Chapter 10 early China Flashcards
What does Huang He mean?
Yellow river
What river did the civilization of China develop?
The Huang He
About how long is the Huang He?
About 2,900 miles
Why do the people of China call the Huang He “China’s sorrow”?
In honor of all the people killed by it due to floods
Name the other popular river of China.
Chang Jiang, located in south China.
About how long is the Chang Jiang?
About 3,915 miles
What are only two rivers longer than the Chang Jiang?
The Amazon in South America and the Nile in Africa.
What was China’s first dynasty?
The Shang dynasty
Who built the first cities in China?
The Shang
How was a city in China set up?
At the center were the palaces and temples and the public buildings and homes of government officials circle the palaces and temples. Even beyond that were the workshops and other homes.
What did a king in early China serve as?
The political leader, religious leader, and military leader
What made up the upper class?
The king, warlords and other royal officials
What was the upper class know as?
Aristocrats
What were most people of Shang China?
Farmers
Farmers of Shang China raised ____________.
Cattle, sheep, and chickens
Farmers of Shang China grew ____________.
Grains such as millet, wheat, and rice
The people of Shang China were __________.
Polytheistic
Where did the people in Shang China believe the gods lived?
The mountains, rivers, and seas
How did the people attempt to please the gods?
By offering gifts of good and other items
What two kinds of characters where used in Chinese calligraphy?
Pictographs and ideographs
What are pictographs used for?
To represent objects
What are ideographs used for?
To link two or more pictographs together to express an idea.
During the Shang dynasty the Chinese were known for ________ objects.
Bronze
What did they carve statues from?
Ivory and a green stone called jade.
Who overthrew the Shang government?
Wu wang
How long did the Zhou dynasty last?
Longer than 800 years, the longest dynasty to last in Chinese history
What was the second Chinese dynasty?
The Zhou dynasty
What/who help the king rule during the Zhou dynasty in China?
A bureaucracy or group of government officials that carry out tasks of the government
What did the people of the Zhou dynasty believe?
They believed that a king’s right to rule came from the gods and their duty was to honor and please the gods.
How did the Zhou dynasty fall?
The states began to fight against each other
What were the three major philosophies?
Confucianism, Daoism, and legalism.
Who was Confucianism based on?
A man name Confucius
What was the right way to live to Confucius?
Treat others the way you would like to be treated
Where were Confucius writings record?
In a work called the analects,
When did Confucius die?
479 BC
Who’s ideas did Daoism begin with?
Laozi
What was the main idea of Confucianism?
People should put the needs of their family and community first.
What was the main idea of Daoism?
People should give up worldly desires in favor of nature and the dao.
Who founded legalism?
Hanfezi
What are the main ideas of legalism?
Society needs a system of harsh and strict punishment.
(true or false) China’s aristocrats were wealthy.
True
(true or false) about 9 out of ten Chinese farmed for a living
True
What wee the social classes in ancient China?
Landowning aristocrats, farmers, artisans, and merchants.
What was grown in northern China?
Wheat, and a grain called millet.
What as grown in the south?
Rice
What did artisans craft?
Iron tools, weapons, silk cloth, and vessels made of bronze or jade.
What made up the merchant class?
Shopkeepers, traders, and bankers
What did the men if China do?
They grew crops, attended school, ran the government, and fought in wars.
What did the women of ancient China do?
They raised the children, managed household and family finances, and saw to their education
What did Chinese families practice?
Filial piety
What is filial piety?
The responsibility for the people to respect their parents and take care of their parents as they grow older
What did Qin control?
China from Huang He to Chang Jiang
How did Qin strengthen China?
He took direct control of China’s provinces.
How did Qin rule China?
With absolute control, and swift, harsh punishment
What did Qin do to people who disagreed with him?
They were punished or killed
What Qin do to writings that displeased him?
He burned them
How did Qin increase the power of his government?
By appointing officers known censors, who’s jobs were to make sure the government workers did their job
What was one of Qin’s main building projects?
His own tomb
Qin’s tomb was so big that it ________________.
Housed an army of life sized clay soldiers and horses
What did they use the canal for?
The government transported supplies in the canal to soldiers in distant territories
What were some accomplishments of Qin?
He United China, he created a system of measurements, created a common currency, a canal, and the Qin wall
Who was in charge of making sure government workers did their jobs?
Censors
What was the Great Wall built?
Qin wanted to keep China safe from the invasion of the Xiongnu who are their neighbors form the north.
Who were the Xiongu?
Skilled warriors, nomads, and really good horseback riders.
How did the Qin dynasty fall?
Aristocrats and farmers revolted against harsh Qin rule and by 206 BC the Qin dynasty was over. P
Who founded the Han dynasty?
Liu Bang
How long did the Han dynasty rule?
For more than 400 years.
Who was the first strong emperor of the Han dynasty?
Han Wudi
When did Han Wudi rule?
141 BC to 87 BC
What practice did Han Wudi want to end?
The choosing of family members and loyal aristocrats to help run the government, he wanted dedicated and talented people for the positions.
How did Han Wudi rid of the practice?
He created civil service exams, which were competitive competitions for government positions.
How did the exams work?
- Scholars chose recommended and qualified candidates
- The candidates took long, difficult exams
- Officials grade the test and the emperor revised the results, the highest scores got the jobs
Why did the test realistically favor the rich?
Normally only the rich could afford to educated their sons for the exams.
What did students study to prepare for the exams?
Law, history, and the ideas of Confucius.
Why did many farmers become tenant farmers?
By the middle of the Han dynasty the average farmer only had about one acre of land and they could not raise enough food to feed their families since the land was so small. So they worked the land owned by someone else.
For about how long did the Chinese live in peace?
150 years
What were some Chinese inventions?
The wheelbarrow, the waterwheel, paper, and the rudder.
What was a medical advance that is still used today?
Acupunctur
What were some dangers and hard ships people faced on the Silk Road?
Distance, rough terrain, and bandits
What were some items traded along the road?
Luxury goods, fruits, vegetables, flower, grains, paper, etc.
What religion spread to China?
Buddhism
What two characteristics applied to many of the emperors who succeeded Han Wudi?
They were weak and dishonest
What destroyed the Han dynasty?
Rebel armies destroyed the Han capital in AD 190 and by AD 220 a civil war broke out and divided China
During which dynasty was this achievement of a canal built from the Chang Jiang to the Guangzhou?
Qin dynasty
Who stopped many harsh Qin practices?
Aristocrats and farmers
In the Han dynasty who wanted the best minds to work in the government?
Han Wudi
During which dynasty were the first examples of a written Chinese language?
Shang dynasty
During the Han dynasty which religion helped people to deal with stress and fear of an unstable government?
Buddhism
During which dynasty was the Great Wall of chna built to keep out the Xiongnu?
Qin
Which dynasty ruled over the Huang he valley?
The Shang
Who used a large cavalry force to conquer their neighbors and set up a new dynasty?
Qin
Who drove the Xiongnu back into the gobi desert?
Han Wudi
During which dynasty were censors put in place to make sure that government officials did their jobs?
Qin
Who became know as “Martial Emperor of China”?
Han Wudi
Which dynasty made Anyang the first capital city?
Shang
Bronze casting is best known art from which dynasty?
Shang
During which dynasty were many inventions made that helped the Chinese workers produce more than ever?
Han
Which dynasty influenced Chinese religion and culture and created the Chinese written language?
Shang
Which dynasty strengthened the central government and created a single monetary system?
Qin
Which dynasty is the longest lasting in Chinese history and established the Mandate of Heaven?
Zhou
Which dynasty’s landmass and population grew and opened China to trade and commerce by building the Silk Road?
Han
Name each dynasty’s dates and how they fell.
Shang (1750 BC - 1045 BC) Wu wang overthrew the government
Zhou (1045 BC - 256 BC) warring states
Qin (221 BC - 206 BC) the aristocrats and farmers rebelled
Han (202 BC - AD 220) a civil war broke out
