Chapter 3: China's Classical Age

Question 1

Daoism (5)

Answer 1

1. Developed during Warring States period and Hundred Schools of Thought, 3rd century BCE China
2. Essentially a direct response to Confucianism, Daoism focused on the larger, natural order of things (the Dao) and believed in defense of private life, and that people should not strive to make things better but rathe accept things and seek to go beyond everyday life
3. Two main texts were “Laozi” and “Zhuangzi” which centered around how people should have a general disinterest in events
4. Many people studied both Daoism and Confucianism, including Confucian scholars, partly because Daoism also was more accepting of feminine principles
5. CC: Daoism was different from Confucianism in that Daoists believed that a disinterest in politics was beneficial to society, while Confucianists believed that interest and involvement in politics was helpful to society.
6. COT: Daoism continued in that it remained a major philosophy in China, but was never utilized as a state philosophy like Legalism in the Qin dynasty and Confucianism in the Han dynasty.

Question 2

Neolithic China (6)

Answer 2

1. 10,000 BCE-2,000 BCE China
2. By 5,000 BCE regional villages had emerged with distinct cultures; for example, in northwest China fine pottery vessels were created and decorated
3. Primary Neolithic crops included drought-resistance millet and rice; included the domestication of pigs, dogs, and sheep
4. Over time, villages became more similar in cultural aspects such as treatment of dead and construction of city walls
5. CC: Neolithic Chinese society was similiar to the development of other neolithic societies is the Middle East (Mesopotamia), Egypt, and India (Harrapan) in that they all developed sedentary agriculture, experienced the development of cities/towns, greater specialization and development of classes, and new cultural elements in art, religion, and writing.
6. COT: All of the info above in the CC were new developments during the Neolithic Revolution, therefore all can be used as changes as well as similiaties.

Question 3

Anyang (5)

Answer 3

1. During Shang dynasty 16th-11th century BCE China
2. One of Shang dynasty capitals; was where Shang kings ruled from for two centuries
3. Divided into sections depending on social ranking; in center were palaces and temples, outside were industrial areas with bronze workers and potters and other artisans, and outside that were the farming fields
4. CC: Compare to ancient urban centers such as Babylon. Contrast to Harappa and Athens, because both were more compact and densely populated than Anyang.
5. COT: The capital city of Anyang represented a change in that it was a centralized government capital instead of a sparsely populated village.

Question 4

Logographic versus phonetic script (5)

Answer 4

1. Begins during Shang dynasty, 1500-1050 BCE China
2. Logographic scripts were languages on which each word is represented by a single symbol, such as in China and Egypt
3. Many of China’s smaller neighbors (Korea, Vietnam, Japan) would adopt Chinese logographic script for thier own alphabets; spread through trade.
4. CC: Contrast with Phonetic scripts (Middle East and Europe) which used combinations of symbols to make sounds and words
5. COT: China continued to retain its logographic script until the present, because even though phonetic script was easier to learn, logographic allowed for communication with a larger span of people and gave a more profound understanding of past texts; thus, logographic helped keep China united and connected to the past

Question 5

Taotie (6)

Answer 5

1. During Shang dynasty 1500-1050 BCE, China
2. Common image of a stylized animal face on Chinese bronzes
3. In Shang dynasty, images of wild animals on bronze decorations were predominate, and the most common was the taotie
4. Some viewed the taotie as a monster, or a dragon, or a ritual mask, or animal sacrifices.
5. CC: Compare to other ancient religions which diefied their gods/spiritis in sculpture such as Egyptian statues of Annubis, Indian depictions of Hindu gods (Vishnu, Ganesh), Greek statues of Zues, Athena, etc.
6. COT: A major change of the use of taotie occurred during the Hundred Schools of Thought period in the Warring States Era (c. 6th-3rd BCE) when the Chinese adopted more philisophical belief systems such as Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism and applied them to bronze decorations.

Question 6

Shang dynasty and society (7)

Answer 6

1. 1500-1050 BCE, China
2. First civilization of China that emerged during Bronze Age and thus had Bronze Age characteristics found elsewhere such as writing, domestication of horses, and metalworking
3. Ruled by kings that also served as military chieftains and high priests and therefore went out regularly on army campaigns and led worships of ancestors
4. Society marked by distinct social distinctions: royal family and aristocracy lived in palaces, and farmers (essentially serfs) lived in small compact villages
5. Developed logographic writing and complex cultural art, such as taoties and bronze vases and figures
6. CC: Compare to other ancient civilizations such as Babylon (Middle East), the Aryans in the Vedic Age of India, and Egypt because all developed cities, seperated classes, settled agriculture, rise of political/religious leaders and laws, and belief systems and writing.
7. COT: The Shang dynasty changed to the Zhou (1500-600 BCE) which was a conquering force that created a more decentralized state than the Shang by allowing nobles in the provinces a large degree of politcal autonomy/freedom

Question 7

Warring States Period (6)

Answer 7

1. 6th century-3rd century BCE China
2. Period after collapse of Zhou dynasty, characterized by independent states fighting each other using the newly developed crossbows, infantry armies, and cavalry tactics
3. Towards end of Zhou, cities began appearing all over China, and began fortifying themselves with walls against other states and cities which led to an undermining of the old aristocracy and developments in military technologies
4. During period, commoners and craftsmen became more valuable to military leaders which made such leaders attempt to increase the commoner’s population through encouragement of trade, casting of coins, and use of iron
5. Social mobility increased due to centralization of bureaucratic control and increased opportunities for commoner advancement
6. CC: The Warring States Period was similar to the the Age of Division in that they were both periods of political division which fostered the expansion of belief systems

Question 8

Confucianism (7)

Answer 8

1. Founded in 6th century BCE, China (during Warring States Period/Hundred Schools of Thought)
2. Founded by Confucius who served in a court of law and traveled around with a group of students in search for a ruler who would accept Confucius’ ideas
3. Main tenets were filial piety (reverent attitude of children to their parents), the Five Cardinal Relationships (ruler to subject, father to son, husband to wife, elder to younger brother, and friend to friend…each one a dominant-submissive relationship), and ren (humanity)
4. Two most significant successors to Confucius were Mencius and Xunzi; Mencius called for rulers to win over their subjects, and concrete political and financial measures, while Xunzi saw humans as inherently evil, showed more considerations for rulers, and called for the continuation of traditions on order to attain order in society–both serve as early examples of Confucianism influencing gov’t (later this will turn into the Confucian scholar bureacracy of China’s gov’t)
5. Prefered tradition instead of change; believed that tradtion created stability, but change created disorder.
6. CC: Compare to other early belief systems that were philosophical and non-religious (Greek ideas under Plato, Aristole, the Stoics); contrast to early belief sytems that were more spiritual and otherworldly (Egypt and Mesopotamia’s many gods and goddesses, India’s numerous gods, Greece’s gods)
7. COT: Confucianism continued to be the most influential belief system in China; although persecuted briefly by the Qin (3rd BCE), from the Han to the end of the Qing it was the dominant belief system of China.

Question 9

Legalism (5)

Answer 9

1. Developed during Warring States period and Hundred Schools of Thought 6th-3rd century BCE, China
2. Legalists believed in the need for rigorous laws, strong government based on effective laws and procedures, and quick and harsh punishment
3. Arose when states were desperate to not get conquered in late Warring States period
4. Legalism was first implemented by Lord Shang of the state Qin, who abolished the aristocracy, appointed all new officials, encouraged farmers to buy and sell their land, and heavily taxed the peasantry
5. Other greatest user of Legalism was Han Feizi, who warned of the dangers associated with being a ruler and taught that laws and prohibitions should be clear and precise
6. CC: Contrast with early belief sytems that were more religious and spiritual (Judaism and Brahmanism), which placed emphasis on otherworldly gods, but not day-to-day, pragmatic ideas (such as Legalism did.)
7. COT: Since both Lord Shang and Han Feizi were executed, one could argue that it exemplified a change as China moved towards more Confucian values during the Han dynasty; however, even in the Han, the importance of law and an authoritative ruler continued.

Question 10

Yin and Yang (5)

Answer 10

1. Founded in Warring States Period and Hundred Schools of Thought 6th-3rd century BCE, China
2. Concept of complementary poles with one representing the feminine, dark, negative, and weak and the other symbolizing the masculine, bright, assertive, and positive
3. Based on observations on nature and used to explain social events and collapses of of states and such
4. Main idea is bad things happen when the balance of yin and yang is disturbed
5. CC: Ying and Yang was similar to the concepts of Zoroastrianism in that they both believed in opposing but complementary forces (Ahuramazda/good and Ahriman/evil in Zoroastrianism)
6. COT: Yin and Yang changed in that it spread from China to other parts of Asia (Japan, Korea, and Vietnam) during the Age of Division and the Tang dynasty

Question 11

Mandate of Heaven (6)

Answer 11

1. During Zhou dynasty, 11th-6th century BCE, China
2. Most likely a piece of propaganda used by the Zhou government to win over the conquered peoples of previous Shang dynasty.
3. Theory was that “Heaven” (natural force, not a place) gave the king the mandate (law) to rule as long as he ruled for the good of the people; if a king ruled unjustly, the Mandate would be taken away and China would experience natural disasters (famine, drought, etc) before th Mandate was given to the next dynasty.
4. Zhou kings sacrificed to Heaven, and the “Book of Documents” described the close relationship between Heaven and the king, a relationship imbedded in the Mandate of Heaven
5. CC: The Mandate of Heaven was different from European Divine Right in that God gave kings the right to rule divine right, while in the Mandate of Heaven the people gave the king the right to rule.
6. COT: Continued past the end of the Zhou dynasty until the Qing dynasty in 1911 CE, and remained a central feature of Chinese political ideology used to explain how and why new dynasties arose.

Question 12

Zhou dynasty and society (6)

Answer 12

1.11 century-6 century BCE China
2. Dynasty that conquered earlier Shang dynasty and experienced effective leadership early on in the form of the rulers King Wen (the “cultured” king who spread Zhou’s domain) and King Wu (the “martial” king who conquered the Shang as referenced in the Book of Documents )
3. Zhou rulers set up a decentralized feudal system by sending out relatives to govern distant territories which eventually led to regional lords gaining too much authority and challenging the king which resulted in the Warring States Period
4. Early Zhou society was highly aristocratic, and inherited ranks placed people in a hierarchy ranging downward from the king to the regional lords to the lower ranks of the aristocracy to the ordinary peasants, all if which was apparent in the Book of Songs which was a series of poems that described Zhou society
5. Women were largely distrusted because of the negative reputation of the concubines that advised the king
6. CC: The Zhou dynasty was different from the Han dynasty in that the Zhou dynasty didn’t have a state/government philosophy, while the Han used Confucianism as the state/government philosophy
COT: The Zhou dynasty changed to the Era of Warring states which was a time period of decentralized states that were in constant war against each other, which was a stark contrast from the centralized and peaceful Zhou dynasty.

Question 13

Book of Documents (5)

Answer 13

1. 11th-10th century BCE, China
2. One of the earliest of the Confucian classics, containing documents, speeches, and historical accounts.
3. Showed that the Zhou recognized the Shang as occupying the center of the world
4. Assumed a close relationship between Heaven and the king. Supported the theory of the Mandate of Heaven.
5. CC: The Book of Documents was similar to Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian in that they both documented the history of Chinese dynasties
6. COT: The book of documents was a change in Chinese literature in that it was one of the first written accounts of Chinese history

Question 14

Book of Songs (3)

Answer 14

1. 11th-6th century CE, China
2. The earliest collection of Chinese poetry; it provided glimpses of life during the Zhou dynasty.
3. Emphasized the distrust of women in politics
4. COT: Chinese culture change with the creation of the Book of Songs because it was on of the first books of written poetry in China

Question 15

Shi (2)

Answer 15

1. 11-6 century CE, China

2. The lower ranks of Chinese aristocracy; these men could serve in either military or civil capacities.

Question 16

filial piety ()

Answer 16

1. 6-3 century CE, China
2. Major tenet of Confucianism
3. Reverent attitude of children to their parents; it was extolled by Confucius
4. CC: