Classical Civilization: China

1. Classical Civilization:China 3

2. Chapter Overview • Patterns in Classical China • Political Institutions • Religion and Culture • Economy and Society • A Distinctive Mixture

3. FIGURE 3.1 This 18th-century painting by Wang Shugu vividly illustrates the high esteem in which the philosopher Confucius has been held by the Chinese for over two millennia. Here Confucius is depicted with Laozi, another of China's great thinkers, and the Buddha, an Indian philosopher whose teachings won a widespread following in China. Confucius is clearly the pivotal figure in the painting, while Laozi is depicted as a dignified onlooker. The fact that Buddha is only a baby reflects the artist's sense of the stature of this foreign thinker compared to the two most revered figures of the Chinese intellectual tradition.

4. TIMELINE 1200 B.C.E.–200 C.E.

5. Patterns in Classical China • The Zhou Dynasty • System of indirect rule • Territorial expansion • Some centralization • Linguistic unity • Religious practices reshaped • Greater cultural unity

6. Map 3.1 The Era of Nomadic Incursions and Warring StatesThe fragmented state of the core areas of Chinese civilization from the 6th to the 3rd centuries B.C.E. is clearly illustrated on this map of the many states that jostled for power. The map shows the rise of the semi-nomadic kingdom of Qin in the 3rd century, which both unified politically and greatly enlarged the territory controlled by a mixture of ethnic Chinese and various nomadic peoples.

7. Patterns in Classical China • The Qin Dynasty • Shi Huangdi • Zhou rival • Rules from about 200 B.C.E. • Great Wall • Great centralization • Uniform writing script • Burned books to discourage intellectuals • Death of Shi Huangdi in 210 B.C.E. • Leads to a period of conflict

8. FIGURE 3.2 When kept in good repair and supplied with sufficient numbers of soldiers, the high walls and broad battlements of what would become the northern wall were a formidable obstacle for nomads who sought to invade China. The impressive barrier was made by joining and extending several walls that had been built by regional kingdoms in north China before they were conquered by the Qin. Among the most impressive engineering triumphs of the ancient world, the wall ran for more than 1400 miles through and above the north China plain (see Map 3.2). For more than two millennia, the wall, frequently repaired and improved as this photo illustrates, buffered the interaction between Chinese civilization and the nomadic peoples to the west and north of the Yellow River basin.

9. FIGURE 3.3 Hundreds of these clay warriors were found in the tomb of the first Chinese emperor, Shi Huangdi. Remarkably, each of the warriors has different facial features. Together with the clay horses also found in the tomb, these massed forces are striking evidence of the power of the founder of China's short-lived, first imperial dynasty. They also reflect the emperor's obsession with monumental building projects—a direct cause of the fall of the repressive Qin dynasty within a few years of Shi Huangdi's death.

10. Patterns in Classical China • The Han Dynasty • Territorial expansion • Contact with India • Trade with Roman Empire • Wudi (140–87 B.C.E.) • Establishes peaceful rule • Government linked to formal training • Han rule strong until about 220 C.E.

11. Map 3.2 China from the Later Zhou Era to the Han EraAs this map showing the boundaries of successive Chinese dynasties illustrates, the extent of the early Han empire greatly exceeded even that of the Qin dynasty, which was the first to effectively unify the core regions of Chinese civilization.

12. Political Institutions • Government rule of large territory • Reliance on family structure • Ancestor worship • Patriarchal • Local units never disappear • Single law code over all • Rule from center out

13. Political Institutions • Strong Bureaucracy • Power of warrior-landlords lessened • Examination system put in place by Wudi • Highly-integrated system • Trained bureaucrats • Some limits on imperial power

14. Political Institutions • Roles of the State • Military role not preeminent • Economic role • Standardized weights, measures, currency • Public works • Limit of imperial authority • Distance between capital city and outlying districts

15. Xunzi and the Shift from Ritual Combat to "Real" War • Conditions • Growing population • Improving weaponry • Shang and early Zhou periods • Wars fought according to ritualized patterns • Xunzi argues that war is a science • Better training • Goal is destruction

16. Religion and Culture • Elaborate exercises, rituals • Use of chopsticks • Introduction of tea • Formal philosophical background

17. FIGURE 3.4 A portrait of Confucius. Because no contemporary likenesses of Confucius have survived, the artists of each era in China's long history depicted him in ways that reflected the tastes and needs of the elites then in power. Here, for example, Confucius is shown as a kind and wise—even grandfatherly—sage. In less stable and prosperous times, he might be depicted as a stern teacher bent on restoring the moral fiber that the Chinese believed was essential to social harmony.

18. Religion and Culture • Confucianism • Confucius (Kong Fuzi) • Concern with stability, peace • An ethical system • Role of moral elite • Education central

19. Religion and Culture • Confucianism • The Confucian Gentleman • Moral rectitude • Public and private spheres equally important • Kings should be reminded of duties

20. Religion and Culture • Legalism • Favored a strong state, ruling through force • Belief that human nature was basically evil • In opposition to Confucianism in many ways • Yet the two often combined in exercise of power.

21. Religion and Culture • Daoism • More spiritual • Laozi (400s B.C.E.) • Philosopher • Retreat from society • State cannot solve all problems • Nature • Dao, cosmic force • Meditation

22. Religion and Culture • Literature, Art, and Science • Five Classics • Combination of genres • Basis for government examinations • Decorative arts • Calligraphy • Jade and silk • Medical research • Science concentrated on the practical

23. FIGURE 3.5 This painting of "The First Emperor of the Han Dynasty Entering Guandang," by Zhao Bozhu, seeks to recapture the pomp and splendor associated with the founder of the Han dynasty, one of the most powerful and long-lived in Chinese history. By the last centuries B.C.E., large, richly attired entourages, which moved about among several palaces and walled cities, were deemed essential for the emperors and regional lords who had become the dominant force in Chinese political life.

24. Economy and Society • The Confucian Social System • Landowning aristocracy and bureaucrats • Laboring masses: peasants and artisans • Undesirable pursuit of moneymaking, as opposed to political service • The "mean people" • Unskilled laborers • Performing artists • Slaves

25. Economy and Society • The Han Capital at Xi'an • Broad roadways • Earth and brick walls with towers • Population 100,000–250,000 • Including people living outside the walls

26. Map 3.3 Ancient Capitals

27. Economy and Society • Trade and Technology • Trade increases under the Zhou and Han • Little respect for trade and merchants • Technology • Plows, new collar for draft animals • Iron tools • Water-powered mills • Paper

28. FIGURE 3.6 Han relief on a funeral tile found in the Chengdu region in Sichuan (eastern Han dynasty, 25 C.E.–220 C.E.). The hunting scene in a luxuriant landscape in the upper panel is linked with a scene (lower panel) of peasants working in the fields. Such illustrations enable historians to track the development of tool making and weapons making in ancient civilizations such as China. They also make it possible to study patterns of organization in agrarian and artisan production (for which direct evidence is sparse) as well as the leisure activities of officials and the landed elite.

29. Economy and Society • Gender and Family Life • Great emphasis on authority • Parental authority especially upheld • Women subordinate to men • Primogeniture

30. A Distinctive Mixture • Isolation • View of surrounding peoples as inferior • No missionary desires • Buddhism an exception

31. A Distinctive Mixture • Social and Cultural Links to Politics • Society viewed as a whole • Government and society seen as one • Agriculture tied to government through revenue

32. A Distinctive Mixture • Complexities in Classical China • Confucianism versus Daoism • Many points of overlap • But some antagonism • Balance often upset • Overpopulation might lead to uprisings • Strict policing