1. The First Chinese Dynasty – The Shang Dynasty pp. 173-175
Ch. 7: Early China
The First Chinese Dynasty – The Shang Dynasty pp
Objective: Locate and describe the origins of Chinese civilization in the Huang He Valley during the era of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties

2. Shang Dynasty 1st civilizations started in the Huang He River Valley
Social Hierarchy
Kings
30 Shang Kings
ruled over the 1st cities
Were the political, religious, and military leaders
Theocracies
Ruled in dynasties - hereditary
Last Shang King = Di Xin Shang
Cruel – cut out heart of his uncle for disagreeing
Killed many innocents
Forced to pay high taxes
Sent army to fight in the east but left the rest of his kingdom unprotected
Committed suicide when his army and slaves turned against him and joined the Zhou attack
Appointed warlords - military leaders to help keep the king powerful
Aristocrats
Upper class, royal nobles (land owners)
Warlords
Farmers and Tenant Farmers ( Peasants )
Most people were farmers
Lived outside the city in the country to farm
Tenant Farmers - Rented the land from aristocrat noble landowners
Worked the land and paid part of what they harvested as payment to live and work on the land
Food harvested was given to all
Shang Dynasty
Although peasant farmers in ancient China were one of the lowest social classes, they were still considered important as they produced the food that sustained the society.
Most peasants were very poor and led simple lives.
They worked very hard and rarely had a day off. Peasant men worked in the fields and had to endure harsh conditions. They worked through the burning heat of summer and the bitter cold of winter. The harsh conditions could also ruin their crops and land. If the crops were ruined, poor families had very little to survive on during the winter
Even the poorest peasants were required to pay taxes, even if their crops had not been successful. This often left many families with very little to eat during the winter months.

3. Shang Religion Polytheistic
Shang Ti /Shang Di– supreme (chief) god – ruled over all other gods and nature
King – mortal god, was thought to be the messenger of the gods (similar to how Egypt thought of the Pharaoh)
Gods lived in mountains, rivers, and seas – controlled nature
Honored ancestors or long-dead family
Human and animal sacrifices or offerings hoping that the ancestors would bring good to them and would help make important decisions

4. Seeking Guidance from Ancestors
Kings believed they received their power to rule from gods and their wisdom from ancestors
Asked for help from oracle bones
Turtle Shells & animal bones
Asked a question, drilled hole in bone, put it in the fire, then read the cracks that resulted
Question, answer, and date was often carved into the bone
Oracle bones proved that the ancient Chinese had a writing system

5. Writing Pictographs - characters that represent objects
Ideographs - link two or more pictographs to express an idea
Written on wood – shaved off when needed to erase
Also wrote on bronze, pottery, bamboo, silk, bone, and later the Chinese will invent paper
Also wrote on jade and kaolin (will show pics later in ppt)

6. This painting shows a group of scholars copying documents for their King during the Shang dynasty.

7. Artisan Advances The Chinese were advanced early on in metallurgy
During the Bronze Age, 1500 BC, created weapons, tools, and objects made of bronze

8. Silk Legend says the king’s wife discovered silk
One day, the king’s wife found little worms eating the mulberry leaves in her garden. A cocoon dropped into her hot tea by accident. When she pulled it out, a long thin thread unwound from the cocoon. She wove the strong silk threads into beautiful cloth.
Women raised the silk worms and grew mulberry trees to feed the worms. They boiled the cocoons and gathered the thread. They then wove large amounts of the sild thread into cloth.
Weavers made the silk into clothing.
Invented a loom to help weave the silk faster.
Secret – for more than 3,000 years
Brought great wealth to China as a major trade item.

9. Kaolin Kaolin - fine, white clay made vases and dishes
Today, this fine pottery is called China.

10. Jade and Ivory Jade - a green stone
Many elephants existed in Asia as well as Mesopotamia, Persia, Africa, Egypt, and India
Killed for the ivory tusks
Thutmose III (Egypt) is said to have killed over 120 elephants just for their ivory

11. chopsticks

12. Religions of Multiple Civilizations
Religion(s) +Description
Contrast it to another civilization
Mesopotamia
Egypt
India
China
Israel

13. Work on Research Questions