14.1 Settling along the Huang River

Geography of China China is about the size of the U.S. Most of China is mountains and deserts About 5,000 years ago people settled in villages along the Huang He or Yellow River. Despite the difficulties people found the resources they needed for civilization to begin

Geography of China River Systems Rivers helped people here just as in Meso., India, & Egypt They watered their crops and provided for transportation The Huang & the Chang begin the mountains of western China The Huang flows across the northern plains and into the Yellow Sea Loess blows from the Gobi desert and into the Huang River Valley giving it its yellow color and name Huang means yellow

Geography of China River Systems The loess settles like silt in the other river valleys This fertile and soft soil allowed for better farming The yellow of the river also gives the Yellow Sea its name

Geography of China Isolation Surrounded by 2 large deserts – the Taklimakan and the Gobi to the north and west Mountains – the Himalayas to the west and others to the south The Pacific Ocean to the east This made trade and the exchange of ideas more difficult than in the Middle East and India China developed its own unique way of life

Shang Dynasty Out of these early settlements rose the Shang Dynasty During the stone age strong rulers began to take control of surrounding villages These grew into small kingdoms One of these kingdoms, the Shang, began to expand in the 1700s BC Their DYNASTY lasted for almost 600 years

Shang Dynasty Shang Government The Shang kept all of the power within their family They organized farmers to clear more land Could afford a large army to attack nearby villages Expanded their territory Soldiers fought with modern technology (for the time) Used their wealth to build walled cities Controlled the floods with dikes

Shang Dynasty Writing Earliest Chinese writing was found on oracle bones Scholars learned a lot about early Chinese culture from these bones They may have written on paper or bamboo also, but it doesn’t last as long Used pictographs instead of an alphabet By 1300BC had a complete writing system Much of the writing is understood today Spoken Chinese is different for many people, but the written language is the same.

Shang Dynasty Bronze Metalworking Early Chinese created works of art in pottery and jade But are best known for their work with bronze Bronze was expensive Only the most important materials were made with bronze Daily use tools were made from bone and stone