Bell Ringer Name 3 inventions of the Egyptians Explain why natural barriers were important to the Egyptians Why was Egypt called the “Gift of the Nile”?

Name the Continents 1 2 4 3 5 7 6

Middle Kingdom – Ancient China

Emergence of River Valley Civilizations

Geographical Features Natural Borders Himalayas, Kunlun Shan,Tian Shan (mountains) Gobi desert Pacific Ocean to east Chinese isolation contributed to the Chinese belief that China was at the center of the earth and the sole source of civilization. Lack of contact with foreigners helped give the Chinese a strong sense of identity and superiority. They regarded their land as the only civilized land and called it Zhongguo or the Middle Kingdom.

Geographical Features Rivers Hwang Hu (Yellow), Chang Jiang (Yangtze), Xi Jiang (West) Yellow silt and favorable climate make good farming Water routes enabled trade and travel

Ancient Chinese Dynasties Dynasty – ruling family or group Xia (first) 2100 BCE – 1800 BCE Shang 1500BCE- 1100BCE Zhou (longest) 1100BCE – 256BCE Qin (Chin) 221 BCE

Bell Ringer What did the Chinese people call their civilized land? What caused the Chinese people to be isolated? What is it called when a civilization has a ruling family? What is the Mandate of Heaven?

Xia Dynasty The Xia were agrarian people (farmers), with bronze weapons and pottery. The Xia Dynasty had no formal written language, so it was a prehistoric civilization. The rulers often acted as shamans, communicating with spirits for help and guidance

Shang China 1600 BC – 1122 BC Ruler Tang overthrew the Xia Dynasty and established the Shang Dynasty in 1750 BCE.

Shang Dynasty   The Shang civilization consisted of farmers who also used bronze tools, merchants and artisans. The cities were surrounded by walls. The Shang Dynasty developed a writing system based on characters. The Shang Dynasty began ancestor worship; the people believed in life after death.

Zhou (Joh) Dynasty The Zhou people rebelled against the Shang Dynasty in 1045 BCE The Zhou Dynasty developed the principle of the Mandate of Heaven – the belief that they were ordered by deities in heaven to replace the Shang ruler. According to the Mandate of Heaven, the king, later called emperor, ruled by divine right. Divine right means that a ruler’s powers come from the gods. Eventually the Mandate of Heaven gave the people the right to rebel against unjust rulers. This led to the cycle of the rise, rule and fall of future dynasties. The Mandate of Heaven became the basis for the way Chinese changed rulers.  

Mandate of Heaven Family of rulers have the approval of the ancestors or gods, thus dynastic rule is a theocracy However, as earthly events appear and have a negative impact, then it is assumed that the emperor has lost the approval of the ancestors

Qin (Chin) Dynasty Ruled in western China in 221 BCE Zheng claimed himself the first emperor and named himself Shi Huangdi. Shi spent 20 years conquering warring states to unify China. Shi embraced the Legalism philosophy Legalism- strict obedience of legal system To further unify China Shi abolished feudalism, in which local lords ruled their land and had their own armies. Shi began the construction of the Great Wall of China to show how the government could rally the people to comply The Qin Dynasty began to fall with Shi Huangdi’s death in 210 BC. China gets its name from this dynasty

The first true emperor of China, was Shi Huangdi. Shi Huangdi’s most remarkable achievement was the Great Wall.

Mandate of Heaven Activity I will split you into groups. I will choose one group to be the “ruling dynasty”. I will give your group 3 cards. Each card will have an event on it. For each card, you will have 1 minute to plan a response to the event. If it’s a bad event, you should come up with solutions to the problem in an attempt to explain why you should continue to rule. If it’s a good event, you should explain how this shows you are a great ruler and how you might use your good fortune. Each group will take a turn as the ruling dynasty. While the ruling dynasty is planning, the rest of the class should discuss with their group how you would respond if you were the ruling dynasty. At the conclusion of one minute planning, a speaker from the ruling dynasty will explain their plan to the class. You will have two minutes to make your explanation and, if time permits, take questions. When three minutes is up, the class will vote whether they think the dynasty still has the Mandate of Heaven (approval from Gods to rule). When the ruling dynasty has gone through your three cards, if they have a majority of positive votes, they have proven effective rulers. If they have a majority of negative votes, they’ve lost the Mandate of Heaven.

What Have you learned? Create a chart comparing the Chinese Dynasties. The first column should name the dynasty. The second column should display the dates. In the third column, draw a picture that represents the dynasty. In the last column describe the dynasty.