Objectives• Students will explore how India’s and China’s geography affected the

development of civilization.• Students will demonstrate the defining features of the Indus Valley

Civilization• Students will identify the achievements of the Shang dynasty?• Students will investigate how China changed during the Zhou

dynasty.

Main IdeasEarly civilization arose in the Indus River Valley, flourished, and then mysteriously died out.

China’s river valley civilizations built the foundations of a long-shared Chinese culture. The achievements of the Shang and Zhou dynasties can be felt to this day.

Early India and China

India’s Geography

Indus River flows across northwest edge of Indian subcontinent—large landmass, part of a continent

• Flood deposits from Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra rivers enrich soil of Northern Plains, make it very fertile

• Heavy rains also add to fertility of plains

• Much of rain brought to India by seasonal winds, monsoons

Fertile Region The people of India’s first civilizations depended upon the monsoons to bring the water that their crops

needed. • Monsoon rains too heavy— crops,

homes, lives could be lost• Monsoon rains too late, did not last

long enough—people could not grow crops; famine became danger

People have lived in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years. At first people lived as hunter-gatherers, but slowly people began to settle down in farming communities.

• Farm communities gave rise to India’s first civilization

• Developed in valley of Indus River

• Began 2500 BC, when people first developed writing system

First Civilization• 1920s,remains of two

large cities first ruins found– Harappa

–Mohenjo Daro

• Civilization called Harappan

Cities, Settlements• Settlements well

planned, carefully laid out

• Streets ran in grid pattern; major avenues twice as wide as minor streets

Indus Society

Indus Valley Civilization

Economy• Economy likely based on agriculture, trade• Most probably farmed, herded livestock• In cities, many specialized in crafts like pottery, metalwork, jewelry• Indus traded goods with people nearby, distant civilizations• Traders from Indus Valley brought goods to locations as distant as Central Asia,

Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia

Few Details• Archaeologists, historians not able to learn many details about Indus society• Had writing system, but historians not able to read it• Some say Indus civilization single society, rather than collection of city-states

Decline• Civilization thrived from about 2500 BC to 2000 BC, then began to decline• No one knows what led to decline, or if single cause• Environmental damage suspected; flooding, disappearance of Sarasvati river• Invasion, disease may also have helped end civilization

Creative Writing •Write a letter as if you are an individual living in Ancient India before its collapse. In this letter provide an explanation as to what exactly happened to your civilization.

•Use clues from what we have covered in the notes to make your story plausible.•Write this letter to a family member, friend,

or simply to who may stumble upon it.

The development of civilization in early China was aided by features like long rivers, fertile soils, temperate climates, and isolated valleys.

• China’s first civilizations developed in river valleys

• Two major rivers supplied water for earliest civilizations

– Chang Jiang, also called Yangzi

– Huang He, or Yellow River

– Both flow east from Plateau of Tibet to Yellow Sea

Rivers, Soils, Climates• Annual floods deposited rich soil,

loess, on flood plains• Valley of Huang He particularly fertile

due to loess

– Fine dusty soil

– Carried into China by desert winds

Loess

China’s Geography

Isolation• Combination of rivers for irrigation, fertile soil for planting allowed Chinese to

thrive, as did China’s relative isolation• Mountains, hills, desert protected China from invasion• Himalaya Mountains separate southern China from India, rest of southern Asia; vast

Gobi Desert prevented reaching China from west

Crops• Most of eastern China covered with fertile soils; some regions better suited than

others for growing certain crops• Southern China—warm, receives plenty of rainfall, excellent region for growing rice• Further north—climate cooler, drier; suitable for grains, wheat.

According to ancient Chinese records, the Shang dynasty formed around 1766 BC, although many archaeologists believe it actually began somewhat later than that.

• China ruled by strong monarchy

• At capital city, Anyang, kings surrounded by court

• Functioned to strengthen kingdom, keep safe

Government and Society

• King’s governors ruled distant parts of kingdom

• King also had large army at disposal

• Prevented rebellions, fought outside opponents

To Keep Order

• Shang China largely agricultural

• Most tended crops in fields

• Farmers called on to fight in army, work on building projects—tombs, palaces, walls

Agricultural Society

The Shang Dynasty

Oracle BonesAs part of worship, Shang asked ancestors for advice • Sought advice through use of oracle bones

– Inscribed bits of animal bone, turtle shell

– Living person asked question of ancestor

– Hot piece of metal applied to oracle bone resulting in cracks on bone’s surface

– Specially trained priests interpreted meaning

of cracks to learn answer

Writing• Development of Chinese writing closely tied to use of oracle bones• Earliest examples of Chinese writing, questions written on bones themselves• Early Shang texts used picture symbols to represent objects, ideas

End of Dynasty • Shang ruled for more than 600 years, until about 1100 BC• Ruling China’s growing population proved too much for Shang• Armies from nearby tribe, Zhou, invaded, established new ruling dynasty

Bronze • Shang religion led to great advances in working with bronze• Highly decorative bronze vessels, objects created for religious rituals• Also built huge structures like tombs; created calendar based on cycles of the moon,

first money systems

Shang Achievements and Decline

In that case, they said, it was the will of the gods that that dynasty be overthrown and a new one take power.

Beginning around 1100 BC, the Zhou rules China for several centuries. The Zhou dynasty is divided into two periods. During the Western Zhou, kings ruled from Xian in a peaceful period. Later conflict arose, kings moved east to Luoyang, beginning the Eastern Zhou period.

• When Zhou conquered Shang, leaders worried Chinese people would not accept them

• Introduced idea they ruled by Mandate of Heaven

• Gods would support worthy rulers, not allow anyone corrupt to hold power

Government

The Zhou Dynasty

• Zhou said Shang overthrown because they lost gods’ favor

• Later rulers used Mandate of Heaven to explain dynastic cycle, rise and fall of dynasties in China

• If dynasty lost power, it obviously had become corrupt

Dynastic Cycle

• Before Zhou, Chinese metalwork done almost exclusively in bronze• Zhou learned to use iron, became backbone of economy• Iron was strong, could be cast more cheaply, quickly than bronze• Iron weapons strengthened Zhou army, as did new weapons like catapult and

creation of China’s first cavalry

• Population grew under Zhou• Farmers learned new techniques,

increased size of harvest, created food surpluses; cities also grew

• Roads, canals allowed better transportation, communication

• Introduced coins, use of chopsticks

Growth• Conflict arose during latter part of

Zhou dynasty• Clan leaders within China rose up

against king• As time passed, more and more local

leaders turned against Zhou, further weakening rule (almost non- existent 200BC)

Decline of the Zhou

Zhou Achievements

The Qin rose to bring an end to the warring states period, and the Zhou dynasty.