Ancient China - Learning Log By Zane Rosen

Forbidden city  The construction of the Forbidden City began in the year The construction took an estimated one million workers 14 years to build hundreds of perfect and beautiful buildings. The Forbidden City served as the seat of government for the Ming Dynasty. Today, it is a museum.  There are 800 buildings that have in total about 9,000 rooms. The Forbidden City is the world's largest palace complex.

Confucius BCE  Confucius was born around 551BC during the Zhou dynasty. When he was 15, he became interested in learning, in those days, only the nobility and royals were allowed to go to school, So it was hard for him to find a way to learn, there were no public schools or libraries. To solve this, he went to work for a nobleman. This gave him the opportunity to learn and to travel to the imperial capital.  Confucius studied and learned until he one of the most learned man of his day. People heard of his knowledge and sent their sons to study with him. He was the first private teacher in China. Confucius taught anyone who was eager to learn. His ideas, called Confucianism, stress the need to develop responsibility and moral character through rigid rules of behavior.

Terra Cotta Warriors In 1974, archaeologists first discovered the standing clay soldiers buried underground. They unearthed 6,000 soldiers, horses and chariots, some holding real weapons. They thought the burial ground covered about five and one-half acres. Recent findings indicate that Shi Huangdi's burial ground is much bigger. The tomb may spread over 32 square km!

Oracle Bones Ancestor worship was very important to the early Shang kings and nobles. It was a way of life. To keep their ancestors happy, they brought gifts of food and wine to special places or temples. They held many celebrations to honor their ancestors. Here's how it worked: The emperor would ask a question, for example, will it rain tomorrow? The priest would carve the king's question on an oracle bone, which was just an animal bone or turtle shell. Then, the priest would heat a bronze pin and hold the hot pin to the bone. This created a pattern of cracks over the bone. The priest would study the cracks to find the answer to the question. Did you know? The Priest was normally a woman!

The Great Wall The Chinese worked on the Great Wall for over 1700 years. In turn, each emperor who came to power added pieces of the wall to protect their dynasties. But the wall was not a solid wall. It was a line of disconnected barricades.

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is a very old celebration, a time for repaying debts, enjoying feasts, giving "red envelopes" of lucky money to friends and relatives, and remembering ancestors. The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar year, so the date of Chinese New Year changes every year. The it follows a 12-year pattern with each year named after an animal. There are various stories which explain this. The simplest is that the The Jade Emperor had a race, he invited all the animals to it, the first 12 animals to win got to be The animals of the calendar. starting with the Rat, followed by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

The End! I hope you enjoyed my power point!