huge structures like tombs; created calendar based on cycles of the moon,
first money systems
End of Dynasty
• Shang ruled for more than 600 years, until about 1100 BC
• Ruling China’s growing population proved too much for Shang
• Armies from nearby tribe, Zhou, invaded, established new ruling dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty
Beginning around 1100 BC, the Zhou rules China for several centuries. The Zhou
dynasty is divided into two periods. During the Western Zhou, kings ruled from Xian in
a peaceful period. Later conflict arose, kings moved east to Luoyang, beginning the
Eastern Zhou period.
Government
• When Zhou conquered Shang, leaders
worried Chinese people would not
accept them
Dynastic Cycle
• Zhou said Shang overthrown because
they lost gods’ favor
• Introduced idea they ruled by
Mandate of Heaven
• Later rulers used Mandate of Heaven
to explain dynastic cycle, rise and fall
of dynasties in China
• Gods would support worthy rulers, not
allow anyone corrupt to hold power
• If dynasty lost power, it obviously had
become corrupt
In that case, they said, it was the will of the gods that that dynasty be overthrown and
a new one take power.
Zhou Achievements
• Before Zhou, Chinese metalwork done almost exclusively in bronze
• Zhou learned to use iron, became backbone of economy
• Iron was strong, could be cast more cheaply, quickly than bronze
• Iron weapons strengthened Zhou army, as did new weapons like catapult and
creation of China’s first cavalry
Growth
• Population grew under Zhou
• Farmers learned new techniques,
increased size of harvest, created food
surpluses; cities also grew
• Roads, canals allowed better
transportation, communication
• Introduced coins, use of chopsticks
Decline of the Zhou
• Conflict arose during latter part of
Zhou dynasty
• Clan leaders within China rose up
against king
• As time passed, more and more local
leaders turned against Zhou, further
weakening rule (almost non- existent
200BC)
The Qin rose to bring an end to the warring states period, and the Zhou dynasty.