1. Ancient China

2. Geography Shapes Ancient China

3. Geographic Features of China
 Civilization centered around two rivers which brought
water and silt
 Made farming possible
 Isolated by Barriers
 Water barriers: Yellow Sea, East China Sea, & Pacific
Ocean
 Desert barriers: Gobi Desert & Taklimakan Desert
 Mts.: Pamir, Tian Shan, & Himalaya mts.
 Geographically isolated
 Made spread of ideas & goods difficult
 Few outside influences

4. Two River Systems
 Chang Jiang a.k.a. Yangtze Rivers
 Central China
 Huang He (or Yellow River)
 North China
 Ancient farming
 Done between Chang Jiang & Huang He
 Silt made fertile soil
 Center of Chinese civilization

5. A Varied Climate
 Had varied climate
 Western China: dry, mostly deserts & mts.; sparsely
populated & usable farmland
 Northeast China: cold winters & warm summers
 Southeast China: mild winters & hot, rainy summers
 Climate variety lead to variety of crops produced
 Rice, wheat, soybeans, & millet

6. The Shang Dynasty
 Shang Kings
 1766 B.C. Shang family began to control some cities
 Set-up dynasty (a family or group that rules for several
generations)
 Kings: responsible for religious activities
 Ruled w/ god’s permission
 Ruled central North China Plain
 Used chariots to defend themselves against nomads

7. Shang Families
 Respect for parents & ancestors was important
 Close tie to religion
 Spirits of ancestors could bring good fortune
 Animals were sacrificed
 Men ruled within the family

8. Developing Language
 Kings claimed to be able to influence gods
 Received messages through oracle bones
 Animal bones that were scratched to question the gods
(became early form of writing)
 Developed pictographs
 Used huge # of symbols
 Could read Chinese w/o being able to speak it
 Helped to unify a large varied land

9. The Zhou Dynasty
 Zhou moved down from the northwest
 Clashed w/ Shang
 1027 B.C.
 Wu Wang led forces & defeated Shang
 Adopted many Shang ways
 New ideas also introduced

10. The Zhou & the Dynastic Cycle
 New dynasty est.
 Dynasties rose & fell in a pattern
 Dynastic Cycle
 Trouble resulted from rulers losing heaven’s favor
 Claimed last Shang ruler was bad & god took away Shang right
to rule & gave it to Zhou
 Mandate of Heaven
 Bad or foolish ruler = approval of the gods would be
taken away
 Examples: uprisings, invasions, floods, or earthquakes

11. Zhou Government
 Central gov’t was weak
 People w/ family ties or other trusted people were in charge
 Local rulers (lords) owed loyalty & military service to king
 King promised in return to protect their lands
 Lords became more powerful as cities grew
 More group under their power
 Less dependent on king
 Lords began to fight with each other & other peoples
 Added lands expanded Chinese territory

12. The Time of the Warring States
 Invasion was a constant theme
 800 B.C.
 Nomads from the north & west invaded
 771 B.C.
 Invaders destroyed capital city of Hao & king was killed
 Kings were weak
 Lords fought constantly
 As their power grew they claimed to be kings of their own
territories (Time of the Warring States)

13. China’s Ancient Philosophies

14. Intro
 During Time of Warring States Chinese society
experienced much disorder
 Kings & Warlords fought over land, while scholars
wondered what it would take to bring peace
 3 ways of thinking developed
 Legalism
 Confucianism
 Daoism

15. Legalism
 Belief that a powerful, efficient gov’t and a strict legal
system are the keys to social order
 Feared disorder
 Strong gov’t & strict laws would restore order

16. Strict Laws & Harsh Punishments
 Legalists believed human nature was wicked
 People do good only when forced to
 Gov’t should pass strict laws to control behavior in
people
 Needed to make people afraid to do wrong

17. An Increase in Government Control
 Legalists believed rulers should reward those who
carried out their duties well
 Punishment was, however, stressed more than rewards
 Shang Yang (Legalist)
 Wanted people to report lawbreakers
 Those who didn’t should be executed
 Legalists
 Did not want people ? or complain about the gov’t
 Arrested those that did
 Burned books that contained different philosophies or
ideas

18. Confucianism
 Confucius
 Lived from 551-479 B.C. during time of unrest in China
 Wanted to restore order
 Believed more in peace to end conflict
 Respect for others was absolutely necessary for peace
and order
 Gov’t leaders should set good example for people to
see
 Ideas were collected in a book called the Analects
 Became belief system of Confucianism

19. The Five Relationships
 Code of proper conduct/behavior for people
 5 basic relationships in Confucianism each with its
own duties and its own code
 Father and son
 Elder brother and younger brother
 Husband and wife
 Friend and friend
 Ruler and subject
*Two basic categories: proper conduct in the family &
proper conduct in society

20. Proper Conduct
 Confucius
 Good conduct & respect began at home
 Husband good to wives, wives obeyed husbands, brothers
kind to brothers, younger had to follow wishes of older
 Most important teaching
 Filial piety: treating parents w/ respect
 Behavior in society
 Authority should be respected
 Ruler was to live correctly & respect subjects
 Subjects should obey if they did
 Peace in society would come if followed

21. The Impact of Confucianism
 Chinese found ways to avoid conflict and live
peacefully
 Many rulers tried to live up to Confucius’s model for a
good ruler
 Groundwork was laid for fair and skilled gov’t officials

22. Daoism
 Laozi
 500s B.C.
 Book of his teachings was Daodejing
 The Way
 Believed a universal force called the Dao (or Way) guides things
 All creatures, except humans, live in harmony w/ this force
 Humans argue about right and wrong (arguments are pointless)
 To relate to nature humans had to find individual was to follow
 Each should learn to live in harmony w/ nature & their inner feelings
 Natural order was more important than social order
 Social order would follow if everyone learned to live in their own
individual harmony

23. Following the Way
 Daoists
 Didn’t not argue about good and bad & didn’t try to change things
 Accepted things as they were
 Didn’t want to be involved with gov’t
 Thought gov’t should leave people alone
 Yin and Yang
 Two things that interact w/ each other and represent the natural
rhythms of life
 Yin (black): all that is cold, dark, & mysterious
 Yang (white): all that is warm, bright, and light
 Forces complement each other; forces always change and evolve
 Helps people understand how they fit into the world
 Daoists pursued scientific studies
 Astronomy & medicine

24. The Qin & the Han

25. The Qin Unified China
 New rulers of China
 New Emperor: Shi Huangdi
 Unified & expanded China

26. A Legalistic Ruler
 221 B.C.
 Shi Huangdi began to end internal battles between
warring states
 Believed in legalism (killed 460 critics & Confucianists)
 Also burned books w/ ideas he disliked

27. Uniting China
 Huangdi wanted strong central gov’t
 To gain control
 Tried to weaken China’s noble families
 Took their land & forced them to live at the capital
 This strengthened emperor’s power
 Linked lands together
 Built highways & irrigation projects
 Forced peasants to work & set taxes high to pay for projects
 Set gov’t standards for weights, measures, coins, &
writing
 Made business easier everywhere in China

28. The Great Wall
 Wall along northern boarder to keep out nomadic
invaders
 Great Wall linked together other walls built during
Warring States period
 Peasants & criminals were forced to build the wall
 Many died from hard labor
 Great resentment among people

29. The Qin Dynasty Ends
 210 B.C.
 Shi Huangdi died
 Buried in an elaborate tomb guarded by army of clay soldiers

30. The Han Dynasty
 Shi Huangi’s son was not an effective ruler
 Rebellion & civil war broke out
 Military leader Liu Bang ended civil war & reunited
China (started Han Dynasty)

31. Han Government
 Liu Bang kept Qin policies of strong central gov’t, but
lowered taxes
 Made punishments less harsh
 Peasants owed 1 month labor on emperor’s public projects
 Built roads, canals, & irrigation projects
 Bureaucracy was set up
 System of departments to carry out the work of the gov’t
 Officials chosen by ruler ran offices
 Helped enforce emperor’s rule
 Han put family members & trusted people in local gov’t
 Later skills of people determined appointment
 Set up system to find most educated & ethical people
 Tested people on their knowledge of Confucianism

32. Empress Rules
 195 B.C. Liu Bang died
 Wife Empress Lu ruled for their young son
 Actually outlived her son & continued to place infants
on the throne (allowed her to retain power because
infants were too young to rule)
 When she died those loyal to Liu Bang executed every
member of Empress Lu’s family

33. Expanding & Unifying the Empire
 141 – 87 B.C.
 Wudi ruled China (descendant of Liu Bang)
 Called Martial Emperor because he used war to expand China
 Brought southern Chinese provinces, northern Vietnam, & northern
Korea under his control
 Chased nomadic invaders out of northern China
 To unify:
 Encouraged conquered people to assimilated (adopt China’s
culture)
 Chinese farmers sent out to settle newly colonized areas
 Encouraged to marry conquered people to spread Chinese culture
 Schools were set up to teach about Confucianism
 Appointed local scholars to gov’t offices
 Han faced rebellions, peasant revolts, floods, famine, &
economic disasters but strong gov’t & unified population helped
them stay in power

34. Life in Han China
 Han were industrious people whose civilization prospered
for many decades
 Daily Life in Han China
 Most worked on farms
 Farmers lived in villages near the land they worked
 Lived in 1-2 story houses
 Rich farmers had ox to pull plow, but poor had to pull plow
themselves
 Farmers had a few simple tools to make farming easier
 They wore simple clothing & sandals
 Grew wheat & millet in the north & rice in the south
 Vegetable gardens were kept for additional food
 Fish and meat were available, but expensive

35. City living
 Cities were centers of trade, education, and gov’t
 Merchants, craftspeople, & gov’t officials lived here
 Cities were crowded & had many kinds of
entertainment
 Musicians, jugglers, & acrobats
 Also had street gangs

36. The Legacy of Ancient China

37. The Silk Road
 Han Dynasty
 Only Chinese knew how to make silk
 it was important in opening trading routes to the west

38. A Trans-Eurasian Link
 Silk Road: overland trade route
 Traders carried silk & other goods on caravan trails
 From China-Asia-Mesopotamia-Europe
 Called trans-Eurasian because they stretched across two
continents
 100 B.C
 Silk Roads were well est.
 Traders made fortunes carrying goods
 Trips could take several years
 Cities along the road provided food, water, shelter & goods for
trade
 Goods traded: silk, paper, jade, pottery, sesame
seeds, oil, metals, precious stones, & horses

39. Cultural Diffusion
 Ideas & cultural customs also moved on the Silk Roads
 Known as cultural diffusion
 Can occur whenever one group of people comes in contact w/
another group of people
 New goods, ideas, & customs began to enter China
 i.e. military techniques, Buddhist teachings, western
cultural style
 Chinese art, silks, & pottery influenced the west

40. The Spread of Buddhism
 Buddhist missionaries entered China during Han
Dynasty
 Few followers at first
 After fall of Han Dynasty China suffered
 The Buddhist promise of escape from suffering attracted
many Chinese
 Buddhism was modified by Chinese to better fit w/ their own
traditions

41. Influential Ideas & Beliefs
 Philosophies continued to influence China & the
world
 Standards of Confucianism remained significant in
Chinese gov’t & education
 Spread to Japan, Korea, & Vietnam
 Daoism had lasting influence in China
 Became religion w/ priests, rituals, & volumes of
writings
 Remained primarily a Chinese belief system

42. Chinese Inventions & Discoveries
 Population of China was growing
 Farming was the most important & honored profession
 Agricultural Improvements
 Perfected a two blade plow
 Better iron farm tools
 Both helped increase crop production
 Collar harness for horses
 Horses could pull heavier loads
 Wheelbarrow
 Water mills

43. Paper
 A.D. 105
 Paper was invented
 Made from mixture of old rags, mulberry tree bark, & fibers
from the hemp plant
 Inexpensive paper made book more available
 Paper also affected the gov’t
 Now gov’t documents were not recorded on wood, but paper;
more convenient

44. Silk
 Allowed Chinese to get silver and gold from lands to
the west
 Was important because China did not have rich deposits
of either mineral