1. The Birth of Chinese Civilization
Ch. 10, Lesson 1
EQ: What makes culture unique?

2. Vocabulary warlord aristocrat ancestor pictograph ideograph hereditary
Mandate of Heaven
Dao

3. The Land of China
Eastern China has rivers, hills, agricultural land, and largest population
Western China has desert and mountains, and lower population
Two rivers shaped Chinese history
Hung He (Yellow River)
Chang Jiang (Yangtze River)
Gobi
• In the central Gobi, the remains of dinosaurs from 250 to 60 million years ago and fossils of Cenozoic mammals have been found.
• Extreme lows in January reach -40° F, and extreme highs in July reach 113° F.
• Annual total precipitation varies from less than 2 inches (50 mm) in the west to more than 8 inches (200 mm) in the northeast.
Tian Shan
• This mountain range straddles the border between China and Kyrgyzstan and stretches for about 1,500 miles (2,500 km).
• Victory Peak is the highest mountain in the range at 24,406 feet (7,439 m).
• Its name is Chinese for "Celestial Mountains."
• Tian Shan is rich in minerals. Petroleum, natural gas, and coal are found in the valleys; the high mountains contain commercial quantities of metals such as lead, zinc, nickel, and tungsten.
Kunlun Shan
• The mountains form two or three parallel ridges, rather than a single crest, which extend for 1,250 miles
(2,000 km) through western regions of China.
• Its highest peak is Mount Muztag, which measures 25,338 feet (7,723 m).
• The main structures and rocks date to about 250 million years ago.
• High winds are characteristic of the Kunlun Shan with the strongest occurring in autumn.
• An extensive and well-maintained network of gravel roads has been built there since 1949.
• Desert and steppe conditions throughout the Kunlun inhibit development of vegetation. Much of the terrain consists of rock deserts.
Huang He
• The Huang He carries the highest concentration of sediment load of any river in the world, amounting to about 57 pounds of silt per cubic yard (34 kg per cubic meter) of water, as compared with 2 pounds (1 kg) for the Nile River.
• The Chinese built levees along the river to protect people from the river's floods, but because the riverbed has been elevated and confined artificially, levee breaching has become more dramatic and destructive.
• The unreliable levees burst in 1887, 1889, and In the flood of 1933, more than 1 million people were killed.
• In 1938 the levees were purposely broken in order to delay the advance of Japanese troops during the Sino-Japanese War.

4. The Yellow River (Huang He)
Flows across northern China
Fertile land
River often floods, kills million
Huang He River takes its name from the vast quantities of deposit
Empties in Yellow Sea

5. Chang Jiang (Yangtze River)
Provides rich soil for farming
Serves as a way of trade and transportation
Located across southern China

6. Mountains and Deserts
Only about 1/10th of land can be farm—the majority is made of mountains and desert
Himalaya Mountains separate China from Asia
“Shan” means mountain:
Kunlun Shan and Tian Shan mountain ranges are in west
Gobi Desert
Deserts and mountains serve as barriers protecting China

7. Activity: Geography Read pg. 278-280 “The Land of China”
Identify 5 geographical features that have influenced Chinese civilization.
Then, provide the pros (+) and cons (-) of the geographical features.
How do these geographical features positively and negatively affect the development of Chinese civilization?

8. First Dynasties Zhou Dynasty: 1045 BC-256 BC
Shang Dynasty: 1750 – 1045 B.C.

9. Shang Dynasty: 1750 – 1045 B.C. China’s first dynasty.
Anyang is their capital
King—military, religious, and political leader
Warlords (military leaders) ruled over territories; the king relied on warlords to stay in power.
Under the king and warlords—aristocrats (nobles) formed the upper class.
Most people were farmers

10. Religion and Beliefs
Shang China worshipped many Gods who lived in mountains, rivers, and seas.
They offered gifts and foods to the gods.
They honored their ancestors—made offerings to their long dead family members.
The ancestors bring luck and help in difficult times.

11. Chinese Writing Achievement of the Shang was writing
They wrote in pictographs and ideographs.

12. The Zhou Dynasty: 1045 BC-256 BC
Wu Wang (aristocrat) overthrew the Shang dynasty and created the Zhou dynasty
Zhou Dynasty is the longest dynasty—800 years

13. Zhou Kings The king had a bureaucracy to help it govern China.
Had a strong army, which allowed it to expand his territory.
Loyal aristocrats helped him rule, and the positions of the aristocrats were hereditary.
Chinese believed the king represented them before the gods.
-- His duty was to perform ceremonies an please the gods.

14. Mandate of Heaven
Zhou kings claimed they ruled China because they had the Mandate of Heaven.
Thus kings must govern honestly and well.
King must rule by the proper way—Dao
Their duty is to honor and please the gods
Natural disaster occurred then the king had failed and he could be replaced

15. War Between the States
Overtime aristocrats took control of territories from the king
They began to fight one another
Period of Warring States
They forced farmers to serve in the army
The strongest states will form a new dynasty

16. Activity: Sequencing Read pg. 280-85
Create a timeline of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties accomplishments.
Identify and briefly explain 3 accomplishment for each dynasty.

17. Oracles Bones