Ancient China Geography of China Like India China

Ancient China

• Geography of China Like India, China is somewhat isolated by natural barriers, though they weren’t as protected – Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean to the East – Taklimakan Desert and Tibetan Plateau to the West – Mongolian Plateau and Gobi Desert to the North – Himalayas to the Southwest • 4000 B. C. People settle along the Huang He (north) and Yangtze rivers(south) • North China Plain – center of Civilization – is located between the rivers • The Huang He river leaves Loess – fertile soil – but it also causes a lot of flooding – nicknamed “China’s Sorrow” (whole villages can be submerged

First Dynasties • 2, 000 B. C. – Xia Dynasty forms – China’s first dynasty • Learn to Control the Huang He River – Legendary “Yellow Emperor” Yu the Great engineered a dam for the Huang He River that saved the homes of Chinese citizens – He worked with an equally famous agricultural master Houji to create the dam and irrigation ducts – Said to have eaten and slept with the workers and had callused hands because of the work – Created a capital in Anyi – Thought of as a great and just ruler • 1700 – 1027 B. C. – Shang Dynasty emerged and claimed power in Northern China – First to Leave written records – mostly on shell and bone (oracle bones) – Moved downward and overthrew the last Xia emperor; practiced dynastic control in earnest – Established a new capital at Anyang – ruled for several centuries – The city was almost entirely made of wood – high class nobles lived in fine houses of timber while peasants lived in houses of clay and straw. – Also surrounded their cities with walls for protection and imported the chariot from Western Asia for war

Culture and Family • In the Chinese view, people who lived outside of their society were barbarians, called themselves the Middle Kingdom because they thought they were the center of the civilized world • People valued the group more than the individual and paid respect/homage to the ruler of the Middle Kingdom (even if he wasn’t a great ruler, you had to honor him) • Family is one of the most important institutions in China – People make decisions based on what’s good for the family instead of what they want individually • Oldest male controls family property – Women have to obey men; fathers, uncles, – – husbands and later their sons Between the ages of 13 – 16, girls were being betrothed /getting ready for marriage – then she would move into her husband’s house when married Women cannot own property, manage businesses, etc. Only by bearing sons could she cement her status as a valuable wife who did her duty Its going to also be hard/rare for noble women to achieve any form of freedom as well

Religious Beliefs • Early Chinese worship their ancestors through offerings and prayers – Believed that spirits become like supernatural beings like gods that can protect or guide the living – More respect was given to the father’s ancestors in the family • There was a Believed in “gods” - more like supernatural spirits – had limited interaction with the world – The Shang believed in one major god, Shang Di, and several lesser gods – Later on, Shangdi became an equivalent for a Heaven-like space (Han Dynasty) • Oracle Bones used to communicate with gods /ancestors(reveal the future) – Priests would scratch questions on the bones, stick a hot poker to them and watch them crack – the cracks would be interpreted for answers

Shangdi – “Heaven”

Myth 1: “Nuwa and Restoring the Pillars – Humans” Myth 2: “Pangu” (Earth – Ying, Sky – Yang)

Writi ng – Writing system uses symbols to represent syllables – People of different languages can use same system – Huge number of characters make system difficult to learn – thousands of characters exist/ different languages have different characters/pronunciations

• Zhou and the Dynastic 1027 B. C. – Zhou took power from. Cycle Shang and took over China – Shang had been spread too thin and there had been numerous problems plaguing them during their last years • Used the Mandate of Heaven – Claim that ruler had divine authority to rule Justified the Zhou in taking power from the Shang – were weak, so a new/stronger family should take charge – A just ruler has divine approval to take power – a wicked or foolish king could lose approval and the right to rule – In other words, taking power is fair game to anyone strong enough for it • Dynastic Cycle – Pattern of the rise and fall of dynasties – Zhou enforced the concept of dynasties, laid foundations for how future dynasties would rule/administer china

Chapter 1 -2 Test Review