China
History
Geography
Economy
Social Structure
Government
Religion
Achievements
Architecture
- 7000 BC was when people started to farm in China
- They grew rice in the Chang Jiang Valley
- Along the Huang He was where the land was good for growing cereals
- Chinese culture became more advanced over time
- After 3000 BC, people began to use potter's wheels to make pottery
- The people learned to dig water wells
- Population grew all over China
- The Shang dynasty was the first dynasty that we have clear evidence of, and was established around the 1500s
- The Shang ruled until the 1100s BC
- The Shang had made China's first writing system that consisted of over 2000 symbols
- The Shang rulers were overthrown in a rebellion in the 1100s BC
- The Zhou dynasty rose to power after the Shang, and ruled longer than any other in Chinese history
- The Zhou ruled until 771 BC
- The Zhou claimed to have been chosen by heaven to rule China
- This idea was called the mandate of heaven
- The rulers gave land to people in exchange for loyalty or military service and the people who received the land were called lords
- The Zhou political system had broken down as the lords grew less loyal to the emperors
- When invaders had attacked in 771 BC, many lords wouldn't fight
- The emperor was overthrown and China broke into many kingdoms that fought against each other
- This time period of disorder was called the Warring States period
- The Warring ended when one state became strong enough to defeat the rest
- That one state was called Qin and in 221 BC, a ruler from Qin unified China, decalring himself as emperor
- When he became emperor, he changed his name to Shi Huangdi
- His name means first emperor
- He was a strict but an effective ruler
- Unlike the Zhou, Shi Huangdi had refused to share his power with anyone
- The lords lost their land and rights
- He expanded his kingdom both to the north and the south
- He ordered his noble families to move to his capital called Xi'an be cause he thought nobles that he kept nearby would less likely to rebel against him
- The Qin dynasty did not last long, however
- After Shi Huangdi died, his following rulers were not as strong as he was
- China began to break apart once again after a few years
- Rebellions then began all over China, and the country fell into a civil war
- After the Qin dynasty fell, China had fought against each other, until Liu Bang won
- Liu Bang was a peasant, and was only able to become emperor and start the Han dynasty because of the mandate of heaven
- He was the first common person in China to become emperor
- He was well liked by soldiers and peasants because he used to be a peasant, and that helped him keep control
- Liu Bang wasn't a strict ruler
- He freed the people from harsh government policies
- He lowered taxes for farmers and made the punishments less severe
- Bang also changed how the government worked by relying on educated officials to help rule
- After the Han dynasty collapsed, China had split into several rival kingdoms that were ruled by military leaders
- This Period of Disunion lasted from 220 to 589
- After centuries of political confusion and cultural change, China was reunified by a man named Yang Jian
- He conquered the south in 589 and created the Sui dynasty
- The Sui did not last very long, just from 589 to 618
- In that short time, however, the Sui started building the Grand Canal
- After the Sui were the Tang
- The Tang ruled for almost 300 years, and was viewed by historians, the golden age
- The Tang had conquered lands, reformed the military, and created some law codes
- The Tang also made advancements in art, like poetry because some of the greatest poets lived at this time
- The Tang also had the only woman to rule, Empress Wu
- When the Tang dynasty fell, China had entered another period of chaos and disorder
- This disorder only lasted for 53 years, from 907-960
- In 960, China was reunified by the Song dynasty
- The Song dynasty also ruled for about 300 years, up until about 1279
- After the Song, Mongols came to China
- Their leader was Genghis Khan, and headed towards China in 1211
- They fought until all of northern China was under the Mongol's control, in 1227 after Genghis Khan's death
- Genghis Khan's grandson, Kublai Khan, became ruler of the Mongol Empire in 1260
- He declared himself as emperor of China in 1279 after the conquest of China was completed
- For the first time in China's long history, foreigners ruled all of China
- In the 1300s, many Chinese groups rebelled against the Yuan dynasty
- A former monk named Zhu Yuanzhang took charge of the rebel army in 1368
- He had led his army to victory and China was free once again
- Zhu became emperor after the victory, and became the founder of the Ming dynasty
- The Ming ruled from 1368 to 1644, almost 300 years
- This period of time proved to be one of the most stable and prosperous in China
- China ended in 1450 AD, from 1600 BC
Geography
- People started farming in China in 7000 BC in the Chang Jiang Valley and along the Huang He river
- East China Sea is to the east of China
- Yellow Sea is to the northeast of China
Economy
- People had begun to farm in China in 7000 BC
- They grew rice in the middle of the Chang Jiang Valley
- They grew cereals along the Huang He
- They grew cereals such as millet and wheat
Social Structure
- Chinese social structure was based off of Confucianism, the proper way to behave for individuals and government
- The people were divided into four different classes
- The upper class consisted of the emperor, his court, and scholars who held government officials
- The second class was the largest class and consisted of peasants
- The next class held the artisans
- The merchants were the lowest class because they didn't actually produce anything, they only buy and sell what others make
- Joining the army meant you were part of the government
Government
- When Emperor Wudi took the throne, he created a stronger government
- He raised taxes, took land from lords, and put the supply of grain under government control
- He made Confucianism China's official government philosophy
- When the Song dynasty ruled, they created a bureaucracy, a body of unelected government officials
- To join the bureaucracy, you would have to pass the civil service exams
- The tests were so difficult, and students would study for years
- If they passed, they would become a scholar-official
Religion
- China's religions were Buddhism and Confucianism
- Confucianism was created by a man named Confucious
- His teachings focused on proper behavior for individuals and governments
- Confucianism had lost some influence during the Period of Disunion and was overshadowed by Buddhism
- The Tang dynasty had then become interested in Confucius's teachings
- They developed Neo-Confucianism
- It was based off of Confucianism
- Neo-Confucianism taught spiritual matters too
Achievements
- The Qin had built the Great Wall of China
- The Han had made lots of advancements and achievements
- They produced many works of art, like figure painting
- They invented the sundial, a device that used the shadow cast by the sun to tell the time of day
- The Han also invented the seismograph, a device that measures the size of earthquakes
- They also invented acupuncture, the practice of inserting fine needles through the skin at specific points to release pain
- The Sui built the Grand Canal
- The Song developed porcelain, a thin, beautiful type of pottery
- They also invented woodblock painting, a form of painting in which an entire page is carved into a block of wood
- They invented gunpowder to use in weapons too
- They then invented the compass to travel
Architecture
- The Qin had built the Great Wall from mud bricks and years of work
- China had built the Grand Canal, the main travel way
- The Ming had built the Forbidden City, a huge palace that included hundreds of imperial residences, temples, and other government buildings
- People were forbidden to enter the complex, giving it its name