Ancient China Xia, Shang, Zhou Dynasties 2200-256 BCE

1. Ancient ChinaXia, Shang, Zhou Dynasties2200-256 BCE Ms. Jerome

2. Ancient China

3. Yellow River • Ancient China was an agricultural society • Yellow River is boisterous and unpredictable. • Courses almost 2,920 miles. • Gets name from the vast quantities of light-colored loess soil (a sediment/silt) that it picks up along the route. • This next part will shock you… • The river enabled the development of a complex civilization and the fertile soil assisted in its growth.

4. Chinese Dynasties • Chinese legends speak of three ancient dynasties—the Xia, the Shang, and the Zhou.

5. Shang and Zhou Dynasty • Tradition assigns the Shang dynasty to the period 1766 to 1122 b.c.e. • Xia Dynasty is legendary • China’s first recorded history • The basic features of early Chinese society come into much clearer focus than the preceding Xia Dynasty.

6. Bronze Metallurgy and Horse Drawn Chariots • Bronze metallurgy transformed Chinese society during Shang times—rulers monopolized bronze production • It is what enabled Shang rulers to displace Xia rulers. • Chariots, carts, horse drawn wagon, taken from southwest Asia • “Charioteers were the first great aggressors in human history”- historian John Keepgan

7. Shang Chariots

9. Bronze Knives

10. Bronze Weapons/Tools

11. Political Organization • Shang society was composed of numerous peasant communities, dominated by strong noble class with monarchy. • Not highly centralized • Local rulers had authority over towns • Local rulers recognized rule of the king • King was an intermediary between heaven and earth • Nobility was the warrior class

12. Religious Organization: Shangdi, the supreme deity during Shang China- controlled heaven and earth

13. Border Sacrifice • The King sacrificed a bull once a year as an offering to Shangdi • There was a single high god of of heaven • There were regional gods and ancestral veneration • * See handout on Border Sacrifice writing

15. Ancestral Veneration • What is of value to Ancient Chinese culture: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWb7Rvvtblc

16. Ancestral Veneration • “in the absence of organized religion or official priesthood in ancient China, the patriarchal head of the family presided at rites and ceremonies honoring ancestors’ spirits.” • Therefore, the family patriarch possessed tremendous authority. • No organized religion in ancient China (change from other river valley civilizations)

17. Oracle Bones • In Mesopotamia and India, merchants pioneered writing • In China, the earliest known writing served the interests of rulers rather than traders. • One medium for writing was oracle bones.

18. Oracle Bones • Used by fortune-tellers in ancient China • Specially prepared bones (turtle shells, bones of sheep) to inscribe questions. • Subjected to heat • When heated, the bone cracked • Fortune tellers then studied the patterns and determined answers

19. Will the harvest be productive?

20. Chinese writing • The earliest form of Chinese writing was the pictograph • The characters used in contemporary Chinese writign are direct descendants of those used in Shang times.

21. Out with the Shang in with the Zhou (1122-256 BCE) • The Zhou overthrew the Shang and setup their own dynasty in 1027 BCE. • Claimed to have the Mandate of Heaven or divine right of rule • Mandate of Heaven later used to describe Dynastic Cycle

23. Zhou Dynasty

24. Zhou Political Organization • Much larger than Shang • Zhou rulers relied on decentralized administration • Entrusted power to subordinates and expected tribute, allegiance and military support. • Ultimately became the undoing of the Zhou—subordinates became too independent. Failed to uphold their end of the bargain. • What does this sort of political organization remind you of? • Essentially a feudal type state

25. Iron Metallurgy • Iron Metallurgy spread during the Zhou Dynasty • Made bronze weapons obsolete • Iron ores are cheaper and abundant—so Zhou kings couldn’t control who had access. • Empowered subordinates could resist their central government – assisted in breaking down the central Zhou government

27. Social Structure • What was striking about the previous chart? • Merchants—considered unskilled • Peasants—biggest population b/c an agricultural society • Semiservile—owned land but provided agricultural and military service to lords in exchange for plots of land • Peasants used stone tools-bronze too expensive until iron became more accessible

28. Women • Peasant women—domestic duties • Mostly indoor activities • Wine making, weaving, cultivation of silkworms, • Men—fields, hunting, fishing • Extremely male dominated society

29. Warring States Period 403-221 bce • Dispersion of iron and an empire too big to manage led to the decline of the Zhou • Ushered in a period known as the Warring States Period. • China was divided between warring states and no central figure