Where is China???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OlYyRP3ugY

Geographic and Cultural Influences

The Physical Setting

China is a land of enormous size, great geographic variety, and widely contrasting climate patterns Snow capped mountains, desert

plateaus and coastal regions

China Geography

Mountain range that cuts from the west to east across China is called the Qinling Shandi Mark boundary between

Northern and Southern China North: less rain, temperatures

more extreme, growing season shorter, wheat is principal crop

South and Central: rainfall is more plentiful, rice is the leading farm product

China Geography

Two great rivers in China, the Huang and the Chang, or YangtzeWhat we call China has consisted of many different geographic and political sections over time The heart of China is called

China Proper Three great rivers wind through

China Proper Huang, Chang, and Xi

Other political sections of China Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia,

Manchuria, and northern Korea

The Rivers of China

Huang, Chang and Xi have played major roles in Chinese history

Huang River flows over 2,900 miles across China emptying into the Yellow Sea Produces fertile yellow soil called loess Loess gives the river a yellow tint Huang means “Yellow” River Also known as “China’s Sorrow”

because of the devastating floods

The Rivers of China

Early farmers built earthen dikes, or walls, along the Huang River to protect crops from floodsDikes had unintended effect, however, of slowing the river downThis built up more silt at bottom of river making the river level higherChinese engineer, Chang Jung, determined the Chinese needed to let the river run its course instead of building dikes higher He was ignored

The Rivers of China

Rain would flood the even higher dikes and then would not be able to return back to the river because the river was now 12 feet above the surrounding land

Chang River and Xi River form important commercial waterways

China’s Isolation

Great distance, rugged mountains, and harsh deserts, such as the Gobi, isolated China from the civilizations of India and the West Developed distinct culture Probably influenced less by other cultures than any other

people in ancient times

On China’s northern borders they were in contact with nomadic people who traded with them and sometimes warred against them Considered them barbarians and inferior

China’s Isolation

Infrequent contact with foreigners gave China a sense of identity and superiority

Believed they were the only civilized land, calling it Zhongguo, or Middle Kingdom, meaning center of the world

Believed other cultures only became civilized when they learned the Chinese language and adopting Chinese customs

The Shang Dynasty

China’s early history of development were legends

One was of Pangu the first man who awoke from an 18,000 year sleep to create the universe

Another is of Yu a mythological figure who drained away floodwaters so people could live in China Yu established a line of kings called a Xia Xia ruled over a late Neolithic people who lived in the

Huang River region (2200 BC)

Shang Dynasty

Little evidence exists to support legends but scholars agree that the Xia people existed and made great advancements Improved agriculture Used written symbols Little control of flood prevention measures

Invaders in the 1750 BC and 1500 BC called the Shang swept into the Huang River Valley Introduced simple irrigation and flood-control systems Created China’s first historic dynasty

Shang Government and Culture

Shang kingdom stretched over 40,000 sq milesChanged capital city many times in their history Avoid invaders and floods

Shang rulers created a complex bureaucracy, a government organized into different levels and tasks King ruled over land Shang army used chariots and

bronze weapons Government and military allowed

Shang dynasty to gain much territory

Shang Economy and Handicrafts

Economy based mainly on agriculture Millet and rice

Domesticated animals Pigs, chickens, and horses Raised silkworms for silk thread

to make silk clothMany merchants and artisans lived in the capital city Worked in bone, ivory and jade Ceramic art, Shang potters used

kaolin, a fine white clay, and could glaze pottery to give it a shiny finish, also made pottery more durable

Astronomy and the calendar

Used two calendars, one based on the sun and the other based on the movements of the moonLunar calendar kept tract of important dates such as births and deathsCalendars also used to predict floodingPriests-astronomers added days to make calendar work

Religion in the Shang period

The religion that developed during the Shang period combined animism, the belief that spirits inhabit everything, with ancestor worshipPeople believed in an all-powerful dragon that lived in the sea and river Became the symbol of Chinese rulers

Also worshipped gods of the wind, sun, clouds, an moon Honored many in festivals

The Shang also believed in Shangdi, a great god who controlled human destiny and the forces of nature People pleaded with ancestors to

plead on their behalf with Shangdi

Religion in Shang period

Priests also played an important role in Chinese religion Predict future events and interpret

divine messages

Priests wrote questions on oracle bones, the shoulder bones of cattle or tortoise shells Heated bones and interpreted the

cracks that appeared on the bones Priest marked their interpretations on

the bone or shell

Language and Writing

The Chinese of the Shang period were among the few early peoples to develop a written language

Spoke many dialects, or variations of their language

Developed a written language that could be used for all these dialects

First used pictographs which later became complex Then they developed ideographs

Ideographs

Ideographs consisted of two parts

A signifier, or idea sign, and a phonetic sign

Signifier showed the meaning of the character and the phonetic sign told how to pronounce it

Could invent new characters by combining existing signs

Ideographs

Each character, however had to be memorized Earlier these were clerks, scribes,

and teachers Scribes recorded special events

and composed literary works Wrote from the top to the bottom of

the page, beginning on the right side Writing became an art called

calligraphy

Fall of the Shang Dynasty

Shang exhausted their efforts by fighting continually with herders that had settled near the Shang territory

In 1050 BC a people called the Zhou formed an alliance with nearby tribes and overthrew the Shang dynasty

The Zhou justified this overtaking by saying the Shang were corrupt and unfit to rule