China’s Geography

1. China’s Geography • China is a huge country, but there is very little farmable land • A lot of mountains like the Himalayas • A lot of deserts like the Gobi desert • Yellow River- a.k.a. Huang He river • Yellow from pollen and silt that floods the river • River of Sorrows • Important to China’s economy. • Northern China • Long River- a.k.a. Yangtze river • Longest river in China • Flows through central China

2. China’s First Civilizations • Yang-Shao Culture • Earliest Neolithic Culture along the Yellow River. • 5000 b.c.- 3000 b.c. • They domesticated pigs and dogs • Hemudu Culture • same time as Yang-Shao Culture, along the Long River • Rice Farmers

3. China’s First Civilizations • Eventually these 2 cultures began to associate with each other and in about 3000 b.c. They officially joined and became known as the Middle Kingdom. • Out of this came China’s first Dynasty: the Xia Dynasty

4. Shang Dynasty • After the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty ruled from 1750 b.c. to 1045 b.c. • Their capital was at Anyang • They had a social class system, similar to others of the world. • Polytheistic- believed in many spirits and gods- they also honored ancestors with offerings. Shang kings believed they received wisdom and power from these gods, spirits, and ancestors.

5. Shang Dynasty • Oracle Bones • Beginning of Chinese writing. • This is where we get most of our information about the Shang Dynasty. • Inscriptions have been found on the shoulder blades of Oxen and sometimes on turtle shells. • These are considered Sacrificial rites. • They would scratch a statement or prediction into the bone, heat it with a bronze tool that would crack the bones. These cracks were interpreted as a response to the question or prediction. • These inscriptions are about kings, weather, wars, crops, etc. • They use over 3000 ideographs and pictographs.

6. Zhou Dynasty • The Shang lived very richly, while their subjects were very poor- this caused unrest throughout China. • Wu Wang, an aristocrat, led a rebellion of the unhappy against the Shang and created the Zhou Dynasty. • The Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history. • They divided their kingdom into small territories with their own officials so that they could better govern. • They also used the Mandate of Heaven to keep control. They used this to say that the gods told them they were to have all power in China.

7. Zhou Dynasty • Good things that came out of the Zhou Dynasty: • Irrigation and flood control systems • Farm tools such as the plow • Silk was an important trade item. • Period of the Warring States- towards the end of the Zhou, the local rulers began fighting with each other over land.