Chapter 5 Flashcards
Like the Indus, what was the Yellow River?
IT is boisterous and unpreduicatable. It rises very high in the plateau of Tibet and courses for 4700 km.
What is inthe Yello wRIver?
Losses soil tha tit picks up along its route. It is a very fine powerderlike soil that was deposited on teh plains of northern China as well as servea other places
What was one Neolitihic settleme?
Yang shoi society which floursihed fomr 5000-3000 BCE. IT is known for the village Banpo
As human populaiton increased, setltements ik that at Banpo
Croped upthrohgout much of chinal around Rivers.
What were the three ancient dynasties?
The Xia, Shang and the Zhou that arose before the qin and Han dyasties. They were hereditary states
Xia Dynasty
Discovery in the early stages . IT was not the only state in China, t was very vigorous
Who was teh sage king?
It was Yu, witht eorganizaition of effective flood control projects, thus as in Mesopotamia and egypt, the ened ot roganize large scale piblicowrks projects helped to establish recognize authorities
How was the Zia able to control?
The leaders of individual villages
According to legend, who was the Las Xia king?
He was very oppressive and losthis realm to the foundre of the Shang Dynasty. It just gradually gave way to teh Shange Dynasty
What explains the rise ofthe shang?
- Tecnhollgy
- Bronze metallurgy went to CHina, along with horses and chariots.
- Shang elites monopolized the production of Bronze, and provided weapons to the families
- Nobles also had ittings for the horse drawn 0had devestating effecs on ther armies
Where did shang rulers extend their rule?
IT ehnan, they claiemd a lot of agricultre.
Did Shang rulers havea centralized state?
No, they had authority that rested on a vast network of walled towns whose rlocal rulers recognized the auhority of the Snhang kings. Apart form local rulersof those owns, otehers who shared the agricultral surplus of China
Who else tired to helpt the Shang RUlers?
Advisors, ministers, craftsmn and metlasmiths who helped the shang uers shape policy
What did Shang Society revolvearound?
Resveral citys. The capital moved six times - they became places of the arts
Ao
A big wall that consised of pounded etch.
Yin
Had royal palaces archives with written documents and seveal residential places. There wre lage toombs
Fu Hao
one of 64 wives ofthe Shang king WU Ding. She had a lot f things hin her grave
Who were teh Zhou
They ere tough sineyw poeple wao battled Shang forces in teh east and nomadic raiders from the steppes inteh west
Shang and Zhou ambitions collided, how
the las Shng king was a crimila fool who gave himself over
What is teh Mandate of Heavan?
Hevely powers grant the right to govern, when you start doing it badly, it means that the mandate has passed over to someone else.
How was the Zhoul state?
It was much larger than the shang, it was so extensive that a single central court oculd not rule that the entire land effectively at least not with teht ransportation and communication tehcniologies available
What type of government was the Zhou
It was adecentralized administration. They entrusted power, authority and responsibility to subordinates who owed tribute
In return of political rights, what did poeple have to do
visit to show thier loyalty
Despite thier best efforts, the Zhou kings could not maintain control because
Subordinates gradually established thier own bases of power, they ruled thie territories not only as allies of the Zhou. They set up regional bureacuracies, armies and tax systems
Technological developments also worked in favor of subordinate rulers..hhow?
Zhou kings were not able to contorl the production of bronze as closely as their Shang Predecessors had and subordnates built up stockpile sof weapons. During the first milennuim, the technology of iron had sprad
Because iron ores anreboth cheap and more abundant than copper and tin, were they able to monopolize?
In 771, what did Nomadic poeples do?
INvade CHina from the west, the came during the rule of a particularly ineffective king who did not engjoy teh repspect of his political allies, when subordinates refused to support, they were overwhelemed
Where did the nomadic people come into ( like what rule?
During the rule of aparticularly ineffective king who did not enjoy the rspect of his political allies. When subordinates refused to support, the invadrs overwhelmedthe Zhou capital at Hao.
When subordinates refused to support the king, the invaders overwhelmed the Zhou Capita at Hao
In face, the political initiative had passed from the Zhou kings to their
suboridantes and the royal court never regained its authority. By the fifth cetury, territorial princes ignored the central government and used their resources to build strength and expand thier states
What were the last centuries of the Zhou dynasty known as?
the Period of Warring States, in 256 BCE the Zhou dynasty ended when the last king abdicated his throne
In China, as in the other parts of the ancient world he introuction of agriculture enabled individuals to do what
accumulate wealth and preserve it whith thier families Social distinctions began to appear during neolithic times and after the establishment of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou
During the Xia dynasty, and the Shang and Zhou, where did the royal family and allied noble families occupy on the social statues
The most honorable positions. The resided in large palatial compounds made of poumded earth, and they ived on the agriultural surplus and taxes delivered by thier subjects
What was one metal that the wealthy could have?
Bronze implements. Ruling elites possessed much of the bronze weaponry apart from the less priveged class and political hegemony and through their subordinates that ensured
What were some bronze utensils?
They were dishes, mirrors, bells, drums, vessesl used in ritual ceremonies which were beyond the means of less privilatged people
What did Chinese People eat?
They had seamed rice and meat
What did teh poor people use for cooking untensils?
They had clay pots and had like veggies nad porriges
What type of aristocrats were there?
Hereditary
What did aristcrats posses?
extensiveland oldings and they worked at administrative and military tasks. BY Zhou times, many of them lived in cities where they obtained at least an elementary education
What did a small class of people do?
They use d their trades in teh cities of ancient China. Some worked almost exclusively for the privileged classes, enjoed reasonabl comfortable existence. DUring the Shang dynasty, bronzesmiths oten lived ni hoses built of pounded earth
What is there little information about in China
Merhcants and trade in Ancient Chian until the latter part of the Zhou Dynasty, but Arhcaeological discoveries show trade routes
What were things in tombs and other things that indicated trade?
Jade in Shang tombs came form CEntral ASia and military technology involving horse drawn chariots came through central asia from mesopotamia. Shang Bronzesmiths worked iwth tin that came form the Malay peninsula in Southeast Asia
What do accounts credit king Yu with inregards to the martime trade?
He was the inventor of the sails. There is no archaeological indication of Chinese sails before abotu 500 BCE, but there is abundant evidence hat Chinese mariners used large oar propelled vessesl befofre 200 BCE
What type of people populated the Chinese countryside?
They were the semiservile peasants, that populatd the Chinse countryside They owned no land,but provided agricultural, miliatry nad labor services for their lords in exchange for security and a plot to cultivate
What did peasant women’s duties include?
THey included mostly indoor activities such as wine making, weaving, and cultivation of silkworks whearas men sspent most of their time outside working in the fields, hunitin gna dfishing
As few effective tools were not avaliable tilll late in the Zhou dynasty, what did people rely on?
They relied on wooden diging sticks and spade swith bone of stone tips whcih were strong enough to cultivate the poudery loesses soil of northern Chian
There was a sizable class of what?
Slaves
What was the princpal institution in Chinese Society?
Family, fo rthe socialization of children and the preservation of cultural traditions
What was one practice in Chinese society
Veneration of ancestors, a practice with roots in neolithic times. In those arly days, agricultural peoples in China tended to the graves and memories of the departed. They gave everything to the dead (tools..etc
A Family could be expected to prospor if what?
If both the dead and living worked together
Inthe absence of organized religion or offical priesthood in ancient China, who presdied over the family?
It was a patriarchal head. He was the mediator between the alive and the dead
Chinese society vested authority principally in elderly males who headed the households, it took on a storn
patriarcahl character, one that intensified with the emrgence of large states. Sueign neolithic time,s Chinese men wielded public authorty, but they won thier rites to it by v
What line did descnet rundown?
The female line. Even if itt did not vest powr and uauhtority in women, it provided reason to honro woem
Were women honored
Yes? They did occasionally play promient roles in Public life during Shange times. Fu Hao the consor tof King Wu Ding, ventured beyond the corridors of the shang palce
During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, how were women treated?
THey came to live under the shadow of men. Large staes brought the military and political contirbutions of emne into sharp focus. The ruling classes performed elaborate ceremonies hooring the departed males
What did the Chinese thinkers often sepak of?
The heavenly power called tian, the agent responsble for placign and removing the madate of heaven on rulers.
Did China recognize a personal or supreme deity who intervened in human affairs or took special interest in human behavior?
nO. Nor id dancient China support a large class of preists. There wer some for veneration, but rally not a lot
In mesopotamia and India, merchants wused what?
Writing
When was the earliest use of writing in China?
Goes back to the Sang Royal court. Kept written accounts of important events on strips of bamboo or pieces of silk. UNfortunately, almost all have disappeared
What are the principal instruments used by fortune tellers?
Oracle bones- in other early societies, specializests forecast the future by exmaining the entrails of animals. In China, diviners sd the specially prepared broad bones0 shouder blades of sheep or turtle shels
How could you know the fortune from an oracle boen?
They put a question on it, then heated it a logt. The fortune teller then studied the patters and determined the answer to the question. It was then recorded on the bone
Where did a lot of oracle bones go?
They were ground into a specially potent medicine..so a lot went away
What types of messages did the oracle bones contain?
MEssages of real concern-like if there would be a good harvest
What was even more than the oracle bones do?
Offer the earliest glimpse into the tradition of Chinese writing. The earliest form of CHinese writing-like SUmerian and Egyptian writing was the picotgraph
How do you represent complex notions in Chinese writing?
You combine pictographs
The characters used in contemporary CHinese writing are diect descenants of those used in
Shang times. Scholars have identified more than two thousand characters inscribed on oracle bones, most of which have a mdern counterpart
A few oracle bones survive from Zhou tiemes, along with a large number of insciptions on bronze ceremonial utensisl that the ruling classes used, what did the Zhou also produce?
books of poetry and history manuals of divination and ritual and essays dealing with moral, relgious and philosophical and political themes
What are the bes tknonw works of the ZHou
the ones of Confucias. And other late Zhou thinkers which served as teh intellecual foundationof clasical chinese society, but many oteher less famous wokrs show that Zhou writers mostly anomyous were keen to obsrve the world of affairs
Several writings of the Zhou dynasty won recogniztion as works of High authory, what were some examples?
The book of Changes0 manual nstructing diviners in the art of fretelling, Book of history, a collection of documuents that justified the Zhou state and call for subjects to bey thier overlords
What was the notable of the classic works?
The Book of songs, alos known as the book of Potery and the Book of ODes0 a colelction of verses on themes both light and serious. Many of the 311 poems in the collection date from a much earlier period and relfect oncidtions of the early Zhou
Some of the poems had what?
political implications adn they recorde dtheillustrias deeds of the heroic figures and ancient sage kigns
How did the Zhou writings perish?
THey were either on bamboo strips and silkfabrics, or some of them were given to enemies
What prevented Chinese interaction with others
Geography
Where did CHinese Agricultura spread?
To the north and wst of the Yellow River
As they expanded to the norht and west, Chinese cutivators encountered who?
nomadic people who had built astoral societies in the grassy steppe lands of central Asia. These lands were to arid ato sustain a large soceity. After Indo-European peoples were ale to ride horses, they could herd other animals
What was Nomadic society like?
THey did little famiing since the arid steppe did not reward efforts at cultivation. Instrad, the nomads concentrated on herding thier naimlas driving them tregions where they could find food and water. The herds provided meat and milk as well as skin and bones form which the nomads fashioned clothes and tools
What ddi the Nomads serve as?
Trade networks. They were bringning knowledge of metallurgy and other tings. D
What was the relationship between the Chinese nad nomadic peoples/
HTey had tense relations. They often engaged in bitter wars since the relateivey poor nmades ame upon the rich agricultural society at their doorstep to serize its wealth.
What did the Chang Jiang do?
It carried enormous volumes of water from mits headwatersinthe loftly Qinghai mountians of Tibet to its mout near the mdoern Chiense cities of Nanjing and Shanghai where it empties intot he East China Sea
Did the Yangzi river bring flods?
Yes, but intese cultivation of rice depended on an irrigation sysstem
What happened with Nomads and Chinese people
They became integrated into Chinese Scoeties
What was teh state of Chu
IT was centered on the central region of the Yangzi, govered its affairs autonomously and challenged the Zhou for supremacy
