Ancient Dynasties of China

ANCIENT DYNASTIES OF CHINA

Geography and First Dynasty

•Two major rivers

–Chang Jiang – also called the ______

–Huang-He – also called the ______River or the River of ______

•Isolation due to mountains, hills, and desert = protects from invasion

•______Dynasty is considered to be the beginning of Chinese ______

–However people can’t find evidence that it actually ______

Shang Dynasty 1766 – 1122 BC

•Farming society ruled by an ______whose major concern was ______

–Aristocracy = an upper class whose wealth is based on ______ownership

•Strong ______

–The king surrounded himself with a ______= gathering of wealthy ______

–Divided his kingdom into ______and appointed governors to rule them

•The king also had a large ______

•Kings were buried in royal tombs along with their valuable ______and sacrificed prisoners of war and ______

•Belief in the ______

•Shang religion centered on the idea of ______worship called ______of ancestors

–Wanted to keep the family spirits ______

•Used ______bones to ask questions of the gods

–Wrote ______on bones, inserted a hot piece of metal into the bone until it cracked, and then read the ______to get an answer

•Shang achievements

–Development of Chinese ______, which used ______symbols

–Came up with a precise ______

•______of the Shang dynasty

–Armies from a nearby tribe called the ______invaded and established a new ruling dynasty

Zhou Dynasty 1100 – 256 BC

•______dynasty in Chinese history

•Two periods:

–Western Zhou – ______period, many cultural achievements

–Eastern Zhou – time of ______, moved the capital

•The king was the head of the gov’t and was seen as a link between ______and ______

–Had a large and complex ______

–Territories governed by members of the ______appointed by the king

•The Zhou dynasty claimed it ruled China because it possessed the ______of ______

–Gods gave “______” to rule China

–Idea that gods would support a just ruler, but would not allow anyone ______to hold power

–The Shang were overthrown because they had lost the ______of the gods

•Set up a “right of ______” which led to ______cycles

–Described the rise and fall of dynasties in China

•______was the basic social and economic unit

•Achievements

–Development of two Chinese philosophies = ______and ______

–New weapons, such as the ______and first ______

–Learned how to use ______, introduced coins to China and began to use ______

•Decline of the Zhou dynasty

–______leaders rose up against the king, leads to the ______States Period (403-221 BC)

•A number of small states, headed by nobles, fought each other for ______and power

Qin Dynasty 221 – 206 BC

•Defeated chief ______to become the new dynasty

–First to create a ______Chinese empire

–The word ______is derived from the Qin

•Ruler Qin ______became the “first ______”

–Two chief advisors: ______and ______

–______= the gov’t in power

•Shi Huangdi adopted ______as the official ideology to build a strong centralized gov’t

–Took away land from rival nobles and made them live at the ______

–Seized all private ______, ______books that contradicted Legalist thinking

–Anyone who opposed the policies of the new regime were imprisoned, ______, or killed

•The central bureaucracy was divided into ______parts

–______division, ______division, and the ______

•Reforms = standardized ______, coins, weights, and measures

–Expanded the network of ______and ______

•A nomadic people in the Gobi desert called the ______threatened China

–To deal with the ______and to keep them out of China, Shi Huangdi had workers join the separate defensive ______in northern China

–This united wall became the ______of China

•Decline of the Qin dynasty = people ______: forced labor, high ______

–206 BC a peasant rebel leader named ______defeated the Qin forces and founded the Han dynasty

Han Dynasty 206 BC – 220 AD

•Model for later Chinese dynasties, the main population of China still calls itself the ______people

•Founded by peasant rebel leader Liu Bang who takes the name Han ______

•Exchanged Legalism for ______and appointed numerous Confucian scholars

•Kept the ______and strong centralized gov’t from the Qin dynasty

•To create a regular system for new officials, the ______exam was introduced

•These officials gained gov’t jobs based on ______, how well they did on the test

•A ______was established to train candidates for the exam

•Students were expected to learn the teachings of ______

•The dynasty reached its height under Han ______, who ruled from 141-81 BC

•He promoted ______growth

–Dealt with ______by launching an aggressive military campaign against them

–Expanded the Chinese empire through ______, known as the ______Emperor

•Colonized parts of ______and ______

•Achievements

–Invented ______along with the iron plow and ______

–Seismograph – earthquakes were sign’s of heaven’s ______

–______, sundial, watermill, and ship’s ______

–______= inserting fine needles into the skin at specific points to cure disease and relieve ______

•Silk Road

–Road that linked China to ______, was 4,000 miles long

–Traded in ______goods such as silk, spices, teas, and ivory

–Dangerous due to geography and ______

•Women = “raising daughters is like raising children for another ______”

•Decline

–9 AD ______– rebel seizes the throne for a few years

–184 a Daoist sect called the ______rebelled

–Period of ______, lasts for 350 years

•Power in the hands of local ______, no central ______

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