Ancient+China

= Ancient China = = 1800 B.C.- 221 B.C =



Ancient China was a very unique civilization. The reason why this civiliation was such a unique one was because of how it was so isolated from the rest of the world. The result of being so isolated made the culture and development of the civilation very different compared to many other civilizations. The reason being the Chinese never had any outside invading forces come in and change their ways of life because of the natural barriers that protected the area of land. Instead most of the conflicts and changes happened between Chinese civilizations in the region. Another barrier that came into play that protected China from Mongolia was the Great Wall of China. This wall was built by the Chinese to stop Mongolian invading forces from coming and attacking. In Ancient Chinese civilization there controlling groups or period of time under the ruling of a higher power were called dynasties. There were three dynasties in China that really stood out and made great impacts on the way of life. Those dynasties were the Shang, Zhou, and Qin dynasties.

The Shang Dynasty was one of the first dynasties to be known enough about. The Shang Dynasty was mostly a farming society with a war based aristocracy. The King that ruled this dynasty changed the capital city five times before settling on the capital city of Anyang. From here the king would elect military leaders to be in charge of realms throughout his empire. Those leaders were in charge of protecting the realms. The king was also in charge of protecting his own realm by commanding his armies. Just like many other civilizations like the Egyptians the Chinese strongly believed in life after death. Their kings were buried in royal tombs with their royal servants just as the ancient egyptian pharoahs were. Another example of their strong belief in life after death was the idea of veneration of ancestors. The veneration of ancestors or "ancestor worship" was where family members of a deceased member of the family would take physical objects and burn them. By doing so they thought that those objects would then carry over to the spiritual world and help aid their deceased family member through their journey to the next world.

The Zhou Dynasty was formed after a revolt against the Shang Dynasty because their last ruler was a tyrant who swam in "ponds of wine." The Zhou Dynasty lasted for almost 800 years and continued the same politcal system of the previous rulers they had overthrown. At the head of the government was the king who was served by an increasingly large bureaucracy and the king was seen to be a link between Heaven and Earth. Just like the Shang the Zhou would divide the land up into territories and the king would elect officials to be in charge of these areas but these officials were still under the authority of the king. The Zhou kings then began to form a theory of government called the Mandate of Heaven. Basically what the Mandat of Heaven meant was that if the people thought that the king was not fit to rule anymore or was not seen to be ruling correctly or under the word of God or Dao then someone could step up and challenge the king to a battle. Whoever won this battle would be the new king of the Zhou Dynasty. So if the challenger won the battle then he would be the new king of the Zhou Dynasty by the Mandate of Heaven. During the life of the Zhou Dynasty family was the most important thing in your life. The men were expected to provide for the family in this society. The concept of family life in China was the idea of the filial piety. This refers to the duty of family memeber and the place of each of the family members.

The Qin Dynasty formed when there was a period of war between many states not giving any such state any entire authority and the Qin was the one who eventually defeated its rivals and declared it a dynasty. The ruler of the Qin Dynasty was a man by the name of Qin Shihuangdi. Once in power the Qin Dynasty adopted legalism as the regimes official ideology. During the Qin Dynasty were threatened by a group of tribes that fought on horseback called the Xiongnu. They were to the North and they were very dangerous because they mastered the art of fighting on horseback and the Chinese hadn't. So even though Qin enjoyed fighting them for awhile he began a project to protect him from them. This project was to build a huge wall that would span across the country to protect his people from the Xiongnu. That project today is called the Great Wall of China. Soon after though the Qin Dynasty would fall. The reason being that not many Chinese liked the Qin when they first arose so when he died the dynasty was overthrown 4 years later.

Important People Qin Shihuangdi: The founder of the Qin Dynasty. The first Chineese emperor who ruled the Qin Dynasty for about 49 years from 259 B.C. to 210 B.C. Liu Bang: The founder of the Han Dynasty. He was also known as Emperor Gaozu of Han. He ruled the Han Dynasty for seven years. Fu Hao: Who was also know as Houmuxing was Wu Dings wife and the Greatest Shang general in all of the Dynasty. Wu Wang: His original name was Chi Fa. He was a Martial King who defeated the Shang King and began the Chou Dynasty. Confucius: His real name was Kung Fu-tze. He was an Ancient Chinese philosopher who became know for his teachings of Confucianism.

Key Terms: Filial Piety: Kown as the primary duty for all chineese. Members of the family to complete the needs for them like burying them after death and bringing honor to the family. Dao: "The way" in the sense of road of path were supposed to act in behavior to Dao. Legalism: Founded by Hsun Tzu. Proposed that humans were evil by nature. Emphaisizes the Need for order above all other things. Oracle Bones: Bones scratched with important questions then a hot metal rod was pressed against it and the priests would determine the answer by which way the cracks formed. Five Constant Relationships: System of how a family should work and how they should love or be in relation to each other. Ex. parent to child, husband to wife, etc.

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Chinese Dynasties- Information on the dynasties of Ancient China Chinese Family Life- The way of family life in Ancient China Ancient Chinese Government- Information on how Ancient China ran its government. Physical Features of Ancient China- The shape and geography of Ancient China Ancient China Military- The ways and system of Ancient Chinese military. media type="custom" key="10871490" 4000 B.C.- Chineese civilization begins. Xia Dynasty begins. 2650 B.C.- Empress Si Lingi invented silk. 1750 B.C.- Shang Dynasty began. 1122 B.C.- Zhou Dynasty begins, longest dynasy in Chineese histroy. 512 B.C.- Art of war is written by Sun-tzu 403 B.C.- Period of Warring States begins. 221 B.C.- Quin Dynasty starts. 202 B.C.- Han Dynasty begins. 39 B.C.- Revolt agaisnt Chineese in Vietnam is led by the Trung Sisters. 220 A.D.- Six Dynasties began. There were civil wars and the Huns invaded.