Ancient River Valley Civilizations

ANCIENT CHINA Great Wall Began 2000 B.C. Mandate of Heaven Dynasties Silk Astronomy

As in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and along the Indus River, Chinese civilization began within a major river valley. Modern China itself is a huge geographical expanse. Around 4000 BC, this huge area contained an almost infinite number of ethnic groups and languages. This history, in which a vast area populated by diverse ethnic groups became, over time, a more or less single culture, began in the Yellow River Valley.

Yangtze River or Chang Jiang is longer than the Yellow River and flows for about 3,400 miles east across central China where it empties into the Yellow Sea. Has rich soil for farming. Only a little more than 1/10th of the land can be farmed because mts and deserts cover most of the land. These mts and deserts shape China’s history because they were like a wall around the Chinese separating them from most other peoples.

Yellow River Civilization G:Ancient China was formed around the Yellow River. The color yellow symbolized “centrality”, as in China is the center of the world. Huang He (Yellow River) It gets its name from teh rich yellow soil it carries from Mongolia to the Pacific Ocean. It floods – Good: leaves behind rich topsoil in the valley which allows a large amount of food to grow on small farms; Bad: many people drowned and homes were destroyed (call it “China’s sorrow”).

Chinese Accomplishments During the Zhou and Shang periods achievements in astronomy and bronze work learned to make silk create books developed a complex system of writing.

Chinese Astronomy 2137 BC- Chinese book 书经 records the earliest known solar eclipse on October 22nd. ca. 1100 BC - Chinese first determine the spring equinox 黄赤交角. 776 BC - Chinese make the earliest reliable record of solar eclipse.

The Chinese Language Pictographs Ideographs – join together two or more pictographs to form an idea Most characters in their language represent whole words and not sounds.

Chinese Pictographs

Ancient Chinese Social Classes Landowning aristocrats Peasant farmers Merchants

E:Chinese Invented Silk Silk was exotic and expensive, so it was good for trading with the rest of the world. It is made from silk worms. Silk also makes “paper”

Silk worm

Ancient China’s Economy Farming and trade Traditional economy First to develop terrace farming This method is still used today for rice and other crops. Chinese Rice Terrace

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Chinese Inventions In the Middle Ages, the Arabs made known throughout Muslim Spain a material which was to replace all its predecessors. This was paper, whose manufacture they imported from far distant and mysterious realm of China. The first paper appeared in China about 200 BC. Its name is derived from papyrus. Silk was transformed into paper by a process of pasting, but because silk was expensive, wool and cotton came to be used instead. This invention was attributed to Ts'ai Lun. The picture above is the manufacturing process used by the Chinese. They steeped mulberry or bamboo bark in water, then kneaded it to produce a paste from which they obtained smooth thin sheets of paper.

Dynasty Xia dynasty -1st dynasty Shang dynasty – built first Chinese cities 1750 B.C. – 1045 B.C.

According to Chinese political theory, every dynasty goes through the so-called dynastic cycle: A new ruler unites China and founds a new dynasty. China, under the new dynasty, achieves prosperity and a new golden age. The royal family of the dynasty begins to decay, corruption becomes rampant in the imperial court, and the empire begins to enter decline and instability. The dynasty loses the Mandate of Heaven, their legitimacy to rule, and is overthrown by a rebellion. The Mandate of Heaven is then passed to the next dynasty.

Chinese Thinkers Three major theories about how to create a peaceful society. Confucianism Daoism Legalism

Confucius’ ideas Restore family order and social harmony: Fathers should display high moral values to inspire their families. Children should respect and obey their parents. All family members should be loyal to each other. Government: Moral leadership, not laws, brought order to China. A king should lead by example, inspiring good behavior in all of his subjects. The lower classes would learn by following the example of their superiors.

Ancient Chinese Religion Believed in gods and spirits Had to keep them happy by offerings of food and other goods Angry gods and spirits may cause a poor harvest or armies to lose a battle Kings received power and wisdom from them Spirits lived in the mountains, rivers, and seas. Kings contacted them before making important decisions. The kings had priests scratch questions on the oracle bones such as “Will I win the battle?” and “Will I recover from my illness?” then the priests placed hot metal rods inside the bones causing them to crack. They believed that the pattern of the cracks formed answers from the gods. The priests interrupted the answers an wrote them down for the kings. Scratches on oracle bones are the earliest known examples of Chinese writing.

Ancient China

The Great Wall of China was built to keep the Mongols out.

Many died building it, and their bodies were used as filler for it.