Ancient China Flashcards
Was it easy or hard for the people of China to make contact with people from other civilizations?
No, because the geographical features acted as natural barriers and China was very isolated.
What was the climate In the south?
Warm and wet because of monsoons from the sea that brought rain
What is the climate in the north?
Dry because the rain from the monsoons doesn’t reach, and it rarely rains
What major river flows through the northern part of china??
Huang he river
Why is China called the middle kingdom??
China was so isolated that they thought the nomadic people were the only other civilizations. They also believed that they lived in the center of the world so they called themselves the “Middle Kingdom”
Where did civilization start?
Civilization began along the Huang He or Yellow river because if it’s dirty water, and relied on the river for farming.
How did china’s geography affect its development?
When the rivers would flood it would deposit silt that made the land ideal for farming.
What are china’s major rivers??
Yellow River and Chang Jiang, also known as the yangtze.
In which river valley did china’s civilization begin??
The yellow river (Huang he)
Why were China’s river valleys ideal for farming?
They flooded which deposited fertile silt.
How did the Shang dynasty rise to power??
The Shang were able to overthrow the xia lords by creating a unique military style that used an infantry to attack their enemy. They also were armed with a variety of weapons like bronze and stone, used horses to attack, which made them hard to defeat.
What are some Shang dynasty achievements??
Glazed pottery, system of writing, and a 365-day calendar.
After the Shang learned to control the flooding, what crops were grown??
Wheat, rice, millet, and barley
What was the Shang dynasty religion?? How were there beliefs related to farming??
Their religion was based on ancestor worship. They believed that their commitment to honoring their ancestors would lead to the success or failure of their crops each year.
What did a successful harvest season mean??
The ancestors were pleased.
What did a growing season plagued by drought or floods mean?
The ancestors were not pleased.
What led to the decline of the Shang dynasty??
Bad government. Harsh laws, torturing prisoners, and taking advantage of commoners led to rebellion by the people of the kingdom.
Who was confucius??
He was a Chinese philosopher who is someone who are drive by a deep curiosity and a desire to understand the truths about the world. Confucius was also a politician and teacher.
Why was many teachings that confucius wrote focus on family??
He believed that family was the foundation of a stable society.
What was the main idea of daoism??
[Founded by laozi]
Living in harmony with the Dao.[the way] The ultimate reality and inherent nature of the universe, through naturalness, simplicity, and effortless action.
What led to the decline of the Zhou power???
The lords loyalty to the king which happened when loyal lords die and their son have no loyalty to the king that their father served.
How did the breakdown in family structure lead to the decline of China??
Chinese people began fighting among each other.
What was the main idea of Legalism? [Founded by Han Fe Zi]
The main idea of legalism, an ancient Chinese philosophy, was that human nature is inherently selfish and that strict laws and harsh punishments are necessary to maintain social order and ensure a strong state.
What might be some disadvantages of legalism???
Legalism, with its emphasis on strict laws and harsh punishment, can lead to inflexibility, persuasive government control, and the potential for punishing innocent individuals, ultimately hindering justice and fostering a culture of fear rather than trust.
What was the main idea of Confucianism? [Founded by Confucius]
The main idea of confusion is the importance of cultivating a good moral character.
The main goal of confucianism was to:
1. Behave properly to one another.
2. Know one’s role in family and society.
3. Respect, even those below you.
4.. Set a good example for those below you.
What was confucius’s main rule called?
The Golden rule
What was confucius’s main rule??
“Do not do to others what you do not want done fo yourself.”
What Chinese emperor was the first to emerge from the peasant class??
Liu Bang
The name of the strict totalitarian philosophy put in place by the Qin dynasty??
Legalism
Before the trade route from Europe to Asia reached China, what was the name of the trade that extended from Rome to the Arabian peninsula?
Spice road
It is the love of wisdom or seeking the truth, a system of beliefs and values.
Philosophy
Why is the Huang He called China sorrow???
It caused death and destruction when it flooded.
What toxic element did Shi Huangdi eat in an effort to live forever.
Mercury
What philosophy, whose name means “The way” focused on the connection between the living and nature and was more like a religion?
Daoism
What was one of Confucius’s teachings?
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
Something or someone that predicts the future is called a?
Oracle
What European conquest helped to establish the trade route from Europe to India?
Alexander the Great.
The ______ is China’s longest river.
Yangtze [Chang Jiang]
What river, which flows from the tibet to the yellow sea, is China’s second longest river?
Huang He River [Yellow river]
Which dynasty stressed and brought back the importance of family values?
The Han
___ Is when a person gets a job because he or she has family relations or their parents know someone important.
Nepotism
What is one thing Shi Huangdi did to organize his government?
Separated the empire into districts and built roads to mobilize his army.
What was Confucius main goal?
To create order in society.[establish peace among the warring states]
Who was Sima Qian??
He was a Chinese historian who wrote a complete history of all the dynasties through the early Han dynasty. Prior to the discovery of the terracotta army, much of what historians knew came from a collection of his writings known as Shiji.
According to the movie, and what you read in the textbook. What 2 building projects used up a tremendous amount of manpower and money during the Qin dynasty?
The Great Wall and His Burial Tomb
A group of people who perform the work of the government is called?
Civil service.
______ is a yellow brown soil particle carried by rivers in China.
Loess
What ancient Chinese figure was called Master Kong?
Confucius
Shi Huangdi ruled what dynasty?
The Qin
How did the Qin dynasty attempt to control its subjects’ thoughts?
By burning the teaching and writing of ancient philosophers and limiting what his subjects could read.
Confucius was born and lived during the time when China was divided into separate states that constantly fought one another. This period of time was called the?
Time of Warring States.
What Chinese emperor increased China’s borders by adding land to the West and parts of the present day, Korea and Vietnam??
Wudi
Give a Chinese achievement in the area of technology.
Sundial or seismograph
Where do historians believe the first cities in China developed?
Along the Huang He
Why did Confucius die thinking he was a failure?
He could not get one of China’s rulers to follow his teachings.
What religions were introduced to China through the Silk Road?
Buddhism and Islam
Which Chinese river is also known as the Yellow River?
The Huang He. Huang means yellow, and He means river.
Why did the people of ancient China refer to themselves as the middle kingdom?
They were isolated by geographical barriers and did not know of other civilizations, so they thought it represented the middle of the world.
What dynasty started the first cities in China?
The Shang dynasty.
Although civil service examinations were supposed to allow equal access to government jobs, explain why that did not happen.
The exams were open only to people who had been recommended for government service. As a result, that meant that wealthy people still had influence over who took the test, and they continued to control the government.
Give 2 facts about a traditional Chinese family.
The oldest male was the head of the family, and several generations lived together.
His name means Old Baby, and he was a famous teacher in the philosophy known as daoism.
Laozi
The followers of Confucius gathered a collection of his writings in a book called _____?
The Analects of Confucius
Although Confucius did not live to see it, what dynasty used his teachings as part of the examinations to get government jobs?
The Han Dynasty
___ Means getting a job or rewards based on one’s ability.
Merit
What emperor was known as the Warrior emperor?
Wudi
What is the name of the 4000-mile trade route that eventually connected Han China to the Roman Empire in the West?
The silk road.
Besides the terracotta army, name the other artifact found in the burial pits of the necropolis.
Statue of dancers and acrobats, scale down Royal chariot, and Stone suits of armor.
Give two things Shi Huangdi did to unify his empire?
- He made one written language to be used throughout China
- He made one system of money to be used throughout China
- He created one system of weights and measures to be used throughout China
This great-grandson of Liu Bang came to power at the age of 14.
Wudi
__ is when a king rules, claiming his power to rule comes directly to God.
Mandate of Heaven
Shi Huangdi ordered one type of money to be used throughout all of China. This is called____?
Currency
What instrument was created to measure Earthquakes?
Seismograph.
What valuable cloth harvested from tiny worms was a guarded secret punishable by death to anyone revealing the secrets of its production?
Silk
Why did the Han dynasty last longer than the Qin dynasty?
They ruled less harshly. They created a stable government by having qualified people in government positions.
Why was the terracotta army created?
To protect Shi Huangdi from the vengeful spirits in the afterlife; to conquer and rule in the afterlife.
Who was the first emperor in the Qin dynasty???
Shi Huangdi
Laozi lived during what dynasty??
The Zhou dynasty
Emperor Wudi was the emperor of what dynasty??
The Han dynasty
Wo was the founder of the Han dynasty??
Liu bang
Who was the founder of the Zhou dynasty??
King Wu of Zhou
Who was the founder of the Xia dynasty?
Yu the great
What did Laozi teach?
He taught that people should not try to gain wealth. People should also not seek power.
