Chap 8.2 Flashcards
What shaped Chinese society?
What was its core teaching?
•Confucianism shaped Chinese society
•Confucius taught that family was central to well-being of the state
What was the Confucian teaching about family?
•Officials promoted strong family ties
–Fathers head of family
–Filial piety
–Obedience, devotion to parents, grandparents
Where are the duties of children?
- Children served parents as they aged, honored dead at household shrines
- Some men even received government jobs because of respect shown parents
What was the status of women in China?
Give 3 descriptions
- Fewer privileges, less status than men
- Rarely received education, or owned property
- Sons valued more than daughters
What was marriage like in China?
Give 3 tradition
- Sons carried on family line
- Remained part of parents’ household after marriage
- Daughters married and joined husband’s household
How did women achieve power and status in China?
•Older women achieved power because of Confucian respect for elders
Who was Ban Zhao?
- Ban Zhao, female scholar, writer; helped write history of Han dynasty
- Called for mutual respect between husbands, wives, education for women
What was the social structure in China?
Give 3 levels
- Emperor at top, ruled with mandate from heaven
- Upper class of palace court, nobles, government officials, scholars
- Second, largest class consisted of peasants, who grew empire’s food
Who were the other 3 classes in China?
- Third class composed of artisans, made useful items, luxury goods
- Merchants occupied fourth class, trade not valued by Confucianism
- Slaves at bottom of society
Who were the rich and poor class in China?
- Social class determined status, but not wealth or power
- Merchants usually wealthier than peasants, but were lower in status
- Hire workers, live in spacious homes
Who was the class in 90% of China?
What were their lives like?
Peasant Class
- 90 percent of nearly 60 million in China at time were peasants
- Lived in small villages in simple houses, long hours in fields, worked on government projects
- High taxes, bad weather could force them into debt
- Many had to sell lands, become laborers for wealthy
What created contact between China and other civilizations?
Trade
•Led to contact between China, other civilizations
Who made the traded goods in China?
What products were traded?
- Ironworkers made iron armor, swords
- Artisans made pottery, jade and bronze objects
What was the most prized production in China?
Production of SILK
- Most prized Chinese product
- Secret method for making silk, punishable by death
What was the major industry in China?
- Raised silkworms, unwound threads of cocoons
- Fabric beautiful, soft, strong
- Clothing costly, in high demand
What was the trade route betewen China and rest of Asia?
Where did the route connect to?
The Silk Roads
Merchants traveling between China, Central Asia
Silk Roads: Network of routes eventually stretched from China over 4,000 miles to Mediterranean Sea, and linked China to India, the Middle East, and the Roman Empire
How was travel like on the Silk Roads?
- Travelers on Silk Roads crossed rugged terrain
- Faced attacks by bandits
- For protection, traveled in huge camel caravans
- Stopped at stations along way
How was trade done on the Silk Roads?
- Most merchants traveled only part of way
- Traded goods with merchants from distant lands
- Most goods traded were luxury items
- Highly profitable
What was the idea spread to China through trade?
Where did the idea come from?
Trade and Buddhism
Traders carried ideas as well as goods over the Silk Roads
•Buddhism spread to China from India
–Reached China in first century AD
What was Buddhism’s main message?
How did this affect the government in China?
–Buddhism’s message of rebirth offered hope
–Han government became less stable, violence increased
•Buddhism gained popularity by AD 200
–cultural diffusion
What were the Han achievements that inspired a Classical Age?
Classical Age
- During Han period, arts flourished, sciences and technology improved life
- Han China created magnificent palaces
- None survived, but ceramic models from tombs show architecture of period
What did artists create?
- Artists painted portraits and nature scenes on walls, scrolls,
- During Later Han, Buddhist art flourished, including temple wall paintings
What were achievements in literature?
•Han literature known for poetry, new styles of verse
What were the two styles of Chinese poetry?
•Fu style, combined prose and poetry to create long works of literature
•Shi featured short lines of verse, could be sung
Who was Sima Qian?
Whas was its achievement?
–Wrote Records of the Grand Historian or Shiji
–This early history became model for Chinese historical writing
What was the Han achievement in technology?
- One of most important Han inventions - PAPER
- Made by grinding plant fibers into paste, paste dried in sheets
- Created “books” by connecting several sheets of paper into long scroll
What was Han achievement in farming?
- Inventions included iron plow, wheelbarrow
- With iron plow, farmer could till more land
- With wheelbarrow, farmer could haul more
What was the Han achievement in science?
- Created seismograph to measure earthquake tremors
- Acupuncture, use of needles to cure disease, relieve pain
- Invented compass, sundial, water mill,
