Post on 11-Jan-2016
China
Seminar by Ms. Gluskin The Great Wall
Map of Modern China
China today
Chinese Civilization and Geography
Oldest continuous civilization Geography: northern plain
fed by the Yellow River Later settlement grew along
the Yangtze River Isolation: mountains, desert,
steppes of Central Asia, Pacific Ocean
Internal boundaries: mountains and rivers
Overall: isolated and regional (rivalries between areas)
Shangdynasty
Ming dynasty
2 Evan Hadingham. PBS. Nova: Ancient Chinese Explorers. 2001. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/ancient-chinese-explorers.html (Nov. 9, 2011).
2
Topography
Mountains and deserts
Columbia University, East Asia in Geographic Perspective, N.d., http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/geography/element_a/ea1.html (Nov. 15, 2011)
Topography, con’t
3-steps of elevation from east to west
Yellow River
Yellow River really is yellow in some parts due to loesse soil it picks up
Facts and Details, Land and Geography of China, 2010,
http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=400&catid=10&subcatid=64#01 (Nov. 15, 2011).
Steppes
Inner Mongolia
University of Washington, Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization, Outer China, N.d., http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/geo/outer.htm (Nov. 15, 2011).
Difficult Terrain
Terracing is a way of getting more farm land where there is little arable land
Economy
Farming is the basis: wheat in the north, rice in the south (mostly self-sufficient)
Traded in East Asia (Japan, Korea) and along the Silk Road
Imported luxuries Exported silk, copper,
porcelain (Song dynasty)
Porcelain
Maritime expeditions in the Ming dynasty went to Southeast Asia, and through the Indian Ocean to the African coast and Arabia
Led by Zheng He Stopped suddenly when
China closed itself off from foreign contact in the 14th century AD
Foreign Expedition
China As Sea Power
Evan Hadingham. PBS. Nova: Ancient Chinese Explorers. 2001. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/ancient-chinese-explorers.html (Nov. 9, 2011).
Silk Road
Traders from Rome and the Middle East came to China for jade, gold, spices, horses, precious gems and silk
Beginning in Han dynasty The Silk Roads
Beliefs
Crossover between religion and philosophy
From the earliest time Chinese people practised ancestor veneration (respect for the spirits of dead ancestors)
Tian = heaven, is an old concept:not a god, but a force guarding China and the imperial family
Emperors came to be known as Sons of Heaven
Emperors ruled with the blessing of Heaven, called the Mandate of Heaven
Natural omens would warn an emperor he was doing something wrong; if he ignored it, Heaven would see that the people rose up and got rid of that emperor
Dynastic Cycle
Confucianism
During a time of internal disorder (5th century BCE), a bureaucrat and teacher named Kong Fuzi created a philosophy based on ORDER
Kong FuziHistoryWhiz, Confucius, 2008, http://www.historywiz.com/historymakers/confucius.htm (Nov. 15, 2011).
Yin-Yang
The Chinese had a concept of the forces of nature called Yin-Yang
This symbol is the Taiji or great pivot
Yin=female, dark, cold, passive
Yang=male, light, hot, active
Together they are complimentaryThe Pivot
Taoism
Taoism incorporated the idea of Yin-Yang into the philosophy of being one with nature
The Tao = the wayTaoists thought
Confucianists were too focused on morality rather than nature
“Humans model themselves on earth, Earth on heaven, Heaven on the Way, And the way on that which is naturally so.”
Art
Taoism con’t
“Do nothing and nothing will not be done.”Wu-wei: action through minimal action“It is the practice of going against the stream
not by struggling against it and thrashing about, but by standing still and letting the stream do all the work.”
“We place our trust and our lives in the Tao, that we may live in peace and balance with the Universe, both in this mortal life and beyond.” Lao Tse
Buddhism
Came to China later from India (first century CE)
Also coexisted with Confucianism and Taoism
Brought the idea of salvation and an end to suffering (during a difficult time)
Buddha
Social Structures
ClassesGENTRY:
Imperial Family Scholar Officials
Nobles Landowners
COMMONERS: Peasants, Farmers, Artisans
MerchantsServants and Entertainers
Gender
PatriarchyOnly males can
perform ancestor veneration
Some female empresses
Foot binding for women and children (made the shape of the foot resemble a lotus flower)
Lotus shoes
Record Keeping
Writing evolved over time, much like Cuneiform (picto to ideograph)
Used characters rather than an alphabet (similar characters in Japan and Korea)
Calligraphy styles highlighted the beauty of the characters
High value placed on education and written over spoken language
Paper and printing enabled the spread of learning
Chinese Characters
Chinese characters began as pictograms
Monuments
Great Wall of China started by the First Emperor (Shi Huangdi) as as a defense against invasion (tamped earth)
Built up in sections over time
Renovated and strengthened by Ming dynasty (bricks)
Stages of the Great Wall
The First Emperor
Shi Huangdi was the first to unite the Chinese states into one empire
He was a tyrannical figure and the first Qin emperor
He used conscript labour to build the Great Wall
He was very strict, trying to centralize and standardize everything in China including thought (burnt books)
His tomb included 7000 terra cotta warriors and horses- took 36 years to build and 700 000 labourers
First Emp-eror
Terra Cotta Warriors
The First Emperor wanted to be well protected in his tomb.
The Wall Didn’t Stop the Mongols
The Mongol invasion was traumatic because foreign rulers took over
They overran the Chinese with their skilled horsemanship and brutal methods of warfare (catapulted diseased human and animal corpses; armour made of horsehide hardened in animal urine)
Their rule was called the Yuan dynasty
The Ming dynasty overthrew them and gave the Chinese confidence in their own abilities and fear of foreigners
Mongol Archer
Culture
Architecture: homes of the wealthy had courtyards and gardens
Religious architecture included pagodas, temples decorated with symbols such as the dragon, lion, the number nine
Imperial architecture included palaces such as the Forbidden City in Beijing
Literature: classics, history of dynasties, poetry, Analects of Confucius, Tao te Jing
Art: landscape painting, calligraphy
Technology: What China gave the West
teagun powderporcelainpaperwheelbarrowpaper moneyblock printing
compassseismograph (simple)chopstickswok lacquerwareefficient iron
productionsilkacupuncture, Chi inoculation
Before the West
Making silk
Paper money
The first book, 868 CE
China...
the oldest continuous civilization