Ancient Asia

What do you know about China?

River Dynasties in China

Role of Geography in China Two major rivers, the

Yellow and Yangtze Rivers

The rivers deposit silt (fertile soil) called loess.

Only 10% of China’s land is suitable for farming

Environment Problems: Terrible Floods Isolated, so hard to trade Not a lot of natural

barriers

First Chinese Dynasty Cities first

developed in China around 2000 BC (Before those in Mesopotamia)

The Shang were a people from northern China and became the first known Dynasty (1700 BC)

Advances by the Shang Dynasty

First Chinese ruling family to leave written records.

Cities were built mainly of wood instead of stone

Built huge walls around their cities out of earth and clay

Made the military a professional organization

Chinese Cultures

No Interaction

Expansion (War)Trade and Chinese Influence

The Chinese Family Family is central to

Chinese Society Eldest man

controlled family affairs

Women were treated as inferior (only way to improve status was to have sons)

Arranged Marriages

Chinese Social Classes Divided between

nobles and peasants

Noble families owned the land and served the king as warriors and government officials (tribute)

Peasants were tied to the land that they worked

Early Chinese Religion Believed in the spirits

of family ancestors controlling fortune

Through these spirits, the Shang consulted with the Gods

Consulted the Gods through oracle bones, which were animal bones that priests scratched questions for the Gods on.

Early Chinese Writing The spoken and written

language were separate Advantage is that no

matter what local language was spoken, all could write the same

Disadvantage is that the alphabet is enormous and very complex to memorize

The Zhou Dynasty The Zhou Dynasty

overthrew the Shang in 1027 BC

The primary contribution to Chinese society by the Zhou was their style of government

Chinese Government (Introduced by the Zhou)

Believed that royal power came from the gods and heaven and a leader would gain this approval through just and orderly rule. (Mandate of Heaven)

The Zhou established a system known as feudalism where nobles were granted land in exchange for service to the king.

Dynastic Cycle in China

Strong Dynasty establishes peace and prosperity; it

has the Mandate of Heaven

Old Dynasty is seen as having

lost the Mandate of Heaven; rebellion is

justified

New dynasty gains power,

restores peace and order, and

claims Mandate of

Heaven

Dynasty is overthrown

through violence and new dynasty

emerges

In time, dynasty declines and

becomes corrupt; taxes

are raised; power grows

weaker

Disasters such as floods,

famines, revolts, and

invasions occur

Zhou Technology Roads and Canals to

promote trade Coined Money which

further improved trade

Blast furnaces which could produce iron.

Warring States Zhou power began to decline

around 700 BC and until 200 BC, local lords and nobles constantly fought one another.

The Unification of China

Confucius: The Man and Beliefs Born in 551 BC during the

Zhou Dynasty (During a time of war)

He believed in social order and a society centered around 5 relationships and a code of behavior for each. 1. Ruler and Subject 2. Father and Son 3. Husband and Wife 4. Older and Younger

Brother 5. Friend and Friend

Filial Piety: The Chinese Family Confucius stressed

the importance of family and that children should practice filial piety, which was respect for parents and ancestors.

Confucius and Government Believed that education

was the means for a peasant man to advance himself.

Created a system called bureaucracy where government officials were trained and appointed based on performance on exams.

Daoism: Alternative to Confucius

Founded by a thinker named Laozi who believed natural order revolved relationships among living things.

Believed in a force called the Dao (the way) that governed all things and that people should live in harmony with nature.

Yin and Yang Ancient thinkers

believed that two powers together represented the natural rhythms of life. This concept helped Chinese understand their place in the world.

Legalism: Another Alternative Founded by Hanfeizi and

Li Si Believed powerful

government was the key to order and punishments should be used to maintain order.

Believed scholars should be controlled by government.

Qin Dynasty Replaced the Zhou

Dynasty by using the Legalist ideas to unite the warring states.

Only lasted for about 40 years but was the reason China was a unified nation for the first time.

Shi Huangdi and Autocracy The Qin ruler took the name Shi

Huangdi which means first emperor.

Shi Huangdi doubled China’s size (divided it into 36 provinces) while crushing any political rivals (included the murder of countless scholars).

Shi Huangdi established an autocracy which is a government that has unlimited power and uses power however it wants.

Qin Dynasty Accomplishments Unified all of China Created a road/trade

network of more than 4,000 miles

Created standard writing, currency, laws, and weights and measurements for China

Created the Great Wall of China

The Fall of Qin Shi Huangdi’s

son could not hold the vast empire together.

Peasants and Scholars rebelled due to harsh punishment and the Han Dynasty came to power.

Ethical Systems in the USA Pick one of the three Chinese ethical systems. Working by yourself or with a partner think

about how your chosen ethical system would look in the United States.

Create a poster advertising your ethical system that provides three reasons why your system is the best for America and an illustration of your ethical system in the USA.

The Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty Founded by Liu Bang

and remained in power for 400 years

Followed the Qin practice of centralized government, where a central authority controls the entire state

Shifted from Qin Legalism to Han Confucianism

Notable Han Rulers Empress Lu: Ruled in

place of her son who was too young, one of China’s few woman rulers.

Emperor Wudi: Ruled longer than any other Han Ruler (54 years) and greatly expanded the empire through warfare against nomads.

Han Government and Society Highly structured society

based on Confucius ideas. The Emperor had “divine

authority” and was the link between heaven and earth

Government collected taxes from peasants and peasants owed one month of service to the government a year

Government employed Confucian Scholars as advisors

Han Civil Service Bureaucracy contained 18

ranks of civil service (government) jobs.

Each ranked earned through performance on tests.

Exams were in history, law, literature, and Confucianism

In theory anyone could take the tests but in reality only the rich could afford to.

Han Technology Paper as we know it

today was invented in 105 AD an improved education and government

Improved farming techniques including the horse plow and water mill.

The government began to control all of these new industries by creating monopolies (exclusive control over an industry)

Han and Assimilation In order to unify the

vast empire, Han Emperors encouraged assimilation, which was the process of making conquered peoples a part of Chinese Culture and Society. Used colonization and

writing a common history to help in this

Fall and Rise of the Han Dynasty

1. Economic imbalance: The rich gained more land, the poor lost land

2. A series of poor emperors led to political instability

3. A Confucian scholar named Mang gained support and declared himself emperor

4. Natural disasters like flooding along with a peasant revolt ended Mang’s reign

5. Han took back over for another 200 years.

Hinduism and Buddhism

Hinduism: Origins Evolved slowly over

thousands of years. Central teachings

were written down between 750 BC and 550 BC

The goal is to liberate one’s soul from illusions and disappointments of lives

Hinduism: Beliefs Belief in a process called

reincarnation (rebirth), where a soul/spirit is born again and again until “liberation” (moksha) is achieved

Also believe that one’s karma, good or bad deeds, follows from one incarnation to another.

Hinduism: Differences “The World Soul” is

seen as having three personalities or gods: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the protector, and Shiva the destroyer.

Hindus are free to follow either one or none at all in order to achieve spiritual liberation (moksha)

Hinduism: Society Hinduism’s belief in

different stages and levels supported the caste system.

Karma and reincarnation plays a key role in determining one’s place in society (class)

Buddhism: Origins Founded by Siddhartha

Gautama. Siddhartha set out on a

quest for religious truth and enlightenment.

Went through intense meditation for enlightenment and was given the name the Buddha or Enlightened One

Buddhism: Beliefs Buddha established Four Noble

Truths: 1. Life is filled with suffering and

sorrow 2. Suffering is caused by people’s

selfishness 3. The way to end suffering is to

end desires 4. The way to overcome desires

is to follow the eightfold path The overall goal is to reach

nirvana, a world free of selfishness and pain

Buddhism: Society and Spread Buddha rejected the caste system and therefore

found more followers than Hinduism. Although it was founded in India, it became more

popular in neighboring Asian countries. Trade further spread Buddhism to countries such as

China.

Feudal Japan

Geography and Environment Made up of about

4,000 islands A lot of rainfall but

very little land available for farming (a lot of mountains)

Close enough to interact with the rest of Asia but also has the ability to isolate itself

Early Japan Divided into clans, each

with its own customs and gods

Shinto slowly became the common religion and involved worshiping the forces of nature (kami) as well as family ancestors

Eventually there was one emperor but the real power was with whichever clan backed him (An emperor and a shogun)

Japanese Culture Buddhism heavily

influenced Japan and did not replace Shinto but combined with it.

Japan borrowed heavily from their Chinese neighbors by adopting Chinese style writing, government, and customs of everyday living.

Feudalism and its’ Effects Over time, central

power declined and real power in Japan shifted to multiple powerful clans.

The countryside became lawless and clans began creating private armies to fight one another.

People began giving their land to local lords in exchange for protection.

Samurai and Shoguns Whichever clan could gain

enough power to influence the emperor became the leading clan and real power behind the throne. That clan’s leader was called the shogun (supreme general).

The shogun as well as competing lords relied on their Samurai Warriors in order to maintain power. Samurai lived by a code of honor called bushido and resembled European Knights.

Southeast Asia and Korea

Southeast Asia: Geography 2 Main

Regions: Indochina The Islands

Tropical Climate and entire Region is filled with major rivers (good for farming)

Influence on Southeast AsiaHeavily

influenced by India and China through trade and religion.Often times

had to pay tribute to the Chinese Dynasties

Khmer Empire Located in

modern day Cambodia

Ruled Southeast Asia from 800 to 1200

Built the temple of Angkor Wat: One of the largest temples ever built

Dai Viet Modern Day

Vietnam The kingdom of

Dai Viet was constantly fought over by China and the Khmer and eventually China won.

Korea: Early History Korea has

historically been fought over by competing Asian Nations

Korean Society was organized into clans like Japan

Conquered by the Han Dynasty in 100 BC

Koryo Dynasty First Dynasty to unite

Korea Heavily influenced by

China and modeled its’ central government and education system after the Chinese.

Collapsed after Mongol invasions

Koryo Culture Created Celadon

pottery (famous around the world)

Produced one of the first written accounts of Buddhist teachings