Gobi Desert Taklimakan Desert Huang He Xi Jiang Label: Himalayas, Gobi Desert, Taklimakan Desert, Huang He (Yellow River), Chang Jiang (Yangtze River), Xi Jiang, Tibetan Plateau teau Copyright 2017 2017 History Gal. All rights reserved. *China s physical geography helped keep China economically and culturally isolated throughout its early dynasties *Its mountains and deserts The Huang He looks yellow made overland travel because of the loess or wind-blown extremely difficult while the silt that is in the water. Its river valley is very fertile because of Pacific Ocean was another the loess that remains behind barrier for travelers after a flood. *China s earliest dynasties began in the Huang He River Valley *The Huang He is known as China s Sorrow because of its deadly and unpredictable flooding. *The Chang Jiang or Yangtze River is the largest river in Asia and the 3rd largest in the world.
*First Dynasty in traditional Chinese history *Founded by Yu the Great *Conquered by the Shang Dynasty The Xia Dynasty is likely a legend. There are no records of the Xia or their conquest by the Shang in the Shang Dynasty s oracle bones. *Earliest Chinese Dynasty supported by archaeological evidence *Located in the Huang He (Yellow River) Valley *Written evidence from the Shang Dynasty is found on Oracle Bones I may be Einstein, but I ve never heard of an oracle bone. What is it?! Draw a picture of an oracle bone and explain what it was. Copyright 2017 History Gal. All rights reserved. ACHIEVEMENTS: *Calendar of 12 months with 30 days *Written script *Built China s first cities *First to produce bronze Why is the ability to produce bronze important?
*Chinese rulers were governed by the MANDATE OF HEAVEN which meant the right to rule was decided by the gods *If rulers were just and effective, they had received a mandate from heaven *If rulers did not govern properly as shown by bad crops, losses in battle, and floods, they had lost the mandate from heaven and could be overthrown *1050 BC, the Shang king lost the Mandate of Heaven and was killed *1050 BC - the Zhou Dynasty conquered the Shang Dynasty using the Mandate of Heaven *The Hundred Schools of Thoughts (about 770 BC - 222 BC), the Golden Age of Chinese philosophies, took The philosophies place during the Zhou Dynasty when of Daoism, a wide range of thoughts and ideas Confucianism, and were developed and discussed freely Legalism were developed during *In 771 BC, invaders destroyed the Zhou this time capital, but the Zhou emperor fled eastward and established a new capital Copyright 2017 History Gal. All rights reserved. *The dynasty ruled for another 500 years, but the empire was smaller and less powerful ACHIEVEMENTS: *Built roads *Expanded trade *Used horses *Crossbow *Large scale irrigation projects *Iron plow and weapons Would you rather have bronze weapon or iron weapons? Why?
*War lords (local rulers) ran sections of China *It was a period of frequent fighting between the various war lords and kingdoms *Kingdoms built defensive walls to protect their territory *221BC - Ying Zheng, the King of Qin, defeated the war lords and gained control over China *He took the title Qin Shi Huang Ti and held total power ACCOMPLISHMENTS *Organized the empire into military districts and appointed officials to govern them *Devised a system of weights and measures *Standardized coins *Instituted a uniform writing system *Set up a code of laws *Qin wanted to protect northern China so he had the walls built during the Warring States period connected into one solid wall *An estimated 1 million people worked to construct the wall and an estimated 300,000 died while building it *In the 1400s AD, the Ming Dynasty added to the wall to make it today s recognizable Great Wall of China Copyright 2017 History Gal. All rights reserved.
*The Qin practiced the philosophy of Legalism. *Legalism was the idea that people were basically selfish and could only live under strict laws so the ruler needed complete control over its people and their ideas *After several assassination attempts, Qin Shi Huang Ti wanted the mythical elixir of life that would make him immortal *He sent out ships to search for a magician who held the elixir, but the ships never returned *He died in 210 BC from drinking mercury believing it would make him immortal *In 1974 AD, excavations uncovered Terra Cotta Warriors and horses, wooden battle chariots and weapons from Qin Shi Huang Ti s tomb *Much of the massive underground complex has not yet been excavated *Name China comes from Qin *The way the Qin organized the Chinese government (its administrative or bureaucratic system) will influence China for 2000 years *After the death of Qin, revolts spread throughout the empire and within a few short years, another dynasty gained control Copyright 2017 History Gal. All rights reserved.
*206 BC - Liu Bang overthrew the Qin government and established the Han dynasty *The Han Dynasty peaked under the rule of Emperor Wu Ti (sometimes called Emperor Wu or Emperor Wu Di) ACHIEVEMENTS UNDER WU TI *Had granaries set up across the empire where the government stored surplus food to prevent food shortages *Government s monopoly of iron and salt gave the government money without taxation *Pax Sinica - period of Chinese peace *Civil Service System - used exams based on Confucianism to choose government officials *Confucianism became the official religion *Established the Silk Road which linked China to Fertile Crescent trade MORE HAN ACHIEVEMENTS: *First to make and use paper *Oldest known census * Records of the Grand Historian was written and covered 2000 years of Chinese history from the Xia to Emperor Wu Ti weak rulers led to the collapse of the Han