Chapter 06: Ancient China to 221 BCE Flashcards
Describe Paleolithic China
China most isolated from outside influences of all ancient civilizations
Developed agriculture & metalworking independently
Yet shared characteristics of others
Agrarian Foundation
Long series of dynastic monarchies
Bordered by desert & steppe lands, it endured frequent invasions
By nomads, Turco-Mongolian
Political unification to manage floods and labor for levee construction
Chinese religion: worship of ancestors and nature spirits
Describe the Shang Dynasty
Two important innovations: bronze casting and writing
Strictly hierarchical society
Powerful king with warrior court
Skilled artisans, small traders in towns
Peasants (majority)
Believed in deities and ancestor spirits who controlled natural forces
Public cult of the royal ancestors
Oracle bones used to discern divine wishes
Describe the fundamental aspect of Chinese life:
Supreme importance of family
Ruler & his household responsible for prosperity
Emphasis on this world
Importance of education, literacy
Describe the Zhou Dynasty:
Nomadic invaders from borderlands to the west
Over 700 years of rule, Zhou extended China’s borders
Extensive literature survived: history, records of all kinds
Beginnings date to about 1500 BCE
Originally pictographic, then developed a huge vocabulary of signs called _________
logographs
Single logographs may represent several words
Students had to memorize about 5000 logographs to be literate
Richest vocabulary, refinement of all ancient languages
Earliest writing found on _________
oracle bones
Immensely important in unifying groups which came to call themselves __________ and they used oracle bones
“Chinese”
There was a _________ demand for metal, jade wares, salt, and silk and Traded goods for ______
high
horses
Earliest surviving books date to ______
Professional historians wrote chronicles of rulers
800 BCE
Shang, Zhou, Qin monopolized warfare and public religion controlled access to ________ and ritual objects
bronze weapons
____________ raised agricultural yield resulting in 400% population growth
Iron plowshare
Government had ________ to create tax revenue for armies – 50-80% tax from salt
salt monopoly
What does the following describe?
Practical interests centered on ethical, political relations
Chinese family is the model
Yin & Yang (Females passive, males active)
The state should be like a harmonious family
Headed by males
Each person has rights and duties
Confucious philosophy
What does the following describe? Rulers judged according to his guidelines Educated officials (mandarins, shi) were the governing class for the next 2000 years had a low opinion of traders
Confucious Impact on China
What philosophy/religion is described below?
Concentrated on nature, following the “Way”
based on Lao Zi’s “The Way of the Dao” (Dao de Jing)
Best government is least government
Way of Nature is perceived through meditation, observation
Man must seek harmony of parts of the whole - avoid all extremes
Eventually degenerated into peasant superstition
Daoism
