Ancient ChinaChapter 4

Geographical Influences

Mountains, sea, and desert provide some protection and isolation

Vulnerable to northwest River valleys

Yellow (Huang He) - earliest civilization - damaging floods

Yangtze - very important in unification- transportation- irrigation

Outside China during Shang period (1750BC – 1000BC) Hammurabi’s code Mycenaean Civilization In Greece Vedic period in India Stonehenge in England Moses led Israelites out of Egypt Mayans processed rubber King Tut Homer’s Troy fell Ramses II of Egypt

Earliest Civilizations - most isolated Earliest- Neolithic- Ban Po- similar to other

parts of the world/ one of the oldest Shang Dynasty 1750-1000 BC (FIRST

DYNASTY) in N. China along the Huang He - raised silk worms - silk part fascination of China, famous for bronze sculpture, daggers, jade jewelry paid homage to ancestors- family important

Zhou Dynasty 1000-256 BC – longest dynasty – developed foundations for Chinese society

Dynastic Cycle & Mandate of Heaven

Mandate of Heaven Divine (heavenly)

approval giving the right to rule to the emperor

Zhou Dynasty Wu Wang – first king of Zhou, gave

land grants to lords, relatives, & general

Farming was profitable Blast furnace used to create iron Education spread from upper classes

to others Book of Songs – 305 poems 707-480 BC – lords became too

powerful Civil War followed, ending the Zhou

Dynasty

Qin Dynasty Qin Shin Huangdi – founded dynasty

221BC authoritarian ruler:▪ ordered nobles to capital▪ everyone paid high taxes▪ strict laws & harsh punishments▪ burned books

created unity with coins, weights & measures, and roads & canals

Ordered sections of wall to be joined to form a “Great Wall”

Son overthrown – end of dynasty

Han Dynasty Liu Bang – founded dynasty 202BC Wudi – greatest leader

built Silk Road for trade with the West established school for civil servants – need for

civil service examination rather than favoritism

improved silk factories; invented paper, stirrups, wheelbarrow; plow with moveable parts

expanded territory from Korea to Vietnam AD220 – warlords attacked & overthrew

emperor

Ancient Philosophies

religions in Ancient China Confucianism – 5 Relationships Daoism – Yin & Yang ,balance Buddhism (from India)

showed concerned with ethical life on earth

Filial Piety – obedience and respect for one’s parents

Legalism – strong law and harsh punishment to maintain order, created by Xunzi

Confucianism Moral and ethical code highly developed

treat everyone with consideration Value on family head- ancestor respect Values- loyalty, righteousness, wisdom,

sincerity Five Relationships: one is an example to

the other, inferior learns from superior Ruler - subjects Father – son Husband – wife Older Brother – younger brother Friend – friend

Daoism (Taoism) and the Laosi contemporary of Confucius Dao/Tao= the road way Absolute=sum of existence Goal to bring people into harmony very introspective not as influential as Confucius

Life and Culture Sons more important than daughters Ban Zhao – wrote guide for young women,

Admonitions for Girls agrarian economy – based on farming scholars calculated when eclipse would occur books written on Algebra & Geometry pi (p) calculated to 6 places (3.141592) physicians needed to pass an examination to

practice – patients treated with acupuncture education and literacy was mostly for upper

class – most important during Zhou dynasty