Brief History
- Started in 1600 BC and ended around AD 1450
- There were many dynasties starting with Shang, then Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, and ended with the Ming dynasty
- When it all started, people were there farming and had a stable food source and villages started to build up along the rivers, increasing the population
Geography
- China was isolated from the rest of the world because of the many land features that surrounded it
- Deserts to the north and west
- The Pacific ocean to the east
- Mountains to the south
- The features allowed China to develop without any other civilizations interfering
- Two most important features to China is the rivers, which are the Yellow River to the north and the Yangtze River to the south
Economy
- Trade was very important to China, making them richer
- Most of the trade was in China, they used the country's rivers to ship goods
- The Grand Canal allowed them to move goods and crops to other areas
- Most foreign trade was done over land routes leading to India and Southwest Asia and also Korea and Japan
- Silk was so valuable that the Chinese kept it secret
- The Song invented the world's first system of paper money in the 900's
Social Structure
- The classes were split up into four groups
- The Upper class included the emperor, his court, and scholars which held government positions
- The second class included the peasants, which is the largest class
- After the peasants, there were artisans, who produced many goods for daily life and luxury goods
- The merchants was the lowest class because they did not do much except for buying and selling what others made
Government
- The Zhou dynasty believed that no one could rule unless they had heaven's permission/mandate of heaven
- The Zhou made is so that the emperor was at the top of society and that everything belonged to the emperor and everyone had to be loyal
Beliefs/Religion
- China believed that Confucianism was the dominant philosophy
- Confucianism included teachings focused on ethics, or proper behavior and had two basic principles which were ren and li
- Ren is concern for others
- Li is appropriate behavior
- Neo-Confucianism changed the older philosophy and emphasized spiritual matters
- They discussed issues about what made humans do bad things, even if they were good natured
Advancements/Achievements
- China created many inventions and even influenced events
- They invented paper, porcelain, woodblock painting, gunpowder, moveable type, a magnetic compass, paper money, etc.
- Gunpowder was used in guns and explosives, but originally they were used in fireworks
- Then gunpowder was eventually used in bombs, firearms, and cannons
Architecture
- The Ming were known for their huge building projects
- Most of these building projects were designed to impress the Chinese people and their enemies
- The Ming built the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Forbidden City included hundreds of residences, temples, and government buildings and common people weren't allowed in