1. China unites under a new empire

2. Zhou dynasty 1027-256 BCE Feudal period
Declined because regional rulers began to think of themselves as independent

3. Confucius Urges Harmony
Confucius (551 – BCE) was China’s most influential scholar
Believed in 5 relationships that would restore China’s order and harmony
Ruler and subject
Father and son
Husband and wife
Older brother and younger brother
Friend and friend
Large emphasis on family
Children should practice filial piety- respect for one’s parents and elders
His students collected his teachings in a book Analects
A disciple named Mencius spread his teachings

4. Confucian ideas about government
Education was a key part of Confucian thought
He laid the groundwork for a bureaucracy- trained civil servants to run the government
Education became key to career advancement in eh bureaucracy
Confucianism is not a religion. It is an ethical system

5. Daoists seek harmony Laozi also lived in the 6th c. BCE
For Laozi the natural order of things was more important
Universal force “Dao” that guides all things
Book: Dao De Ching (The Way of Virtue)
Seek order and harmony in nature

6. Legalists urge harsh rule
Practical political thinkers (opposite of Confucius)
Powerful government was key to restoring order
Hanfeizi and Li Si were the founders of Legalism
Stressed punishment more than rewards
Government should control ideas as well as actions

7. I Ching and Yin and Yang
Book or oracles called I Ching to answer ethical and practical problems
Dispensed advice and common sense
Yin and yang- two powers that represented the natural rhythms of life

8. A new Emperor Takes Control
Short lived dynasty
Shi Huangdi “First Emperor” takes title in 221 BCE
Used legalism
Defeated invaders and suppressed internal revolt
Doubled the size of China
Ordered the nobles to live in the capital city and then took their land and appointed administrators to govern it
To silence criticism he had hundreds of Confucian scholars murdered
Burned books
Established an autocracy- government had unlimited power

9. A program of centralization
Building a highway network of over 4,000 miles
Forced labor
Standardized law, currency, weights and measures, and Chinese writing
Trade boomed
New merchant class
But harsh taxes and a repressive government made him unpopular

10. Great wall of china Shi Huangdi was increasingly unpopular
Zhou rulers had erected a series of walls earlier to deal with northern nomadic attacks
Unified the wall 1,400 miles to the west
Used hundreds of thousands of peasants to build it, many of whom died
So big you can see it from space

11. The Fall of the Qin
Peasant rebelled three years after Shi Huangdi’s son took power
By 202 BCE they were finished
The Han dynasty will take over