Objectives

•Assess knowledge of ancient river valleyCivilizations

•Explain empires of Mesopotamia

•Recognize HispanicHeritage month

10/7 & 10/11

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

•Surrounded by a massive wall – 118 feet wide and 1.2 milesWhat can you conclude about their government?

Political

•Artifacts included the chariot and bronze weapons.

•Ruled by a king

Some houses were larger and enclosed within the wall.

Others were poorly constructed and were outside the wall.

Anyang

Talk to your neighbor. Who lived within the walls and who lived outside the walls?

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”

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 wasnot 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

Economy

Because China was geographically isolated, it did not trade with other civilizationsuntil 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 Culture

From its earliest history, Chinese culture emphasized:

•Importance of family

•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 wereetched into the bonesof animals, usually turtleshells.

The bones would then be exposed to heat.

The cracks in the shellwere then interpretedto see how the godsanswered.

Religion

Oracle bone

SocietySociety was comprised of 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

IntellectualChinese 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.

IntellectualThere 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 from Anyang

The Shangcivilizationexcelled at using bronze for weapons, carryingvessels andbeautiful objects. Chariots were inventedand used in battle

Achievements

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

Silk thread from silkworms is woven to make beautiful cloth.

Achievements• During the Zhou

Dynasty they:–Built roads and

canals–Developed blast

furnaces that allowed them to produce cast iron

Achievements

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

Coined money also developedduring the Zhou Dynasty.

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