Terms : Hide Images
| 214749374 | Xia Dynasty | The first Chinese dynasty established around 2200 BCE along the Yellow River with Yu(hero of flood control) as their king and Erlitou as their capital. Organized large-scale public works projects to help establish authority and political institutions. Encouraged the development of metallurgy, leaders needed bronze weapons to maintain control. Erlitou had modest houses, pottery workshops and a bronze foundry. | 0 | |
| 214749375 | The Yellow River | (Huang He River). 2,920 miles long, periodically floods and devastates fields, communities, etc. Altered its course many times and caused so much destruction that is was nicknamed "China's Sorrow." | 1 | |
| 214749376 | Yangshao Society and Banpo Village | Yangshao society; flourished from 5000-3000 BCE in the middle region of the Yellow River Valley. Well-known for the discovery in 1952 of a neolithic village at Banpo, near modern Xi'an. Found painted pottery and bone tools used by early cultivators in the 6th and 5th millenia BCE. | 2 | |
| 214749377 | Bronze Metallurgy and Horse-Drawn Chariots | Technology helps explain the rise and success of the Shang dynasty. Bronze metallurgy went to China from southwest Asia, with horse-drawn chariots, horses and other wheeled vehicles. They reached China by 1200 BCE. Shang ruling elites monopolized the production of bronze in the Yellow River Valley by controlling access to copper and tin and by employing craftsmen to produce large quantities of bronze weapons. Control over bronze production strengthened Shang forces against those of the Xia and provided them with better weapons than their rivals. Shang nobles used bronze to make fittings for horse-drawn chariots. Shang armies had little difficulty imposing their rule on agricultural villages and extended their influences throughout much of the Yellow River Vallley. | 3 | |
| 214749378 | Shang Political Organization | Shang rulers relied on a large corps of political allies. Local rulers recognized the authority of the Shang kings. Shang kings may have controlled one thousand or more towns. Others who shared the agricultural surplus of Shang China included advisors, ministers, craftsmen, and metalsmiths, who all helped spread Shang influence through the region. Shang capital moved 6 times during the course of the dynasty. Chosen for political and military reasons, the cities also became social, economic, and cultural centers. Sites of bronze foundries, arts, crafts, trade, and religious observances. | 4 | |
| 214749379 | The Shang Capital at Ao | Most remarkable feature of this site is the city wall, 33 feet high, 66 feet thick. Even today, parts of the wall of Ao still survive at a height of 10-13 feet. The wall required 10,000 workers working 20 years. | 5 | |
| 214749380 | The Shang Capital at Yin | More impressive than Ao, archaeologists identified a complex of royal palaces, archives with written documents, some residential neighborhoods, two large bronze foundries, several workshops used by potters, bone carvers, woodworkers, craftsmen, and scattered burial grounds. 11 large tombs made for Shang kings found. Graves included thousands of objects like; chariots, weapons, bronze goods, pottery, jade and ivory carvings, cowry shells(money), and sacrificial victims such as dogs, horses, and humans intended to serve the deceased royals in another life. One tomb had skeletons of more than 300 sacrificial victims, probably wives, servants, friends, and hunting companions. | 6 | |
| 214749381 | Beyond the Yellow River Valley | Legendary and historical accounts paid special attention to the Xia and Shang dynasties because of their location in the Yellow River Valley, where the first Chinese imperial states rose in later times. Recent excavations unearthed evidence of a large city at Sanxingdui(southwestern China). Occupied 1700-1000 BCE, the city was probably a capital of a regional kingdom. Tombs had a lot of bronze, jade, stone, pottery, cowry shells, elephant tusks and other objects that indicate close relationships with societies in the Yellow River Valley and the Yangzi River Valley. | 7 | |
| 214749382 | The Rise of the Zhou | According to Zhou accounts, the last Shang king was a greedy drunk, tyrant. As a result, many of the towns and political districts under the Shang transferred their loyalties to the Zhou. After some unsuccessful attempts to discipline the Shang king, the Zhou toppled his gov't in 1122 BCE and replaced it with theirs. They let Shang heirs to continue governing small districts and reserved themselves the right to oversee affairs throughout the realm. The new dynasty ruled most of northern and central China until 256 BCE. | 8 | |
| 214749383 | The Mandate of Heaven | The Zhou dynasty wrote a set of principles that influenced Chinese thinking about government. Zhou theory of politics based on the assumption that earthly events were closely related to heavenly affairs. Heavenly powers granted the right to govern to an especially individual known as the son of heaven. Ruler had to observe high standards of honor and justice and maintain order and harmony in his realm. If he did so, the heavens approved of his work and he could keep his mandate to govern, if not, the heavenly powers could take away the mandate and give it to someone more deserving. Until the 20th century, emperors took the title, "son of heaven". | 9 | |
| 214749384 | Political Organization | Zhou state was larger than the Shang, so large that a single court couldn't rule the entire land effectively. As a result, Zhou rulers relied on a decentralized administration: they entrusted power, authority, and responsibility to subordinates, who in turn owed allegiance, tribute, and military support to the central government. The conquerors themselves ruled the Zhou dynasty at the capital Hao, but they allotted possessions in conquered territories to relatives and other allies. Subordinates ruled their territories with limited supervision from the central government. In return for their political rights, they visited Zhou royal court on specific occasion to demonstrate their continued loyalty to the dynasty, they delivered taxes and tribute that accounted for the major part of Zhou finances, and they provided military forces that the kings deployed in the interests of the Zhou state as a whole. Zhou rulers sought to arrange marriages that would strengthen their ties to their political allies. | 10 | |
| 214749385 | Weakening of the Zhou | Zhou kings couldn't maintain control over the decentralized political system. Subordinates eventually established their own bases of power: they ruled their territories not only as allies of the Zhou kings but also as long-established and traditional governors. They set up regional bureaucracies, armies, and tax systems to consolidate their rule and exercise their authority. They sometimes didn't come to court or to deliver tax proceeds. They also occasionally refused to provide military support, and they even turned their forces against the dynasty in an effort to build their own regional states. | 11 | |
| 214749386 | Iron Metallurgy | Technological developments also worked in favor of subordinate rulers. Zhou kings couldn't control the production of bronze as closely as the Shang did, so subordinates built a stockpile of weapons. During the first millennium BCE iron metallurgy spread to China and increased rapidly. Iron is cheaper and more abundant than copper or tin so the Zhou kings couldn't monopolize iron production. Subordinates outfitted their forces with iron weapons that enabled them to resist central gov't and pursue their own interests. | 12 | |
| 214749387 | Ruling Elites | During the Xia, Shang and early Zhou dynasties, royal family and allied noble families occupied most honored positions in Chinese society. They lived in large compounds, lived on the agricultural surplus and taxes delivered by their subjects. They possessed much of the bronze weaponry and controlled most of the remaining bronze weapons available in northern China. They used expensive bronze utensils(pots, jars, plates, cups, mirrors) that often had elaborate decorations that showed the skill of the artisans. Aristocrats possessed extensive land holdings, and they worked at administrative and military tasks. Many lived in cities where they obtained elementary education and the standard of living was more refined than the slaves and commoners who worked their fields and served their needs. Manuals of etiquette. Refrain from gulping down food, swilling wine, making unpleasant noises, picking teeth at the table, and playing with food. | 13 | |
| 214749388 | Specialized Labor | A small class of free artisans and craftsmen piled their trades in the cities of ancient China. During Shang dynasty, bronze metalsmiths lived in houses built of pounded earth. Their dwellings were modest, but expensive and sturdy to build. Jewelers, jade workers, embroiderers and manufacturers of silk textiles benefited socially because of their importance to the ruling elites. | 14 | |
| 214749389 | Merchants and Trade | Long distance trade routes reached China during Shang and Xia dynasties. Trade networks linked China to the west and south early in the 3rd millennium BCE. Jade in Shang tombs came from central Asia, military technology involving horse-drawn chariots came from Mesopotamia. Bronzesmiths worked with tin that came from the Malay peninsula in southeast Asia, and cowry shells came from islands in the Indian Ocean. Shang pottery found in Mohenjo-Daro and Harrapan sites. King Yu, founded sails. Chinese mariners used large oar-propelled vessels before 2000 BCE. By the Shang dynasty, Chinese ships were traveling across the Yellow Sea to Korea.During the Zhou dynasty , shipbuilding emerged as a prominent business along coastal China, and mariners discovered how to navigate their vessels by the stars and other heavenly bodies. | 15 | |
| 214749390 | Peasants | Large class of semi-servile peasants populated Chinese countryside. They didn't own land but provided agricultural, military and labor services for their lords in exchange for plots to cultivate, security,and a portion of the harvest. Lived in small houses with thatched roofs and walls. Women made wine, weaved and cultivated silkworms while men worked in the fields, hunted and fished. | 16 | |
| 214749391 | Slaves | Slaves were mostly enemy warriors captured in battles between the many competing states of ancient China. They performed hard labor, such as clearing new fields or building city walls that required large workforces. During the Shang dynasty, hundreds of slaves also figured among the victims sacrificed during funerals, and other religious services. | 17 | |
| 214749392 | Veneration of Ancestors | Reason for pronounced influence of the Chinese family. Early agricultural people tended the graves and memories of their deceased ancestors. They thought the spirits of the ancestors would pass into another realm of existence where they had the power to support and protect their surviving family. Survivors buried tools, weapons, jewelry and other goods along with the dead, they also offered food and drink at their graves. A family could prosper if all its members worked cooperatively toward common interests. | 18 | |
| 214749393 | Patriarchal Society | Elderly males who headed the household had most authority. Chinese men had public authority, but women were important too. Two queens had, they had temples built in their memories. Women played important roles in public life too. Fu Hao performed sacrificial rites and led troops in battle. During the later Shang and Zhou dynasties, women's roles were less. Ruling class performed elaborate ceremonies publicly honoring the spirits of departed ancestors, particularly males who guided their families and led noble lives. Emphasis on men so intense that China lost its matrilineal character. After the Shang dynasty, not even queens and empresses merited temples dedicated to their memories: at most, they had the honor of being remembered in association with their noble husbands. | 19 | |
| 214749394 | Oracle Bones | Oracle bones were main instruments used by Chinese fortune tellers. Diviners used special broad bones(shoulder blades of sheep or turtle shells), they inscribed a question on the bone and then heated it by placing it in the fire or scorching it with an extremely hot tool. When heated, the bone cracked and the fortune teller studied the cracks and determined the answer to the question. Sometimes diviners inscribed the answer on the bone and later scribes occasionally added further information to it. During 19th century CE, peasants found many oracle bones with archaic Chinese writing. They called them "dragon bones" and sold them to druggists who ground them in powder to use as medicine. Since 1890, more than 100,000 oracle bones have been found. Most come from royal archives, and reveal the day-to-day concerns of the Shang royal court. Earliest form of Chinese writing was pictograph. | 20 | |
| 214749395 | Zhou Literature | Several writings of the Zhou dynasty won recognition as works of high authority, and they exercised deep influence because they served as textbooks in Chinese schools. Some of the popular ones include the Book of Changes, which was a manual instructing diviners in the art of foretelling the future. Zhou ruling elites also placed emphasis on the Book of History, documents that justified the Zhou state and called for subjects to obey their overlords. Aristocrats learned polite behavior from the Book of Etiquette or the Book of Rites. | 21 | |
| 214749396 | The Book of Songs | Most notable of the classic works, also known as the Book of Poetry and the Book of Odes, a collection of verses on themes both light and serious. Compiled and edited after 600 BCE, many of the 311 poems date back from an earlier period and reflect conditions of the early Zhou dynasty. Some poems had political implications, others hymns sung at ritual observances. Many are verses about love, life and family. | 22 | |
| 214749397 | Destruction of Early Chinese Literature | Most Zhou writings have perished. Ones written on bamboo and silk fabrics have deteriorated, others destroyed by people. When the imperial empire of Qin ended the chaos of the Period of the Warring States and brought all of China under centralized rule in 221 BCE, the emperor ordered all writings that didn't have utilitarian values destroyed. | 23 | |
| 214749398 | Steppe Nomads | Chinese cultivators met nomadic people who built pastoral societies in the grassy steppe lands of central Asia. These lands too arid to sustain large agricultural societies, but their grasses supported herds of horses, cattle, sheep, goats and yaks. After Indo-Europeans domesticated horses around 4000 BCE, they could herd their animals more effectively and push deeper into the steppes. 2900 BCE introduced heavy wagons into steppes and by 2200 BCE wagons were increasingly prominent in the steppe lands east of the Ural Mountains. After 1000 BCE nomadic people organized powerful herding societies on the Eurasian steppes. | 24 | |
| 214749399 | Nomadic Society | Nomads did little farming, instead, they focused on herding their animals to places with food and water. Herds provided food, tools(bone tools) and clothing. Nomads served as links to agricultural societies between east and west. Brought knowledge of bronze metallurgy and horse-drawn chariots. They depended on agricultural societies for grains and finished products like textiles and metal goods. They traded horses. Chinese and nomadic people had tense relationship. Nomadic raids posed a great threat to north and west China. Zhou state almost crumbled because of nomadic raids. Nomads didn't adopt Chinese ways. They couldn't cultivate crops or settle in towns or cities. They organized themselves under the leadership of charismatic warrior chiefs. | 25 | |
| 214749400 | The Yangzi Valley | Chang Jiang "Long River". 3,915 miles long, doesn't bring floods like the Yellow River. Intensive cultivation of rice depended on the construction and maintenance of an elaborate irrigation system that allowed cultivators to flood their paddies and release the waters at the appropriate time. | 26 | |
| 214749401 | The State of Chu | During the late Zhou dynasty, the powerful state of Chu(central region of the Yangzi), governed its affairs and challenged the Zhou for supremacy. By end of Zhou dynasty, Chu and other states were in communication with their counterparts in the Yellow River Valley. They adopted Chinese political and social traditions as well as Chinese writing, and they built societies closely resembling those of the Yellow River Valley. Only the northern parts of the Yangzi River Valley fell under authority of Shang and Zhou states, by the end of the Zhou dynasty all of southern China formed part of an emerging larger Chinese society. | 27 |
