Neolithic period

• Agricultural society

• Importance of the Yellow River – Cradle of Chinese

civilization– Loess- yellow clay dust

• Neolithic period followed by dynasties

What is a dynasty?

A line of rulers from the same family

Xia Dynasty• 2200- 1766 BC

• Little is known about this period

• Legendary King Yu– 2200-2100 BC– Master of Flood Control

• Organized system of irrigation canals to relieve the flood waters

– Started dynastic rule– Strong moral character

Shang Dynasty

• 1766- 1122 BC– Legendary Battle of

Mingtiao • The Shang’s bravery caused

the Xia to retreat

• Developed earliest Chinese writing

• Worshipped many gods– Ancestor worship- believed their

ancestors became like gods when they died

King Tang of Shang

Zhou Dynasty

• 1122- 256 BC

• Kings claimed a “mandate of heaven” to rule

• A system of feudalism developed– Divided into 6 states– A period of fighting, known as The Warring

States, led to the fall of the dynasty– The strongest and strictest state the Qin

eventually took power

Early Chinese Writing

• Pictographs- characters used to represent objects

• Written on oracle bones– Oracle bones were used to

predict the future– Over 4,000 characters have

been discovered but only half

have been deciphered

Ancient Chinese writing on a turtle shell

Sun

Moon

Mountain

Water

Wood / Tree

Person

Eye

Bird

Turtle

Goat

Horse

Chinese Dragon