Political Organization in Early china

1. Political Organization in Early china

2. Xia Dynasty • King Yu, founder of the dynasty, which was established around 2200 B.C.E. • Capital city was believed to be Erlitou, but it is not quite certain • Archeological discoveries of this dynasty have been recently made

3. Shang Dynasty • Unlike the Xia dynasty, many records have been discovered • The rise of this dynasty is due to the technology. • Along with the technology, the bronze metallurgy first went to China and India with the Indo-European immigrants.

4. Zhou Dynasty • rulers took the title “son of Heaven”, because it was thought that they served as a link between heaven and earth • Marriages were also arranged to strengthen political allies • Iron production expanded rapidly (Iron metallargy) they were not in control of the bronze production, and iron was inexpensive.

5. Society And Family In Ancient China

6. Xia, Shang, and early Zhou ruled most royal positions. Resided in large, palatial compounds made of pounded earth. Bronze was mostly owned by the wealthy. Hereditary aristocrats from Shang and Zhou had at least elementary training, and had better standard of living then most. Worked at administrative and military tasks. The Social Order

7. Continued… • Had manuals of etiquette: gulping down food, unpleasant noises, playing with food, etc…

8. Specialized Labor • Small class of free artisans and craftsmen who served as modern day butlers. • Did necessary jobs for the house and had a reasonably comfortable environment. • Also consisted of Jewelers, bronze smiths, and others.

9. Merchants and Trade • Used horse-drawn chariots. • Later used sea routes. • King Yu, founder of Xia dynasty, invented the sails. • Peasants and slaves took up much of the population. Used as warriors for battles, performed hard labor, and victims of sacrifice during funerary, religious, and other ritual observances.

10. Family and patriarchy • Early dynasties ruled their territories largely through family and kinship groups.

11. Veneration of Ancestors • Chinese families would believe in their ancestors presence and influence. • Bury belongings with the dead. • Offer sacrifices at the graves. • Believed that a family could only prosper in all the people, present and past, worked cooperatively.

12. Patriarchal Society • Women played a larger role then the men. • Not until later did the men focus on the society and also overthrew the women’s rights and powers.

13. Writing and Cultural Development of Early China

14. Unlike other early societies, organized religion did not play an important role in China and was not structured or practiced on a large scale. Ancient China did not believe in a divine spirit that would intervene in human lives. Did not support a class of priests like other civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India. Early China explained the world, people, and craft’s origins in myths and legends. Believed in an impersonal heavenly power called “Tian”, which was responsible with giving and taking from rulers the mandate of heaven. Early China’s Religious Viewpoint

15. Early Chinese Writing • Most early Chinese writings were on silk or bamboo and corroded, but Oracle bones shed light on early Chinese text. • Oracle bones were used by fortunetellers to forecast future omens by heating wide bones and examining the cracks that formed. Usually the oracle would write on the bones the answer they saw, and the events that followed. • During the 19th century workers in the fields around Anyang found oracle bones and called them “dragon bones”. • By the late 1980’s oracle bones were examined by scholars and historians who found that the early Chinese writing is the direct descendant of modern characters. Over time the symbols have been simplified and stylized.

16. Continued… • Literature only began expand during the Zhou dynasty where books were used and emphasized by rulers such as the Book of History which was a collective documentation of the Zhou states rule. • Manners and Etiquette were accentuated in the Book of Rites. • The Book of Changes was guide for diviners in foretelling the future. • The most notable work was the Book of Songs, which was a collection of early Chinese poetry, music, and verses. • After the Gin dynasty was victorious over the Warring States Period, the new emperor removed all literature that did not have an immediate conventional use in daily life, any writing that would encourage independence was banished and few text has survived from that period.

17. Early Society in East Asia By: Antonio Romero, Max Smiley, Juhi Israni, and Gabby Marchandis

18. Nomadic Society • Nomadic people were herders because of the steppe lands. • Nomads exchanged products between Chinese Farmers. • Nomads relied on grains and manufactured goods of the Chinese. • Nomads did not follow the Chinese political or social traditions as they moved constantly, herding their animals.

19. The Yagnzi River was depended on for the growth of rice and other agriculture. The expansion of agriculture brought many cultivators and formed a new society The Yangzi Valley

20. Continued….. • Many were assimilated into Chinese agricultural society • Some were pushed to hills and mountains • Some migrated to Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand

21. Continued… • The state of Chu in the central region of Yanzi • Challenged the Zhou for supremacy • Adopted Chinese political and social traditions and writing