Chapter 4 Ancient Chinese Civilization

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Chapter 4 Ancient Chinese Civilization

• 1500 BC AD 589

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Section 1 Geographic and Cultural Influences

• How does interaction with other societies
  influence the development of a society or
  culture? What might a societys culture be like
  if the people had no contact with foreigners?
• China is a land of enormous size, great
  geographic variety, and wildly contrasting
  climate patterns.

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• Huang River mighty river that has been central
  to Chinese civilization since earliest times.
• Huang River fertile farming Yellow River
  Chinas Sorrow
• Chang and Xi Rivers commercial waterways
• Mountains, deserts, and vastness isolating
  influence

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• Middle Kingdom reference to an early Chinese
  belief that their country was at the center of
  the world.
• Why did the Chinese regard other peoples as
  inferior? Lack of contact with foreigners.

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• What was the purpose of the earthen walls around
  the Huang River?
• What was the result of building ever higher dikes
  along the Huang River?
• Did the dikes stop the Huang River from flooding?
• Chang River is the 3rd longest river (Amazon and
  Nile)
• Carries about 75 of Chinas domestic waterborne
  commerce
• Irrigates more than 1/3 of nations agriculture

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Section 2 The Shang Dynasty

• What legends are you familiar with?
• Name some reasons why legends are important to
  many cultures
• explain some events from the past
• without writing, history depends on stories
  passed from one generation to the next

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• The early Chinese placed great importance on
  explaining the distant past and on Chinas role
  in history
• At some point between 1750 BC 1500 BC invaders
  called the Shang swept into the Huang River
  valley
• The Shang created Chinas first historic dynasty
• Created a complex bureaucracy a government
  organized into different levels and tasks
• Shang economy was based mainly on agriculture

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• Silkworms actually caterpillars
• Most common eat only leaves of mulberry trees
• Silk comes from the cocoons they live in during
  transition to moths
• Unwinding cocoons gives you silk thread
• Threads are then spun into cloth 100 cocoons
  needed for a silk tie 600 for a silk blouse
  3,000 for a silk kimono may eat 135 pounds of
  mulberry leaves before spinning cocoons

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• The religion that developed during the Shang
  period combined animism the belief that spirits
  inhabit everything with ancestor worship.
• Shangdi god who controlled human destiny and
  the forces of nature.
• Oracle bones heated bones and then interpret
  the cracks that appear

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• Expanded military efforts finally exhaust the
  Shang rulers.
• In about 1050 BC a group called the Zhou formed
  an alliance with nearby tribes and overthrew the
  dynasty.
• The Zhou justified the conquest by claiming the
  Shang were corrupt and unfit to rule.

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• Identify 2 ways that the Shang dynasty maintained
  its power
• 1. force of arms 2. public works systems
• Name some of the religious beliefs held by the
  Shang
• 1. combination of ancestor worship and
  animism
• 2. Shangdi
• 3. interpretation of oracle bones
• Why did the Shang dynasty collapse?
• It could not defend against the constant attacks
  from people on its borders

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Section 3 The Zhou, Qin, and Han Dynasties

• Lets Get Started What are the qualities of a
  good leader?
• The Main Idea Three major dynasties Zhou,
  Qin, and the Han built China into a powerful
  country.

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• The Zhou conquest of China in about 1050 BC
  marked the beginning of dynamic era in Chinese
  history.
• Longest lasting of the 3 dynasties was the Zhou
  which ruled from about 1050 BC until about 256
  BC.
• Mandate of Heaven god determined who would
  rule China. When rebels overthrew a dynasty they
  claimed that the old dynasty had lost the Mandate
  of Heaven.
• Why did the Zhou fall from power? Internal
  fighting and attacks by outsiders.

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• Qin dynasty came to power in 221 BC through
  military might
• Lasted for 15 years but produced many lasting
  changes in Chinese life
• Western name for China is derived from the name
  of the Qin dynasty
• Established and autocracy emperor held total
  power
• Suppressed and even executed scholars who
  criticized the government

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• Qin guarded parts of their borders. Later
  dynasties added segments. Eventually connected
  segments became known as the Great Wall of China

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• Liu Bang commoner who became a Qin general,
  overthrew the empire and founded the Han
  dynasty
• More moderate than the Qin
• Kept power for about 400 years
• Han rulers had so much influence on the
  development of China that many Chinese today call
  themselves People of Han

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• Han ruled over an area larger than the Roman
  Empire
• Chinas population grew to 50 million during the
  Han dynasty
• Han dynasty ruled until 220 AD
• Not until 581 AD did a Chinese general unify
  China once again

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• Civil Service System
• Runs the day to day business of government
• Family connections led to jobs at first
• System of exams to select most qualified
  candidates
• In practice, usually those with family
  connections and money could afford books and
  schooling to train

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• Silk Road Trade route that runs through China,
  across central Asia, to the Mediterranean region

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Section 4 - Philosophies of Ancient China

• Lets Get Started How are societies values
  reflected in its laws?
• Main Idea
• from story continues

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• Dualism or 2-sidedness of nature
• Everything in the world results from a balance
  between 2 forces
• Yin female, dark, passive
• Yang male, bright, active
• Yin and Yang are not in conflict with each other
  they depend upon each other - they maintain a
  balance day gives way to night

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Confucius 551 BC 479 BC (What dynasty?)

• Ideas and teachings collected and put into
  Analects
• Confucianism had more influence on Chinese life
  than any other philosophy
• Importance of family, respect for ones elders,
  reverence for the past and ones ancestors
  forms the basis of Confucian philosophy
• Confucius sought to end the political disorder of
  his time

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• Confucius was not a religious prophet
• Concerned with the causes of political and social
  unrest and with how moral and ethical leadership
  could solve these problems
• Aimed to encourage strong, positive behavior for
  Chinese leaders
• Every person should willingly accept his or her
  role in society and should perform the duties of
  that role
• Government and its leaders should be virtuous

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• Instead of seeking wealth and power, rulers
  should be honest and honorable towards those they
  lead
• Greatest interest should be the welfare and
  happiness of their people
• Confucius encouraged only moral, well-educated
  officials

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• Mencius Chinese thinker who adopted Confucius
  ideas and values
• Mencius believed rulers who governed according to
  strong moral and ethical guidelines would receive
  the willing support of their people
• Mencius held that unjust rulers who opposed their
  people surrendered their right to rule and should
  be overthrown, by force if necessary

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Daoism

• Laozi founder of Daoism
• Central idea the Dao The Way
• The Dao an indescribable force that governed
  the universe and all of nature
• People should withdraw from the world and
  contemplate nature

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• People should not strive for material wealth
• Laozi shunned politics advised people not to
  seek power
• People should be humble, quiet, and thoughtful
• Daoism is 2nd only to Confucianism in importance
  to Chinese life
• Like yin and yang, Daoism and Confucianism
  provided a balance to Chinese culture each
  provided what the other lacked

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Legalism

• Concerned with politics
• Believed in power not virtue and in harsh
  laws
• People were by nature selfish and untrustworthy
• Peace and prosperity could be achieved only by
  threatening severe punishment if people did not
  obey the laws
• Force is the stuff that keeps the masses in
  subjection under control.

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• Missionaries from India first brought Buddhism to
  China during the Han Dynasty

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Section 5 Chinese Life and Culture

• Lets Get Started Think about the concept of
  family in the United States today. Describe
  various types of family units.
• Main Idea the family, farming, and educational
  pursuits for government officials marked daily
  life in China.

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• Ancient Chinese believed that the well-being of
  the state rested upon the well-being of the
  family
• Values that governed family life included
  reverence for ones family, respect for age,
  acceptance of decisions made by ones superiors
• Family, not the individual, was the most
  important factor in Chinese society
• Genealogy
• Traditional households often included parents,
  grandparents, children, and grandchildren

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• Most Chinese people lived as small village
  farmers.
• Government required peasants to pay taxes and to
  perform labor on canals, roads, and other local
  construction projects.

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• Qin leaders standardized the currency and the
  system of weights and measures.
• Trade also increased during the Han dynasty with
  the Silk Road
• The use of the same books created a common
  culture all across China.
• Five Classics texts used to train scholars and
  civil servants in ancient China.
• The Book of Rites dealt with manners and
  ceremonies

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• Education was available only to a privileged few
  in ancient China
• Early Chinese astronomers learned that the year
  was slightly longer than 365 days
• In 28 BC astronomers in China first observed
  sunspots Europeans did not make similar
  observations until 1600s AD
• Sundial
• Process of printing
• Seismograph
• Acupuncture