1. Chapter 3 - Ancient China

2. The Dawn of Chinese Civilization
The Land and People of China
Legend: Chinese society was founded by a series of rulers who brought “civilization”
7000s B.C.E. agriculture began, particularly near the Yellow and Yangtze rivers
The Yangshao and Longshan Neolithic cultures
Only 12 percent of China is arable
China isolated by Gobi Desert, Central Asia, and Tibetan plateau
Agrarian China vs. Asian nomads

3. Shang China
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4. The Shang Dynasty 1500s–1000s B.C.E., replaced the Xia dynasty
Political Organization
Capital was at Anyang
Oracle bones earliest surviving writing, a way to communicate with the gods
Chariot warfare
Chariots perhaps through Indo-European contacts
Ritual sacrifices were performed at death of Shang kings
Lead to the custom of veneration of ancestors

5. The Shang Dynasty Social Structures Bronze casting
Farm villages were the basic social unit
Clans rather than nuclear families
Some class differentiation: aristocratic elite, peasants, a few merchants, slaves
Bronze casting

6. The Zhou Dynasty (1000s–200s B.C.E.)
Political Structures
Capital near present-day Xian and a second capital near modern Luoyang
More extensive and complex bureaucracy than Shang
The Mandate of Heaven
Heaven: an impersonal law of nature rather than anthropomorphic deity
King not divine but ruled as representative of Heaven
Kings were chosen because of their talent and virtue

7. The Zhou Dynasty (1000s–200s B.C.E.)
If the king did not rule effectively, he lost the Mandate of Heaven and could be replaced by a new king/dynasty
Zhou began to decline by 500s B.C.E.

8. The Zhou Dynasty (1000s–200s B.C.E.)
Economy and Society
The “well field system”: peasants had own lands but also cultivate their lords’ land
Merchants were not independent but under control of local lords
Late Zhou saw considerable economic and technological growth, including massive water control projects, iron plowshares, the collar harness, natural fertilizer
Development of extensive trade in silk, to as far away as Greece
Development of a money economy

9. The Zhou Dynasty (1000s–200s B.C.E.)
The Hundred Schools of Ancient Philosophy
Early Beliefs
Under Shang, the belief in one transcendent god, known as Shang Di
Evolved into Heaven, an impersonal symbol of universal order
Two primary forces of yang (light/male) and yin (dark/female)

10. The Zhou Dynasty (1000s–200s B.C.E.)
Quotes
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.
Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.
He who will not economize will have to agonize.
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
Study the past if you would define the future.
Confucianism
Confucius/Kung Fuci/Master Kung (b. 551 B.C.E.)
Analects, conversations between Confucius and his followers
Ethical politics
Act in accordance with the Dao (the way), similar to dharma in India
Subordinate individualism to broader needs of family and community
Human-heartedness: “Do not do unto others what you would not wish done to yourself”
Merit should decide, not heredity
Led to practice of selecting officials through a civil service exam
Mencius (370–290 B.C.E.): humans were by nature good

11. The Zhou Dynasty (1000s–200s B.C.E.)
Legalism
Humans by nature are evil, and must be coerced by laws and punishments
Daoism (Lao Tzu/the Old Master)
Dao De Jing (The Way of the Tao)
Like Confucianism, this life and not the cosmos is the focus
Unlike Confucianism, inaction rather than action, act in harmony with nature
Chinese landscape painting often a reflection of Daoism
Popular Beliefs
Belief in numerous gods and spirits of nature, both good and evil

12. China during the Period of the Warring States
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13. The Rise of the Chinese Empire: The Qin and the Han
Decline of the Zhou: Warring States Period
State of Qin won out, becoming the first unified government of China in 221 B.C.E.

14. The Rise of the Chinese Empire: The Qin and the Han
The Qin Dynasty (221–206 B.C.E.): Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor
Political structures: Legalism was the official ideology
Books burned
Territory expanded, all the way to Vietnam

15. The Rise of the Chinese Empire: The Qin and the Han
Highly centralized state with harsh punishments
Society and the Economy
Unified weights and measures, standardized the monetary and writings systems
Reduced power of the aristocracy
Aristocrats were required to live in capital of Xianyang
Government was anti-merchants

16. The Rise of the Chinese Empire: The Qin and the Han
Beyond the Frontier: The Nomadic Peoples and the Great Wall of China
Threats from the northern nomadic Xiongnu, possibly related to the Huns
Qin solution: build a wall—the Great Wall—at great cost
The Fall of the Qin
Rivalry between “inner” and “outer” courts (bureaucracy vs. imperial family and eunuchs)
Government too oppressive
First Emperor condemned, but Legalism set pattern of succeeding dynasties

17. The Glorious Han Dynasty (202 B.C.E.–221 C.E.)
Founded by Liu Bang, took title of Han Gaozu
Maintained the Qin’s centralized political institutions, but less harsh
Confucianism and the State
Government was a despotism, capital at Chang’an
State Confucianism
Civil service examinations,165 B.C.E.
Most were still from aristocratic families
Factionalism at court still a problem
Aristocratic families remained powerful in spite of imperial despotism

18. The Glorious Han Dynasty (202 B.C.E.–221 C.E.)
Society and Economy in the Han Empire
Population increased from 20 million to 60 million
Agricultural improvements barely kept up with population rise
Expansion of trade, all the way to the Roman Empire
State controlled much trade and manufacturing
New technologies, including water mills, iron casting, paper, rudder
Expansion Abroad

19. Trade Routes of the Ancient World

20. The Glorious Han Dynasty (202 B.C.E.–221 C.E.)
The Decline and Fall of the Han
Wang Mang declared the Xin (New) dynasty, 9–23 C.E., but was killed
Recovery under the later Han, but the dynasty disappeared by 220s C.E.

21. The Han Dynasty
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22. Daily Life in Ancient China
The Role of the Family
Central to Chinese society, not least because of rice cultivation
Filial piety and the five relationships
Government attempted to impose control through the Bao-jia system of mutual control and surveillance by five or ten families

23. Daily Life in Ancient China
Lifestyles
Houses of tile and brick for the elite, but mud, thatch, and wooden planks for peasants
Staple foods were millet in the north and rice in the south
Cities
Most Chinese lived in the countryside
First towns were forts for the aristocracy
By Zhou era, larger towns for trade and commerce
Chang’An covered 16 square miles
The Humble Estate: Women in Ancient China
Female subservience the norm, both philosophically and in practice

24. Chinese Culture Metalwork and Sculpture
Bronze Casting under the Shang dynasty
Bronze vessels both for use and for ritual
Iron by 800s B.C.E.; Chinese cast iron was better than West’s wrought iron
The First Emperor’s Tomb, discovered in 1974 near Xian
Thousands of terra-cotta warriors

26. Chinese Culture Language and Literature
Writing based on pictures/ideas (ideographs/“characters”), not on phonetic symbols
Became the written system for an expanding Chinese civilization even though spoken languages were often mutually unintelligible
Earliest surviving was from Zhou, written on silk or strips of bamboo
Confucian Classics: The Rites of Zhou, Analects, Way of the Dao, The Book of Songs
Primary purpose was moral and political

27. Chinese Culture
Music: aesthetics, but also to achieve political order and refining the human character
Flutes, stringed instruments, bells and chimes, drums and gourds

28. Discussion Questions
What was the Mandate of Heaven? How did it shape the goal and priorities of Chinese government?
What factors contributed to economic growth during the Zhou period? What role did the government play in promoting growth?
What values are expressed in Confucianism? How were those values manifested in Chinese society?
What were the most important accomplishments of the Han dynasty? What led to the dynasty’s demise?