Welcome To Ancient China
•Degree of isolation
•Distance from Middle East
•Youngest Primary Phase culture in the Old World
•Some areas seem dry like sandy ______.
•From ______areas in the west, long winding rivers begin.
•Small streams lead to rivers as they flow eastward to the ocean.
•______areas near the coasts in the south are lush and green.
•Land surrounded by water juts out into the sea.
•Islands look like dots in the deep, dark water.
Prehistoric Society: Yangshao
•No other civilization is believed to have ______as long as China’s has. However, China’s culture is not the world’s oldest. Civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece are thought to have begun earlier. What is special about Chinese culture is that it is ______, or , from its earliest recorded history to today. Many of the world’s oldest civilizations have been greatly changed through time, even destroyed. But in China, writing, art and artifacts, and archaeological remains reveal a culture that remained mostly unified over centuries.
•5000-3000 BCE
•Banpo Village
•Painted pottery
•______tools
Unique Features
•Intensive garden-style agriculture
•Do not adopt the plow until very late
•Unique soil: ______or a yellowish brown soil that blows in from the desert.
The Earliest Dynasties
•Xia
–2200 BCE
–Organized through village network
–Hereditary monarchy
–______
•Shang
–1766-1122 BCE
•Zhou
–1122-256 BCE
The Shang Dynasty
•Yellow River- near the frontier
•Traditional date: 1500 BCE
•Invaders- eventually absorbed
Shang Dynasty
•Bronze metallurgy from 1200 BCE
•Horse-drawn ______, other wheeled vehicles
•______armies
•Political organization: network of fortified cities, loyal to center
–1000 cities
–Capital moved six times
•Impressive architecture at Ao, Yin
•Other regional kingdoms coexist: Sanxingdui
•______
•No animal milk or milk products
•Ancestor worship
•Central place of the family
Operative Unit of Society
•The family
•Not the individual
•Not the state
•Not the religion
Organization
•______support nobles, officials, bureaucracy
•Government centered in towns
•Warrior elite
•Poor live in ______conditions
Early Ideology
•Yin and Yang
•Yin: female, dark, weak, wet, passive
•Yang: male, bright, strong, dry, active
•Balance of ______- not good vs. bad
Zhou (Chou) Dynasty, 1122-256 BCE
•The ______dynasty was the longest of the Chinese dynasties, lasting more than 800 years.
•No law codes: rule by decree-“______of ______” (4 principles)
–The right to rule is granted by Heaven.
–There is only one Heaven therefore there can be only one ruler.
–The right to rule is based on the ______of the ruler.
–The right to rule is not limited to one dynasty.
•Masses of villages opposed to Shang leadership
–Decentralization of authority
•Development of cheap iron weaponry ends Shang monopoly on Bronze
•Early ______economy
Decline 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
•771 BCE Zhou driven east
–Internal dissention: the Period of the Warring States (403-221 BCE)
The Eastern Zhou
•After Zhou was pushed east by invaders
•Ruled until 256 BCE
•Power held by local aristocrats
•First ______literature
•Evolution of bronze technology
Intellectual development During Zhou times
•Response to crisis and uncertainty
•Confucianism- A ______(the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct)
•Taoism- A ______(a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs)
Confucius (551-479 BCE)- (box to right is 1st principal of confucionism)
•Poor, but noble family
•Well-educated in the “classics”
•Ambitious (wanted to be a bureaucrat...)
•Couldn’t get honest work...so he became a teacher
•The Analects
–His“______”=>
Confucian Concepts
•Ren – innate ______in human beings
•Li – normal standard of ______
•TAO –what is ______
Taoism
•Mo Tzu: 470-391 BCE
•Lao Tzu: 4th or 3rd century
–Taught about the Tao
•Supplied the metaphysical
•Multiple lines of thought
•Very fluid
The Zhou (Chou) and Qin (Chin)
•Toward the last years of the Zhou dynasty, many states were fighting for ______. In 221 BCE, the king of the strongest state, Qin, became Shi Huangdi (SHEE hwang dee), or “first emperor” under the Qin dynasty. No leader had been called an emperor since about 1700 B.C., the end of the days of the legends.
•New technology
•Gave ______to peasants
•New ______draft
•New bureaucracy
The First Emperor
•______(221-210 BCE) founds new dynasty as “First Emperor”
•Dynasty ends in 207, but sets dramatic precedent
•Basis of rule: centralized bureaucracy
•Massive ______begun
–Including precursor to ______of China to protect from northern invaders
•United China in 221 B.C.
•Ruled by the Legalist theory
•Massive conscription for labor
China Under the Qin Dynasty, 221-207 B.C.E.
Resistance to Qin Policies
•Emperor orders ______of all critics
•Orders ______of all ideological works
•Some 460 scholars buried alive
•Others exiled-Massive cultural losses
Rise of the Han
•The Han dynasty began in 206 BCE and lasted until CE 220. The Han dynasty eventually stretched as far south as what are today the countries of Vietnam and Cambodia.
•The first Han ruler was a peasant who called himself Han Gaozu (GOW ZOO), meaning “High Ancestor.” An ancestor is a relative who lived longer ago than a grandparent. He took the throne after joining a revolt against Shi Huangdi.
Han Dynasty
•Ruled for 400 years
•New bureaucracy
•Emphasis on centralization
–Weakening of the aristocracy
•Imperial ______
•Destruction of the Legalists
•Some changes were made under Gaozu. He lifted the ______imposed by Shi Huangdi.
•More improvements came under emperor Wu Di (WOO DEE), who ruled about 141–87 BCE Under his reign, China made many changes and advancements. Wu Di divided lands owned by ______. He took away power from those people who challenged him. To benefit the government, he taxed imported and exported trade goods. To improve transportation, Wu Di built ______.
Han Society
•The Confucian educated elite, free peasants, non-free peasants
•Improvement in ______status
•Beginnings of “secret societies” (frustrated poor who eventually ended the Han Dynasty)
•Inventions
–Many inventions made during the Han dynasty contributed to Chinese culture and civilization. The Chinese practiced new ways of ______and ______goods. For example, they used middlemen, or people who go between buyers and sellers. Important inventions included porcelain and two things you are using right now—paper and ink! Before this time, people wrote on wooden or bamboo slips with a mixture of dust and water. ______could now be made available to more people.
–In 50 CE the Han government allied itself with some of the Xiongnu tribes and eventually marched across the Gobi desert, attacking the northern Xiongnu tribes. These tribes then migrated into Central Asia and Russia, and eventually to Europe, where they were known as the ______. This military expansion allowed enough control over inner Asia to establish the ______, connecting China to Rome through trade. At this point, China's military influence reached much of Central Asia and Chinese traders traveled as far as Asia Minor.
•The Han dynasty marked a time of great advancements in China. Chinese culture became unified across a vast land.