1. huang he CIVILIZATION

2. CHINA 2000 BC – 200 BC River – Huang He (Yellow River)
Loess: fertile deposit of windblown soil

3. CHINA 2000 BC – 200 BC
Isolation – natural geographic barriers ex: Pacific Ocean, Himalaya Mts, Gobi Desert, Plateau of Tibet – cut off China from other civilizations

4. CULTURE Chinese – others “Barbarians”
Center of the world – “MIDDLE KINGDOM”

5. FAMILY Family central to society Respect for parents, elders, men
Men controlled property
Women had to obey fathers/husbands; arranged marriages

6. RELIGION POLYTHEISTIC Spirits of ancestors had power
Gods were consulted through the use of “oracle bones” which predicted the future

7. RELIGION
Priests wrote questions on animal bones, heated up the bones, and read the cracks.

8. WRITING No links between written and spoken language
Benefit – all Chinese could learn the same system of writing even if they spoke different languages
Helped unify diverse land – easier to control

9. WRITING
Disadvantage: Very complicated; hard to learn – time consuming – usually only the rich had time to memorize

10. GOVERNMENT
Right to rule came from the GODS called the “Mandate of Heaven”
The rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties in China was known as the Dynastic Cycle
1st Dynasty – Shang
2nd Dynasty - Zhou

11. CREATED
PEACE
TURMOIL
PROBLEMS

12. TECHNOLOGY/TRADE Roads/Canals Coined Money Silk
Tools – sickles, knives, spades
Blast furnaces –cast iron

13. DYNASTIC CYCLE