How was the beginning of Chinese civilization similar to the origins of Mesopotamian, Indian, and Egyptian culture?

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How was life along the Yellow River both similar and different from life along the Nile River?_____________________________________________________________________________

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As in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and along the Indus River, Chinese civilization began within a major river valley. Modern China itself is a huge geographical expanse. Around 4000 BC, this huge area contained an almost infinite number of ethnic groups and languages. The course of Chinese history, however, is in part dominated by a single ethnic group and language. This history, in which a vast area populated by diverse ethnic groups became, over time, a more or less single culture, began in the Yellow River Valley.

The Yellow River is the northernmost of the major Chinese rivers. Directly to the south is the Yangtze River; south of the Yangtze is the West River; south of the West River is the Red River, much of which passes through modern-day Vietnam. Sometime around 4000 BC, when the area was much more temperate and forested, populations around the southern bend of the Yellow River began to practice agriculture. They sowed millet, but some time later, the Chinese began cultivating rice to the south, near the Huang-He River. These were a Neolithic, tribal people who used stone tools. We know also that they domesticated animals very early on, but they still continued as a hunter society as well. Remains of game animals are almost as common as domestic animals in these villages. We know almost nothing about them, for they left no records, and the life-blood of a people does not flow in the archaeological refuse they leave behind. We believe that tribal warfare was common and that they may have had some form of ancestor worship, but these are mere guesses.

Yellow River Valley Culture-WSU.edu

The early Chinese first settled along the Huang River-also called the Yellow River-about 5000 B.C. Hundreds of years later, farming villages were built there. By about 3000 B.C. Chinese farmers were growing grain in the valley’s rich soil. They were also raising cattle and sheep. Like the Egyptians along the Nile River, the people in the Huang valley learned how to build dikes to control floods. They also built ditches and canals to irrigate their fields. The Huang River was not as regular as the Nile in ancient Egypt. Some years the Huang did not flood. In other years the Huang’s flood broke through the dikes along its banks and destroyed crops as well as whole villages. For this reason the Chinese named the Huang the River of Sorrows.

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CHAPTER 2 EARLY RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS 19

Name ______________________________________________________________ Date ______________________

CHAPTER 2 Section 4 (pages 50–55)

BEFORE YOU READIn the last section, you read about Indus Valley culture.

In this section, you will learn about the earliest cultures inChina.

AS YOU READUse the chart below to take notes on how geography and early cultures influenced the development of Chinese culture.

TERMS AND NAMESloess Fertile soiloracle bone Animal bone used byancient Chinese priests tocommunicate with the gods Mandate of Heaven Divine approvalof the rulerdynastic cycle Pattern of rise, fall,and replacement of dynasties feudalism Political system in whichnobles or lords are granted the use oflands that belong to the king

River Dynasties inChina

The Geography of China (pages 50–51)

How did geography affect China’spast?The last of the great early civilizations arose inChina and continues to this day. China’s geographycaused it to develop apart from other cultures.

A great ocean, huge deserts, and high moun-tains isolate China from other areas. The moun-tains did not protect China totally, however. Peopleliving to the north and west invaded the land manytimes during Chinese history.

There are two rich rivers within China—theHuang He and the Yangtze. Almost all the goodfarmland in China lies between these rivers. TheHuang He deposited huge amounts of silt when it

overflowed. This silt is fertile soil called loess. TheChinese people also made use of the flood watersof these rivers.

1. Why did China develop apart from other cultures?

Civilization Emerges in ShangTimes (pages 51–52)

What was the Shang Dynasty?A few thousand years ago, some people began tofarm along China’s rivers. About 2000 B.C., the firstdynasty of rulers brought government to China.

Geography

Developed apart fromother cultures

Shang Culture Zhou Culture

Chinese Culture

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20 CHAPTER 2 SECTION 4

Around 1500 B.C., a new dynasty, the Shang,began to rule. This dynasty left the first writtenrecords in China. Objects found in their palacesand tombs also tell us much about their society.Chinese people built their buildings of wood, notmud-dried brick as the other early cultures did.Huge walls made of earth surrounded these build-ings to protect them. The walls were neededbecause it was a time of constant war.

The king and the nobles who helped him fightthese wars were at the top of Shang society. At thebottom was the mass of peasants who lived in sim-ple huts outside the city walls. They worked hardon the farms, using wooden tools because theShang believed that bronze was too good to beused for farming.

2. What were three features of Shang culture?

The Development of ChineseCulture (pages 52–54)

What beliefs shaped Shang society?Shang society was held together by a strong beliefin the importance of the group—all the people—and not any single person. The most important partof society was the family. Children grew up learn-ing to respect their parents.

The family played a central role in Chinese reli-gion, too. The Chinese thought that family mem-bers who had died could still influence the lives offamily members who were alive. They gave respectto dead members of the family, hoping to keepthem happy. Through the spirits of their ancestors,the Shang also asked for advice from the gods.They used oracle bones to do this. These wereanimal bones and shells. Priests wrote questions onthem. Then they touched them with somethinghot. The priest interpreted the cracks that resultedto find their answers.

The Chinese system of writing differed fromthose of other groups. Symbols stood for ideas, notsounds. This allowed the many different groups in

China to understand the same writing even thougheach had a special spoken language. The writtenlanguage had thousands of symbols, however. Thismade it very hard to learn. Only specially trainedpeople learned to read and write.

3. Name three important values of Shang culture.

Zhou and the Dynastic Cycle (pages 54–55)

What is the Mandate of Heaven?About 1027 B.C., a new group, the Zhou, took con-trol of China. They adopted Shang culture. Theyalso started an idea of royalty that was new toChina. Good rulers, they said, got authority to rulefrom heaven. This was known as the Mandate ofHeaven. They claimed the Shang rulers were notjust and had lost the favor of the gods. That is whythey had to be replaced. From then on, theChinese believed in divine rule. However, it alsomeant that disasters such as floods or war pointedto a ruler that had lost the support of the gods andneeded to be replaced. Until the early 1900s, theChinese had one dynasty after another. This pat-tern of rise, fall, and replacement of dynasties isknown as the dynastic cycle.

The Zhou gave members of the royal family andother nobles the rights to large areas of land. Theyestablished feudalism. Feudalism is a political sys-tem in which the nobles owe loyalty to the king.The nobles promise to fight for the rulers and toprotect the peasants who live on the land.

Eventually the Zhou rulers lost all power. Thenobles fought each other for control of China in aperiod called the “time of the warring states.” Itlasted many hundred years. The Chinese peoplesuffered during this time.

4. Name two important changes brought about by theZhou.

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1. ________________________ is the part of the essay that introduces the reader to an essay. This paragraph has a topic sentence, background information, and a thesis statement.

2. The _________________________ wraps up the essay, should have a closing statement. It signals that it is the end of your essay.

3. _______________________ a particular subject or issue that is discussed often or repeatedly.

4. ____________________ is the one sentence at the end of your introduction paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. Your entire essay will try to prove your argument true.

5. ____________________ Paragraphs between the introduction and conclusion. They develop points that a writer wants to make to support the thesis.

QUESTION

1. What are some of the things to avoid when writing a thematic essay?

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Theme Introduction Body

Thesis Statement Conclusion

Name __________________________

Date __________________

Period _________

HW#5

Northside Charter High School

Weekly Global History Homework Packet

Due before class starts on Friday, October 18th, 2013.

HISTORY FACT OF THE WEEK!!

The bronze dancing girl discovered at Mohenjo-Daro is perhaps the greatest surviving achievement of the metal work of the Harappan age. This world-famous figure shows a female dancing figure standing as if relaxing after a dance number, with her right hand on her hip and the left dangling free. She wears a large number of bangles, probably made of bone or ivory on her left arm together with a couple of pairs on her right arm.

The statuette is a great master piece of the art of the metal craftsman of the period who knew the art of bronze casting in the cire perdue or lost-wax process.

REMINDERS

Homework Packet # 5 is due 10/18/13 CEUpcoming Topics: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism.