Early Chinese History

Early Chinese History

John ErmerMiami Beach Senior High SchoolWorld History

The Huang He River Valley

• China = isolated by natural barriers• Himalaya mountains in Southwest• Pamir Mountains, Tian Mountains, Gobi Desert in West• Mongolian Steppe to the Northwest• Pacific Ocean to the East

• Minimal contact w/ rest of Asia = distinct development • Various climate zones (Subarctic to Subtropical)• Loess deposits create fertile agricultural lands• Colors the Yellow River• Northern China farms millet and wheat• Southern China farms rice

Shang Dynasty (1750-1027 B.C.E.)

• Neolithic Chinese (Xia Dynasty)• Silk production, pounded earth walls, pottery, livestock, grain

• Enters Bronze Age c. 2000 BCE (later than W. Asia)• Earliest written records in China—pictograms & phonetic• Warrior culture, military campaigns against nomads• POWs taken as slaves to Shang capital

• Decentralized political system, clan leaders rule locally• Cities were administrative/religious centers—feng shui• Most common people lived in farming villages

• Divination and sacrifice• Bronze = sign of authority

Shang Artifacts

Zhou Dynasty (1027-221 BCE)

• 1027: Last Shang king defeated by Zhou leader, Wu• Zhou adopt many Shang cultural elements, add new ones

• The Mandate of Heaven• Decline in divination, priestly power, sacrifice• Continued decentralization of political power

• 800 BCE: Shift from Western capital to Eastern capital• Zhou power destabelized, local leaders increase power, war

• 480-221: Warring States Period• Long protective walls, mounted soldiers, steel production

• Legalism

Chinese Society: Confucianism & Daoism• Aristocrats seek to influence Zhou leaders• Kongzi “Confucius” (551-479 BCE) is such an aristocrat• Governments = family, hierarchy, human goodness, anti-Legalist• Ren (familial benevolence) = moral government

• Daoism founded by Laozi, “follow the path (dao)”• Accept the world as is, follow natural path

• Clan-based kinship replaced by three-generation family• Women subordinate to men, Confucius equates to commoners• Monogamous marriage, but men allowed concubines • Yin and Yang = different roles for women and men

China: Rise of the Qin Dynasty• 230-221 BCE: King Zheng of Qin defeat the Warring States• King Zheng assumes Zhou Dynasty’s Mandate of Heaven• Declares self Shi Huangdi “First August Emperor” (like Augustus)• Establishes capital in Xianyang

• Qin administrative system: commanderies & counties• Commanderies ruled by civilian and military governors• All male citizens register with imperial clerks for conscription and taxes• Establishment of standard weights and measures, coinage minting

• Qin emperors expand into Korean peninsula & Vietnam• Han idea of “grand unity” justifies expansion, oppression of rebel states

• Qin officials Han Fei & Li Si espouse Legalism• Citizens organized into mutually responsible groups

• Free labor preferred over slaves, high tax base = wealth• Economic regulation, agricultural surplus, high level of regional trade

The Qin Decline• Nomadic warrior peoples on frontier• Xiongnu people especially troublesome for Qin• Qin emperors push on, build defensive wall• Wall allows for the colonization of Inner Eurasian Steppe

• Constant warfare burdens Qin tax base• Dissention among nobles & conscripted workers• Chief Master Li Si executed, Xiang Yu leads rebellion• Third Qin Emperor surrenders to Han forces• Xiongnu Confederacy reconquers Steppes

• Xiang Yu commits suicide, feudal lords war• Han prince Liu Bang declares himself Han emperor• Rules with Confucian philosophy, moral value

Xiongnu Areas

The Han Dynasty; 206 BCE-220 CE• Han rulers keep Qin bureaucratic system• Army of 50,000+ crossbow armed soldiers

• Western/Former Han Dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE)• Territorial expansion, economic prosperity

• Dynastic Cycles• Families compete for power, claim authority of past dynasties—

mandate of heaven• Dynasties rise and fall according to the cycle• Imperial continuity through multiple dynasties until 1911

Han PowerWorld’s most centralized bureaucracy

Regional administrators played active role in local affairsRemoval of princes, management of aristocratsGovernor-Generals appointed during crisis/famine

Bureaucratic schools breed government officialsImperial University started by Emperor Wu (136 BCE)Rational thought brings diagnoses of body function, link between

weather and disease, invention of magnetic compass, making of paper

Confucian thought dominates education of the elitesBalance between emperor’s power and bureaucracyHonor tradition, emperor’s responsibility, respect history’s lessons

Han Social & Economic Order• Han unite various groups who once warred • Allowed former Qin lords to reacquire power

• Status of scholars rises in society—masters • Emperor Wu est. state monopolies to pay for wars• Minting of standard copper coins, The Silk Road• Han cities designed in grid, wide avenues• Palaces become forbidden inner cities• Large building projects aggrandize imperial power

• Patriarchal family, women worked/respected• Public entertainment, gambling, debauchery • Funerary rites important to rich and poor

Han Social Structure & Religion• Free peasantry=base of society• Farmers honored, merchants controlled

• Scholar officials protect moral authority• Top of society=imperial clan and nobles• Merchants begin to espouse Daoist ideas to improve

position • Emperor Wu turns Confucian philosophy into the state

religion, Confucius=divine/demigod• Astronomical omens• Chinese not as religious/otherworldly as Romans

Expanding Han Rule

• Creating stability for improving trade• Standing army of 1,000,000; 10,000 Imperial Guard• Emperor Wu conquers Korea and Sichuan• Emperor Wu sends expeditionary forces to battle the

Xiongnu and their horsemen• Xiongnu tribes split; southern tribes conquered• Northern Xiongnu pushed westward, threaten Rome (Huns)

• Retreat of Nomadic peoples=pax sinica

Declining Han Power• “China’s Sorrow” natural disaster• Economic problems, political instability

• The usurper Wang Mang (9-23 CE)• Later Han emperors justify anti-reformist rule

• Elites reform tax code, benefit• Government no longer controls economy• Increased social inequality, rebellion

• Confucius replaced by Laozi & Yellow Emperor as model citizen—rise of Daoism• The Yellow Turban rebellion

• Buddhism arrives—millenarian movement• Han fall=three competing states (Wei, Shu, Wu)