1. Copyright © Clara Kim 2007. All rights reserved.

2. Geography Surrounded by natural barriers on all cardinal directions –North: Gobi Desert –East: Pacific Ocean –South: Himalaya Mountains –West: Taklaman Desert and Plateau of Tibet

3. GOBI DESERT PACIFIC OCEAN HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS TAKLIMAKAN DESERT

4. Geography Fertile plain found between 2 major rivers –1. Huang He (Yellow River) Floods left behind LOESS: yellow silt River of Sorrow –2. Yangtze River Flooded unpredictablyFlooded unpredictably

5. –Huang He (Yellow River)

6. Huang He (Yellow River)

7. Yangtze River

9. Political Ruled by dynasties As Mesopotamia, Egypt and Indus were declining, Shang Dynasty in China was rising to power as 1 st Dynasty Zhou Dynasty – 2 nd dynasty –Mandate of Heaven: Justification through right of God –Dynastic Cycle: Pattern of the rise and fall of dynastiesDynastic Cycle: –Feudalism: nobles have permission from Kings to own and work king’s land

11. Economic Because of China’s isolation by natural barriers, early settlers had to supply their own goods within China Not much trade outside of China

12. Religious Family and Religion are closely linked –Prayed to ancestors because they thought their ancestors could bring them luck or disasterancestors –Consulted the gods through ancestors Shang Di – Supreme God

13. Social Society was sharply divided between nobles and peasants Family was central to society Had arranged marriages Group was more important than the individual

14. Society

15. Intellectual Shang Dynasty was the first to leave written records Oracle Bones: animal bone or tortoise shells where priests scratched questions for gods then applied heat until it cracked. Then the priests interpreted the cracks

18. Intellectual No connection between written and spoken Chinese –Advantage: Someone can read Chinese without knowing how to speak it

19. LOVE HAPPY

21. Achievements Oldest Shang city – Anyang built in the woods mainly from wood Anyang –Had massive earth walls for protection –Found a wall 118 feet thick and 1.2 square miles

22. Achievements Introduced the chariot – a major tool of war Skilled in bronze work, silk and weapons

27. Achievements During the Zhou Dynasty they: –Built roads and canals –Developed blast furnaces that allowed them to produce cast iron