What was the first dynasty of China?
Shang dynasty
Why was China able to escape frequent invasion and have a distinctive Chinese identity?
region was isolated
Did the Chinese experience chaos with the decline of the Shang Dynasty?
no
Which River Valley Civilizations were invaded?
Middle East and India
Explain Chinese yin/yang
every feature is balanced by an opposite
What is Dao?
a way to relate to the yin/yang harmony, avoiding excess and appreciating the balance of opposites
What is continuity?
an unbroken pattern
What stayed the same for China ?
earlier cultural traditions
Why do you think China has maintained clear links to its classical past?
China is proud of its country's past and its achievements
Define dynasty
a family of kings
Explain the course of a dynasty
strong start, developed strong political institutions and active economy, grew weaker, tax revenues decline, new dynasty gains power
What usually brought a dynasty's decline?
internal rebellions and outside invasions
Westerns conceive of the past as progress from past to present. How do Chinese conceive of history?
in terms of cycles as dynasty after dynasty took over
Name 3 dynasties during the Classical Time period
Zhou, Qin, Han
Which Dynasty had thhe biggest territory?
Han dynasty
When & Who built the Great Wall of China?
Shi Huangdi 220-206 BCE
Duration of Zhou Dynasty?
1029-258 BCE
Name 2 reasons for the decline of Zhou
decline in political infrastructure and frequent invasions
Explain the problems the Zhou dynasty ran into because they did not establish a powerful government
ruled through alliances with loyal generals so they lacked direct control of territories
Who did the Zhou displace?
Shang dynasty
What did the Zhou rulers give to the people for loyalty?
land
What did the supporters provide for the Zhou rulers in exchange for land?
troops and tax revenues
The decline of the Zhou dynasty occurred when aristocrats?
solidifed their own power base and ignored central government
How did the Zhou contribute in territory?
took over Yangtze River Valley providing rich farming lands plus two agricultures encouraging population growth
How did the Zhou contribute to the role of central government?
claimed direct links to Shang rulers, introduced Mandate of Heaven
How did the Zhou contribute with the Mandate of Heaven?
remained key justification for imperial rule (heaven had transferred its mandate to rule China to Zhou emperors)
How did the Zhou contribute in human sacrifice?
banned sacrifice and urged more restrained ceremonies to worship gods
How did the Zhou contribute in language?
used standard spoken language to promote linguistic unity (Mandarin)
When the Zhou empire began to fail what did the philosophical scholars use to lessen the confusion?
philosophical ideas
When did Confucius create his thoughts on political ethics?
during late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE
What was the period between 402 BCE to 201 BCE called?
Era of the Warring States
Who was fighting during the Era of the Warring States?
regional rulers
What were they fighting over during the Era of the Warring States?
who should be the next leader of China
What dynasty took over after the Era of the Warring States?
Qin dynasty
Whose was the emperor in the Qin dynasty? (what did he call himself?)
Qin Shi Huangdi (means First Emperor)
How did China get its name?
came from the name Qin
What did Shi Huangdi order the powerful regional aristocrats to do?
to leave their regions and appear at court, assuming control of their feudal lands
Who did Shi Huangdi appoint to each region and why?
officials from nonaristocratic groups so they would owe their power to him and not develop their own independent bases
What did Shi Huangdi build to guard against barbarian invasion?
Great Wall of China
How many miles long is the Great Wall?
over 3000 miles
The Great Wall was wide enough for?
chariots to move along its crest
What type of labor was used to build the Great Wall?
forced labor
How did the Qin Dynasty benefit from the national cencus?
provided data for calculation of tax revenues and labor service
During the Qin Dynasty, the government standardized what?
coinage, weights, and measures
How did the Qin Dynasty alter the axles of carts?
axle length was regulated to promote clear road planning
How did the Qin Dynasty improve Chinese script?
made uniform, completing process of creating single basic language
How was agriculture improved during the Qin Dynasty?
new irrigation projects and promotion of manufacturing especially of silk cloth
Why were books burned during the Qin Dynasty?
thinking was likely to be rebellious to his autocratic rule according to Shi Huangdi
Why was Shi Huangdi unpopular?
attacked scholars and made high taxes to support building of Great Wall and military expansion
What happened when Shi Huangdi died?
aggrieved peasants organized massive revolts
What dynasty took over after Qin dynasty collapsed?
Han dynasty
When did the Han dynasty take over?
202 BCE
How long did the Han dynasty last?
over 400 years up to 220 CE
What did the Han dynasty keep from the Qin dynasty?
centralized administration
What did the Han reduce from the Qin dynasty?
brutal repression
Into what territories did the early Han rulers expand to?
Korea, Indochina, central Asia
Who did the Han come into contact with?
India, Parthian Empire in Middle East, trade with Roman Empire in Mediterranean
What was the result of the emperor Wu Ti enforcing peace in Asia?
bureaucracy improved, food surpluses, emphasized Confucian values
Describe life during Han dynasty
everyone was prosperous
Wu Ti reversed many of Qin's policies and urged the support for?
Confucianism
What were the 2 reasons for Han rule to decline?
central control weakened and invasions from central Asia (Huns)
Dates when China was in a state of chaos during the decline of Han?
220-589 CE
What would survive the Han collapse?
political structures and cultural values
The Qin stressed?
central authority
The Han expanded the powers of the?
bureaucracy
Define bureaucracy
government by many bureaus, administrators, and officials
Under the Zhou rule, tightly knit patriarchal families controlled villages. How and why did the Qin and Han dynasties change this practice?
emphasized strong local rule and did it to streamline and expand bureaucratic systems and procedures
Who did the Qin and Han put in power on local levels?
great landlords
By the end of the Han period how many bureaucrats were there?
about 130,000 bureaucrats
What did Wu Ti establish for bureaucrats?
civil service exams
How did the new civil service exams puts checks on the upper-class rule?
individuals from lower ranks could be recruited
How long has the Han Chinese Bureaucracy lasted?
from the Han period until the 20th century
In what ways did the government sponsor intellectual life during the Han dynasty?
organized research in astronom and maintained historical records
During the Han dynasty, the government became a keeper of?
Chinese beliefs
During the Han dynasty, how did the government support the economy?
organized production of iron and salt; standardized currency, weights, and measures; sponsored public works including complex irrigation and canal systems; tried to regulate agricultural supplies
Did these Han rulers direct the daily lives of people?
No, techonology did not allow this
Describe the legal system.
strict code of law (employed torture and execution), taxes, every male peasant required annual labor
The Huns might have toppled a dynasty but they?
could not create a better system to run China so the system and its bureaucrats normally endured
What period did the Chinese way of viewing the world develop?
classical period
The Chinese would tolerate different beliefs as long as?
they did not contradict basic political loyalties
Explain harmonious earthly life
proper balance between earth and heaven
What was the purpose of using chopsticks? When did this occur?
The use of chopsticks began at end of Zhou to encourage a code of politeness
What role did tea play?
It encouraged a code of politeness at meals like chopsticks
Confucius or ___________ lived when?
Kung Fuzi 551-478 BCE
Confucius was not a ___________ leader
religious
What did Confucius believe in?
a divine order but he refused to speculate
Confucius maintained?
if personal virtue emphasized, would have a solid political life
Explain Confucius's proper hierarchy belief
respect one's social superiours including and fathrs and husbands as leaders of the family (patriarchy)
According to Confucius, how were society's leaders supposed to behave?
modestly and without excess, shunning abusive power and treating nicely people who were in charge
What kind of system was Confucianism?
a system of ethics - do unto others as your status and theirs dictate
Name a book that recorded Confucian doctrine
the Analects
Confucius set out to rectify political disorder by what type of behavior?
individual virtuous behavior, both by ruler and the ruled
Confucius largely recommended ____________ and __________; people should know ______________, even under ____________
obedience, respect, their place, bad rulers
Confucius urged a political system that would not be based on ________ but _________________
rank, intelligence
According to Confucius, how should rulers behave?
be humble, always courteous and eager for service, and anxious to learn
How did legalists feel about Confucians virtues?
disdained them
What did legalists favor?
authoritarian state that ruled by force
Did the legalists ever capture widespread approval?
no
What was a down fall of Confucianism?
did not seek popular loyalty
The Confucian creed was most easily accepted by what class?
upper class
Why did peasants need more than Confucianism?
to understand and survive their harsh life
Many peasants strove to attract?
the blessing of conciliatory spirits
What eventually happened to these rites?
Gradually, ongoing rites among normal masses mixed Confucian vaues urged by upper classes
When did Daoism begin?
roughly same time as Confucianism (last centuries of Zhou)
Daoism embraced__________ and added ________________.
nature's harmony, a sense of nature's mystery
Who furthered Daoism?
Laozi
When did Laozi live?
during 5th century BCE
What does Dao mean?
the way of nature
Daoist believed that political activity and learning were?
irrelevant to a good life
Why did Daoism become popular?
it guaranteed that China's people would not be united by a single religious or philosophical system
What was the Five Classics?
a set of classic literature that provide an important tradition
When were the Five Classics written?
during early Zhou and edited during time of Confucius
What were the Five Classics used for?
a basis for civil service examinations
What were the Classic of Songs?
a collection of Chinese poems
How many poems were in the Classic of Songs?
over 300 poems
The Chinese literary tradition developed on the basis of?
mastering the Classic of Songs plus Confucian writing
What topics were written about in the Classic of Songs?
love, joy, politics, family life
Explain the artistic style of China at this time
largely decorative, stressing careful detail and craftsmanship; styles reflected precision and geometric qualities of Chinese symbols
Calligraphy became?
an important art form
Monumental building during this era?
No, aside from the Great Wall, palaces, and tombs, because of the absence of a single religion
Calendar developed when?
by 444 BCE
The calendar was based on how many days?
365.5 days
Astronomers?
calculated movement of Saturn and Jupiter, observed sunspots; purpose was to make celestial phenomena predictable
Earthquakes?
invented kind of seismograph to register earthquakes
Medical research?
developed precise anatomical knowledge and studied principles of hygiene that could promote longer life
Mathematics?
studied math of music leading to advances in acoustics (they focused on how things worked)
List the 3 main social groups of Classical China:
landowning aristocracy and educated bureaucrats; laboring masses, peasants, urban artisans; mean people
Who were the mean people?
group beneath peasantry who performed unskilled jobs
Did the Chinese have slaves?
weren't dependent on slaves for actual production; did have few household slaves
What kind of goods were traded at this time?
luxury items for the upper class produced by skilled artisans
List a few items traded
silks, jewelry, leather goods, furniture
What was China's main crops?
wheat and rice
How was the merchant class viewed
Confucian emphasis on learning and political serviced led to scorn for lives devoted to moneymaking
List 6 inventions that improved the economy/agriculture
ox-drawn plows, new collar for draft animals, pulleys and winding gear, iron tools and lamps, first water-powered mills, paper
What was the result of better agriculture practices?
helped increase the size of the population on the countryside
How did families solidify the economy?
Tight family organization helped solidify economic views
How were parents viewed?
Confucius said, "There are no wrongdoing parents"
What would happen if a parent injured or killed a disobedient child?
law courts did not prosecute them
Chinese popular culture stressed?
strict control of one's emotions
How were women expected to act?
They were subordinate to their husbands but still had clearly defined roles in the family
Explain the hierarchical order for children
Boys superior to girls and oldest son has highest position over everybody else
Which child would inherit property and position?
oldest son
Classical Chinese _________, ________, ___________ and political structure _________________________ contact.
technology, religion, philosophy, evolved with very little outside
How did most Chinese see the world?
in terms of a large island of civilization surrounded by barbarian people with nothing to offer except the periodic threat of invasion
Chinese and neither the need nor the desire to?
learn from either societies
Did the Chinese have a desire to teach the rest of the world?
No, the Chinese didn't have a missionary spirit
What altered China's religious map?
the spread of Buddhism from India, during and after Han decline
What did Confucianism provide?
a vital supplement, making bureaucracy a trained corps with some common ideals
What did political stability aide?
economic growth
A strong economy provided?
vital tax revenues
How did the Chinese view government and society?
as a whole
How did the different belief systems get along?
Confucianists and Daoists tolerated each other, but there was considerable hostility and mutual disdain
Explain how the penal system worked
strict policing including stern punishments and torture which combined with Confucianism to make accused individuals confess
Why did the Chinese culture have immunity from outside forces?
Chinese society was an overall whole making it immune to outside influence
In the Classical Age, China had the world's largest and best run?
yes
How and who disseminated the Chinese inventions over the globe?
Chinese merchants and Central Asian nomads spread them over much of Eurasia and North Africa through trade
What societies were transformed by the Chinese?
societies in Japan, Rome, Middle East, and England
Why is the road to the west called the Silk Road?
Silk and other luxury items were traded along the route
How did the Chinese government encourage trade?
Han- encouraged trade with western regions; Chinese emissary- traveled to Western India to trade