Ancient China

Geography Isolated by natural barriers: Himalayas, Plateau of Tibet, Taklimakan Desert, Gobi Desert, and water to the east China was not completely protected by natural boundaries and was frequently invaded

Geography of China (cont.) Rivers: Huang He (Yellow): north Frequent violent flooding Deposits of silt good for agriculture Yangtze: south

Geographic Challenges China’s Sorrow – nicknamed for destructive force during floods (10 million in 50 years) Isolation reduced ability to trade with outsiders

Civilization Emerges in Shang Times Shang rose to power in northern China Created walled cities to protect from invaders Mostly consisted of wooden structures High classes lived within city walls Peasants and lower classes lived outside the walls Lasted from 1700-1027 BC (remember years move the opposite way in BC/ BCE times) First family to leave written records

Chinese Culture Family Hierarchy Religion Writing main loyalty for Chinese respect, obedience & loyalty to ruler Hierarchy strict social classes Religion spirits of ancestors helpful or not Oracle bones Writing characters written language same for all spoken dialects Advantage: People in all parts of China could learn the written language even if their spoken language was very different Disadvantage: Enormous number of written symbols to be memorized. (Roughly 1,500 characters to be barely literate) Arrange marriages 13-16

Early Chinese Dynasties Shang (1700 – 1027 B.C.) overthrown by the … Zhou (1027 B.C. – 256 B.C.) justified conquest by Mandate of Heaven - ruler has approval of gods Dynastic cycle - loss of Mandate of Heaven leads to new dynasty lost power to nobles who gained power & fought move away from ancient values

Technology and Warring Roads and canals built Coined money introduced Blast furnaces produced cast iron that was used to create weapons and tools Warring States: Zhou ruled from 1027-256 BC until nomads killed the royal family. Chaos replaced order as competing nobles attacked each other