Ancient China

1700 B.C.- 200 B.C.

Continent: AsiaCountry: ChinaCapital City: Beijing

It is the world's most populous country with 1.2 Billion People.

22% of all the world’s people live in China.

China has the longest continuous history.

Link to British Museum Ancient Geography Web Page

Diverse Land Features:Himalaya Mountains

World’s Highest Mountains

Mt. Everest is the Most Famous.

K2 is also considered to be a famous mountain to climb and it is even more difficult than Everest.

Gobi Desert is one of the world’s largest deserts. Gobi means “Waterless place”.

It is a cold desert.

It rains about seven inches a year.

China has many natural water basins. There are many lakes, thousands of rivers, and several seas. In fact, the South China Sea is the largest sea in the world.

The largest river in China is the Yangtze river, and it is the third largest river in the world.

The Yangtze is known as the "golden waterway," because it links western and eastern areas of the country.

The Huang He, or Yellow River, is the second largest river in China, and it is truly yellow! The river carries a lot of yellow-colored soil, or loess, and that gave the river its name.

Like the Nile, the Yellow River flooded every year.

The Huang River is also known as “China’s Sorrow” because floods left people homeless and destroyed crops.

The people learned to control the flooding with levees (walls in the river banks)

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Think and Compare:

Yellow River Nile River

The climate in China is different in different areas of the country. Southern provinces are very hot and humid throughout the year, but winters in northern China are very dry and cold, and summers are hot, and have plenty of rain.

China has a greatest diversity of wildlife, including some very rare animals such as the South China tiger, red-crowned crane, white-flag dolphin, and many others.

The giant panda is a large bamboo-eating mammal, with bold black-and-white markings, including black patches over the eyes.

Because it is extremely rare-just over 1,000 are left at present - it has become not only the symbol of China but, also, the symbol of all of the world's protected wild animals.

Word Power!Pictograph

Latin: pictus=to paintGreek: graphos=to write

Pictures that represent words

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Writing Web Site Link to the British Museum

Dragon Bones Story:Link to Online Story

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•1760 B.C.-1500 B.C.-•Farming was a way of life•Bronze AgeShang

Dynasty•Longest Dynasty lasted about 800 years.•Silk was an important part of the economy•Women raised silkworms and made silkWestern Zhou

•China’s Golden Age•System of money encouraged trade•New Ideas emergedEastern Zhou p.108-

109

Qin was the First Emperor (Shi Huangdi)of the Qin Dynasty 221 B.C.

No one had used that title in hundreds of years.

Qin was a powerful leader who conquered many areas of China.

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Shi Huangdi made the government more centralized and divided the land into 36 provinces.

This made the land easier to rule.

He was able to unify a system of weights and measures and a system of money that could be used in all the provinces.

He began to connect the areas of walls and began the Great Wall to keep out invading enemies.

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He had great ideas, but he was strict and the people revolted.

This dynasty only lasted for about 20 years but great things happened during this time.

Han Dynasty 206 B.C.-220 A.D.

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During the Han Dynasty, China experienced many changes and advancements under the leadership of Wu Di.

He took some of the land away from the rich.He put taxes on imported and exported goods.He built roads.He punished those who challenged him.He valued scholars.He began civil service exams so anyone who passed could work in the government.

The Silk Road connected Rome to China. It was a famous trade route.

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China had silk and spices. China wanted western goods. Horses were in very high demand. Rome had horses, gold and precious gems.

Besides trading these items, ideas were also exchanged.

Benefits:

When ideas are exchanged, each culture can expand and use each others ideas.

Limits: Diseases were exchanged.

Master Kung: ConfuciusConfucius was nobility, a high-ranking social class.He lived during a time of chaos and turmoil.People were looking for peace and order.

Confucius valued order, harmony and ways of making the world right.

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ConfucianismThe core of Confucianism is respect for all people.

… A sense of humanity…respect for the family…humility, or modesty… the middle way…Accept your role in society…Parents are to love their children…Children are to respect and honor their parents

Mandate of HeavenConfucius thought that the people needed to respect their leaders.

He also thought that the leaders must respect their people. He believed that the rulers could lose the Mandate of Heaven” if he did not govern fairly.

AnalectsA collection of sayings by Confucius

Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.

Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

Respect yourself and others will respect you.

Mencius was a follower of Confucius.

Mencius thought that all people were good by nature.

Daoism is the belief in finding “the way” of the universe.

This was another school of thought that came about around the time of Confucius.

There were many schools of thought that came about during this time, known as the “hundred schools of thought”.

Confucius Jesus

The Terracotta Army

In 1974 AD, in a field in western China, farmers found some life sized statues of soldiers. When the authorities were contacted, the field were closed off and excavated.

Over 8000 soldiers, some horses, chariots, acrobats and musicians were found.They were made of clay and buried in rows. Each one was different!

It is thought they were created to protect the emperor in his afterlife!