China’s Urban Centers
Targeted grade level: Honors or AP 10th-12th grade
Subject Area: World History
Essential Questions:
1. How much influence did the Imperial Chinese Central Government have on the growth of
urban centers?
2. Why did Hangzhou only begin to prosper after it became the capital of the Southern Song
Dynast?
3. What plan does the Chinese Communist Government have for Hangzhou in the 21st
Century?
Major Understandings:
1. Prior to the establishment of Hangzhou as the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty,
Hangzhou was a small village at the end of the Grand Canal. Although the Grand Canal
allowed more domestic trade within China, Hangzhou did not become a major
metropolitan area until it was named the capital and received more central government
attention
2. After the Song Dynasty was defeated by the Mongols, Beijing was named the capital by
the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties all made Beijing the nation’s
capital and Hangzhou was allowed to return to anonymity outside of it being a destination
for Chinese to see the West Lake.
3. Following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China and subsequent recent
adoption of more capitalist policies in 1979, Hangzhou has seen a rebirth due to a recent
influx of money from the Chinese Communist Government.
4. National Governments play an enormous role in the development of certain metropolitan
areas and those that fail to receive this funding can fall upon hard economic times due to
less capital investment.
Each Lesson will take approximately 45 minutes to complete. Those that teach on the block
schedule can go into more depth or teach 2 of the lessons in one day.
Day 1
Outcomes:
1. Students will describe three reasons for the creation of Xi’an as the national capital of
China during the Qin/Han Dynasties
2. Students will analyze the impact of government on the economics of Xi’an
throughout the early dynasties.
Lesson:
1. As students walk in, give them a copy of the map provided in the lesson. This map
shows the physical geography of China with Xi’an (Chang’an) as one of the cities on
the map and the Silk Road clearly marked as well.
a. Students should be instructed to look for three reasons why China would
choose this place, out of all the other places that could have been chosen, as
the first capital of Imperial China.
b. If the students have had any background on this, they should be able to point
out being on the Silk Road will provide an economic stimulus. Additionally,
being near a major river, home to the Qin State/Emperor, and located in a well
defended area will also help.
2. After students have established that the location of Xi’an was advantageous for many
reasons, handout the primary document(s) (City Planning showing growth or Zhang
Qian’s Western Expedition) on Xi’an’s growth into a major capital city.
a. Have the students fill out an AP PARTS sheet for background or this can be
skipped to allow more time for answering the attached questions.
b. Allow the students to discuss the questions in small groups. Allowing the
students to answer only some of the questions/most of the questions/all of the
questions is up to the discretion of the teacher depending on level of
differentiation required.
c. Follow up questions could include:
i. What impact does government have on the development of cities?
(e.g. Police Stations, Roads, Sewer Systems, etc…)
ii. What does Zhang Qian’s Western Expedition state about the health of
the Silk Road and how much wealth there is to gain from it?
d. Have the students share out their answers as to what they have discovered.
3. Review the first outcome and as an exit ticket, have the students discuss how the early
Imperial Chinese Governments choice of a capital led to the growth of Xi’an.
Day 2
Outcomes:
1. Students will analyze the reasons behind of establishment of the Grand Canal.
2. Students will analyze the effects of establishment of the Grand Canal upon domestic
trade in China.
Lesson:
1. As the students walk into the classroom, hand them the physical map of China with
the major rivers, Huang He and Yangtze, clearly shown.
a. Have the students come up with some possible ways to connect the two areas
of China, North and South.
b. Allow the students to share with partners or groups and then with the class.
c. Students should be able to determine that the rivers flowed west to east, but
trade between north and south was difficult due to the difficult task of trading
over land.
d. Some students may discover that going out into the ocean and around to the
other river would be beneficial. However, this takes too much time.
e. If the students have not come up with the idea of building a canal, try raising
some questions concerning how a civilization would connect two rivers.
f. Use recall on the building of the Great Wall as a way to show them the ability
of the Chinese Government to use man power on a major national
construction product. Re-teaching this would be beneficial if needed.
2. If you have access to Engineering an Empire China – there is a fantastic clip on there
about the building of the Grand Canal. If not, then please feel free to use the attached
Power Point to show the students where the canal was built and how it was built.
3. Handout the primary document concerning trade along the Grand Canal.
a. AP PARTS can be used to help the student orientate themselves with the
document.
b. Attached are questions that allow the students to see the effects of increased
trade along the Grand Canal.
i. This can be assigned as homework or as a closing activity.
4. Review the outcome or if giving the primary document as homework, allow the
students to predict what they expect to see as possible effects of the Grand Canal
upon cities now connected to the waterway.
Day 3
Outcomes:
1. Students will list the causes of the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty and describe the
establishment of the new capital at Hangzhou.
2. Students will compare and contrast Xi’an and Hangzhou as capitals of China.
Lesson:
1. As the students come into class, have the picture of a man on horseback either as a
handout or on the LCD Projector.
a. Each student should be asked to fill out a Fact/Inference paper.
i. When filling these out, for each fact they notice, they should infer
something from the picture.
ii. If the students are having problems, walk them through the handout by
pointing out facts and then inferring about the lifestyle of a nomad/man on
horseback.
iii. Students should draw conclusions concerning ability to cover long
distances, find food for their animals, fight on horseback, among other
things.
2. Now show them the two maps of the Northern Song and Southern Song Dynasties.
a. Have them quickly compare/contrast them. A double-bubble map or Venn
diagram will work well here if needed.
b. Direct students to think about where these nomadic people are coming from and
why/how they conquered the Northern Song Dynasty.
c. Next, have the students predict where a good place for a new capital would be
based upon the economic foundations already established.
3. Hand them the excerpt & map concerning Hangzhou.
a. AP PARTS can be used to help the student orientate themselves with the
document.
b. Attached are questions to help guide them through the material concerning the
new capital at Hangzhou.
c. The teacher can go over the questions in class or collect them as classwork.
4. Have the students fill out a double-bubble or Venn diagram as a review to see what the
students have learned about Xi’an and Hangzhou as capital of China.
Day 4
Outcomes:
1. Students will analyze the growth of Beijing as the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties ruled
over China.
2. Students will compare/contrast the growth of Beijing with the economic decline of
Hangzhou.
Lesson:
1. As students enter the classroom, have them describe what would happen if everyone in
their neighborhood (including their family) decided to move to another city across the
country.
a. Prompt them to think about what would happen to the schools, businesses, and
other entities as a result of this move.
b. Now, change the topic to moving a whole city. Ask them what would happen if
most of the government decided to move to another city. This would include the
governor, representative assembly, and other major governmental entities.
2. Show the students the PowerPoint on the growth of Beijing during the three dynasties
that used it as its capital.
3. Give the students a large poster-board and have them follow the attached directions of
making their own capital city.
4. As the students finish, give them an exit ticket with the following question: If you only
had $100 Million and you spent $99.99 Million on building your new capital city, what
will happen to the previous capital city?
a. You should see a variety of responses with most of them concentrating on the
decline of that city due to its lack of importance.
Day 5
Outcomes:
1. Analyze the impact of the economic policies of Communist China since 1979 by focusing
on the recent development of Hangzhou.
2. Predict the economic impact of these economic policies on cities like Hangzhou.
Lesson:
1. As the students enter the room, have the picture of downtown Hangzhou on the LCD
projector (or as a handout, but in color is preferred).
a. Have the students describe what they see.
b. One should see a variety of responses focusing on the modern buildings, many
cranes in the picture, etc…
c. If the teacher has more time, having the students use some type of worksheet that
analyzes photographs would also be helpful.
2. Split the students up into groups of 2-3 with a posterboard, markers/colored pencils,
rulers, etc…
a. Give each group a different set of handouts.
b. Half of the class should receive a handout that has the students putting together a
city with only a small amount of resources and the other half will receive
instructions to create a bigger city.
i. This activity has the ability to be shortened or lengthened depending on
time.
c. Allow time for debriefing and sharing.
3. Show the students the slideshow of the pictures of Hangzhou.
a. Have the students draw some conclusions as to the future of Hangzhou.
b. Students should be able to predict some of the basics of a larger metropolitan
area.
c. This can be done as a closing assessment too.