Chapter 4: Ancient China

Lesson 1 Outline: The Geography of China

I. Chinaa. China is the largest country in Asia and the third

largest country in the world.b. China is a land of contrasts, meaning that there

are many differences in landforms, climate, and the ways of the life of the people who live there.

i. Some landforms in China are plains, mountains, rivers, and deserts.

II. North China Plain

a. Today, this area is highly populated (many people live there).

b. It is a center of agriculture and industry. c. A large portion of China’s food comes from this region

III. China’s Landa. China has fertile land on the North China Plain

because it is enriched by loess, or yellowish brown soil that blows in from the desert.

b. Crops are grown on terraces, or platforms of earth that look like stairs.

i. China grew crops using double cropping, planting two crops on one field at the same time.

IV. Beijing

a. Beijing is China’s capital.b. It is located on the northern tip of the North

China Plain.c. It has been a center of culture and government.

Beijing

V. Huang River a. The Huang River flows through the North China Plain.b. Early Chinese civilizations made their homes near the Huang River Valley.c. It picks up and carries a large amount of yellow silt, or loess, that is dissolved in the water. This turns the river yellow, which is why it is called Huang River, or Yellow River in Chinese.

i. The loess originated from the deserts that surround China. d. Levees (walls) were built surrounding the Huang River to control the flooding.e. The Huang River is called “China’s Sorrow” because the floods have destroyed crops and homes.

Huang River

Notice the yellow color in the water!

Route of the Huang River

The 7 Rivers of China

VI. Guangxi Zhungzu

a. Guangxi Zhungzu has the best area for farming.

b. Farmers use a system called double cropping which is when two crops are grown on the same land.

VII. Tibetan Plateau a. The land is very rocky.b. The Tibetan Plateau is called “The Roof of the World” because it is where the Himalayas are located.c. The Himalayan Mountains contain the tallest peak in the world (Mt. Everest).d. The Himalayan Mountains are so large that they stretch across more than one country.

Tibetan Plateau

China’s PastLesson 2 Notes (pages 108-112)

I. China’s culture has remained almost unchanged for centuries.

II. Chinese writing a. Chinese writing is made up of pictographs, pictures that represent wordsIII. Dynasties

a. China was ruled by various dynasties (ruling family) for thousands of years.

b. They were formed around the two main river valleys.

IV. Shang Dynasty

a. First dynasty b. Farming was a way of life. c. Bronze Age – period when tools and weapons were made out of bronze.d. During the Shang Dynasty they used the oracle bone ,which they believed predicted the future. e. The Oracle bone was considered to have the first form of Chinese writing.

V. Zhou Dynasty

a. It was the longest dynasty – over 800 yearsb. Silk was an important product for the economy.c. Second part of dynasty known as Eastern Zhou

i. Known as the Golden Age. ii. A Golden Age is a time of peace, prosperity, and

advancements. iii. New money system encouraged tradeiv. Iron tools and weapons were used.

VI. Qin Dynasty

a. First emperor – Shi Huangdi i. Started the Great Wall of China (took

100 years to finish). It was built to protect the empire from northern invaders.

ii. Shi Huangdi controlled what the people talked about and studied.

VII. Han Dynasty a. Han Gauzo -“High Ancestor” –was first ruler who was a

peasant.b. They made many changes in roads (built new ones), that allowed the country to unite. c. They lifted bans on books placed by Shi Huangdi and

valued the contributions of scholars and teachers.d. They created the first complete history of Chinae. They created civil service exams that required rulers to pass a test before they could rule. Positions of power were no longer given out to family members or friends, they had to be earned.

1. These were three days of testing to determine which job each person was suited for. f. The Han Dynasty invented porcelain, paper, and ink

VIII. Silk Road

a. These roads connected China to the rest of the world.b. They connected Europe, the Middle East and Asia.c. The Middle East was considered the “middleman”

i. Middleman are the people who go between buyers and sellers.

d. They were the most important trade routes in history.e. The Silk Roads allowed trading and cultural diffusion to

connect more places and people than any other trade routes.

Dynasties

Lesson 3 Outline:The Legacy of Thought

I. Confucius a. Confucius was a noble man who was a scholar (a

person who studies a lot about a topic, usually humanity—the human race)

b. He lived during the Zhou dynasty.c. Confucius was a teacher of morals, or deciding what is right and wrong, and was a disciplined thinker.d. Confucius valued order, harmony, and ways of making the world right.

II. Analects

a. The Analects are a collection of sayings by Confucius that were written down by his students.

b. The Analects gave advice to people who wanted to do the right thing.

III. Confucianism a. Confucianism focuses on the virtues of

humanity, respect for the family, and humility (modesty).

IV. Lessons Taught by Confucianism

a. Believes in teaching the middle way, which means that a person should make balanced decisionsb. Believes that each person should accept their role in society. c. Children must obey and respect their parents and teachers.d. Found peacefulness in having order.e. Rulers should have the Mandate of Heaven, or the divine right to govern for the good of all people.f. Rulers can be removed from the throne if they are a harsh or unwise ruler.

V. Mencius

a. He was a follower of Confucius who declared that people were good by nature.

VI. Daoism

a. Daoism the belief in finding the “way,” or dao, of the universe.b. Daoism did not focus on order like Confucianism.c. Laozi was the first great teacher.d. Daoists believed that people should live in harmony with nature, not apart from it.