China Fun Facts China has 1 3 billion

China

Fun Facts � China has 1. 3 billion people which equates to 20% of the world’s population! � The Chinese New Year is the first day of the lunar calendar based on the cycles of the moon. � There are twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac! They are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, � � � snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. A full Zodiac is 12 yrs and a calendar cycle is 60 yrs The Great Wall of China can actually be seen from outer space! The wall was started 21/2 thousand years ago and is more than 5, 000 km long! You may not have known this but the compass, paper; gun powder and printing are all Chinese inventions! When you write your name in China you put your family name first then your first name. There are no middle names. We all know that chopsticks come from China. However, you probably didn’t know they were losing millions of acres of forest each year due to chopstick production. What a tremendous waste! So now they are encouraging everyone to recycle their chopsticks instead of throwing them out. It is estimated that 200 million people in China live on less than $1. 00 a day!

Map

Physical Map

Geography � 3, 696, 100 sq. mi. - 3 rd largest country in the world

Rivers �Huang He – Yellow river �Chang Jiang/Yangtze – Long River Yellow River Long River

Taihang Mountains

Qinling Mountains

Lesson 2 �Two early civilizations existed in the Huang He and Chang Jiang river valleys �What is a legend? �Ex: ? ? ? �Yu the Great

Yu the Great and the Great Flood � It's said that a great flood lashed China about four or five thousand years ago and Yu the Great was assigned to fight against the great calamity. Drawing lessons from the predecessor's failure, he used methods of channeling and dredging instead of blocking and damming the water up. To better handle the people and eliminate the catastrophe, he divided the people into nine sections and dispatched them into nine different areas. Under his leadership, the flood water flowed into the sea through nine newlydredged rivers. Over a decade's arduous works finally witnessed the victory of fighting against the disaster. Yu the Great became the personification of selfless devotion and perseverance in the history of Chinese

Another legend �http: //www. ancientchina. co. uk/time/story/sto_set. html �Other legendary figures include: �Fu Xi – inventor of writing, music, marriage, hunting, and fishing �Sui Ren – inventor of fire �Shen Nong – promoted medicine and farming �Huandi – invented the wheel and calendar

Importance of agriculture � 5000 B. C. farmers growing crops

Xia and Shang (China’s Bronze Age) �Yu is the son of Gun �Gun failed to tame the flood and was executed �Yu succeeded in taming the flood �Yu and his son Qi start the Xia Dynasty �Around 1600 B. C. Tang the Successful conquered the Xia

Shang Dynasty �Second Chinese dynasty �Started by Tang the Successful �Farmers �Strong belief in rituals and family �Religion �Worshipped ancestors �Gods – wind, rain, fire – directions – Shang Di “God on High” �Ancestors communicate with gods

Shang Dynasty Weapons

Ritual vessels

Shang Dynasty oracle bones

Contributions of the Shang �Weapons and chariots �Walled cities �Bronze items �writing

Alphabet

Chinese Pronunciations Letter Sound in Chinese a father b boy c k sound in cow d dog (but slightly shorter like t sound) p pan q tch sound in watch r ride s sing t time (but with stronger aspiration) u ou sound in you or too v violin w water (or u sound) x ch (or s sound in some dialects) e eh sound in egg f frog g go h hard (more aspiration) i ee sound in street j, zh jump k kit l long y yellow m monkey z n nose o long (but more ts sound incats (softer z)

Chinese Characters �About 200, 000 characters Number of characters in Chinese dictionaries[44] Year Name of dictionary Number of characters 100 Shuowen Jiezi 9, 353 543? Yupian 12, 158 601 Qieyun 16, 917 1011 Guangyun 26, 194 1039 Jiyun 53, 525 1615 Zihui 33, 179 1716 Kangxi Zidian 47, 035 1916 Zhonghua Da Zidian 48, 000 1989 Hanyu Da Zidian 54, 678 1994 Zhonghua Zihai 85, 568 2004 Yitizi Zidian 106, 230[45]

Chinese characters

Lesson 3 �Zhou Dynasty comes after the Shang (start of classical China) �Farmers � 1150 B. C. attack and defeat the Shang led by King Wu �Mandate of Heaven �Zhou god was Tian or “Heaven” �Heaven did not like the Shang b/c they lacked virtues �Heaven ordered the Zhou to defeat the Shang and claim rule over all of China b/c they were more virtuous

Social Classes �King and family at the top followed by the nobles and their families and the peasants and their families �Provide services for other classes!!! – this showed virtue �King – gave land to nobles – fief �Nobles – lived on land paid a tribute to the nobles �Peasants – lived on nobles land – did the labor – served in nobles army and paid taxes

Zhou land

The fall �Ruled carefully b/c they feared losing the Mandate of Heaven Book of Documents

Fall cont. �Mandate of Heaven eventually weakened �Zhou were invaded �Boy who cried wolf story – King You �You dies �Power of nobles increases – made their lands independent – some began to call themselves kings �Chu Kingdom – created counties ruled by chosen leaders – bureaucracy �Zheng Kingdom – created written laws ( right and wrong)

Confucius the teacher �Born about 551 B. C. � 1 st teacher and philosopher in China

What he taught �Studied life and its meaning �How to improve society �Government �Rulers should set good examples �Filial piety �Lunyu/Analects

Confucius sayings �Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes. �Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. �Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star. �Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart. �To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage. �He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.

Qin Dynasty � 256 B. C. Zhou Kingdom falls � 221 B. C. Qin Empire established – Militaristic society � Crossbows (10 centuries before they are used in Europe) � Three sided arrow heads (aerodynamic much like a modern bullet) � Fighting formation – front shoots then kneels, back row shoots while the front row is reloading (American Revolution) � Chrome was used over bronze to prevent rusting – patented in U. S. in the 1950’s � Weapons were the same, mass produced on an assembly line (Model T 1900’s) � They defeated the Han, Wei, Yan, Qi, Chu and Zhou to unite China – 1. 2 million die to unite China � Qin Shi Huangdi – king of Qin Empire � United China – stays united for 2, 000 yrs � This is one of China’s most important dynasties � Qin – China

Weapons

Qin Shi Huangdi – “Di” – Living god �Born circa 259 B. C. �Leader in 246 B. C. �Follower of Confucius �Changed philosophy to belief in strict laws �Li Si main advisor- Prime Minister of China Shi Hunagdi Li Si

Shi Huangdi