Ancient+China

ANCIENT CHINA 3500-500 BC Dylan and Sadie  //"Committing oneself to unsuitable teachings is no good."// -Kong Fuzi

//Architect of Ancient china//

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Great Wall of China

Terra-Cotta Soldiers **Oracle Bones**

__**TERMS**__
 * Aristocracy- This is the Chinese upper class. Their wealth is based on how much land they have.
 * Venerations of Ancestors- Also called ancestor worship, the Chinese believed the spirits could affect their fortune, so they set them places at their tables and brought food to their gravesites.
 * Filial Piety- This means the duty of the family to be submissive to the male head of the family.
 * Pictograph- These were characters that formed a picture of an object. They represented tangible things that could be seen and touched.
 * Ideographs-These were characters that combined two or more pictographs to represent an idea, something intangible.

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__**Overview**__ China is another place where a very distinct culture began. Its rivers, the Yellow and the Yangtze Rivers, created amazing food-producing areas. However, only 10% of China's land was farmland. The other 90% was mountains and/or deserts, which line the border of China. This difficult terrain helped isolate the Chinese from any of the surrounding cultures, which helped them develop in their own unique way.

The first Chinese society was ruled by a dynasty, which is when the right to rule is passed down through a family. Not much is known about the Xia dynasty except that it was founded over 4000 years ago. This dynasty was replaced by the Shang dynasty, from 1750-1045 BC. The Shang dynasty had an aristocracy, an birth-based upper class that owned the land. The Shang capital was Anyang, where the king lived and ruled from. Shang dynasty people believed strongly in life after death. They thought their ancestors could bring good or evil fortune to the living, so they treated ancestors' spirits with respect. The Shang dynasty is probably remembered best for its bronzeworking. After the Shang dynasty came the Zhou dynasty, which was the longest lasting dynasty in Chinese history. The Zhou kings believed they had the Mandate of Heaven, which basically meant that whoever won in a revolution had the gods' approval. Therefore, if anyone disagreed with the way a king was ruling, they could revolt, and if they won, they now had the Mandate of Heaven. When the Zhou dynasty ended, China fell into disarray for almost 200 years. This was the period of the Warring States. Eventually, the Qin dynasty took over. The Qin dynasty was very strict. It had a censorate, which would check up on government officials, make sure they were doing their jobs well, and verify they were not plotting against the king. Qin Shihuangdi, by instituting this strict policy, had angered many Chinese people, and so his dynasty was overthrown four years after he died. The Han dynasty, established by Liu Bang (Han Gaozu), expanded the Chinese empire and changed the state philosophy to Confucianism.

These dynasties had three main philosophies. The first was Confucianism. This was created by Kongfuzi. He believed that people could and should of their own accord follow the Eightfold Path, and that would make the world a better place. The second was Legalism. This was the opposite of Confucianism in that Legalism's main idea was that humans are evil by nature, and the only things that will dissuade them from doing bad things are harsh punishments and strict rules. This philosophy was used by the Qin dynasty. The last philosophy was Daoism. Laozi founded this school of thought. He believed that people should only do things spontaneously and therefore act in accordance with nature.

Ancient Chinese Writing
 * __People__**
 * 1) Kongfuzi- He was the founder of Confucianism. He was a firm believer that you should not give your students the answer, but give them the information and let them come to the answer on their own. The other spelling of his name is Confucius.
 * 2) Han Wudi- As the "Warrior Emperor," he was the most famous Han Emperor, since he conquered Korea, Manchuria, and Vietnam. He also stopped the Huns from invading China. He caused the Pax Sinica, the four hundred years of Chinese peace.
 * 3) Liu Bang- Known as the "Exhalted Emperor of Han," he led the revolt against the stern rule of Qin Shihuangdi with his army, the Sons of Han.
 * 4) Qin Shihuangdi- "Chinese Caesar" He was the first emperor of China. He unified China and built the Great Wall, which would be expanded into the Great Wall of China at the threat of Genghis Khan. He was buried with the Terracotta Army and was the only emperor in his short, strict dynasty.
 * 5) Laozi- He was the founder of Daoism, and he believed that entirely random action was the way to be in accordance with nature.

A Map of Ancient China
 * For More Information On;**
 * 1) [|The Architecture of Ancient China]
 * 2) [|Medicine used in Ancient China]
 * 3) [|The Religions of Ancient China]
 * 4) [|The Martial Arts of Ancient China]
 * 5) [|Education Standards and Styles in Ancient China]