CHINESE CIVILIZATION

GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE OF CHINA

CLIMATE OF CHINA

• The central zone has a generally temperate climate.

• The southern zone has a generally subtropical climate.

• The northern zone has a climate with winters of Arctic severity.

The Political Division of China

• Ancient Era

- Xia Dynasty (2100-1600 B.C.)

- Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.)

- Zhou Dynasty (1122-256 B.C.)

Ancient Times

• China in the Xia rose around 2000 B.C., it was the first dynasty.

• no written records

• Shang dynasty the first family of rulers to leave written records behind.

• Chinese script was logographic• Bronze had an important place in ritual.

• During the Zhou Dynasty, introduced coin money, which further improved trade.

• Iron was used to create weapons and tools.

Shang Dynasty

Zhou Dynasty

• Imperial Era (221 B.C. – 1911 B.C.)

- Qin Dynasty

- Han Dynasty

- Southern & Northern Dynasties

- Sui Dynasty

- Tang Dynasty

- Five Dynasties & Ten Kingdoms

- Song Dynasty

- Yuan Dynasty

- Ming Dynasty

- Qing Dynasty

• Qin Dynasty

– The major contributions of the Qin include the concept of a centralized government, the unification of the legal code, written language, measurement, and currency of China.

– built Great Wall

• Han Dynasty – Emperor Wu consolidated and extended the Chinese empire. – This enabled the first opening of trading connections

between China and the West, the Silk Road. – Civil Service Exam based on Confucian ideas

• Sui Dynasty

– The Sui brought China together again and set up many institutions that were to be adopted by their successors, the Tang.

• Tang Dynasty

– Confucian ideology restore– Examination system– Chang'an (modern Xi'an) the national

capital, is thought to have been the world's largest city at the time. The Tang and the Han are often referred to as the most prosperous periods of Chinese history.

Song Dynasty

• Not as strong politically or militarily as the Tang

• Strong support of Confucian values• Neo-Confucianism – emphasis on

high morality, hostility to foreign influence, stress on tradition (stifled innovation), authority of men

• Poor leadership• Mongols – eventually invade Song China

Legacies – Tang and Song

Grand Canal – under Yangdi (Sui) and other canals continue Commercial Expansion – Silk Road, maritime trade, increased

urban centers Agricultural Production – continued to increase Family – male-dominated households continue and increase with

Song (note foot-binding), Neo-Confucianism contributed to deterioration of status of women

Technology – tools, weapons, paper money, compass, paper, printing

Art – artwork, poetry (Li Bo) – celebrating the natural world

Yuan Dynasty

• Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, wanting to adopt the customs of China, established the Yuan Dynasty.

• This was the first dynasty to rule the whole of China from Beijing as the capital.

Ming Dynasty

• Emperor Yong-le strenuously tried to extend China's influence beyond its borders by demanding other rulers send ambassadors to China to present tribute.

• A large navy was built, including four-massed ships displacing

1,500 tons. A standing army of 1 million troops was created. The Chinese armies conquered Vietnam for around 20 years.

• The Grand Canal was expanded, and proved to be a stimulus to domestic trade.

• During the Ming dynasty the last construction on the Great Wall

was undertaken to protect China from foreign invasions.

Qing Dynasty

• Emperor Kangxi ordered the creation of the most complete dictionary of Chinese characters ever put together at the time.

• The Manchus set up the "Eight Banners" system in an attempt to

avoid being assimilated into Chinese society. • Banner membership was to be based on traditional Manchu skills

such as archery, horsemanship, and frugality.

Modern Era

• With the proclamation of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, Taiwan was again politically separated from mainland China and was continued to be governed by the Republic of China.

CHINESE THOUGHTS

• Taoism

• Confucianism

• Buddhism

• Legalism

Taoism

• Started by Lao-Tsu, who lived a little before Confucius, about 600 B.C.

• Tao means the ‘way’ or the ‘path’

THE YIN & YANG

• It shows how the YIN & the YANG are intertwined with each other.

• The YIN (The DARK side)

-The side of WOMEN,THE MOON,COMPLETION & DEATH.

• The YANG (The LIGHT side)

-The side of MEN, THE SUN, CREATION & BIRTH

Buddhism

• Gautama Buddha taught the four noble truths: that there is suffering, that suffering has a cause, that suffering has an end and that there is a path that leads to the end of suffering.

Buddha• Buddha was born around

565 B.C. in Lumbini in modern day Nepal

• They are the characteristics of the physical harmony and beauty of a Great Being, and are described in Story of the Life of Buddha Shakyamuni.

Confucius

• Born in a poor family in the year 551 B.C., and he was born in the state of Lu.

• Original name was K'ung Ch'iu.

• Made many wise phrases and theories about the law, life, and the government.

• Philosophy is a kind of a system of ideas and thoughts that talk about the human's behavior

Women vs. Men: Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism

Roles of women and men Foot binding Wang Anshi’s reforms of the 11th Century

– 1085 – Wang dies– Reforms are reversed in Song Dynasty

1. Human nature is naturally selfish. 2. Intellectualism and literacy is discouraged. 3. Law is the supreme authority and replaces morality. 4. The ruler must rule with a strong, punishing hand. 5. War is the means of strengthening a ruler’s power.6. One who favors the principle that individuals should obey a powerful authority rather than exercise individual freedom.

Legalism

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

• The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties.

• Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were

built since the 5th century BC. • The most famous is the wall built between 220 BC and 200

BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; little of it remains; it was much farther north than the current wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty.

TEMPLE

Temple of Heaven

• Temple of Heaven , the first of the five sacrificial temples in Beijing, is situated south of Beijing city. It was first built in 1420, along with the construction of the Forbidden City.

• The Temple of Heaven

covers an area of 273 hectares. It is the best preserved and largest sacrificial building complex in the world.

• Temple of Heaven was the place where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties (about seven hundreds years ago) came to perform worship to the God of Heaven and pray for good harvests.

Chinese Script

• the earliest written characters.

• Chinese calligraphy (Brush calligraphy) is an art unique to Asian cultures.

Chinese Calligrphy

• Shu (calligraphy), Hua (painting), Qin (a string musical instrument), and Qi (a strategic boardgame) are the four basic skills and disciplines of the Chinese literati.

Oracle bones

• People in China began writing about 1500 BC .

• The earliest writing that we know of from China was on animal bones, which are called "oracle bones" because they were used to tell the future.

Chinese oracle bone(Shang Dynasty, about 1500 BC)

Architecture Of China

• The importance of orientation developed into the practice of Feng-shui which literally means "wind and water"

• Feng-shui concepts also dictated the kinds of material used in buildings. Combined with the location of the building,

• The proper building materials

were thought to re-direct beneficial energy for the inhabitants.

• The most common building

materials for houses in China are earth and wood

Detail from a Ming period manual showing brick making  

• The basic building block of Chinese architecture is the bay or "the space between," which is the space defined by roof supports.

• Chinese houses almost always consist of an odd number of bays; an even number of bays is considered unlucky. Therefore, three- or five- bay houses are common.

A diagram of the supports for a three bay house 

A south-facing three bay house in Inner Mongolia 

• The Three-bay house can be understood to be the basic unit of Chinese homes.

• Depending on the size and

the wealth of the family.

• One common extension of the three-bay house was the creation of a courtyard dwelling.

Bird's eye view of courtyard house in Beijing  

• A notable feature of the courtyard house is that the complex is fully enclosed by buildings and walls.

• There are no windows on the outside walls, and usually the only opening to the outside is through the front gate.

Ming dynasty woodblock print 

• The courtyard was used in the design of more complex structures such as palaces and temples.

How Did They Decorate their Houses ?

• Walls and eaves are often decorated, but particular attention is

paid to doorways and windows because these are places where good or evil spirits were thought to enter.

• Elegant decorative schemes would also provide ventilation or

shading.

• Many openings would be covered with latticework in an endless variety of patterns that "shape the wind" or alter the way air flows into a home.

Doors in Sichuan Province

•One way to summon good fortune is to invoke the character fu, seen on the wall to the right.

•Fu can be translated as "happiness," "good fortune," "blessings," or "luck."

"Fu" on wall in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province

Pottery

• The earliest form of art we know from China was pottery - clay pitchers and bowls.

• Most of the best early pottery comes from a place called Ban’po and it is named after that place. This Ban'po pottery was handmade.

Jar from Ban'po, 4800 BC

Pottery bowl from Henan in Northern China,about 3500 BC

Pottery jar from Gansu in North-West China, about 2500 BC