Huang He River Valley-Ancient ChinaLecture & packet notes

Objectives

•Locate physical featuresof Huang He River ValleyCivilization on a map

•Identify and explainPERSIA-G characteristics of Huang He River Valley Civilization

China Huang He River Civilization

GeographyImportant features:

MountainsHimalayas

RiversHuang HeYangtze

DesertsTaklamakanGobi

Talk to your neighbor – How did these physicalfeatures affect the developmentof ancient ChineseCivilizations?

MountainsDeserts, Ocean

Rivers

Provided protection from invaders – isolated – no trade with outsiders

Provided water and fertile soil. Loess (windblown silt) from unpredictable flooding of the Huang He River replenished the soil with nutrients. It also colored the river yellow, giving it the name “Yellow River”

The Huang HeRiver has also been called“China’s Sorrow” because of itshistory of devastating floods.

Taklamakan Desert with snow

The Gobi Desert

The Yangtze River

Political

China’s earliestgovernments weredynasties.

What is a dynasty?

The first civilizations emerged on the Huang He River around 2000 BCE.

Hereditary Rule

The ruler’s sonbecame the rulerafter the rulerdied.

Ruling power stayed in the family.

1. The first dynasty was the Xia but little is known because there are no written records

2. The Shang dynasty followed and many artifacts and writings were found in its capital city of Anyang.

PoliticalThere were three dynasties in Ancient China:

Anyang

Ruled by a king

Capital city was surrounded by a massive wall – 118 feet wide and 1.2 miles

What can you conclude about their

government?

Political

Artifacts included the chariot and bronze weapons

By 1027 BCE, the Shang Dynasty was overthrown and the third dynasty began called the Zhou Dynasty.

Political

Zhou rulers justified their use of force by claiming that they had the “Mandate of Heaven”

Mandate of Heaven: Divine power to be the emperor of China given to virtuous leaders

*If a leader does good for the people and always behaves correctly, then he is granted the power to rule by the gods/heavens (higher power) and can keep it; If he doesn’t act right and follow his duties as emperor, then he loses it (the power)

*Concept was started by the Zhou Dynasty to justify taking power

Ancient Dynasties of China1027 BCE 256 BCE

Zhou Dynasty begins

Qin Dynasty Shang Dynasty

1532 BCE

Almost 900 years of rule

Over time, the Zhou government became de-centralized and regional nobles gained more and more power. A system of feudalism developed. What is feudalism?

Era of Warring States

Political

Feudalism: A government system in which regional landowners grant land to knights or warriors in exchange for loyalty and protection.

During the last 500 years of Zhou rule, regional rulers were constantly at war with each other. This period is called the Era of Warring States.

Political

How did China’s geography affect its economy?Talk to your neighbor.

Because of China’s isolation by natural barriers, there was not much trade outside of China

Its economy was agricultural.

Economy

As territory in the North and South were united during the Zhou dynasty, China gained crop diversity: grains from the northern fields and rice from the south led to rise in population

Rice would become a staple in the Asian diet

Economy Cont.

Economy Cont.

Because China was geographically isolated, it did not trade with other civilizations until the Classical period (500 BCE-500 CE).

In the Classical period, it would become a manufacturer to the world, trading along the Silk Road and Indian Ocean routes.

Porcelain

Chinese CultureFrom its earliest history, Chinese culture emphasized:

1. Importance of family

2. The group is more important than the individual

ReligionReligious beliefs:

Ancestor worship: Deceased ancestors could bring good fortune or disaster.

Through ancestors, gods were worshipped, especially a supreme god, Shang Di.

The Chinese consulted the gods using oracle bones.

Questions were etched into the bones of animals, usually turtle shells.

The bones would then be exposed to heat.

The cracks in the shell were then interpreted to see how the gods answered.

Religion Cont.

Oracle bone

Society Society was comprised of two main classes: nobles and peasants

The nobles were landowners. The peasants worked the land for the nobles.

Women were expected to obey their fathers and husbands.

Their marriages were arranged when they were 13-15 years old.

The most important job for a woman was to produce a son.

Society Cont.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soIbKrq7LWM

Intellectual Chinese writing

developed from pictographs or drawings of objects.

The system used today is directly related to the writings found on oracle bones from the Shang dynasty.

Intellectual Cont.

There is no connection between written and spoken Chinese

Advantage: Someone can read Chinese without knowing how to speak it

Love

A common language developed during the Zhou Dynasty – Mandarin Chinese

Artifacts pictured from Anyang

The Shang civilization excelled at using bronze for weapons, carrying vessels andbeautiful objects. Chariots were invented and used in battle

Shang Achievements

Shang Achievements Cont.

Silk production began during the Shang dynasty andbecame a prized fabric of the nobles.

Silk thread from silkworms is woven to make beautiful cloth.

Zhou Achievements

During the Zhou Dynasty they:

Built roads and canals

Developed blast furnaces that allowed them to produce cast iron

Zhou Achievements Cont.

Iron was used for weapons and farm tools which expanded agriculture for China’s growing cities.

Coined money also developed during the Zhou Dynasty.

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