Overview & Intro to Ancient China

Intro Ancient China is a river valley civilization Yellow River is where the first civilization began; often called the “River of Sorrows” because of the flooding The second river that cities developed on is called the Yangtze River Established as a civilization roughly around B.C.

Geography Ancient China was the most isolated of the river valley civilizations studied so far Mountains (Himalyans, Tien Shan) in the west Gobi Desert in the north Pacific Ocean to the east Jungles divided China from Southeast Asia China develops very differently and independently of the other civilizations

Government/Politics First dynasty originated around 2200 B.C. China consisted of many states until they were unified under one emperor. Dynasties with emperors were China’s form of gov’t from ancient times until the 20 th century The Republic of China was created in 1912 and lasted until 1949 The Peoples Republic of China (communist) was created in 1949 by Mao Zedong, this is the gov’t still in place today

Writing The Ancient Chinese developed pictographs (represent objects) Over time their writing came to include over 10,000 characters. Writing was taught to only the wealthy who could afford to pay to learn to read/write in ancient times China’s language today has many dialects. Chinese Mandarin is the most common, 995 million people speak this dialect.

Other Topics/Info covered in Ancient China packet 1.Inventions & Technology 2.Daily Life 3.The Silk Road 4.Religion & Philosophies 5.Architecture: Terra Cotta Army, Great Wall of China 6.Famous Emperors