7. King Yu the Great
Worked tirelessly for 13 years
without returning home
•Left home 5 days after he got
married, even passing his home
3 times, but did not stop
•Dredged the river to deepen it
•Dug canals parallel to the
river, so that floods would flow
to the sea
He became a popular hero and
the epitome of selfless
dedication and commitment to
Chinese society
8. Timeline - China
Timeline
400,000 years ago Earliest human inhabitants
7000 BCE
Domestication of rice, pigs
5000-3000 BCE Yangshao society
2200-1766 BCE Xia Dynasty (Sage King YU)
1766-1122
Shang dynasty
Shang oracle bones – development of writing
1122-256
Zhou Dynasty
Book of Songs
9. Yellow River, “Huang He”
4700 km, 2920 miles,
Yangshao society flourished 5000-3000
BCE, Yellow River Valley
Periodic flooding – “China’s Sorrow”
12. King Yu the Great
Worked tirelessly for 13 years
without returning home
•Left home 5 days after he got
married, even passing his home
3 times, but did not stop
•Dredged the river to deepen it
•Dug canals parallel to the
river, so that floods would flow
to the sea
He became a popular hero and
the epitome of selfless
dedication and commitment to
Chinese society
13. Xia Dynasty 2200 BCE
Not much known
• Sage King Yu the Great
• Hereditary monarchy
• Effective flood control
• Developing metallurgy bronze
• Erlitou (recent excavation)
15. Shang Dynasty – 1766 BCE
•Political organization:
fortified cities, loyal to
center
–1000 cities
–Capital moved six times
•Other regional kingdoms
coexist: Sanxingdui
Shang Axes
16. Tomb of Fu Hao* – 1250 BCE, Anyang
• 16 human beings
(guards)
• 6 dogs
• 6900 cowry shells
*smaller than the 11
other tombs of
kings
17. Tomb of Fu Hao – 1250 BCE, Anyang
•755 jade carvings
•564 bone carvings
•468 bronze weapons, bells, mirrors
•5 ivory cups
•11 pottery objects
18. Fu Hao
Yinxu
King Wu Ding’s favorite consort, or wife, out of 64
• Supervised her own estate/fiefdom
• Presided over sacrificial ceremonies
• Served as a general on several military campaigns, 13K
troops
19. Shang Dynasty Burial Practices
Live burials alongside
deceased member
of ruling class
–
–
–
–
mostly slaves
servants,
friends,
hunting
companions
– wives
Later replaced by
monuments
20. Oracle Bone from Shang Dynasty
•Questions to the
spirit world
regarding the
future
23. Zhou Dynasty, 1122-256 BCE
• “Mandate of Heaven” - rule by decree, no law codes
• Decentralization of authority - villages opposed to
Shang leadership, stop paying taxes, near the end
• Shang monopoly on Bronze ends – others also create
cheap weapons with iron
• Early money or cash economy develops
24. Social Classes
What is missing?
• Ruling classes - hereditary privilege
– Palatial compounds, luxurious lifestyle
– Supported by tax revenues
– Defended by monopoloy on bronze weaponry
•
•
•
•
artisans, craftsmen
merchant class – long distance trade
Large class of peasants
Slave class
26. Mandate of Heaven
• heavenly powers, although not specific
(often just known as “tian”) granted
emperors the power to govern
• a concept of service, or reciprocity,
unique to Asia?
• Heaven – Emperor - Earth
27. Southern Expansion of Chinese Society
Yangzi Valley
– Yangzi river: Chang
Jiang, “long river”
– Excellent for rice
cultivation
– Irrigation system
developed
The State of Chu
– challenged Zhou
dynasty
– influenced by
Chinese
28. Decline of the Zhou Dynasty
Beginning in the Eighth Century BCE
• Northern nomads invade (preMongol/Turks)
• Decentralized leadership strengthens regional
powers (no to taxes!)
• Iron metallurgy – cheap & strong weaponry
• Internal dissention: the Period of the Warring
States (403-221 BCE)
29. Zhou Literature
• Confucius
• Book of Changes - Manual for divination
• Book of History
• Book of Etiquette (Book of Rites)
• Book of Songs
• Many books written on bamboo strips,
and destroyed by Emperor Qin
Shihuangdi c. 221 BCE
30. Nomadic Peoples of Central Asia
• Steppe nomads (pre-Mongol/Turks)
– Poor lands for cultivation, extensive
herding activities
– 4000 BCE – horses
– 2900 BCE - bronze metallurgy
• Extensive trade with sedentary cultures in
China
• Tensions: frequent raiding
34. Confucius & his disciples
Master Philosopher Kong
551-479 BCE
–Analects
•Aristocratic roots
•Decade of
unemployment, wandering
•Returned home a failure,
and died
•Unwilling to compromise
principles
•Interest in developing
leadership & values
35. What are the five Confucian relationships?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
father and son ( 父子 ),
ruler and subject ( 君臣 ),
husband and wife ( 夫
婦 ),
elder and younger
brother ( 兄弟 ),
between friends ( 朋友 )
There should be a sixth –
Teacher/Student
36. Confucius & his disciples
•Ren - kindness, beneveloence
•Li - Propriety
•Xiao - Filial piety
•Traits lead to development of
junzi - Ideal leaders
37. Mencius (372-289 BCE)
• Principal Confucian scholar
• Optimist, belief in power of ren
• Not influential during lifetime
– Considered prime exponent of Confucian
thought since 10th century
38. Xunzi (298-238 BCE)
• Career as government administrator
• Belief in fundamental selfishness of
humanity
– Compare with Mencius
• Emphasis on li, rigid propriety
• discipline
40. Legalist
• Promotes the state
• military & agriculture
• clear and strict laws
were essential to
control human nature
• discouraged
scholarship, business,
and the arts.
Shang Yang
(390-338 BCE),
The Book of the Lord Shang
42. Unification of China
• Qin dynasty develops, 4th-3rd centuries
BCE
• Generous land grants under Shang
Yang
– Private farmers decrease power of large
landholders
– Increasing centralization of power
• Improved military technology
43. The First Emperor
Qin Shihuangdi
(r. 221-210 BCE)
•Legalist
•Military General
•Unifies China by
crushing local rulers
47. Tomb of the First Emperor
•Built by 700,000
workers
•Slaves, concubines, and
craftsmen sacrificed and
buried
Excavated in 1974, 15,000 terra cotta soldiers
50. The Han Dynasty - Centralization
Former Han (206 BCE- 9 CE) &
Later Han (25 – 220 CE)
Liu Bang forms new Han dynasty
51. Han Wudi: Martial Emperor
141-87 BCE
Han dynasty peaked
under Han Wudi
• Built roads & canals
• Opened the imperial
university to prepare
young men for
government service (3K
to 30K students)
• increased taxes
52. Han Imperial Expansion c. 87 B.C.E.
Han Wudi invades Vietnam, a part of Korea, and briefly dominates the nomadic Xiongnu
54. Han Wudi expands empire
Han Wudi invades Vietnam, a part of Korea, and briefly dominates the nomadic Xiongnu
55. Major Han Technological Developments
• Increased
– iron weapons
– food cultivation
– Silkworm industry
(4000 BCE)
– Paper, even toilet
paper – (Sixth
century CE)
Silkworm cocoons become silk thread
56. Han Dynasty - Population Growth
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
220 BCE
9 CE
Population (millions)
57. Han Dynasty - Wealth/Poverty Disparity
Jade Burial Suit - Liu Sheng 113 BCE
58. Historian Sima Qian –
castrated in 99 BCE
“A man has only one death. That death may be as weighty as Mount
T’ai, or it may be as light as a goose feather. It all depends upon the
way he uses it . . . the reason I have not refused to bear these ills and
have continued to live, dwelling in vileness and disgrace without
taking my leave, is that I grieve that I have things in my heart which I
have not been able to express fully, and I am shamed to think that after
I am gone my writing will not be known to posterity . . . If it may be
handed down to men who will appreciate it, and penetrate to the
villages and great cities, then though I should suffer a thousand
mutilations, what regret would I have?”
Wrote 130 chapters on early imperial China
59. Wang Mang:
The Socialist Emperor
(9-23 CE)
• “Mandate of Heaven”
passed from the Hans
to his family
• massive social
reforms including
land redistribution
• Assassinated by
disgruntled landlords
60. Later Han Dynasty (25-220 CE)
Han emperors struggled
to reassert political
control
• Wealth/poverty
divide
• land distribution
problems, coupled
with famine, drought
• 189 CE – 2K eunuchs
killed by a Han
relative
• Internal court intrigue
• 220 CE - Han Dynasty
collapses
Yellow Turban Rebellion – Peasants – 184 CE
61. Ban Zhao (Pan Chao) - first century
First Chinese female court historian
After father, brother, and
finished their Book of
Han
99 CE – author of Lessons
for Women
Reinforcing Qin, Han
patriarchy and female
virtues, obedience to
husband and his family,
subservience, loyalty
63. Han Dynasty - (206 BCE- 9 CE) (25 – 220 CE)
After the Fall of the Han, China faced three centuries of disorder
– with the Huns, Turks conquering parts of northern China
64. 589-618 The Sui Dynasty
618-945 Tang Dynasty
960-1260 The Song Dynasty
66. Arab merchant
Suleiman
admiring China, c.851
“No one in China is treated
unjustly.” c. 851
remarkable level of political stability and
sophistication during the Tang & Song
dynasties, unmatched in the world
•Great food - spices from Southeast Asia
•Luxury goods - like tortoise shells from Vietnam, pearls
from India, horses and melons from central Asia,
•musicians from Persia,
•Chinese sold silk, porcelain & laquerware (Chinese
china).
67. Restoration of Centralized Imperial Rule –
Sui Dynasty (589-618)
• Implemented huge
public works projects
• High taxes
• Labor conscription
Emperor Yang Jian
68. Sui Dynasty & The
Grand Canal
starts in the 6th c. BCE
69. The Grand Canal
• Created to link
north and south
China
– 2000km (1240
miles)
– Roads on either
bank
• Millions of laborers
• Effective until the 20th
century railroads
72. Tang Taizong (r. 627-649 CE)
•Second emperor and the best
•Ambitious & ruthless Murdered two brothers,
pushed father aside to take
throne
•Strong Confucian ruler
–Built a splendid capital
at Chang’an (Xian)
–Crime rate low
–Taxes low
–Rice prices low
–Stability, prosperity
Turkish & Chinese ancestry
73. Chang’an (Xian) – “Perpetual Peace”
Seventh Century - Chang’an world’s most populous
city: 2 million residents
77. Tang (618-907 CE) Major Achievements
• Transportation and
postal services
• Meritocracy –
Confucian exam system
• (Military expansion)
• Equal-field System
– 20% of land hereditary
ownership
– 80% redistributed
according to formula
• Family size, land
fertility
• Corruption, loss of
land to Buddhist
monasteries
82. Xuanzang 玄奘
(629-645) 16 year Buddhist Pilgrimage
Defying emperor Tang, he travels abroad
Stranded in the oasis city of Turpan (just SE of
Urumqi) on the silk road.
The ruler of Turpan lavishes him with gifts,
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
24 letters of intro,
500 bolts of silk,
2 carts of fruit,
30 horses,
25 laborers,
500 more bolts of silk,
with gold, silver and clothes for his own personal use.
returns to china in the year 645, with nearly
700 books, after traveling 10K plus miles,
and receives a welcome return from
Emperor Tang.
86. Dunhuang Cave Temples 600-1000 CE
Gained popularity because Buddhists gave to the poor during economic hard times
87. Chan (Zen) Buddhism or
Chinese Buddhism
• Adapted Buddhism to Chinese culture
– Dharma = dao
– Nirvana = wuwei
• Salvation for entire family for generations
– “one son in monastery for ten generations of
salvation”
• Changed emphasis from texts to meditation
88. Xian Mosque – Seventh Century
Xian - Beginning of the Silk Road
91. Tang Decline
• Emperor obsessed with music, favorite
concubine, partying, neglecting country
• An Lushan Rebellion 755-763
• Huang Chao – 875-884
Tang decline continues, rebellions in 9th century,
last emperor abdicates 907
92. An Lushan Rebellion – 755-763
755 - An Lushan,
former military
commander
captures capital
Chang’an &
Luoyang
763 - rebellion crushed
with nomadic
Uighur mercenaries
who sacked
Chang’an &
Luoyang
93. Huang Chao – 875-884
• Chinese Robin
Hood – stole
from the rich and
gave to the poor
95. Song Taizu (r. 960-976 CE)
First emperor, a former
military leader
– Early retirement to
Generals, creating a
weak military
– brilliant achievements
in civil
administration,
industry, education,
and the arts
96. Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE)
• weak state
• mistrusted military
• Emphasized
education, the arts,
administration,
industry
97. Patriarchal Social Structures
• Increased emphasis on ancestor
worship
– Elaborate grave rituals
– Extended family gatherings in honor of
deceased ancestors
100. Agriculture - Tang & Song
Dynasties
• Fast-ripening
rice, 2 crops
per year
• improved
irrigationwater
wheels,
canals
• Terrace
farming
101. c. 800-1200 Rapid Growth in Maritime Trade
13th Century Song Ship
•
•
•
•
•
River Boats - 1085
China emerged for the first
time as a sea power, with a
navy for coastal defense and
a fleet carrying rice from
south to north.
Shipyards constructed over
600 vessels annually
seagoing craft entered the
Yangzi River numbered in the
tens of thousands.
some southeastern maritime
counties, 1/3 of the
population actually lived
aboard a vessel
The imperial government
depended on maritime trade
for at least 20 percent of its
cash revenue
102. Technology and Industry
• Porcelain (“Chinaware”)
• Increased iron production –
better tools, weapons
• Gunpowder invented
• Naval technology- Magnetic
compass
• Earlier printing techniques
refined
• Moveable type by mid-11th
century & woodblocks
103. Tang & Song China -Sophisticated Economy
• “Flying cash:” (Checks
& promissory notes)
• Paper money – copper
shortage
– riots when not
honored
• Government claims
monopoly on money
production in 11th
century
104. Song (960-1279) Weaknesses
• Size of bureaucracy heavy
drain on economy
– Two peasant rebellions in
12th c.
– Internal inertia prevents
reform of bureaucracy
• Civil service leadership of
military
– Unable to contain
nomadic attacks
– Lacked military training
– Jurchen conquer, force
Song dynasty to
Hangzhou, southern
China (Southern Song)
109. Emperor Hongwu (r. 1368-1398)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
founder of the Ming dynasty,
an uneducated, peasant, saw himself as
a “divinely ordained restorer of traditional
Chinese values and institutions”
Re-instituted Confucian civil scholar
bureaucratic system of governance
rejected previous regime’s tolerance to
maritime commerce and foreigners
Prohibited private commercial trade
Replaced trade with political hierarchical
tribute relationships
drew upon an eclectic mix of Buddhism,
Daoism, and Manicheanism (Persian
Zoroastrianism & Christianity)
110. Emperor Yongle (r. 1403-1424)
•
•
•
•
sends large sea expeditions
Motive? to “show Chinese
hegemony” and monopolize
maritime traffic, according to
Findlay
moves capital north to Beijing
(from Nanjing) to deter Mongol
attacks
commissions 23,000-roll
Encyclopedia
114. Ming China, 1368-1644
•Ming (“Brilliant”) dynasty comes to power
after Mongol Yuan dynasty driven out
•Founded by Emperor Hongwu (r. 1368-1398)
•Used traveling officials called Mandarins and
large number of eunuchs to maintain control
•Emperor Yongle (r. 1403-1424) experiments
with sea expeditions, moves capital north to
Beijing to deter Mongol attacks
115. Admiral Zheng He
郑和
• Muslim, Eunuch
• 1405-1433 - 7 sets of expeditions
• Some with 300 ships, 28K men
• Chinese junks—with private
cabins, bathrooms, passenger
lounges, African stewards, and
plentiful cargo space
• Song copper coins (jiazhi)
became common currency for
small-scale transactions
throughout Southeast Asia
116. Chinese Junk versus Christopher Columbus’s Ship?
Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai, UAE
118. The Great Wall
• Origins before 4th century BCE, ruins from
Qin dynasty in 3rd century BCE
• Rebuilt under Ming rule, 15th-16th centuries
• 1,550 miles, 33-49 feet high
– Guard towers
– Room for housing soldiers
119. The Great Wall of China
•Starts before 4th
century BCE,
•Qin dynasty in 3rd
century BCE, Qin
Shihuangdi
•Rebuilt under Ming
rule, 15th-16th
centuries
•1,550 miles, 33-49
feet high
–Guard towers
–Room for housing
soldiers
120. Eradicating the Mongol Past
• Ming emperors encourage abandonment of
Mongol names, dress
• Support study of Confucian classics
• Civil service examinations renewed
121. Jesuit Missionary
Matteo Ricci (1552-1610)
attempt to convert Ming
Emperor Wanli
– Mastered Chinese
while in China (15821610)
– Brought gifts
• Prisms, harpsichords,
chiming clocks
123. Ming Decline
• 16th century maritime pirates harm coastal trade
• Navy, government unable to respond effectively
• Emperors secluded in Forbidden City, palace
compound in Beijing
– Hedonists
– Emperor Wanli (r. 1572-1620) abandons imperial
activity to eunuchs
124. Ming Collapse
• Famine, peasant rebellions in early 17th
century
• Rebels take Beijing in 1644
• Manchu fighters enter from the north and
retake city
• Manchus refuse to allow reestablishment of
Ming dynasty
• Establish Qing (“Pure”) Dynasty
126. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
• Manchus originally pastoral nomads, north of
Great Wall
• Chieftan Nurhaci (r. 1616-1626) unifies tribes into
state, develops laws, military
• Establishes control over Korea, Mongolia, China
– War with Ming loyalists to 1680
– Support from many Chinese, fed up with Ming
corruption
• Manchus forbid intermarriage, study of Manchu
language by Chinese, force Manchu hairstyles as
sign of loyalty
127. Emperor Kangxi (r. 1661-1722)
• Confucian scholar, poet
• Military conquests: island of Taiwan, Tibet,
central Asia
• Grandson Emperor Qianlong (r. 1736-1795)
expands territory
– Height of Qing dynasty
– Great prosperity, tax collection cancelled on
several occasions
128. The “Son of Heaven”
• Ming, Qing Emperors considered quasidivine
• Hundreds of concubines, thousands of
eunuch servants
• Clothing designs, name characters
forbidden to rest of population
• The kowtow: three bows, nine head-knocks
129. The Scholar-Bureaucrats
• Ran government on a day-to-day basis
• Graduates from intense civil service
examinations
– Open only to men
– Curriculum: Confucian classics, calligraphy,
poetry, essay writing
– Also: history, literature
130. The Civil Service Examinations
• District, provincial, and metropolitan levels
• Only 300 allowed to pass at highest level
– Multiple attempts common
• Students expected to bring bedding,
chamber pots for three-day uninterrupted
examinations
– Students searched for printed materials before
entering private cells
131. Examination System and Society
• Ferocious competition
• Qing dynasty: 1 million degree holders compete
for 20,000 government positions
– Remainder turn to teaching, tutoring positions
• Some corruption, cheating
• Advantage for wealthy classes: hiring private
tutors, etc.
• But open to all, tremendous opportunity for social
mobility
132. The Patriarchal Family
• Filial piety understood as duty of child to
parent; individual to emperor
• Eldest son favored
• Clan-based authority groups augment
government services
133. Gender Relations
• Males receive preferential status
• Economic factor: girls join husband’s
family
– Infanticide common
• Widows strongly encouraged not to remarry
– Chaste widows honored with ceremonial arches
• Men control divorce
– Grounds: from infidelity to talking too much
134. Footbinding
• Origins in Song dynasty (960-1279 CE)
• Linen strips binds and deforms female
child’s feet
• Perceived aesthetic value
• Statement of social status and/or
expectations
– Commoners might bind feet of especially pretty
girls to enhance marriage prospects
136. Population Growth and Economic
Development
• Only 11% of China arable
• Intense, garden-style agriculture necessary
• American food crops introduced in 17th
century
– Maize, sweet potatoes, peanuts
• Rebellion and war reduce population in 17 th
century
– Offset by increase due to American crops
138. Foreign Trade
• Silk, porcelain, tea, lacquerware
• Chinese in turn import relatively little
– Spices, animal skins, woolen textiles
• Paid for exports with silver bullion from Americas
• After Emperor Yongle’s early maritime
expeditions (1405-1433), Ming dynasty abandons
large-scale maritime trade plans
– In part to appease southern populations
139. Trade in Southeast Asia
• Chinese merchants continue to be active in
southeast Asia, esp. Manila
• Extensive dealings with Dutch VOC
140. Government and Technology
• During Tang and Song dynasties (7th-13th
centuries), China a world leader in technology
• Stagnates during Ming and Qing dynasties
– European cannons purchased, based on early Chinese
invention of gunpowder
• Government suppressed technological
advancement, fearing social instability would
result
– Mass labor over productivity
141. Classes in Chinese Society
• Privileged Classes
– Scholar-bureaucrats, gentry
– Distinctive clothing with ranks
– Immunity from some legal proceedings, taxes, labor
service
• Working classes
– Peasants, artisans/workers, merchants
– Confucian doctrine gives greatest status to peasants
– Merchant activity not actively supported
• Lower classes
– Military, beggars, slaves
142. Neo-Confucianism
• Version of Confucian thought promoted by Zhu
Xi (1130-1200 CE)
– Confucian morality with Buddhist logic
• Education at various levels promoted
– Hanlin Academy, Beijing
– Provincial schools
• Compilation of massive Yongle Encyclopedia
• Development of popular novels as well
143. Matteo Ricci (1552-1610)
• Jesuits return under
Matteo Ricci (1552-1610),
attempt to convert Ming
Emperor Wanli
– Mastered Chinese before
first visit in 1601
– Brought western
mechanical technology
• Prisms, harpsichords,
clocks
144. Christianity in China
• Nestorian, Roman Catholic Christians had
presence in China
– Disappeared with plague and social chaos of 14th
century
• Jesuits return under Matteo Ricci (1552-1610),
attempt to convert Ming Emperor Wanli
– Mastered Chinese before first visit in 1601
– Brought western mechanical technology
• Prisms, harpsichords, clocks
145. Confucianism and Christianity
• Argued that Christianity was consistent with
Confucianism
– Differences due to Neo-Confucian distortions
• Yet few converts in China
– Approx. 200,000 mid 18th century, about 0.08 percent of
population
– Christian absolutism difficult for Chinese to accept
• Franciscans and Dominicans convince Pope that
Jesuits compromising Christianity with Chinese
traditions (e.g. ancestor worship)
• Emperor Kangxi bans Christian preaching in
China
146. Copyright 2014 Professor Chee
Professor Chee does not endorse other
slideshare presentations. Please read textbook
Bentley et al.
