The Unification of China

1. Classical China The Unification of China

2. Chinese Dynasties • Shang • Zhou (joe) • Qin (chin) • Han • ( -------------- 400 years of Disunity -------------) • Sui (swee) • Tang (tong) • Song • Yuan (U-on)------ Mongol • Ming • Qing (ching) --------Manchu • Republic -------- Republic of China • Mao Zedong ---------People’s Republic of China / Communist China

3. Neolithic Times SHANG: 1600-1046BCE Moved from primitive to slave society

4. ZHOU Dynasty1122 BCE – 256 BCE

5. Extended land to Yangzi River Valley Grew wheat in North and Rice in South-led to population growth Had to deal with invasions

6. China’s “Feudal Period” – ruled through landed families. People gave troops and tax in exchange for land. King Wu rebelled against King of Shang and established Zhou dynasty.

7. Discouraged primitive religious practices like human sacrifice Promoted unified language-Mandarin Chinese Start of Confucianism

8. Era of Warring States 256 BCE- 221 BCE

9. Qin Dynasty221 BCE – 207 BCE

10. China under the Qin dynasty, 221-207 B.C.E.

11. Unification of China • Qin dynasty develops, 4th-3rd centuries BCE • Generous land grants under Shang Yang • Private farmers decrease power of large landholders • Increasing centralization of power • Improved military technology

12. The First Emperor • Qin Shihuangdi (r. 221-210 BCE) founds new dynasty as “First Emperor” • Dynasty ends in 207, but sets dramatic precedent • Basis of rule: centralized bureaucracy • Massive public works begun • Precursor to Great Wall

13. Resistance to Qin Policies • Emperor orders execution of all critics • Orders burning of all ideological works • Some 460 scholars buried alive • Others exiled • Massive cultural losses

14. Qin Centralization • Standardized: • Laws • Currencies • Weights and measures • Script • Previously: single language written in distinct scripts • Building of roads, bridges

15. Massive Tomb Projects • Built by 700,000 workers • Slaves, concubines, and craftsmen sacrificed and buried • Excavated in 1974, 15,000 terra cotta sculptures of soldiers, horses, and weapons unearthed

16. The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.

18. The Great Wall of China

20. CHINA • The word China is derived from Ch'in, the first dynasty to unify the country. • King Cheng took the title Shih Huang-ti or Shi Huangdi

21. King Cheng took the title Shih Huang-ti or Shi Huangdi • a scholar of the Legalist school of philosophy, which emphasized the need for strict laws in social and political relations and for obedience to state authority. • extended the empire Tonkin in what is now Vietnam, and made the capital Xianyang

22. Shih Huang-ti died in 210 B.C. and was succeeded by a weakling son. Overburdened peasants revolted and overthrew the Ch'in dynasty in 206 B.C. Soon after, the Han dynasty came to power in China.

23. Han Dynasty206 BCE – 220 CE

24. The Han Dynasty & Tributary States

25. The Han Dynasty • Civil disorder brings down Qin dynasty 207 BCE • Liu Bang forms new dynasty: the Han (206 BCE-220 CE) • Former Han (206 BCE-9 CE) • Interruption 9-23 CE • Later Han (25-220 CE)

26. Early Han Policies • Relaxed Qin tyranny without returning to Zhou anarchy • Created large landholdings • But maintained control over administrative regions • After failed rebellion, took more central control

27. Han Centralization • The Martial Emperor: Han Wudi (141-87 BCE) • Increased taxes to fund more public works • But huge demand for government officials, decline since Qin persecution

28. Things Get Worse under Wu Di • Imperial authority declined • Babies inherited powerful positions • Mothers appointed relatives to high-level positions • What was the problem with this? • Financial Problems

29. Confucian Educational System • Han Wudi establishes an Imperial University in 124 BCE • Not a lover of scholarship, but demanded educated class for bureaucracy • Adopted Confucianism as official course of study • 3000 students by end of Former Han, 30,000 by end of Later Han

30. Han Imperial Expansion • Invasions of Vietnam, Korea • Constant attacks from Xiongnu • Nomads from Central Asia • Horsemen • Brutal: Maodun (210-174 BCE), had soldiers murder his wife, father • Han Wudi briefly dominates Xiongnu

31. East Asia and central Asia at the time of Han Wudi, ca. 87 BCE

32. Patriarchal Social Order • Classic of Filial Piety • Subordination to elder males • Admonitions for Women • Female virtues: • Humility, obedience, subservience, loyalty

33. Iron Metallurgy • Expansion of iron manufacture • Iron tips on tools abandoned as tools entirely made from iron • Increased food production • Superior weaponry

34. Other technological Developments • Cultivation of silkworms • Breeding • Diet control • Other silk-producing lands relied on wild worms • Development of paper • Bamboo, fabric abandoned in favor of wood and textile-based paper

35. The Silk Road in the 1st Century

36. Population Growth in the Han Dynasty • 220 BCE 20 million people • By 9 CE 60 million people • General prosperity • Increased agricultural productivity • Taxes small part of overall income • Produce occasionally spoiling in state granaries

37. Economic and Social Difficulties • Expenses of military expeditions • Taxes increasing • Arbitrary property confiscations rise • Increasing gap between rich and poor • Slavery, tenant farming increase • Banditry, rebellion

38. Reign of Wang Mang (9-23 CE) • Wang Mang regent for 2-year old Emperor, 6 CE • Takes power himself 9 CE • Introduces massive reforms • The “socialist emperor” • Land redistribution, but poorly handled • Social chaos ends in his assassination 23 CE

39. Rose up against existing dynasty to attempt to return to Confucian focused style of rule • Founder, Wang Mang, felt that the Han Dynasty has lost its “Mandate of Heaven” In the years 2, 5, and 11 CE, there were great floods of the Yellow River causing large numbers of death. • These led to civil war and the eventual assassination of Wang Mang and his followers

40. Later Han Dynasty • Han Dynasty emperors manage, with difficulty, to reassert control • Yellow Turban uprising challenges land distribution problems • Internal court intrigue • Weakened Han Dynasty collapses by 220 CE

41. Chinese Philosophies & Ethical Codes

42. Confucianism

43. Confucius • Kong Fuzi (551-479 BCE) • Master Philosopher Kong • Aristocratic roots • Unwilling to compromise principle • Decade of unemployment, wandering • Returned home a failure, died soon thereafter • Teachings: Analects

44. Confucian Ideas • Ethics and politics • Avoided religion, metaphysics • Junzi: “superior individuals” • Role in government service • Emphasis on Zhou Dynasty texts • later formed core texts of Chinese education

45. Confucian Values • Ren • Kindness, benevolence • Needed in government! • Li • Courtesy & respect, especially to elders • Xiao • Filial piety • Traits lead to development of junzi • Ideal leaders

46. 5 Principle Relationships 1. Ruler Subject 2. Father Son 3. Husband Wife 4. Older Brother YoungerBrother 5. Older Friend YoungerFriend

47. Organizing Principles • Status • Age • Gender

48. Confucian Temple Complex

49. Confucius' Tomb In Qufu, a city in Shandong Province, China

50. Daoism