Geography and Early China

Chinese civilization began with the Shang

dynasty along the Huang He River

Geography and Early ChinaThe Big Idea

Chinese civilization began with the Shang dynasty along the Huang He.

Main Ideas

• China’s physical geography made farming possible but travel and communication difficult.

• Civilization began in China along the Huang He and Chang Jiang rivers.

• China’s first dynasties helped Chinese society develop and made many other achievements.

US – China locational Comparison

Much of China is mountainous.

China’s landscape is covered with mountains.

The Yellow Mountains

Varied Landscape

• China covers an area of almost 4 million square miles.

• The Gobi desert lies in the north.

• Low-lying plains in the east make up one of the world’s largest farming areas.

• Mountain ranges lie in the west, including the Plateau of Tibet and the Qinling Shandi. There was limited contact between people in the east and west.

• The weather and temperature vary from cold and dry to wet and humid, and monsoons can bring up to 250 inches of rain each year.

Physical Geography

The Gobi Desert spreads over much of northern China.

The Gobi Desert separates China from its neighbors.

The Tibetan Plateau is “The Roof

of the World.” It

is here that the Huang He River begins its 3000 mile trip across Northern

China.

Huang He

•Also called the Yellow River

•Nearly 3,000 miles long across northern China

•Often floods, and has been referred to as “China’s sorrow” because of the destruction

Chang Jiang

•The longest river in Asia; also called the Yangzi River

•Flows across central China from Tibet to the Pacific Ocean

Two Rivers of China

HUANG HE RIVERHUANG HE RIVER

The Huang He is 3,000 miles The Huang He is 3,000 miles long and spreads enough silt long and spreads enough silt to create one of the world’s to create one of the world’s largest deltas, and miles of largest deltas, and miles of

fertile farmland.fertile farmland.

The Huang has been a major force in China’s history. Around 4000

B.C. farming communities developed and grew to include many

regions.

The Yangzi or Chang Jiang River cuts through central China, flowing from Tibet

to the Pacific Ocean.

The Chang Jiang is the longest river in Asia.

When the Huang floods the North China Plain, the silt creates fertile farmland. But

strong winds blow across the Huang He Valley, carrying away the loess, and turning

the soil poor.

China’s farmers fought to control the river’s floods, so that their fields

were not washed away. Farmers built levees, or walls to keep a river within

its banks.

Like the Sumerians, Chinese farmers built canals to bring water to their fields. But loess clogged the canals and had to be

cleared away.

Farmers often planted crops on terraced hillsides.

Huang Valley farmers were very successful.

Huang farmers grew many kinds of plants.

When trees were cleared from land for farming, erosion occurred. Erosion is the wearing away of soil by wind or water.

If too much soil washes away,

famine can occur.

Not all of China was suitable for farming. Growing crops was

difficult on the steppes. A steppe is a dry, treeless plain.

Farming

Early Settlements

• Frequent flooding made the land fertile around the Chang Jiang and Huang He rivers.

• Along with farming, the Chinese people hunted, fished, and domesticated animals.

• Some small villages along the rivers grew into larger cities.

• Separate cultures developed in the north and the south. Over time people learned to dig wells and use potter’s wheels.

• Findings at burial sites suggest that the ancient Chinese believed in an afterlife and had a complex social order.

Civilization Begins

3000 B.C. Painted pottery

and other artifacts

have been found at

Yangshao, Longshan and other

places.

The Xia dynasty might have been founded around 2200 BC, by Yu the Great.

Tales say that Yu dug channels to drain floodwaters and created the major waterways of North China.

Archaeologists have no firm evidence that tales about the Xia dynasty are true.

Xia dynasty

A dynasty is a line of rulers who belong to the same family. Control is passed from one

generation to the next.

Established by 1500 BC, the Shang was the first dynasty that there is clear evidence to support.

The Shang reorganized the social order in China: the top ranking was the royals, then nobles, warriors, artisans, farmers, and slaves.

Most citizens lived within the city walls.

Many cultural advances were made, including China’s first writing system, complex tools, metal pots, and ornaments.

Shang dynasty

By 1700 B.C., one kingdom, the

Shang, won control along the Huang He delta. For 600 years,

the Shang Dynasty shaped the lives of the

people along the Huang He.

Towns were important centers of

production. They supplied food,

clothing, and other products for the king. Towns kept enemies

away from Shang lands. People served as soldiers and went to war when needed.

After 600 years the capital was moved to Anyang. Writing on

bones discovered by archaeologists, led to the discovery of this city. Ruins show that Shang society included a king, his family, nobles, craftworkers, farmers, and

prisoners of war.

Archaeologists uncovered

bronze cups, stone carvings

and magnificent chariots found in

royal tombs.

A writing system developed along

parts of the Huang He. Early signs

looked like pictures. By the time of the

Shang dynasty, characters were

simpler, and could stand for objects or ideas. Many records

were written on bamboo and silk

and did not survive.

More writing has been

discovered on “dragon bones”

found at Anyang. Most of these were

cattle bones or turtle shells. Special priests

would heat the oracle bones until they cracked. The

pattern of the cracks was used to answer questions about the future.

The Shang believed their ancestors lived in another

world and controlled human

life. The Shang worshiped many

gods and believed these gods

controlled nature. They believed that

when they died, they would join

their ancestors and the gods.