Chapter 4Origins of the Chinese Empire

Legend of China

Set of Rulers:

1. Fu Xi – ox tamer (domesticated animals)

2. Shen Nong – divine farmer (technique of agriculture)

3. Huang Di – bows/arrows and writing

Defining Characteristics of Chinese Life

1. interaction between nomadic and agricultural people

2. importance of family as basic unit of Chinese life

3. development of unique system of writing

Neolithic China

First Dynasty – Xia

Second Dynasty – Shang Dynasty

(1700 BC) – just north of Yellow River• agricultural society• ruled by aristocratic warriors• class structure develops• believed in afterlife and ancestor worship• Best known for bronze casting

Shang China

Rice, first cultivated in China seven or eight thousand years ago, is a labor-intensive crop that requires many workers to plant the seedlings and organize the distribution of water. Initially, the fields are flooded to facilitate the rooting of the rice seedlings and to add nutrients to the soil. Fish breeding in the flooded fields help keep mosquitoes and other insects in check. As the plants mature, the fields are drained, and the plants complete their four-month growing cycle in dry soil. Shown here is an example of terracing on a hillside to preserve water for the nourishment of young seedlings.

© William J. Duiker

Shell and Bone Writing

The earliest known form of true writing in China dates back to the Shang dynasty and was inscribed on shells or animal bones. Questions for the gods were scratched on bones, which cracked after being exposed to fire. The cracks were then interpreted by sorcerers. The questions often expressed practical concerns: Will it rain? Will the king be victorious in battle? Will he recover from his illness? Originally composed of pictographs and ideographs four thousand years ago, Chinese writing has evolved into an elaborate set of symbols that combine meaning and pronunciation in a single character.

© Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY

Third Dynasty – Zhou (1100 BC)

“Heavenly Mandate”

King selection based on “talent and virtue”

(although hereditary)

Agriculture – well field system

Trade/monetary system

Like the pharaohs in Egypt, Chinese rulers filled their tombs with prized possessions from daily life. It was believed that if the tombs were furnished and stocked with supplies, including chairs, boats, chests, weapons, games, and dishes, the spiritual body could continue its life despite the death of the physical body. Here we see the remains of a chariot and horses in a burial pit in China’s Hebei province that dates from the early Zhou dynasty.

© Lowell Georgia/CORBIS

Philosophy/Religion

one transcendent god – Shang Di (ruled all forces of nature)

Idea of Yang and Yin

good and evil/ light and darkness

Sun = Yang Moon = Yin

Confucianism

Confucious (Kung Fuci)

Analects – written conversations with disciples

“You are unable to serve man, how then can you hope to serve the spirits? While you do not know life, how then can you know about death?”

Dao (Way) – action/behavior

1. Concept of duty

2. Concept of human-heartedness

Confucius and his disciples

© Howard Sochurek/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Daoism

“True way to interpret the Will of Heaven is not action, but inaction.”

Spontaneous Action

Legalism

no universal moral code

humans are by nature “evil”

Qin Dynasty 221 BC – 206 BC

Centralized State (3 primary ministries)

1. civil authority

2. military

3. censorate

Standardized system of weights and measures

Standardized system of writing and money

Constructed roads

Government controlled trade

The Tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi

The First Emperor of Qin ordered the construction of an elaborate mausoleum, an underground palace complex protected by an army of terra-cotta soldiers and horses to accompany him on his journey to the afterlife.

© William J. Duiker

Th First Emperor of Qin ordered the construction of an elaborate mausoleum, an underground palace complex protected by an army of terra-cotta soldiers and horses to accompany him on his journey to the afterlife. This massive formation of six thousand life-size armed soldiers, discovered accidentally by farmers in 1974, reflects Qin Shi Huangdi’s grandeur and power.

© Martin Puddy/Getty Images

In Defense against the Xiongnu

the Great Wall construction begins …http://encarta.msn.com/map_701585495/great_wall.html

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/scene/

(Links to information on the Great Wall)

The Han Dynasty – 202 BC – 221 CE

• no more legalism – State Confucianism• government officials selected by merit• population increases rapidly• state regulated trade and manufacturing• new technology

texitles, water and iron

Paper is invented!!!!