1. China’s First Civilizations

3. The Shang Dynasty 1750 BC – 1045BC
Divided people into groups :
Kings and his family
Used armies to rule most of northern China-Huang He valley
Divided the kingdom into territories , ruled by warlords
Warlords and other royal officials ( aristocrats)
Wealth came from the land they owned
Passed land and their power from one generation to the next

4. Shang Dynasty - divisions
Traders and artisans
This was a very small group in society
Farmers
Most worked for aristocrats , this was the largest group in society
Grew millet, wheat, rice and raised cattle, sheep and chickens
Enslaved peoples
Captured in war, very small group
A huge gap existed between rich and poor. Kings lived in luxury and treated people cruelly

5. Gods , Spirits and Ancestors

6. Spirits and Ancestors Spirits
Worshiped gods and spirits, both equally important
Spirits lived in mountains, streams and seas
Offering of food and other goods were made to keep gods and spirits happy; angry gods and spirits could cause a bad harvest or armies to lose battles and wars

7. Ancestors Honored departed family members
Offerings were made in the hope that ancestors would help them in a time of need or bring them good luck
Today people go to temples and burn paper copies of food and clothing, copies represent things their ancestors need in the afterlife

8. Telling the Future

9. Telling the future
Kings received power and wisdom from gods, ancestors and spirits
Kings duty was to contact the gods, ancestors and spirits before making important decisions
Kings asked help by using oracle bones
Priests asked questions by scratching questions onto the bones
Hot rods were placed inside the bones, causing them to crack
Cracks made a pattern, which were the answers to their questions

10. Chinese Language

12. Chinese Language Pictographs Ideographs
Characters that stand for objects ( mountains, sun, moon)
Characters usually represented whole words
Some characters stand for sounds
Ideographs
Characters that join two or more pictographs

13. Shang Artists Silk- made into colorful clothing
Vases and dishes made from white clay
Carved statues from ivory and jade
Bronze works:
Sculptures
Vases
Drinking cups
urns

17. Zhou Dynasty

18. Zhou Dynasty 1045BC- 245BC
Because of poor treatment of common people, Shang kings lost the support of the people
1045BC- Wu Wang led a rebellion, defeated the Shang king and formed a new dynasty called the Zhou

19. Zhou Government
King was the head of the government and responsible for defending the kingdom
King appointed officials for different areas of the government ( bureaucracy)
Divided the kingdom into smaller territories and appointed trusted aristocrats to run them
Kings were the link between heaven and earth, chief duty was religious rituals

20. Mandate of Heaven

21. Mandate of Heaven
Kings claimed they ruled China because they were chosen to rule by gods because of their virtue and wisdom ( heavenly law)
Kings were to rule with goodness and wisdom
People expected the king to rule in the proper “Way” called the Dao
Kings must keep gods happy or a disaster or bad harvest could occur, this would be a sign that the king had failed his duty

22. Mandate of Heaven
Gave rights to the people to overthrow a dishonest or evil king and one who failed to do his duty
King was not considered a god
Each new dynasty claimed the Mandate of Heaven

23. Zhou Technology and Trade
Developed irrigation systems and flood control
Iron plows made farming easier and allowed them to expand their farms
Both advances allowed the people to produce a surplus of crops, started trade and caused the population to grow to 50 million people
Trade
Silk was the main trade item and was traded all over Asia and the Mediterranean