1. Section 1: Geography and Early China
Ancient China
Section 1: Geography and Early China

2. China’s Physical Geography
Geographical features separated groups of people within China.
Others separated China from the rest of the world.
China covers an area of nearly 4 million sq. miles (about the same size as the US)
The Gobi
Low-lying plains
Cover most of eastern China
One of the world’s largest farming regions
The Pacific Ocean
The country’s eastern boundary

3. Weather and temperature patterns vary widely across China
The Plateau of Tibet
Southwest
Qinling Shandi
Separates northern China from southern China
Weather and temperature patterns vary widely across China
Northeast – cold and dry
Northwest – deserts are very dry
Eastern plains – heavy rains
Tropical southeast – wettest region
Monsoons

4. Two great rivers Huang He (Yellow River) Chang Jiang (Yangzi River)
3,000 miles across northern China
Often floods; leaves behind a layer of silt
Can be very destructive – called China’s Sorrow
Chang Jiang (Yangzi River)
Cuts through central China
Flows from the mountains of Tibet to the Pacific Ocean
Longest river in Asia

5. Civilization Begins China first settled along rivers
Farmed, built villages and forms a civilization
Separate cultures developed in southern and northeastern China
These included the Sanxingdui and Hongshan peoples
Little is known about them
Features of China’s earliest settlements:
Used potter’s wheels, dug wells, homes in villages buried partly underground, strawcovered roofs, animal pens, storage pits, cemeteries, walls to protect settlements from flooding and hostile neighbors

6. China’s First Dynasties
Xia Dynasty
A series of kings rules early China
One of them, Yu the Great, is said to have founded the Xia Dynasty
Tales claim that Yu created some of China’s major waterways because of terrible floods
Archaeologists have not yet found evidence that the tales about the Xia are true
Shang Dynasty
The first dynasty for which we have clear evidence is the Shang
Strongest is the Huang He Valley
Ruled broad area of northern China

7. The royal family and the nobles were at the highest level
Artisans were at a middle level of importance
Made beautiful bronze containers for cooking and religious ceremonies
Axes, knives and ornaments from jade (hard gemstone)
Farmers ranked below artisans
China’s first writing system
Military developed war chariots, powerful bows and bronze body armor
Calendar based on the cycles of the moon