Chapter 2 Section 4 Notes
I. The Geography of China
A. Two deserts lay on China’s northern border
1. Taklimakan
2. Gobi
B. Two large mountain ranges lay to the south
1. Plateau of Tibet
Plateau of Tibet
2. Himalaya
C. To the East of China the Pacific Ocean was a border
D. Two Major Rivers
1. The Huang He in the north ( Yellow River )
2. The Yangtze in Central China
E. China’s heartland
1. The small plain between the two rivers is where most of the farm land was located
2. The Chinese thought of themselves as the center of the civilized world
a. They called themselves the Middle Kingdom
F. Environmental Challenges
1. Loess was fertile yellow soil blown into the river and as the river flooded it deposited the rich silt
2. Huang He could flood at any time and earned the nickname China’s Sorrow
II. Civilization Emerges in the Shang Times
A. Paleolithic Age
1. Homo Erectus was there
a. Peking Man
B. First Dynasties
1. Xia dynasty around 2000 B.C.
a. Yu was the leader
1. Irrigation Projects
2. Shang Dynasty 1532 B.C. to 1027 B.C.
a. Left written records
b. Capitol was located at Anyang
1. Built mainly out of wood
2. Higher class lived inside the city, peasants outside
3. High walls made of earth
c. Shang were at war often aggressors
C. Social classes of Shang
1. Nobles ruling class of warriors headed by king
2. Peasants
D. Shang Bronze
1. Used for weapons
2. Used for ceremonial vessels
III. The Origins of Chinese Culture
A. Family and Society
1. Most important virtue for Chinese society was respect for ones parents ( Filial Piety )
2. Women were treated as inferior
a. Arranged marriages between the age of and moved in with husbands family
B. Religious beliefs
1. Spirits of family ancestors could bring good or bad fortune
2. (Polytheists) Supreme god – Shang Di as well as lesser gods
3. Oracle bones, animal bones or turtle shells
C. Development of writing
1. Came from oracle bones
2. Each character is an idea
3. Spoken language and written language was different
4. Advantage was if you spoke different language you could still read a common language
5. Estimate of 50,000 different idea characters
D. Shang Technology, and Artistry
1. Bronze work
2. Silk
IV. Zhou Bring new Ideas
A. About 1027 Zhou overthrew Shang
1. Justification of overthrow Mandate of Heaven
a. Just ruler right to rule by approval of gods
b. If didn’t could lose right to rule
B. Control through Feudalism
1. System of government based on land ownership and personal service
2. Nobles owed loyalty to king and protected peasants
C. Gradually the nobles would become more powerful than kings and rebel
D. Improvements in Technology and trade
1. Built roads for trade and army
2. Created civil servant or Government jobs
3. Development of Iron
a. Better weapons
b. Farm tools
E. Period of Warring States
1. Zhou ruled from B.C.
2. Zhou rule weakening kings were attacked and move eastward to Luoyang