Ancient China

Section 1
China’s Physical Geography
● China is a large country with many different geographical features. China is
about the same size as the United States.
● The Gobi Desert, which spreads over much of China’s north, and rugged
mountains on the western frontier is what separates China from other
countries.
● Low-lying plains in the east form 1 of the world’s largest farming regions.
● Weather patterns vary widely across China.
● 2 great rivers flow from west to east, the Huang He, or the Yellow River, and
the Chang Jiang, or the Yangzi River.
Civilization Begins
● Like other ancient people, people in China first settled along rivers. Why is
that?
● By 7000 BC farmers grew rice in the Chang Jiang Valley. Along the Huang
He, they grew millet and wheat.
● Early Chinese also fished and hunted with bows and arrows. They raised pigs
and sheep.
● Separate cultures developed along the 2 rivers. As populations grew, villages
spread. A social order developed. The graves of the rich often contained
objects made from jade.
Write the definitions of the words: vary, oracle and jade.
Answer this question: Where did the Chinese first grow rice?
China’s First Dynasties
● Along the Huang He, societies grew larger and more complex.
● Around 2200 BC, a legendary emperor called Yu the Great found the Xia
(SHAH) dynasty. It is said that the first flood control channels were built
during the Xia dynasty.
China’s first dynasties
● The first dynasty for which we have clear evidence is the Shang dynasty.
1. Established in the 1500s BC, the Shang king and his family were at the top of
the social order.
2. Nobles and warriors leaders also had high rank.
3. Artisans, or craftsman lived in groups depending on what they did for a living.
4. Farmers worked hard but had little wealth because taxes claimed much of
what they earned.
5. Slaves provided an important source of labor.
Shang Dynasty
● The Shang made many advances like China’s first writing system. The
chinese symbols that are used today are based on THE Shang period.
● Priests carved questions about the future on cattle bones and turtle shells,
which were then heated, causing them to crack. WOAH. The priest believed
they could “read” these cracks to predict the future. For this reason the bones
were called oracle bones.
● Artisans also made these beautiful bronze containers for cooking and
religious ceremonies. They also made ornaments, knives, and axes from
jade. The army developed war chariots and bronze body armor.
● Shang astrologers developed a calendar based on the moon cycles.
Section 2
The Zhou Dynasty
● The Zhou (JOH) came from the west and overthrew the Shang dynasty during the
1100s BC. Their armies defeated people in every direction. This allowed them to
expand their rule south to the Chang Jiang river.
● So they established a new political order.
● The Kings granted lands to lords in return for their loyalty and military assistance.
Lords divided their land among lesser nobles. Peasants received a small part of
land and had to farm additional land for a noble. The social order brought by the
Zhou lasted a long time, but the loyalty of the lords gradually lessened.
● The lords began to fight each other.
● Family structure, which was the foundation of Chinese life for centuries, was
severely weakened. By the 400s BC, China entered an era called the Warring
States Period.
Confucius and Society
● Towards the end of the Zhou period, a teacher named Confucius traveled
through China.
● He taught that order in society stems from ethics, or moral values, and not
laws.
● He wanted China to return to the ideas and practices from a time when
people knew their proper roles in society.
● And thus through this, Confucianism was born. Confucianism has been a
guiding force in human behavior and religious understanding in China and
elsewhere through the centuries.
Confucianism
● Confucius believed that virtues like loyalty, trustworthiness, and respect for elders were
needed to restore order.
● He thought that through education—learning history, literature, and philosophy—people
could understand these virtues better.
● Confucius also believed that rituals and rules helped people practice these virtues in their
everyday lives.
● His followers believed that by living ethical lives, they could become "superior" people,
leading by example.
● To become a better person, Confucius taught that people must constantly reflect on their
behavior.
● In The Analects, Confucius explains how he examined himself daily on three points:
1. Was I loyal when making decisions for others?
2. Was I trustworthy with my friends?
3. Did I live by the values that were passed down to me?
 Confucianism focuses on human
society and the duties of its members.
Daoism In contrast, Daoism emphasizes
nature. It is more joyful and carefree.

● Around the same time as Confucius, other influential beliefs arouse in China.
● Daoism stressed living in harmony with the Dao, the guiding force of all
reality.
● Daoists believed that people should be like water and simply let things flow in
a natural way.
● They regarded humans as just part of nature, not superior to any other thing.
● Laozi was the most famous Daoist teacher.
 Legalism is a belief that human
Legalism beings are more inclined to do
wrong than right because they are
motivated entirely by self-interest
and require strict laws to control
their impulses.

● Legalists is different from both Confucianism and Daoism.

● Legalists believe that society needed strict laws to keep people in line.
● They believed in unity, efficiency, and punishment for bad conduct.
● They wanted the empire to continue to expand, so they urged the state to be
always prepared for war.
● Legalists were the first to put their ideas into practice throughout China.
Section 3
The Qin Emperor’s Strong Environment
● The warring States period marked a time in China when several states
battled each other for power.
● One state, the Qin, built a strong army that defeated the armies of the other
states.
● In 221 BC. the Qin king, Ying Zheng, was able to unify China. He gave
himself the title Shi Huangdi, or “first emperor”.
● Shi Huangdi was a follower of Legalist beliefs. He created a strong
government with strict laws and severe punishments. He ordered the burning
of all books that did not agree with Legalism.
● He took land away from the lords.
● He divided China into 36 military districts. He made commoners work on
government building projects.
A Unified China
● Qin rule brought other major changes to China.
● Under Shi Huangdi, new policies and achievements united the Chinese
people.
● The emperor set up a uniform system of law. Rules and punishments were to
be the same in all parts of the empire.
● He also standardized the written language.
● People everywhere were required to write using the same set of symbols.
People can now communicate with each other in writing.
● A sense of shared culture and a common identity was created.
A Unified China
● Shi Huangdi also set up a new monetary system.
● Standardized gold and copper coins became the currency for all of China. Weights
and measures were also standardized.
● This made trade easier.
● A network of highways connected the capital to every part of the empire.
● Workers built canals to connect the country’s rivers. Parts of the Qin Irrigation
system is still used today.
● The Great Wall was a major Qin achievement. The Qin connected earlier pieces of
the wall to form fierce northern nomads. Building the wall required years of labor
from hundreds of thousands of soldiers and workers. Many died building it.
A Unified China
● Although he unified China, many chinese people hated Shi Huangdi’s harsh
ways. When he died in 210 BC, rebel forces formed across the country and
tried to take over the government.
● After the period of disorder, the Qin palace was attacked and burned to the
ground.
● Qin authority had disappeared.
● China fell into civil war.
Classwork: Answer the question in your notebooks.
If you had lived in China during the Qin dynasty, would you have joined a
rebel group to overthrow the government? Use ideas of Confucianism and Daoism
in your answer.
Section 4
Han Dynasty Government
● Liu Bang, a peasant, led the army that won control of China after the
collapse of the Qin dynasty.
● He earned the people’s loyalty and trust.
● He lowered taxes for farmers and made punishments less severe.
● He set up a government that built on the foundation begun by the Qin.
● Liu Bang’s successor, Wudi, made Confucianism the official government
policy of China.
● To get a government job, a person had to pass a test based on Confucian
teachings.
● However, wealthy and influential families controlled the government.
Family Life
● A firm social order took hold during Han rule.
● In the Confucian view, peasant made up the second-highest class.
● Merchants occupied the lowest class because they merely bought and sold
what other had made.
● However, this social division did not indicate wealth or power. Peasant were
still poor and merchants were still rich.
Family Life
● During Wudi’s reign, the family once again became the center of Chinese
Society. Children were taught from birth to respect their elders. Within the
family, the father has absolute power.
● Han officials believed that if the family was strong and people obeyed the
father, then people would obey the emperor, too.
● Chinese parents said boys > girls
● HOWEVER! Some women did still gained power. They could influence their
sons’ families. An older widow could even become the head of the family.
Han achievements
The Han dynasty was a time of great accomplishment.
● Art and literature thrived, and inventors developed many useful devices. Han
artists painted portraits and realistic scenes that showed everyday life. Poets
developed new styles of verse.
● Historian Sima Qian wrote a complete history of China until the Han Dynasty.
● Han Chinese invented paper. They made it by grinding plants fibers into a
paste and then letting it dry in sheets. They made “books” by pasting sheets
together into a long sheet that was rolled into a scroll.
● Other innovations:
○ Sundial
○ Seismograph
○ Created acupuncture
Section 5
Farming and Manufacturing
● During the Han Dynasty, many farming advances led to bigger harvests.
Manufacturing methods improved.
● Master ironworkers developed the iron plow and the wheelbarrow, two
devices that made farming vastly more efficient.
● The centuries-old process of producing silk increased.
● Weavers used foot-powered looms to weave silk threads into beautiful fabric.
● Garments made from silk were very expensive.
● The Chinese were determined to keep their procedure for making silk a
secret. Revealing this secret was punishable by death.
Trade Routes
● When Han armies conquered lands deep in Central Asia, they learned that
people even farther west wanted silk.
● Han leaders saw that they could make a profit by bringing silk to Central Asia
and trading the cloth for strong, sturdy Central Asian horses.
● The Central Asian people would take the silk to the west and trade it for
products they wanted.
● Traders used a series of overland routes knows as the Silk Road to take
Chinese goods to distant buyers.
● Although traveling the Silk Road was difficult and risky, it was worth it.
● Silk was so popular in Rome, for example, that China grew wealthy just from
trading with the Romans. Traders returned to China with gold, silver, precious
stones, and horses.
Buddhism comes to China
● Over time, the Han government became less stable. Life became violent and
uncertain. In this climate, Buddhist missionaries from India began to attract
attention.
● Buddhism seemed to provide more hope than the traditional Chinese beliefs
did. At first, Indian Buddhists had trouble explaining their religion to Chinese.
Then they used the ideas of Daoism to help describe Buddhist beliefs. Before
long, Buddhism caught on in China with both the rich and poor.
(I need a volunteer for demonstration, please raise your hands if you would like to
participate)
● Buddhism’s introduction to China is an example of diffusion, they spread of
ideas from one culture to another. Chinese culture adopted Buddhism and
changed in response to the new faith.