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Chapter 2 Section 4 River Dynasties of China

Geography of China ª Land of enormous size ª Great geographic variety ª Widely contrasting climate patterns ª Mountains range across country’s west,

northwest and southwest ª Mountains slope down to desert or semi-

desert plateaus ª South of plateaus-rolling country of low

hills and valley ª In north, plateaus slope down to North

China Plain ª A Coastal Area along Yellow Sea

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Different Regions ª Mountains that cut

from west to east across China

ª Separates the valleys of the Huang He River and the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) River. China’s heartland.. 10% of land suited for farming

ª Marks boundary between north and south China

Northern China

ª Less Rain ª More extreme temperatures ª Growing seasons are shorter ª Wheat is main crop

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Rainfall in China

Southern China

ª Plentiful rain

ª Rice is primary crop

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Geographic and Political Sections

ª China Proper ª Smaller, historically important section ª Heart land of China ª Stretches from the east seacoast

inland ª Three great river systems

ª Huang ª Chang ª Xi

Other Political Sections

ª Tibet, Xinjian, Mongolia, Manchuria and Northern Korea ª Forms a semicircle around China

Proper ª At different times in history, Chinese

has conquered and been conquered by these regions

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China Proper and Other Political Sections

Rivers of China

ª Huang He, Chang Jiang, Xi (Shee) rivers all played major roles in China’s history

ª Huang He River ª Flows 2,900 miles across China (Miss 2,348) ª Empties into an arm of the Yellow Sea ª Fertile yellow=loess ª Loess gives river yellow tint= nicknamed “Yellow River”

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Huang He River

Rivers of China (Huang He River)

ª Devastating floods = nicknamed “China’s Sorrow” ª Built earthen dikes or wall along

Huang to protect crops from floods ª Dikes slowed river’s flow-caused silt

to deposit on bottom of river ª Silt levels grew higher = Chinese built

higher walls ª Chang Jung-engineer during 1

B.C. ª Proposed solution to flooding

problem, but everyone ignored him

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Rivers of China (Huang He)

ª Chinese kept building higher dikes to prevent floods

ª Huang He River now flows over 12 ft above the surrounding land

ª Flooding still continues every few years when dikes break ª Crops were destroyed ª Caused great lose of life

ª Rainfall unpredictable = floods unpredictable ª Floods alternated with periods of drought

Chang (Yangtze) River

ª In Central China ª Flows for 3,434 miles ª Cuts deep channel through it’s valley ª Large ships can navigate 600 miles up

stream ª Small ships can navigate 1,700 miles up

stream

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Chang (Yangtze) River

Xi River ª In Southern

China ª 1,200 miles long ª Forms important

commercial waterway

ª Large ships can navigate up river about 1/3 of it’s length

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China’s Isolation

ª Great distances rugged mountains, harsh deserts like the Gobi isolated China from other civilizations

ª Because of this, China developed it’s own distinctive culture ª China did adopt some ideas and skills from

other peoples (Melting pot (U.S)) ª Along North border, Chinese had

regular contact with nomadic people

China’s Isolation (cont.) ª Nomadic people had their own language and

culture ª Usually traded peacefully with Chinese ª Sometimes attacked Chinese settlements ª Chinese considered them culturally inferior and

called them barbarians ª Infrequent contact with foreigners helped give

Chinese strong sense of identity ª Chinese regarded their country as the only

civilized land (Ethnocentric) ª They believed other people became civilized

only by learning the Chinese language and adopting their cultures

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Physical Map of China

The Shang Dynasty 1700B.C.-1027 B.C.

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The Legend of Ancient China

ü Chinese Legends •  For example stories about Pangu, was

the first man who awoke after 18,000 years of sleep and created the universe.

•  Also Yu, a mythological figure who

drained away the flood waters where China is now, and he created a line of kings called a Xia(Shah).

•  Xia ruled over a late Neolithic people who lived in Huang He River region, starting at about 2,000B.C.

ü Xia people have made great advances over time.

•  Improved methods of agriculture •  Began using written symbols •  Did not developed flood, or irrigation systems

-Tough times occurred during floods, and droughts.

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Shang dynasty § Shang kingdom 40,000 square miles § Moved capital several time, defensive § Reason or avoid floods § Last centuries of Shang near what is now Anyang §  Created complex bureaucracy- government organized into different levels and tasks § The Shang army used Chariots and bronze weapons § There was a hereditary king that ruled over all of the land § Military might and a well- organized government made it possible for them to take over more land § Surrounded cities with massive earthen Walls.

§  118 ft wide, encircled 1.2 miles. 12 yrs , 10,000 men

Family §  Central to Chinese civilization. -  Respect of one’s parents -  Elders controls family decisions -  Women inferiors – 13 to 16

marriage is arranged, move in with husband, bearing sons will help improve status in family.

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Social Class §  Sharp divide between nobles and

peasants. §  King governs §  Nobles govern villages

Religion in the Shang Period

ª Animism- belief that spirits inhabit everything ª Shang Period combined animism with

animism with ancestor worship ª Worshiped gods of the wind, sun, clouds

and moon ª Religious festivals

ª Family paid respect to father’s ancestors and made sacrifices in their honor.

ª Priests wrote on oracle bones the shoulder bones of cattle or turtle shells (pg 53 ª They would heat bones up then wherever

the cracked decided what might happened

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Language and Writing ª Written language

ª No link between the spoken and written language ª One could read Chinese and not speak a word of it. ª Chinese written language has changed so little since

200 BC that a Chinese person living today can read a 2,000 year old document.

ª Spoke dialect (variation of their language) ª Mandarin is spoken by 835 million people today.

ª Assigned special symbols or characters to words

ª First there were pictographs, drawings of objects, later it became more complex ª 1,500 characters to be literate ª 10,000 characters to be a scholar (50,000 total)

ª Made ideograph ª People that wrote were clerks, scribes, and

teachers ª Calligraphy pg 53

Astronomy and the Calendar (not in book)

• Had 2 different calendars one is based on the sun one is based on the moons phases Each month began with a new moon

•  Skilled priest- astronomers employed by the government were responsible for adding days when needed to reach the 365 days •  Kings popularity depended upon the success of the harvest which decided the time of the planting based with the calendar •  Priest and astronomers = very high role • Chinese New Year (Jan to Feb)

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Fall of the Shang Dynasty

ü 1200 B.C. herders from the harsh Aravi desert and the Tian Shan foothills were attracted by the wealth and lifestyles of China prosperity

ü 1100 B.C. §  Battled war like neighboring states §  Di-xin was the last Shang king §  Could not protect the kingdoms

Northwest borders ü 1027 people called Zhou (joh) formed

alliances with nearby tribes and they overthrew the dynasty (start new dynasty cycle) §  The Zhou claimed the Shang people

were unfit to rule the dynasty §  Zhou empire was generally peaceful and

stale

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Zhou Dynasty-1027 B.C. ª  Longest lasting dynasty (1027BC-256BC) ª  Came up with a new form of Government

A. Granted territories to members of the royal family and their allies.

I. Controlled military service II. Each generation had to renew

their loyalty to the king. B. Believed that the God of Heaven

decides who should rule China. “Mandate of Heaven”.

Pg 54 diagram

Zhou Dynasty ª  700’s BC the Zhou Kings lost control of the people/

civilization. A. Local leaders began to fight. B. Quality of leaders declined.

ª  771BC The capital was invaded. ª  By 400BC the Zhou had no real power ª  The Qin defeated the Zhou (Ch. 4)