World History
Qin & Han dynasties (China)
9/13/13
Warm-up
• What did the philosophies of Confucianism &
Daoism say? How would you like to live under
a Chinese government that followed one of
these philosophies? Why?
4th period…
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Homework: turn it in.
Classwork: focus and don’t be lazy.
PUT A HEADING ON EVERYTHING
Stay organized—use your binder.
• Progress reports: next week.
Qin intro
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bZXxGv5
2t8
Read about the Qin
• Pages 223-224 under heading “The Qin
Dynasty”
Qin extras
• Page 224: “He then divided China into 36
districts and appointed loyal officials who had
no ties to noble families to govern the
districts.”
• What is this an example of?
Qin extras
• “Burning of books and burying of scholars.”
• They burned any books that disagreed with
legalism and (though some historians don’t
think this really happened) buried opposing
thinkers alive.
Questions on the Qin
• What was legalism? What was it like?
• How did the Qin dynasty deal with people
who didn’t agree with them?
• How did the Qin try to make China uniform?
HAIKUS
• A haiku is a three-line poem with 5 syllables, 7
syllables, & 5 syllables. Example:
Phillis is a man
Who teaches the best he can
His students are lame
Haikus
• Write a few haikus about the Qin dynasty (use
vocabulary words in some).
• Jumping off points:
What was life like for people under the Qin?
Why was the Qin worse than the Shang or Zhou
dynasties?
What did Qin leaders probably think about the
people?
Great Wall of China
• http://www.history.com/topics/great-wall-ofchina/videos#deconstructing-history-greatwall-of-china
• http://www.history.com/topics/great-wall-ofchina/videos#building-the-great-wall
Questions
• Why did the Qin build the northern wall?
• What was the cost of building the wall?
• Would you have made the decision to build
the Great Wall?
RAFT
• Role, Audience, Format, Topic
R: Qin Shi Huang, 220 BCE
A: Top personal advisor, Li Si
F: Letter
T: Should I begin unifying the defensive walls
north of China? Weigh the positives and
negatives and decide. Include a reference to
legalism.
Qin Shi Huang
• What would he have argued about building
the wall??
The Great Wall!
Silk Roads
• The Silk Roads were constructed under the Han
Dynasty.
• Textbook page 225: “In addition, he gave large blocks
of land to his relatives and military supporters. This
distribution of land earned him the military’s loyalty.”
• What is this an example of?
• The Han Dynasty used the concepts of both feudalism
& bureaucracy in their government.
• Bureaucracy is an extremely useful tool! Almost every
government uses it!
Han Dynasty
• The Han Dynasty softened legalism (from the
Qin Dynasty) and followed Confucianism.
Han Dynasty - economics
• What are economics?
Han Dynasty - economics
• The Han issued coins from a central mint
(place you make money). Very strong currency
that outlasted their dynasty.
• The Han nationalized salt and iron industries
to make more money for the government!
• The Han expanded the Silk Road…
Silk Road
• What was the Silk Road? Look at the map on
page 230 and read the 4 paragraphs under
“The Silk Roads” & “Buddhism in China.”
• Explain in a few sentences what the Silk Road
was.
Silk Road
• The Silk Road was a trade route between China, India,
Persia, Arabia, & Europe.
• It had a huge influence on developing each location, as well
as leading to cultural diffusion.
• China got rich off of selling their silk.
• Buddhism came to China from India.
• Other religions spread around the globe (Christianity, Islam,
Judaism, & Zoroastrianism)
• The bubonic plague was carried to Europe.
• Art was exchanged, leading to things like Greco-Buddhist
art.
• Chinese Four Great Inventions brought to the West: paper
making, printing, gunpowder, and the compass)
Silk Roads
• Why were the silk roads important?
• Explain in a paragraph.
Learning tidbit…
• The Han came up with acupuncture. This
involves sticking needles into your body to
relieve pain .
• Why does this work??
Review…
• QUIZ ON TUESDAY
• All of India & China…study this weekend!
• Don’t forget the geography…