china

1. china

2. geography • China’s geographic barriers, mountains and deserts, isolated the Chinese people from other people in Asia. • Historians have dated the beginning of Chinese civilization to the founding of the Xia Dynasty.

3. Shang dynasty • The Shang Dynasty lasted from 1750 to 1122 B.C. • They ruled by the aristocracy. This is where the upper class’ wealth is based on land and power is passed from one generation to another. • The Chinese had a strong belief in life after death.

4. Zhou dynasty • The Zhou dynasty is the longest lasting dynasty in Chinese history. • The king was the head of the government and was seen as the link between Heaven and Earth. • The Zhou dynasty claimed it ruled China because it possessed the Mandate of Heaven, the idea that a king received the authority to rule from Heaven. • Dao means the “way.”

5. A king was expected to protect his people from natural disasters. If he failed, he would be overthrown. • The period from the Sixth to Third Centuries B.C. was an age of significant economic growth and technological change. • The Zhou’s technological advances included irrigation, the iron plowshare, and metal working. • Improved farming methods encouraged the growth of trade and manufacturing. • China’s most important trade product was silk.

6. The family was an important institution in China. • Filial piety refers to the duty of members of the family to subordinate their needs and desires to those of the male head of the family. • Male supremacy was key in China’s social system. • China’s most important cultural contribution was the creation and development of a written language. • This language was primarily pictographic and ideographic.

7. philosophies • Between 500 and 200 B.C., three major schools of thought about the nature of humans and the universe emerged: Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism.

8. Confucianism • Confucius was known as the First Teacher. His interest in philosophy was political and ethical, not spiritual. • There are two elements in the Confucian view of the Dao: duty and humanity. • Everyone should be governed by the Five Constant Relationships: parent and child, husband and wife, older sibling and younger sibling, older friend and younger friend, and ruler and subject.

9. The Confucian concept of duty is expressed in the form of a “work ethic.” • The second key element in the Confucian view of the Dao is the idea of humanity. It consists of a sense of compassion and empathy for others.

10. daoism • Daoism was a system of ideas based on the teaching of Laozi. • The principle ideas of Daoism are discussed in the Tao TeChing. • Daoistsbelieved the true way to follow the will of Heaven is not action, but inaction. • They also believe the best was to act in harmony with the universal order is to act spontaneously.

11. legalism • Legalism proposed that humans were evil by nature. They could only follow the correct path by harsh laws and stiff punishments. • Legalists believe a strong ruler was necessary to create an orderly society.

12. Qin dynasty In 221 B.C., the Qin dynasty was established. Their ruler was Qin Shihugungdin. The Qin dynasty changed Chinese politics. Legalism became the official ideology. A regime is the government in power. The central bureaucracy of the Qin dynasty was divided into three parts: civil division, military division, and censorate. The censorate had inspectors who checked on government officials to make sure they were doing their jobs. Qin Shihugungdin unified the Chinese world by creating a single monetary system and by building a system of roads.

13. The Xiongun were a nomadic people who lived in the vicinity of the Gobi. The Xiongun mastered the art of fighting on horseback. To answer their threat, Qin Shihugungdin began to strengthen the existing system of walls in the north. Today, Qin’s project is known as the Great Wall of China. Qin Shihugungdin did not order the wall built; that was done 1500 years later. He linked together the sections of preexisting walls to create “The Wall of Ten Thousand Li”. The Qin dynasty ended in 210 B.C.

14. Han dynasty The Han Dynastywas founded by Liu Bang in 202 B.C. Liu Bang made Confucianism the state philosophy. Both the Han and Qin dynasties had a strong central government. Han rulers chose government officials on the basis of merit rather than birth. To create a system for new officials, a civil service exam was introduced and a training school was established. China under the Han dynasty was a vast empire.

15. Land owners did not pay as much in taxes; however, they were required to perform military service. Technological progress under the Hans included textile manufacturing, water mills, and iron casting. Stealand paper were also developed by the Hans. The invention of the rudder and fore-and-aft rigging allowed ships to sail into the wind. Overtime, the Han Empire began to decay.

16. culture In 1974, farmers near Xian discovered an underground pit near the burial mound of the first Qin Emperor. It contained an army of terra-cotta soldiers that were a recreation of Qin’s imperial guard. They were meant to be with the emperor on his journey to the next world. They were over 6000 figures, horses, wooden chariots, and 7000 bronze weapons.