1. Discovering China
A view of China taken from a satellite located 35,785 km directly above China at the latitude of 47 N, and longitude 117 E

2. Learning Targets
Student will be able to:
• describe how China is isolated by its geography.
• explain that China’s history is divided into dynasties.
• describe how China expanded between the Zhou and Han Dynasties.
• explain how standardization, under Shi Huangdi, united the Chinese Empire.
• explain how goods and services were exchanged in China.
• identify the major products that were exchanged along the Silk Road.
• describe the importance that Buddhism had on Chinese culture.

3. Day 1
Vocabulary:
Confucius, diffusion, Great Wall, oracle, morals, peasant, acupuncture

4. Adler Chapters 10 and 13 Impressions of China
China BCE
Adler Chapters 10 and 13
Impressions of China

5. Geographical Influences
Mountains, sea, and desert provide some protection and isolation
Vulnerable to northwest
River valleys 1. Yellow(Huang Ho) earliest civilization - damaging floods 2. Yangtze- very important in unification- transportation- irrigation

6. Earliest Civilizations- most isolated
Earliest- Neolithic- Ban Po- similar to other parts of the world/ one of the oldest
Shang Dynasty BCE in No China along the Huang Ho- raised silk worms- silk part of lure and fascination of China, famous for bronze sculpture, daggers, jade jewelry paid homage to ancestors- family important
Chou (Zhou) longest-developed foundations for Chinese society

7. Ancient China Way of Life- Confucianism p58-59
Moral and ethical code highly developed treat everyone with consideration
Advocated paternalistic government
Value on family head- ancestor respect
Values- loyalty, righteousness, wisdom, sincerity
very practical and humanistic Gentility

8. Daoism (Taoism) LaoTzu (Lao Zi) p 60
contemporary of Confucius
Tao= the road way
Absolute=sum of existence
Goal to bring people into harmony
very introspective
not as influential as Confucius

9. Zhou (Chou) Dynasty (cont)
Feudal society- emperor gave out fiefs
Shang thought they had a divine right- Chou rulers had responsibility
Zhou did take title “Son of Heaven”
compared to medieval Europe- had a code for dress, fighting etc.
no contracts

10. Ancient Philosophies
About 500BCE Buddha, Confucius, Greek Philosophers and Chinese - Lao Tze
Called a flowering period
India more concerned with cosmos and soul
China more concerned with ethical life on earth
Ironic comparison of Asoka and Shi Huangdi

11. Qin (Ch’in) Dynasty 221-206 BCE
dominated by “The First Emperor”
Qin Shi Huangdi (Chin Shi Huang Ti)
ambitious= understatement
centralized the government- rid of feudal lords
constructed roads and canals
The Great Wall- sacrifice AND
An amazing tomb found in 20th Cen

12. Han Dynasty 202BCE-220 CE(Roman Times)
Similar: built cities, officials to carry out edicts, heavy taxes collapsed under invasions and internal revolts
contact along the Silk Road, Buddhist Missionaries to China
combination of Confucius and legalism
advanced in science and literature
invented rudder, paper, magnetic compass, acupuncture
Short period of Civil War- Sui Dynasty connected two rivers with canal- over extended

13. Tang Dynasty 618-907 CE Contributions
Internal renewal(improved lives of people) and external expansion
Used formal civil service exam to recruit-set up university
Tried to equalize land holdings- fought corruption
literature and art flourished- Tang horses p 203
Inventions- paper during Han- used for clothes and tp- 589 used for writing- invented printing, gun powder, encyclopedia

14. Song(Sung) Dynasty 960-1279 moved the capitol east-
economic expansion- used paper money,
used abacus-
Silk Road traffic at height
when dangerous went to sea routes
first period of great oceanic commerce
trades tea, silk and porcelain for exotic woods and precious stones

15. The Mongols Nomadic peoples
Loosely organized clans in a state of stress
Genghis Kahn- son of impoverished noble with army of less than 130,000 conquered Asia
mastered military tactics on horseback- pursue and ambush, firelance, took China
Kublai Kahn- grandson Yuan dynasty at Peking- adopted Chinese ways- lasted 100 years- gave way to Ming dynasty

16. North, South , East, West
Natural barriers isolated China from all other civilizations.
Click on Red Stars to visit China’s natural barriers
Mongolian Plateau
Taklimakan Desert
Gobi Desert
Plateau of Tibet
Pacific Ocean
Himalaya Mountains

17. China: Cultivating the Land
Click Red Stars to find more information.
China is geographically divided into two parts. Outer China is a sparsely settled region of high mountains, plateaus, steppes, and deserts. Agricultural China is where 95% of the Chinese people live.
Under Communist rule, China’s agricultural land and farmers were organized in to collective farms in an attempt to increase agricultural production.
Collective Farming
Can China Feed Itself?

18. China: Size and Population
Click Red Stars to find more information.
China: Size and Population
China
United States
9,596,960 Square area
9,629,091 Square area
1,284,303,705 Population
280,562,489 Population
The population of China is more that one billion people, the largest national group in the world. Two-thirds of the Chinese people are farmers, but only 4% of China’s land can be cultivated.
In an effort to balance the relationship between land and people, China adopted a “one-couple, one-child” policy in the 1980’s.
US Agricultural Production

19. China: Ruling the People
Rulers of the Middle Kingdom Voyage Through the Dynasties
Dynasties: Ancient China was governed by a ruling class of warrior nobles headed by a king. Ruling families are referred to as dynasties. The Shang Dynasty (1766 BC) was the first verifiable dynasty and ruled China for 600 years. The Shang dynasty was overthrown by Zhou who established a dynasty and introduced the idea of the Mandate of Heaven.
The Han dynasty centralized the Chinese government and established a bureaucracy which included eighteen different ranks of civil service jobs that civilians obtained by taking competitive examinations.
The Republic of China was established under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen
The Republic of China moved to the island of Taiwan
1949 –The People’s Republic of China came to power under the Communist leader Mao Zedong.
History of China

20. China: Philosophy and Religion
Analects
China: Philosophy and Religion
Confucius was addressed as The Master all over China.  His teachings were based on virtue and goodness.  Confucius believed that the past tells us how to live in the present.  His sayings were recorded in a book called The Analects. 
Other Chinese philosophies include Taoism ( Daoism) and Legalism
Buddhism spread to China from India.

21. China: Development of Writing
Oracle Bones
The earliest examples of Chinese writing are found on oracle bones. Shang dynasty rulers consulted the gods through the use of oracle bones, animal bones and tortoise shells on which priests scratched questions for the gods. The priest applied a hot poker to the bones which cracked and then interpreted the cracks to see how the gods answered the question.
Chinese Writing
The Chinese writing system is not alphabetic like English. It used symbols for words called characters.  Each character stands for an idea, not a sound. The characters are read vertically in columns (down and up). The written language is not linked to the spoken language, so people all over China could learn the same system of writing, even if they spoke different languages.
Read a Chinese newspaper.
Write your name in Chinese.

22. China: Technology Bronze Silk Iron
Ancient Chinese Inventions
Bronze
Silk
Silk cloth was made by drawing the fine threads from the cocoon of a silkworm, spinning the fiber into yarn, and weaving them into fabric.
During the Shang dynasty, Chinese artisans learned to make beautiful objects from bronze to be used in religious ceremonies.
Iron
Ancient Chinese learned how to build blast furnaces that allowed them to produce cast iron used for weapons and agricultural tools such as the mold board plow.

23. China: Taiwan, Another Chinese Country
Taiwan's 400 Years of History
The island of Taiwan is located about one hundred and twenty five miles off the southern coast of China. Around 1590, Dutch navigator Jan Huygen van Linschoten called the island "Ilha Formosa" or beautiful island. For the next four centuries the island was called Formosa.
Republic of China Era
After the Communist regime under Mao Zedong, took over mainland China in 1949, Nationalist Chinese government led by Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan which is called The Republic of China.
Used by permission of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.
Joint Typhoon Warning Center
During the summer months, Taiwan is struck by typhoons, huge tropical storms with high winds.
Check the weather in Taipei, capital of Taiwan.

24. China: Economic Development
Four Modernizations
After the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, China adopted a plan of modernization, The Four Modernizations. Under the new leadership of Deng Xiaoping, China wanted to improve agricultural production, update and expand industry, modernize its army, and import foreign science and technology.
Deng Xiaoping
At the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party, the National People's Congress of China elected President Hu Jintao to succeed President Jiang Zemin. March 15, 2003
President Hu Jintao moves China toward capitalism
Zhongnanhai, Beijing Headquarters of Communist Party

25. Discovering China© Discovering China: Designed by Martha Green, MEd.
Office of International Outreach
Texas A& M University
For Educational Use Only