China Flashcards
What were the dynasties in China?
-Shang Dynasty
-Zhou Dynasty
-Qin Dynasty
-Han Dynasty
Divine right to rule
-“Sons of Heaven”
-Emperor must serve the people’s needs
-Good government = remained in power (representative of gods)
-Corrupt/weak government = loss of the mandate (catastrophes - flood/famine/earthquake)
Mandate of Heaven
Longest/largest ruling dynasty
-Established a feudal state/feudalism
-Dynastic Cycle - rise & fall of dynasties
- Idea of Mandate of Heaven
Zhou Dynasty
Capital was located in the Wei River Valley
Collapse:
-The kings became weaker as a feudal lord grew and eventually many lords banded together and killed the Zhou King
-Built new capital in east
Western Zhou
Second Zhou capital was east of the first
-Regional lords had the real power
-Grew and became more powerful than the son of the murdered king who had little power
-Time of war, violence, & disorder
Eastern Zhou
What was the collapse of the Zhou Dynasty?
Too weak to control Feudal lords who battled & competed
-Founder is Confucius
-Stressed family loyalty & ancestor worship
-Social order, harmony, and good government should be based on family relationships
-Respect for parents and Elders is important to a well-ordered -society
-Education is important both in the welfare of the individual and to society
-Ruler should lead by example/virtuous
-Virtue - leading by the proper moral example
-Limit power
-Five Relationships
Confucianism
Filial piety
Respect for elders
What was the religion of China?
Polytheism
Founder is Shi Huangdi
-Unification of China
-Legalism→ laws/punishments
-Public works/forced labor
-Great Wall of China
-Standardized currency
-Terracotta warriors
Qin Dynasty
Highly efficient & powerful government is the key to social order
-Punishments are useful to maintain social order
-Thinkers & their ideas should be strictly controlled by the government
-Humans innately bad -> uniform legal code & strict laws
-Harsh punishments
Legalism
What was the writing of China?
Oracle bones
What was the river valley in China?
Yellow River
-Depended on rivers for transportation/irrigation -> irrigation -> bureaucracy
-Long distance & physical barriers isolated China -> believed center of Earth & sole source of civilization
-Huang (He) River (Yellow)
-Loess - yellow/brown silt
-“River of Sorrows” - loess caused river to flood -> destroyed crops -> starvation
Geography of China
Founder is Laozi/Lao Tzu
-Live in harmony w/ nature
-Dao - way
-Let things happen naturally
Virtue:
-Being true to oneself, instead of satisfying the standards set by other
-Little government interference
-Yin & Yang
Daosim/Taosim
Balance of the universe
-People should strive to achieve harmony with nature
Yin - darkness, earth, women
Yang - light, heaven, men
Yin & yang
Used in China
-Animal bones/turtle shells
-Priests write questions to god/ancestral spirits
-Heated bones
-Interpreted cracks = answers/advice
Oracle bones
What was the social class of China?
- Noble rulers
- Warriors
- Artisans & merchants
- Peasants
Family was most important
What were the rights of women in China?
Women were inferior
-Founder was Liu Bang
-Largest empire
-Meritocracy
-Golden Age
Han Dynasty
Why was the Great Wall of China built?
Prevented invasion
-Caravan routed criss crossing Asia
-China -> Central Asia -> Middle east -> Mediterranean
-China traded silk, porcelain, & jade for ivory, precious stones, glass, wool
Silk Road
-Peace & stability
-Prosperity/emphasis on manufacturing
-Culture (art/science/literature)
-Inventions: wheelbarrow, paper, magnetic compass, hot air balloon
Golden Age
Civil service (civil service tests)
Meritocracy
-Commoner/peasant/rebel general
-Lathes aristocratic class
-Founder of Han dynasty
Liu Bang
What was the impact of writing on China?
Writing unified China
Dao
Way
-Confucius time
-Believes in Confucianism
- Virtue - talks about how a ruler should be
Mencius
Land of Zhanggua
Middle Kingdom
Attitude that your culture/ethnicity is superior to all others
Ethnocentrism
Division of land to control it better
Feudalism
Rise & fall of dynasties
Dynastic cycle
-Wife and mother
-Wrote Ban Zhao’s lessons for women
-Widowed young
Ban Zhao
Created to encourage the study of Confucian texts
Imperial court
