Ancient China

Rivers and Mountains Just like Mesopotamia, Egypt and Indus civilization in China began near the two major rivers in the east. The Huang He or yellow river is more than 2900 miles long. The Chang Jiang or Yangtze is even longer at 3400 miles long Most of China is desert or mountainous Only about 10 percent of the land is suitable for farming.

Dynasties China was ruled my hereditary monarchies. Time periods of history have been broken down into dynasties: which are families of rulers. The first dynasty was Xia c. 2500 BCE Little is known about this dynasty.

Shang Dynasty After the Xia dynasty fell it was replaced by the Shang dynasty c. 1750-1045 BCE The Shang was a agrarian culture ruled by aristocracy. Archeologists have found cities, palaces, tombs, high city walls. Aristocrats were buried in tombs with servants.

Religion Polytheistic Animistic Oracle Bones Human Sacrifice Ancestor worship Bronze casting

Shang Dynasty Di Xin was the last ruler of the Zhou dynasty. He was said to have enjoyed “ponds of wine” and made his people make terrible songs that ruined morale. He committed suicide After suffering a defeat to Wu Zhou

Zhou Dynasty Mandate of heaven Dao Daoism Confucius Civil Service Filial Piety

The Qin Dynasty During the last part of the Zhou dynasty a long civil wars broke out and a new leader was able to unite the Chinese people. Qin Shi Huangdi started the Qin Dynasty c. 246 BC. At the age of 13

The Emperor’s Army In 1974 a farmer came across a pit near the first Qin emperor’s tomb. The pit contained a vast army of more than 6000 figures including: solders, chariots, horses and bronze weapons 10 different head shapes were used. Figures are made of clay, fired then painted.

The Great Wall Qin Shi Huangdi had a major problem to the north. An invading force was threatening town and villages. These people were tough, nomadic and excellent equestrians. The Chinese called them Xiongnu The emperor came up with a plan to build more walls to connect walls that already existed to stop the Xiongnu (Mongols)

The fall of Qin When Qin Shi Huangdi died he left his young son the throne. Qin Shi huangdi’s chief eunuch and prime minister Zhou Gao secretly controlled the government until the young emperor committed suicide. The legacy of this short lived dynasty is in its artifacts and etymology. China is named after the Qin

The Han The Han was the next dynasty to come to power. They created a misleading history of all of the previous dynasties.