1. Ancient China

3. SETTING THE STAGE
China’s first city walls were built 1500 years after the walls of Ur, q,000 years after the great pyramids, and 1,000 years after the planned cities on the Indus River.
Unlike most cultures on earth, the civilization that began in China over 3,500 years ago still thrives there today.

4. Geography The Geography of China
Natural barriers isolated ancient China
East: Pacific Ocean
West: Taklimakan Desert and 14,000 ft Plateau of Tibet
Southwest: Himalayas
North: Gobi Desert and Mongolian Plateau
Mountain ranges and desert dominate 2/3 of China’s landmass
Gobi Desert
Taklimakan Desert
Himalaya Mts.
Pacific Ocean

5. Geography River Systems Huang He (Yellow River) in the north
Deposits large amounts of yellowish silt (fertile soil) called loess.
Loess is blown by winds from deserts into the river

6. Geography Yangtze River in central China
Flows east from the Yellow Sea
At 3,988 miles long, it is the longest river in Asia

7. Geography Environmental Challenges Unpredictable
Disastrous floods from the Huang He (China’s Sorrow)
Trade was difficult so settlers became self-dependent
Geography DID NOT completely protect from invasions

8. Geography & Culture Only 10% of China’s land is suitable for farming
Most of farmable land is on North China Plain between Yellow River and Yangtze

10. Civilization emerges Xia Dynasty – 1st Chinese Dynasty
Around 2000 bc
No written records
Shang Dynasty – 2nd Dynasty bc
Capital was Anyang
Surrounded cities with earthen walls for protection
1st to leave written records
Zhou Dynasty – 3rd Dynasty bc
overthrew the Shang
Zhou had already adopted Shang culture, but brought new ideas to Chinese civilization
Forced to move capital to Luoyang after being attacked by nomads in 771bc

11. The origins of Chinese culture
Strong bonds made for unity: the group seems to have been more important than the individual
People’s lives were governed by their duties to two authorities- their family and their king

12. Chinese culture Social classes Family and Society
Sharply divided between nobles and peasants
Governed by ruling class of warriors headed by the king
Family and Society
Family was central
Most important virtue was respect for one’s parents
Elder men controlled the family
Women were inferior
Chief loyalty throughout life was to the family, then beyond this people owed obedience and respect to the ruler

13. Unlike other river valley civilizations, the Chinese held peasants higher than artisans or merchants because they produced food

14. Religious beliefs Family closely linked to religion
Spirits of ancestors had power to bring good fortune; not seen as gods
Paid respects to the father’s ancestor
Use of Oracle Bones to consult the gods
priests scratch question on bones, apply hot poker, bone would split, interpret the cracks

15. Writing Each character stands for an idea, not a sound
No links between spoken and written language
One could read Chinese without being able to speak the language
All parts of China learned the same system of writing even if spoke different language thus unifying parts of China
Disadvantage: Needed to know characters just to be considered literate; scholars knew 10,000 characters
As a general rule, a noble’s children learned to write, but a peasants did not

16. Government Governed by ruling class of warriors headed by the king
Zhou leaders over threw the Shang Dynasty and declared that the final Shang king had been such a poor ruler that the gods had taken away the Shang’s rule
Mandate of Heaven
Royal authority came from heaven, a just ruler had approval
King could lose the Mandate and lose the right to rule
Used to explain rebellion, civil war, and the rise of a new dynasty
Dynastic Cycle
The pattern of rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties
Feudalism develops
A political system in which nobles, or lords, are granted the use of lands that legally belong to the king. In return nobles owe military service to the king and protection to the people

18. Science/Technology Shang Dynasty Bronze work is the leading craft
Silk cloth
Zhou Dynasty
roads/canals,
coined money,
Blast furnaces to produce cast iron

19. Warring States The Zhou were generally peaceful
Later years of the Zhou Dynasty were known as the Period of the Warring States due to weakened power of Zhou kings, attacking nomads and greedy lords

20. What was the great advantage of the Chinese written language?
Explain the Mandate of Heaven and the dynastic cycle in China
Compare the roles of women from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China.