week 3 Flashcards
21st BC to 21st AD - evolution of china
beginning with the XIA dynasty
until the collapse of the QING dynasty
to the founding of the republic of china in 1912 and till the establishments of and continuing the PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA in 1949 to present
Major histórical periods
Paleolithic china earliest dates 1.7 million yrs ago
Neolithic china 6000BC- 3000BC approx
historical china ca2200 the Kia dynasty
modern china 1911-1949
Contemporary China 1950-1979
Emerging china 1980- present
Pan Gu the creation myth
separated dark yin and light yang, pushed heaven and earth apart , the parts of his body became the sun , the moon the mountains, the rivers oct
Pan Gu and the 5 sacred mountains
ancient legends say Tai Shan was formed by the head of pan gu who after creating heaven and earth dies form exhaustion
putonghua
the common spoken language of the modern Han group, the lingua franca of all ethnic groups in the country
QIN dynasty
QIN Shi Huangdi made himself sole ruler of china
- brutal but effective ruler assumed control of feudal estates
- ordered a national census
- sponsored the Great Wall and new irrigation projects and promoted manufacturing particularly silk
HAN dynasty
Liu Bang retained centralized administration of the Qin
- reduced brutal oppression of the Qin
expanded Chinese territory , pushing into Korea and central asia
- this expansion gave rise to direct contact with india and developed contact with Middle East
Han Wudi
enforced peace throughout continent of Asia
- embraced more territory, society flourished
- relied upon legalist principles of government while incorporating confucianism into university education for bureaucrats
- Whereas the Qin stressed central authority, the Han expanded the powers of teh bureaucracy
- established exams for his bureacrats , teh first civil service exam
- He established a school to train men of exceptional talent and ability for thenational exams : Confucianism
