035: Shang Dynasty and Ancient Chinese Culture

Question 1

Shang Dynasty Period

Answer 1

1700 BCE - 1027 BCE (first written records)

Question 2

East

Answer 2

Yellow Sea
East China Sea
Pacific Ocean
Manchuria Region
Korea

Question 3

West

Answer 3

Taklamakan Desert
Plateau of Tibet (15,000 ft, icy)

Question 4

Southwest

Answer 4

Himalayas

Question 5

North

Answer 5

Gobi Desert
Mongolian Plateau

Question 6

Significant rivers

Answer 6

Xi Jiang
Chang Jiang (Yangtze)
Huang He (Yellow)

Question 7

Chang Jiang

Answer 7

Central, flows east to Yellow Sea

Question 8

Huang He

Answer 8

North, deposits loess, “China’s Sorrow” because of its deadly floods

Question 9

Cities

Answer 9

Anyang
Luoyang
Hao

Question 10

Suitable farming land

Answer 10

North China Plain, Heartland (10%)

Question 11

First cities of China were built

Answer 11

2000 BCE

Question 12

Xia Dynasty

Answer 12

2000 BCE

Question 13

Leader of Xia Dynasty

Answer 13

Yu, a mathematician and engineer
Accomplished:
Flood control
Irrigation projects

Question 14

Cities

Answer 14

1. Houses were mainly made of wood
2. Peasants and craftsmen lived outside city walls
3. High-class houses had timber-framed houses w/ walls of clay and straw

Question 15

How thick were China’s city walls

Answer 15

118 ft and encircled 1.2 sq miles

Question 16

How long did it take to make China’s city walls

Answer 16

12 years with about 10,000 men

Question 17

Warfare

Answer 17

Walls for protection
Introduced to chariots by Western Asia

Question 18

Middle Kingdom

Answer 18

China believed itself to be at the center of civilization

Question 19

Family

Answer 19

1. Family was central
2. Respect of parents and elders
3. Oldest men controlled family affairs
4. Women had little rights and were expected to marry between the ages of 13-16

Question 20

Shang class

Answer 20

1. Upper: kings and warrior-nobles
   Owned land
   Ruled locally in exchange for tribute to king

Question 21

Religious Beliefs

Answer 21

1. Spirits of family members could bring good or bad things for you
2. Father’s ancestors were honored

Question 22

Education

Answer 22

1. Nobles were mainly educated in writing because they needed to memorize 10,000 symbols to be a scholar

Question 23

Oracle bones

Answer 23

1. Tortoiseshells or animal bones with carved questions
2. Heated with heat poker and cracked
3. Interpret answer of gods based on crack

Question 24

shang society

Answer 24

divided between nobles and peasants

Question 25

government

Answer 25

• It was governed by a ruling class of warrior-nobles headed by a king.
• “These noble families owned the land. They governed the scattered villages within the Shang lands and sent tribute to the Shang ruler in exchange for local control”.
• The peasants lived outside of the city, whereas the rich lived in well-built houses in the city.

Question 26

languages

Answer 26

the written and spoken ones were not linked in any way, so all of China could learn how to communicate with each other through writing, even if they speak dfferent dialects

Question 27

religion

Answer 27

the belief in ancestral spirits, they consulted the gods through the ancestral spirits, and Shang kings consulted the gods through oracle bones, which is when they carve questions that are answered by them.