Ancient China Flashcards
Geography of Ancient China
China is in Eastern Asia, surrounded by Mongolia, China shares borders with fourteen states. Such as Russia, North Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar (Burma), India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and four states of Central Asia
What is the social structure based on
The social hierarchy was based on honour. The Chinese believed in strict social groups, and people were expected to behave according to their social position.
What is the order of the social strcuture
*Emperor
*Shi
*Nong
*Gong
*Shong
Emperor Info
*The ruler of all of China
*most respected & largest amount of land.
*Had to maintain the mandate of heaven, (believed they were appointed from heaven and didn’t need to obey humans. )
* the mother of the son chosen to succeed became the empress.
Shi Info
*nobles who were landowners, poets, scholars, and officials.
*recognised for their knowledge and administrative abilities
*possessed the privilege of riding in chariots
*appointed in civil services of the country.
Nong Info
*Peasant farmers and their families
*respected because they could provide food for everyone
*They were landowners as well.
Gong Info
*Craftsmen and other skilled workers
* They were labourers like the farmers, but since they didn’t have land, they opted to developing goods and crafts.
Shong Info
*Merchants and traders were least important
* sold other people’s hard work for greater prices
Daoism
- Lao Tzu made it
*Believed that ‘The Dao’ is the way. - Bielievd if people lived in harmony with nature and avoided ambition, wealth, and possessions = balanced world
- focused on simply living, and practising silence, stillness, and mediation
*They believed people that followed the way had immortality and special powers (invisiblity, ressuruction)
*Daoism teaches the idea of the Yin (white) and the Yang (black), two forces that when together symbolise balance and harmony.
Conficianism
*Founder was confucious
*Personal life- A worthy person is honest, selfless, loyal, loving, mannered and have good moral standards. Evil in a person was the result of bad upbringings.
*Education: Education helped create justice and worthy people
*Government: Government officials should be chosen because of their ability and honestly, rather than their wealth
*Family: Family members must be loyal to each other and obey their elders. Everyone lived together. Desires of individuals had little importance
Bhuddism
*People are reincarnated when they reach Nirvana.
*It spread to China via the silk road in 1st century CE.
*Buddhism emerged as an important outside influence on Chinese culture, becoming the official religion in northern China during 4th century CE.
*Founder: Prince Siddhartha Gautama
Qin Shi Huang Di (Good Guy)
*Ying Zheng became at age 13
*Unification of China: Put and end to the warring states under his rule and disarmed his enemies
*Improved empirical state and secured control
*Building project: Built the Great Wall to protect Built his great tomb. Constructed major roads and bridges to make trade easier
*Government organisation: organisation of the army, tax collection, system promoted people according to their ability and loyalty were rewarded
o Standardisation: Strengthened the government’s authority by creating common standards such as
Common coinage
All households to be registered
Single system of weight
Same laws throughout China
Qin Shi Huang Di (Bad Guy)
o Legalism
o Those who did not obey risked torture, hard labour death
o Burning of the books- executed 460 scholars
o Burnt books that were a threat to his power, left books on farming medicine and fortune telling
Legalism
o Legalism stated that to achieve peace, government needed a clear set of laws with strict punishments.
*All people were either selfish, greedy, or full of fear - needed to be disciplined.
o He forbade people to talk about the happy memories in their lives under previous rulers or to question current authority
o He set down strict disciplinary codes, persecuted critics and set up a nationwide network of spies and informants.
o Informants: people whose job it was to gather details on others and then inform authorities.
