Title: Ancient China
1Chapter 5
Early Society in East Asia
2 Geography of China
3Satellite View of China
4Chinas Provinces
5ChinaAsias Superpower
6China vs. the U. S. in Size
China
United States
7Comparing China the U. S.
China United States
Size 3.7 million square miles 3.6 million square miles
Main physical barrier Himalayas Rockies
Main River Yangtze / East - West Mississippi / North South
Population East Coast East Coast
Connectivity problems North - South East - West
8Pacific Rim of Fire
9Bodies of Water
Amur River
Sea of Japan
Yellow Sea
Huang-He River
Yangtze River
Pacific Ocean
Xi River
SouthChinaSea
10Chinas Climate Zones
11Precipitation in China
12Arable Land
13Brown China vs. Green China
Wheat Dominant
Pasture and Oasis
Rice Dominant
Double-crop rice
14China as of World Population
15The Population of China
thousands
16The Polluted Yellow River!
VOCABULARY Loess
17The Yellow River
- Huang He
- 2,920 Miles Tibet to the Yellow Sea
- Deposits (loess) fertile, light colored soil
- No need for metal tools for generous harvests
- Periodic flooding Chinas sorrow
18Prehistoric Society Yangshao
- 5000-3000 BCE
- Middle region of the Yellow River valley
- Banpo Village
- Found in 1952
- Painted pottery
- Bone tools
- Population increase necessitated organized
authority
19The Earliest Dynasties
- Xia
- C. 2200 BCE
- Legend -gt Founded by Yu
- Organized through village network
- Hereditary monarchy
- Flood control
- Rise of cities, bureaucracy, bronze weapons
20Bronze Age Empires
21Shang Dynasty - 1766-1122 BCE
- Bronze metallurgy
- State monopoly of copper tin ores.
- Horse-drawn chariots, other wheeled vehicles
- Large armies 3,000 13,000 strong
- Demand of agricultural tribute
- Political organization network of fortified
cities, loyal to center - 1000 cities
- Capital moved six times
- Impressive architecture at Ao (33 x 66 wall), Yin
- Other regional kingdoms coexist Sanxingdui
22Shang Dynasty Burial Practices
- Hierarchical social structure
- Live burials alongside deceased member of ruling
class - Sacrificial victims, mostly slaves
- Wives, servants, friends, hunting companions
- Later replaced by statuary, often monumental
23Shang Religion
- Animism The belief that spirits inhabit
everything. - Ancestor Worship
- Shang Di A god who controlled the forces of
nature - Oracle Bones
24Oracle Bones
25Oracle Bones and Early Chinese Writing
- Used for communicating with spirit world,
determining future - Question written on animal bones, turtle shells
- Then heated over fire, cracks examined for omens
- Early archaeological evidence of Chinese writing
- Evolution of Chinese script
- Pictograph to ideograph
26Oracle Bone from Shang Dynasty
27The Evolution of Chinese Writing During
Pictographs
Semantic-Phonetics
28Zhou Literature
- The reflections of Confucius
- Book of Changes
- Manual for divination
- Book of History (Zhou propaganda)
- Book of Etiquette (Book of Rites)
- Book of Songs (of Poetry or of Odes)
- Little survived
- Often written on perishable bamboo strips
- Many destroyed by Emperor of Qin dynasty in 221
BCE
29Axe Scepter 1100 BCE - Jade
Ceremonial Dagger 1028 BCE
30ShangUrn
31Shang Bronzes
32Ritual Wine Vessel Bronze, 13c BCE
33Western Zhou1027-771 BCE
34Zhou Dynasty, 1122-256 BCE
- No law codes rule by decree
- Mandate of Heaven
- Aggregation of villages opposed to Shang
leadership - Decentralization of authority
- Lacked organization efficiency
- Development of cheap iron weaponry ends Shang
monopoly on Bronze - Early money economy
35Zhou Coins - Bronze
36Tian Ming
The Mandate of Heaven
- The leader must lead by ability and virtue.
- The dynasty's leadership must be justified by
succeeding generations. - The mandate could be revoked by negligence and
abuse the will of the people was important.
37A new dynasty comes to power. Son of Heaven
The emperorreforms the govt. makes it
moreefficient.
Start here?
Lives of common people improvedtaxes
reducedfarming encouraged.
Emperor isdefeated !!
The Dynastic Cycle
Problems begin(extensive wars,invasions, etc.)
Rebel bands findstrong leader whounites
them.Attack the emperor.
Taxes increasemen forced towork for
army.Farming neglected.
Poor loserespect for govt.They join rebels
attack landlords.
Govt. increasesspending corruption.
Droughts,floods,famines occur.
38- Heaven, unpitying, has sent down ruin on the
Shang. The Shang has lost the Mandate, and we,
the Zhou have received it. I dare not say that
our fortune would continue to prosper, even
though I believe that heaven favors those who are
sincere in their intentions. I dare not say,
either that it would end in certain disaster - The Mandate of Heaven is not easy to gain. It
will be lost when men fail to live up to the
reverent and illustrious virtues of our
forefathers. - Duke of Shao, quoted in The Chinese Heritage
39Early Ideology
- Yin and Yang
- Yin female, dark, weak, wet, passive
- Yang male, bright, strong, dry, active
- Balance of opposites
40Zhou Contributions
- Aristocrats
- Feudalism
- Kings gt Local Lords gt Peasants
- Feudal Lords Gain Power
- Iron Age
- The First Bound Books
- Astronomers Study Planets Eclipses
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42Decline of the Zhou Dynasty
- Decentralized leadership style allows for
building of regional powers - Increasing local independence, refusal to pay
Zhou taxes - Iron metallurgy allows for widespread creation of
weaponry - Northern invaders weaken Zhou dynasty, beginning
8th c BCE - Internal dissention the Period of the Warring
States (403-221 BCE)
43- China during the Period of the Warring States,
403-221 BCE
44Chung Kuo(The Middle Kingdom)
45Social Order
- Ruling classes great advantage
- Palatial compounds, luxurious lifestyle
- Supported by agricultural surplus, tax revenues
- Defended by monopoly on bronze weaponry
- Hereditary privilege
- Support class of artisans, craftsmen
- Evidence of long-distance trade, merchant class
- Large class of semi servile peasants
- Slave class (mostly POWs)
46Family and Patriarchy
- Devotion to family, ancestor veneration
- Family responsible for socialization of children
and preservation of cultural traditions - Connection of spirit world to physical world
- Ritual sacrifices
- Father ritual head of family rites (rather than
priests) - Earlier prominence of individual female leaders
fades in later Shang, Zhou dynasties - Genealogy
47Nomadic Peoples of Central Asia
- Despite geographic boundaries, long distance
trade exists while limited in scope - Steppe nomads
- Poor lands for cultivation, extensive herding
activities - Horses domesticated c. 4000 BCE, bronze
metallurgy in 2900 BCE - Organized under charismatic warrior chiefs
- Extensive trade with sedentary cultures in China
- Tensions frequent raiding
- Ethnocentrism/Xenophobia
48The Yangtze River
49Southern Expansion of Chinese Society
- Yangzi Valley
- Peaceful flooding
- Yangzi river Chang Jiang, long river
- Excellent for rice cultivation
- Irrigation system developed
- The State of Chu
- Autonomous, challenged Zhou dynasty
- Culture heavily influenced by Chinese