Classical Civilization: China

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Classical Civilization China
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Geography of China

• Mountains, sea, and desert provide some
  protection and isolation
• Vulnerable to the northwest
• River valleys
• 1. Yellow River
• earliest civilization
• 2. Yangtze
• very important in unification, transportation,
  irrigation

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Earliest Chinese Civilizations

• Shang Dynasty had the earliest written records
  1800 BCE 1100 BCE
• Mastered bronze metallurgy and in 1000 BCE became
  familiar with ironworking
• Used oracle bones to communicate with the gods
• Patriarchal society that was class structured
• Zhou Dynasty overthrew the Shang in 1122 BCE

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Confucianism

• Moral and ethical code highly developed to treat
  everyone with consideration
• Advocated paternalistic government
• Value on family head ancestor respect
• Values
• loyalty, righteousness, wisdom, sincerity

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Daoism

• Spiritual alternative to Confucianism
• Goal was to bring people into harmony with nature
  and life
• Very introspective
• Emphasized withdrawing from the world
  contemplation
• Not as influential as Confucianism

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Zhou (Chou) Dynasty 1029-258 BCE

• First of the classical civilizations
• Feudal society
• Ruled through alliances with regional princes
• emperor gave out fiefs of land to princes
• Extended territory and promoted standard of
  Mandarin Chinese Language

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Qin (Chin) Dynasty 221-202 BCE

• Dominated by The First Emperor
• Shi Huangdi (Shi Huang Ti)
• Centralized the government
• Expanded borders to include Hong Kong
• Constructed roads and canals (major projects)
• The Great Wall

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Terracotta Warriors of the Qin
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History of The Great Wall
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Han Dynasty 202 BCE - 220 CE

• Built cities, officials to carry out orders,
  heavy taxes
• Wu Ti is the best known ruler
• contact along the Silk Roads, Buddhist
  Missionaries to China

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Han Dynasty (cont)

• combination of Confucius and legalism
• advanced in science and literature
• invented rudder, paper, magnetic compass,
  crossbow, porcelain

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The Silk Roads

• Trade in silk from China went as far as the Roman
  Empire
• Occurred along a series of Asian land routes
• Provided the framework from which later global
  patterns emerged

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Questions to Consider

• What caused the rise of Confucianism?
• How did Confucian philosophy support the
  political structure in China?
• Why was the bureaucracy developed in classical
  China?
• Why was China able to accept two major belief
  systems?