1. Ch 7, Sec 1: China’s First Civilizations

2. Rivers of China-Yellow River
Known as the Huang He (Hwahng He)
2,900 miles long
Flooded the land to help farmers
Known as “China’s Sorrow” when it destroyed towns

3. Rivers of China-Yangtze River
Known as the Chang Jiang (Chang Jyahng)
3,400 miles long
Flooded central China for farming

4. Geography of China 1/10th of the land is used for farming
9/10th of the land are
mountains and
desert areas
Himalaya Mountains
Kunlun shan and Tian Shan Mountain ranges
Gobi Desert
Land forms separated all of China from the outside world.

5. The Start of Chinese Civilization
Unknown when it started
Pottery found in the Huang He River Valley (1000s of years old)
Started as farming villages that grew into large cities
Xia (Syah) Dynasty first
to rule but were
replaced by the
Shang Dynasty in
1750 B.C.

6. Shang Dynasty Built the first city in China
Created the capital at Anyang
Controlled by a king
Not in touch with the needs of the people
Treated the poor badly

7. Social Class System 1. Ruled by a king in Northern China
Nobles, warlords, and gov’t officials created the aristocrat class
2. Next were traders/
Farmers
3. slaves

8. Chinese Military Used bronze weapons and chariots
Warlords with local armies protected the inside of China
Shang Dynasty army defended the borders

9. Spirits and Ancestors Believed in gods and spirits
Spirits lived in mountains, rivers, and seas
Gave offerings to keep the gods/spirits happy
Offerings given to their ancestors for help or for good luck
Still practiced today

10. King’s Responsibility for Guidance
Had to contact the gods, spirits, and ancestors before big decisions
Used oracle bones with questions written on them to talk to the ancestors
Hot rocks were placed inside the bones which caused them to crack
The cracks were then read for an answer
1st Chinese writing

11. Chinese Writing Used Pictographs and Ideographs
Pictograph-characters that stand for objects
Ex: Mountains, sun, and moon
Ideographs-two or more pictographs put together to create an idea
Each character represents a word

12. Shang Artists Used silk to make clothes
White clay created vases and dishes
Statues were carved out of ivory and jade stones
Molded statues out of bronze

13. Zhou (Joh) Dynasty Wu Wang rebelled against the Shang Dynasty
Ruled for 800 years-longest in Chinese history
Created irrigation for farming
Used iron plows, grew more food, and had a rise in population (50 million people)
Started trading silk/pottery all over Europe/Asia

14. Social Classes 1. King Bureaucracy-gov’t officials 2. Everybody else
defended the kingdom
Link between the gods
and the people
Known as the Mandate of Heaven
Bureaucracy-gov’t officials
2. Everybody else
Could overthrow and replace the king

15. Zhou Dynasty Kings Link between the gods and the people
Known as the Mandate of Heaven
Rule to the Dao (Dow) to keep the gods happy
Gave the king/citizens rights

16. Fall of the Zhou (Joh) Empire
Local groups took control of each territory within China
Zhou kings were ignored
“Period of Warring States”-200 years of fighting for control
Forced the poor peasants to fight
New weapons-swords, spears, crossbows, saddle/stirrup
Resulted in the Qin Territory to win