Indus ValleyIndus Valleyandand

Early ChinaEarly China

Indus Valley

• Large area along the Indus River in what is modern-day Pakistan (it was part of India then – long story)

• Civilization had large and well-planned cities that were laid out according to a grid

• In contrast, most Mesopotamian cities (and later European ones, for that matter) have confusing mazes of streets that developed from walking paths

• Had a good sewer system, complete with indoor toilets and baths. No other contemporary cities had this.

• First to cultivate cotton and weave cotton cloth

• Polytheistic religion

Computer generated picture of what

Mohenjo Daro may have looked like.

Around 1900 BC, the Indus Valley Civilization declines and the cities are abandoned by 1700 BC. Several theories why:

2.Invasion

• There was an invasion of Aryans from the north (they weren’t blond, blue-eyed people – that’s a later connotation).

• They conquered the Indus Valley folk

3.Weather patterns

• It appears the area become cooler and drier around this time and this affected water flow and food sources

4.Combination

• Weather disruptions weakened the civ and left it open for conquering. Nobody knows for sure.

Early Chinese Civilization

• Began along the Huang He and Yangtze Rivers

The dynasties

5.Xia Dynasty

• 2200-1800 BC

• 17 emperors

6.Shang Dynasty

• 1800-1046 BC

• 30 emperors

7.Zhou Dynasty

• 1046-256 BC

• 39 emperors

Mandate of Heaven

• Divine approval is given and it can be taken away and given to somebody else.

• Explained monarchial failures and dynastic declines as well as justified rebellions and overthrows. Rebellion could be done when the sovereign stopped ruling wisely

• Different from later European divine right of kings. In the latter, the sovereign and his family was appointed by God and answered only to God, not the people; was the ruler whether he ruled wisely or not.

• The Zhous first enunciated it as a justification for their overthrow of the Shangs, who, according to legend, were divinely derived

Government

• Feudalism

• The sovereign grants lands to lords who then owe allegiance to the king. The result was often that the king has difficulty controlling the nobles who developed their own armies and fought amongst themselves.

Social classes

• Had social classes

• Women were to obey men

• Non-Chinese were barbarians

Family

• Very important. The group was always more important than the individual

• Linked to religion – ancestor worship

Religion

• When people died, their spirits stuck around. You honored them and asked them to intervene with the gods.

Advancements

2.Chinese writing: complicated but unifying

3.Silk cloth

4.Used coin money

5.Used cast iron tools and weapons