1. Early society in East Asia

2. World’s Oldest Continuous Civilization

3. By 5000 B.C.E. we see neolithic communities

4. Rice and Millet were grown at first, then wheat and barley

5. Rivers:
Yellow (Huang He), Yangzi (Chang Jiang)

6. Yellow:
Loess
Changes path
Floods
“China’s Sorrow”

7. Geographically Isolated by Mountain Ranges and Deserts

8. They created dynasties.

9. Xia
Dynasty
2200 B.C.E

10. Hereditary monarchical rule
Sage-king Yu
Flood control projects
Encouraged cities and metallurgy

11. Shang Dynasty
1766 B.C.E.

12. First written records in China
Used bronze for weapons
Horse-drawn chariots
Large military

13. Shang kings controlled over 1000 towns
Cities were important
City walls thick and tall
Kings’ tombs contain 1000s of objects, animals, and people!

14. Zhou Dynasty
1122 B.C.

15. Mandate of Heaven, Dynastic Cycle
Nobles given land for military service (like feudalism)
Rule was decentralized

16. Iron use and invasion led to the Period of
Warring States=
B.C.E.

17. Social Structure: 1.Royal Family and Nobles 2.Specialized labor
3.Merchants/Traders
4.Peasants
5.Slaves

18. Family and Patriarchy:
Veneration of Ancestors
Eldest male was head of household
At first women had some prominent roles, then completely overshadowed

19. Religion: Organized religion not important
Didn’t have priests like other civilizations
Myths and legends
Shang Di=head god
Ancestor worship

20. Writing:
Secular
Oracle bones
Characters=Pictograph
whole word/idea

21. Books of poetry and history
Essays dealing with moral, religious, and political themes
Book of Changes, History, Etiquette, Rites

22. Book of Songs: 311 poems, after 600 B.C.E.
Many works deteriorated or destroyed

23. Steppe Nomads: Herders not farmers Used horses
Intermediaries for trade
Fought with Chinese

24. Yangzi Valley: “Long river” complex irrigation systems for rice
Societies much like those on Yellow,
State of Chu