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China

China. Politics. Xia dynasty first ? Shang clans documented in writing. Warrior leaders near Yellow River. King/admin ruled core directly. Aristocrats & royal family administered provinces. Distant areas, native rulers. Fought barbarians. King intermediary between people and gods

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China

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  1. China

  2. Politics • Xia dynasty first ? • Shang clans documented in writing. Warrior leaders near Yellow River. • King/admin ruled core directly. Aristocrats & royal family administered provinces. Distant areas, native rulers. Fought barbarians. • King intermediary between people and gods • Zhou replaced Shang: Mandate of Heaven • 100+ subject territories • Zhou weakened – Eastern Zhou, then “Warring States”

  3. Economics • Early: agricultural with millet, pigs/chickens, stone tools. • Shang; trade networks developed bringing jade, ivory, mother-of-pearl – decorative. Possible contact with Mesopotamia. • Warring States: concept of private property. Land belongs to men/divided among sons.

  4. Religion • Shang • Worshiped male ancestors. • Divination using oracle bones; court ritual; sacrifices. • Bronze vessels to gain support of gods • Zhou • Decline in divination/ritual/sacrifices. Priests’ power reduced. • More secular philosophies • Fengshui • Philosophies • Legalism: need strict rules because people are bad • Confucianism (Kongzi): Hierarchy innate – human behavior should reflect this. Know your place. Venerate ancestors/elders; parallel state & family relationships. • Daoism (Laozi): Follow the “path.” Accept the world; take minimal action. Passive. Believes world is always changing – no absolute morality/meaning – understand “path.” • Yin & Yang: Idea of balance in nature. Justifies differences between men & women.

  5. Social • Shang: warrior aristocracy • Possession of bronze indicated authority/nobility. • Scribes an elite class. • Warring States: 3-generation family fundamental unit. • Father @ head: rituals, authority, arrange marriages, sell labor of family. • Women: wives and concubines. Little status. • Marriage as political alliance.

  6. Intellectual • Rice cultivation • Pottery (later porcelain) & potter’s wheel/kiln. • Pounded earth walls. • Bronze metalworking, then iron. • Horse-drawn chariots (from Middle East?) • Domesticated water buffalo – labor • Engineering/human labor led to cities, defensive walls, tombs. • Writing system – pictograms & phonetics. • Made silk • Astrology • Gunpowder (fireworks @ first…)

  7. Arts/Architecture • Earthen dikes/channels, reservoirs to control water. Retaining walls for tiers; rice paddies. • Beginnings of Great Wall • Buildings of wood, some stone (high status), dirt (dug out of hills, mud brick) • Bronze ritual vessels, mirrors, bells… jade/ivory/mother of pearl jewelry & decorative figurines. • Calligraphy an art – needed to learn thousands of characters

  8. Near… • Isolated by Himalayas, Pamir & Tian Mts., TaklaMakan Desert, Gobi Desert, Mongolian Steppe, & Pacific Ocean. • Major rivers: Huang He (Yellow) and Yangzi. Flow west to east. • Eastern section better for agriculture – west dryer/colder. East more densely populated. South gets more rain. • Resources: stone, timber, minerals. • North: loess soil is fertile & soft. Lots of silt in Yellow River results in damaging floods (“China’s Sorrow”).

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