2. Essential Questions How did Shi Huangdi treat people who opposed him?
Under the Chinese civil service system, who could become government officials?
Summarize the differences in how Confucius, the Legalists, and Daoists viewed government.
Explain Yin and Yang.
Explain Legalism.

3. Three Schools of Thought Notes
Classical China
Three Schools of Thought Notes

4. Confucianism - Founder
Confucius
Lived from 551 to 479 B.C.E. which was during the Zhou dynasty
Lived in eastern China

5. Confucianism – Main Beliefs
Social order, harmony, and good government could be restored if society was organized around five basic relationships:
Ruler and subject
Father and son
Husband and wife
Older and younger brother
Friend and friend

6. Confucianism – Main Beliefs
Children should practice filial piety, respect for their parents and elders
Still part of the general idea in Chinese culture today

7. Confucianism - Effects
Creation of a bureaucracy, a trained civil service, in China
Education became important to career advancement
The Analects was a collection of Confucius’ teachings and sayings
Spread beyond China, influenced civilizations all over East Asia

8. Daoism - Founder
Laozi
Believed to have lived in the 6th century B.C.E.

9. Daoism – Main Beliefs
Natural order is more important than the social order
Human beings should live simply and in harmony with nature
True harmony comes from balancing the opposite forces of nature
Yin = “shadow” and Yang = “sunlight”
Everyone must discover the Dao, “the way”, for themselves

10. Daoism - Effects Daoists made contributions to astronomy and medicine
Influenced Chinese thought, writing, and art
Encouraged rulers to rule less harshly

11. Legalism - Founder Hanfeizi
Lived from 280 to 233 B.C.E. which was the end of the Zhou dynasty

12. Legalism – Main Beliefs
Highly efficient and powerful government is the key to social order
Governments should control thinkers and their ideas, and enforce strict laws with rewards for good behavior and harsh punishments for bad behavior
Rulers should have absolute power and be backed by the military

13. Legalism - Effects
The Qin dynasty seized control of China and admired Hanfeizi’s writings, they adopted strict Legalist ideas
Many people were put to death for disloyalty and other crimes

14. Classical China
Chinese Empires Notes

15. Qin dynasty - Leaders Qin Shihuangdi, “First Emperor of Qin”
Used Legalist ideas to control warring states and unify China
Used military might, spies, bribery, and alliances to conquer rival states
The Qin dynasty collapsed shortly after he died
Li Su, the prime minister

16. Qin dynasty – Life in the empire
Divided territory into 36 districts
Each had three officials who governed:
One controlled the army
Another controlled the laws and agriculture
The third reported to the emperor
Murdered hundreds of Confucian scholars and burned “useless” books
Standardized writing, law, money, weights, and measure to make trade easier

17. Qin dynasty – Great Wall of China
Built to protect the Qin dynasty from attacks by northern nomads
Took 10 years to construct the 1,400 miles of wall
Made of layers of earth pounded into wooden frames that held everything together
300,000 men built it, some soldiers and some peasants who were forced to work

19. Han dynasty - Leaders Liu Bang Empress Lü
A rebel who had gained control of the Han kingdom and conquered the Qin army
Empress Lü
Took over control when Liu died in 195 B.C.E.
She was one of his wives

20. Han dynasty – Government
Established a centralized government, a central authority controls the running of a state
Hundreds of commanderies, local officials of provinces, reported to central government
Lowered taxes, softened harsh punishments, moved away from Legalism
Civil service system, civilians obtain government jobs by taking examinations

21. Han dynasty - Accomplishments
Paper was invented in 105 B.C.E., this made books cheaper and education spread
More efficient plow, iron tools, the wheelbarrow, watermills to grind grain
Government had monopolies on salt mining, iron forging, coin minting, alcohol brewing
Monopoly: complete control over the production and distribution of certain goods

22. Han dynasty - Accomplishments
Doctors discovered a type of wine that could be used as an anesthetic
Invented the seismography, which detects earthquakes, and the magnetic compass

23. Han dynasty - Decline
The gap between rich and poor increased due to land taxes
A series of inexperienced emperors replaced one another from 32 B.C.E. to 9 C.E.
In 220 C.E. the Han dynasty dissolved into three rival kingdoms