Overview of Ancient China Directions Answer each of

Overview of Ancient China

Directions: Answer each of the following either True or False: 1. The Silk Road was an ancient trade road between China and Japan. ______ 2. The Great Wall of China was begun before the birth of Christ. ______ 3. The Chinese are monotheistic. ______ 4. The peasants are at the bottom of the Chinese class structure. ______ 5. The Silk Road was a trade route between China and Europe. ______

China’s Geography [China is a large country with a varied landscape.

[The heart of China is dominated by its two major rivers, the Huang He and Chang (Yangtze).

[The Huang He is also called the Yellow River because is carries yellow soil called loess. It flows 2, 900 miles across China before it empties into the Yellow Sea.

[The Huang He is also called “China’s Sorrow” because of the flooding it can bring.

[The Chang or Yangtze River is Asia’s longest at 3, 434 miles long. It is an important trade route.

[China’s most fertile land in in the east – the North China Plain and the Manchurian Plain. M an c Pl hu ai ri n an North China Plain

[Much of the rest of China is dry – the Plateau of Tibet, the Gobi Desert, and the Taklimakan Desert.

M tn s Sh an Him alay as Pac ific Oce an Ti en Gobi Desert [ Because of China’s huge size, rugged mountains, and harsh deserts, it was difficult to invade.

[ Invaders usually came from the north – from areas such as Mongolia and Manchuria. [ Later the Chinese will build the Great Wall to keep out the invaders.

Under the Qin Dynasty, Chinese civilization was unified, and the Great Wall was built. https: //app. discoveryeducation. co m/player/view/asset. Guid/c 3 db 6 c 2 c-cbde-409 d-b 0 f 6 -70 e 0 cd 6 a 54 b 8 When was the Qin Dynasty? Why/When was the Great Wall built? 3 rd Fact: Students Choice

Great Wall statistics… [4, 160 miles long! [It’s only 3, 610 miles from New York City to Paris, France. [It’s only 3, 095 miles from San Francisco, California to Boston, Mass.

Early Chinese Civilizations [ The Chinese considered themselves the center of the earth and of civilization so they called their country the Middle Kingdom. Outsiders were considered barbarians.

[ Earliest Chinese Civilization took place along the Huang He River. [ It later spread to the Yangzi River.

[ Trade with the Middle East took place along the Silk Road.

Social Structure [ Chinese often lived in clans which were groups of families who claimed a common ancestor. BASIC CLASS STRUCTURE rulers nobles merchants/artisans peasants (the majority of the population)

Social Structure [ Pyramids [ Look at your Indian Caste pyramids. How does the Chinese Class structure compare with the Ancient Indian caste structure? BASIC CLASS STRUCTURE rulers nobles merchants/artisans peasants (the majority of the population)

Religion [ Chinese were polytheistic (believed in many gods and nature spirits) [ They prayed to their ancestors because they were links to the gods

Ancestor worship in China

Religion [ Believed in two forces of nature called Yin(female) and Yang (male) that needed to be in harmony. People often did things to destroy this harmony.

Religion [ Used Oracle Bones to tell the future (interpreted by priests).

Language [Mandarin is a difficult language to learn because there are over 10, 000 characters. [Used pictograms and ideographs. [Chinese known for calligraphy- elegant handwriting. [Chinese couldn’t understand each other’s spoken language but all used the same written language.

Government [ China was ruled by a series of dynasties – a line of rulers from the same family. [ The large government was organized into a bureaucracy – a government with many levels. [ Chinese believed in the concept called the Mandate of Heaven which says that a ruler will stay in power as long as he rules well and strongly but will lose power if he becomes weak and corrupt. Then another dynasty will start. [ The rise and fall of dynasties is called the Dynastic Cycle.

Directions: Answer each of the following either True or False: 1. The Silk Road was an ancient trade road between China and Japan. ______ 2. The Great Wall of China was begun before the birth of Christ. ______ 3. The Chinese are monotheistic. ______ 4. The peasants are at the bottom of the Chinese class structure. ______ 5. The Silk Road was a trade route between China and Europe. ______