10/22 Focus The Chinese Civilization developed in the Huang He and Yangtze river valleys

1. 10/22 Focus • The Chinese Civilization developed in the Huang He and Yangtze river valleys • Geography isolated the Chinese culture more than it did other civilizations • Do Now • What was the Neolithic Revolution? • Why did people settle in river valleys?

2. River Valley Civilizations China

4. Neolithic Revolution in China • Farming in China first appears in the Huang He River Valley • Favorable geographic conditions allowed for the development of civilization

5. Geography • Major Geographic Influences • Mountains • Deserts • River Valleys • Plains

6. Mountains • High mountains served a barrier to the movement of people • Himalayas in the West • separate China from India

7. Deserts • Gobi Desert • Large desert in the North • Forms a barrier between China and Mongolia • Very Rocky; few sand dunes

8. Deserts • Taklamakan Desert • Western China • Very difficult to cross • Taklamakan meant “Go in and you won’t come out” • “Sea of Death”

10. Effect of Natural Barriers • Mountains and deserts in China: • protection from invasions in the west • Isolation • Chinese civilizations developed without outside influences • Limited cultural diffusion • Ethnocentrism • The belief in the superiority of one’s race or ethnic group • Chinese believed that people outside of their world were inferior • Chinese viewed outsiders as barbarians

11. The Middle Kingdom • Had limited contact with outsiders • Believed China was the center of the world

12. River Valleys • The Huang He (Yellow River) • Flows to the east from Tibetan Plateau • Located in Northern China • Loess • Fine, dusty desert soil • Carried by winds and deposited in the river • Deposited by annual flooding • Created fertile flood plains • Flooding was unpredictable and could be very destructive • Cooler and drier climate • Wheat and other grains

13. River Valleys • Yangtze (Chang Jiang) • Flows east from Tibetan Plateau • Located in southern China • Warm climate with abundant rainfall

14. Plains • Importance of fertile plains • Only 11% of land in China can be farmed • 90% of farming occurs on plains between Huang He and Yangtze rivers • Most people live near the plains and in eastern China (along coast)

15. Closure • Identify the two major natural barriers that influenced the development of Chinese civilization. • How did these barriers influence the Chinese view of themselves and other groups?

16. Review • China is isolated by its geography. • This leads to Ethnocentrism – they thought that they were better than other people • This is why they called themselves the Middle Kingdom and considered others to be barbarians.

17. The Shang Dynasty • 1650 B.C. • Shang gain control of N. China • Government • Ruled by Kings • Establish first dynasty • A ruling family

18. The Shang Dynasty • Religion • Polytheistic • Worshiped ancestors • Used oracle bones to try to communicate with them • Bones inscribed with pictographs • Priests could read them for messages from ancestors • Offered ancestors gifts for the afterlife

19. The Shang Dynasty • written language • used pictograms • symbols that represent pictures • Ideograms • symbols that represent ideas. • used on the Oracle Bones, but only few people learned how to read and write

20. The Shang Dynasty • Early class systems • small warrior class ruling over the peasants • Patriarchal Society • Male dominated

21. The Shang Dynasty • Technology/Achievements/Developments: • Bronze production for weapons and ceremonial vessels (not tools) • Army had horse drawn chariots • Silk production • Irrigation systems