1. Chapter 2 Section 4 Notes

2. I. The Geography of China

3. A. Two deserts lay on China’s northern border

4. 1. Taklimakan

5. 2. Gobi

6. B. Two large mountain ranges lay to the south

7. 1. Plateau of Tibet

8. Plateau of Tibet

9. 2. Himalaya

10. C. To the East of China the Pacific Ocean was a border

11. D. Two Major Rivers

12. 1. The Huang He in the north ( Yellow River )

13. 2. The Yangtze in Central China

14. E. China’s heartland

15. 1. The small plain between the two rivers is where most of the farm land was located

16. 2. The Chinese thought of themselves as the center of the civilized world

17. a. They called themselves the Middle Kingdom

18. F. Environmental Challenges

19. 1. Loess was fertile yellow soil blown into the river and as the river flooded it deposited the rich silt

20. 2. Huang He could flood at any time and earned the nickname China’s Sorrow

21. II. Civilization Emerges in the Shang Times

22. A. Paleolithic Age

23. 1. Homo Erectus was there

24. a. Peking Man

25. B. First Dynasties

26. 1. Xia dynasty around 2000 B.C.

27. a. Yu was the leader

28. 1. Irrigation Projects

29. 2. Shang Dynasty 1532 B.C. to 1027 B.C.

30. a. Left written records

31. b. Capitol was located at Anyang

32. 1. Built mainly out of wood

33. 2. Higher class lived inside the city, peasants outside

34. 3. High walls made of earth

35. c. Shang were at war often aggressors

36. C. Social classes of Shang

37. 1. Nobles ruling class of warriors headed by king

38. 2. Peasants

39. D. Shang Bronze

40. 1. Used for weapons

41. 2. Used for ceremonial vessels

42. III. The Origins of Chinese Culture

43. A. Family and Society

44. 1. Most important virtue for Chinese society was respect for ones parents ( Filial Piety )

45. 2. Women were treated as inferior

46. a. Arranged marriages between the age of 13-16 and moved in with husbands family

47. B. Religious beliefs

48. 1. Spirits of family ancestors could bring good or bad fortune

49. 2. (Polytheists) Supreme god – Shang Di as well as lesser gods

50. 3. Oracle bones, animal bones or turtle shells

51. C. Development of writing

52. 1. Came from oracle bones

53. 2. Each character is an idea

54. 3. Spoken language and written language was different

55. 4. Advantage was if you spoke different language you could still read a common language

56. 5. Estimate of 50,000 different idea characters

57. D. Shang Technology, and Artistry

58. 1. Bronze work

59. 2. Silk

60. IV. Zhou Bring new Ideas

61. A. About 1027 Zhou overthrew Shang

62. 1. Justification of overthrow Mandate of Heaven

63. a. Just ruler right to rule by approval of gods

64. b. If didn’t could lose right to rule

65. B. Control through Feudalism

66. 1. System of government based on land ownership and personal service

67. 2. Nobles owed loyalty to king and protected peasants

68. C. Gradually the nobles would become more powerful than kings and rebel

69. D. Improvements in Technology and trade

70. 1. Built roads for trade and army

71. 2. Created civil servant or Government jobs

72. 3. Development of Iron

73. a. Better weapons

74. b. Farm tools

75. E. Period of Warring States

76. 1. Zhou ruled from 1027-256 B.C.

77. 2. Zhou rule weakening kings were attacked and move eastward to Luoyang