Ancient China Flashcards
Important rivers China
Yellow River and Yangtze River
About the rivers China
Futile, provides transportation, flow to the east
Natural Boundaries China
Isolated, has deserts and mountains and rain forests, greatly protected
Where is China vulnerable?
North
Agriculture China
…
Weather in regions China
Rainy and warm in south
Cold and dry in north
Resources China
Wood, metal, rice, silk
Trade China
Don’t need it, doing great, silk road
Geographic impact on economics China
Strong
Geographic unity China
Rivers help, almost always unified
Isolated? China
Yes, don’t like outsiders
Name? China
The Middle Kingdom
The Dynastic Cycle
…
“Power to the people”
The Mandate of Heaven
Heaven gave people permission to rule, but when problems happen it is as if heaven is taking their permission back
Dynasties in the Formative Age
Shang Dynasty, Zhou Dynasty, Qin Dynasty
Dynasties in the Age of Early Empire
Han Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, T’ang Dynasty
Evidence of Shang Dynasty
Oracle bones (tortoise shells) (put question on shell and burn it and then read the cracks), tombs (human sacrifice), bronze
Technology of Shang Dynasty
Bronze wax art, shows sophistication
Writing system China
Ideographic, great, only rich could read/write,
Power of kings in Zhou Dynasty
Losing power because too many princes and natural disasters
The Warring States Zhou Dynasty
Princes turned each area into own ‘district’, each prince had great warfare
Called The Warring States
Zhou Dynasty innovations
Weapons, canals, bridges, coins (instead of just exchanging)
Social Structure China
Kings
Nobles (writers/literate and government officials, no priests)
Peasants (making stuff so respected)
Artisans (making stuff so respected)
Merchants and warriors (warriors weren’t popular or valued, because Taoism and Confucianism didn’t prefer violence) (merchants because civilians didn’t like outsiders, who merchants deal with)
Mobility China
Not much, but peasants could become warriors
Women China
Secondary citizens
Seen as property
Son preference (because could work to get money, and didn’t have to be paid off when married)
Get husbands and fathers names
Agriculture basics China
Rice in south east, wheat in north
Main export China
Silk
Filial Piety
Respect to parents and elders
Five Relationships
Five important relationships Ruler to ruled Father to son Husband to wife Older brother to younger brother Friend to friend
Shi Huang Ti means
The First Emperor
Items Shi Huang Ti standardized
Money/coinage system, governmental system, taxes
Name of famous trade route that developed during the Han Dynasty
The Silk Road
Foreign philosophy which came to China because of Silk Road
Buddhism
Multiple choice for China, pick wrong one:
Trade grew
Some of Shi Huang Ti’s policies were followed
China expanded in size and influence
The rulers supported legalism
The rulers supported legalism
Shih Huang Ti
Unifies China
First empire
Creates the word “empire”
Legalist
Shih Huang Ti’s accomplishments
Unified China
Created tax system
Connected great walls
Standardization
Why Shih Huang Ti was hated
Legalist Burned many books Against Confucianism Spent all money on own tomb and Great Wall Feared him
How Shih Huang Ti is viewed
Crucial
Respected
“May not be so bad”
Feared him
Formative Age characteristics
Unified, many innovations, not much war, standardization, set up basics till 1911
Reputation of Han Dynasty
Golden age, lots of trade, wealthy, bigger than Qin, better ruler,s, no legalism, Confucianism is back
Innovations of Han Dynasty
Silk Road started
Buddhism entered China
Paper, steel, surgery
Expansion of Han Dynasty
Expanded a lot
Population grew a lot
Trade of Han Dynasty
Didn’t need imports
Exports: silk, spices, cloths
Great Wall creation Han Dynasty
Created because knew couldn’t beat opponents, so made Great Wall to stop them
Unification during Sui Dynasty
Reunified China
Accomplishments of Sui Dynasty
Great Wall, Grand Canal (Yangtze to Yellow), land equalization
Decline of Sui Dynasty
Great Wall and Grand Canal were very expensive
Rulers were harsh
Short and important age
T’ang Dynasty basics
Golden Age, bigger than Sui Dynasty, many accomplishments, lots of trade, great economy, great arts
T’ang Dynasty being urban
Very cosmopolitan, “worldy”, open to other cultures
Imports during T’ang Dynasty
Tea
Printing in T’ang Dynasty
Block printing
Empress Wu Zhou
Not much known because want to erase powerful women from history
Ruled alone, only empress who did
Favored Buddhism
Not liked because favored Buddhism, and Buddhism was seen as a foreign religion
Age of Early Empire characteristics
Great accomplishments, amazing trade (Silk Road), many Golden Ages, bigger than other ages
Sung Dynasty overarching theme
Always delt with barbarians by Great Wall, but now they are coming in and taking over parts of China
Barbarians grew stronger
Barbarians acts during Sung Dynasty
When took over Northern area cut China off from The Silk Road and their cultural origination
Prosperity of Sung Dynasty
Sea Trade, expansion, new inventions, amazing arts, very wealthy, culture,
Population status during Sung Dynasty
Population growing, becoming more urban
China food binding
During Sung Dynasty
For rich women
Mongol (Yuan) Dynasty reason for being successful
Strong horses and strong warfare
Genghis Khan
Combined all independent Mongol tribes
Name means “Universal Ruler”
After Genghis Khans death
Split into provinces (khanates) and someone took control over each province
Kublai Khan
Ruled China and started Mongol Dynasty
Peaceful time during rule
Problem with Kublai Khan
Wasn’t Chinese
Reputation of Mongol Dynasty
Not big fans of this dynasty because controlled by Mongols
Marco Polo
Worked with Kublai Khan
His journals tell us how amazing Mongol Dynasty was
Other people who read journal didn’t believe him
Problem with Mongol Dynasty
Segregation between Mongols and Chinese
Quote about Ming Dynasty
“China’s last native imperial dynasty”
Meaning it’s not ruled by outsiders
Beginning of Ming Dynasty
Peaceful, keeping nomads out, amazing art, very prosperous
Capital of Ming Dynasty
Beijing
Where rulers lived in Ming Dynasty
The Forbidden City
Ming Dynasty invention involving paper
The Printing Press
Ming Dynasty expeditions
Voyages done by Admiral Zheng He
Conquests
Admiral Zheng He
Ming Dynasty
Chinas Columbus
Got conquests
7 voyages
Stopping of expeditions in Ming Dynasty
Stopped everything with voyages and borders
Because thought they had everything and merchants were getting too powerful and prosperous
Why stopping expeditions hurt China in Ming Dynasty
Weakened economy
Made China fall behind
Portuguese arrival during Ming Dynasty
Chinese didn’t like them
Came because exotic goods and wanted to spread Christianity
Age of Late Empire characteristics
Contact with outsiders, great art, expanding
End of Ming Dynasty
Great Civilization, but is struggling
Reason is called ‘China’
Visitors heard ‘Qin’ and thought China was the name instead of Middle Kingdom
Confucius
Born into a poor family
Started Confucianism
Created Confucianism because believed that society had lost core values and traditions (respect for family)
Confucianism basics
Five Relationships
No real concept of God
Philosophy vs religion
Golden Age Dynasties
T’ang Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Sung Dynasty
Tarnished Dynasties
Mongol Dynasty and X
Tambre
Key point in Chinese music
About the character of the voice vs the pitch
Music basics China
Sound influences harmony of the universe
Only rich people could become musicians
Pentatonic scales
Great Wall of China
China couldn’t battle barbarians (Huns) so created wall in north
People didn’t like because wasted money (raised taxes) and got many people killed in the process of making
Filial Piety
X
Writing system
C
Word for writing is the same as civilization
3 doctrines
Buddhism, confucianism, Taoism
Trade China
Export: silk
Import: only tea
Buddhism China
Buddhism arrived to China through the Silk Road
Importance of family China
X
Five relationships
Confucianism promotes family
Taoism basics
X
Examination system basics
X
Tortoise shells (oracle bones)
From the formative age
Heterophony
Slightly different versions of the same melody played by two or more musicians
The God/spirit of Taoism
The Dao
Founder of Taoism
Lazoi
Means “old master”
Balance of Taoism
Was really important
Yin and yang
Main mentality of Taoism
Non violence
Legalism
Harsh religion
Belief that laws are the most important
Believes being smart is bad
