1. 1750 B.C. Shang Dynasty -- 150 A.D. Silk Road China A River Civilization

2. Geography Flooding was good for the soil but bad that it killed many people Only 1/10 of the land could be farmed because most of the country was mostly desert and mountains

3. Social Classes Farmers had to work 1 month a year, building roads and working on big government projects Merchants Peasant Farmers Aristocrats Landowning Aristocrats-wealthy; fathers divided their land and gave to their sons. Farmers rented land and payed the land owners with crops

4. Big Families People had big families to help with the farming more crops = more $ filial piety-children had to respect their parents and older relatives Oldest Male in charge (the son could be in charge of his mother, and mother had to obey him) Men-were respected, farmed, attended school, ran gov’t and fought wars. Women tended to the house and raised children

5. Confucianism 551-479 B.C. Confucius-China’s 1st great thinker/teacher (wanted peace) People had to know their duty (must put needs of family above your own) Golden Rule “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” honor promises, educate oneself, avoid bad people All men had a talent to govern and it was their duty to participate in government

6. Daoism a.k.a. Taoism wanted peaceful society Give up worldly desires and live in harmony with nature

7. Legalism Society needs a system of harsh laws and strict punishment Humans are naturally evil and need harsh laws to force them to do their duty

8. Dynasty’s Zhou Dynasty *longest dynasty *King ruled according to Daoism *Set up Bureaucracy of aristocrats in charge of territory when they died they passed the position to son *If bad things happened then gods were mad Shang Dynasty *Big gap between rich and poor *Kings job was to make gods happy *wrote on oracle bones; cracked bone & it showed answers

9. Dynasty’s Qin Shihuangdi *strict ruler practiced legalism *Strong Central Gov’t (made money, built roads, built great wall of China) Han *Population went from 20 to 60 million *Civil ServiceExam-had to pass to fill gov’t position, only wealthy people passed bec. only ones educated *invented (paper, rubber, water, wheel, & medicine) acupuncture *Sent explorers all over world. Found Rome (short hair & embroider clothes)

10. Great Wall of China-1500 miles long. Built for protection from Nomadic tribes from Mongolia and to prevent goods from being smuggled out. This is the World’s longest human structure! Silk Road-4000 miles long, it was a trade route. they traded spices, pourcelian, tea. Very dangerous and expensive to trade goods because you had to pay each kingdom to cross their land