Early Chinese History

Early Chinese History

World HistoryDecember10, 2012

China’s Geography China is located on the continent of

Asia, became one of the largest countries in the world

It has a great variety of climates and terrains South China

Wet and tropical climate with some rainforest coverage

Northwest China

Covered in desert land

Northeast China

Arctic climate (close to Russia) in the winter

West China

Himalayas borders China in the west

China’s Rivers Yellow River

Yangzi River

China’s First Peoples

First people arrived around 50,000 BC About the same time the first

people settled in Europe

These people were hunter/gatherers living in caves

Between 4,000-3,000BC, the people of China began farming rice and keeping animals

People settled in miniature cities along the Yellow River in northern China They began living in small farming

villages

At this time people in China began to use silk to make clothes

Shortly after, the early people settled into a unified kingdom Under a dynasty

Dynasty = a family or group of rulers

Xia Dynasty The first dynasty of China

2070-1600 BCE

Established by legendary Yu the Great He was able to unite

approximately 13.5 million people

Spent 13 years stopping the great flood and brought irrigation to the Yellow River Valley

They had many accomplishments for an early civilization Irrigated the Yellow River

Had a calendar

Created a wheeled vehicle

The last king, Jie, was overthrown by the people, and the Shang dynasty was founded

Shang Dynasty United the Yellow River Valley

1600-1046 BCE

Archeological sites at Anyang – the capital city – have uncovered eleven major royal tombs and the palaces The amount of bronze, jade, stone,

bone, and ceramic artifacts show an advanced civilization

The Shang dynasty rose to power under Qi He helped control the Great Flood

and was granted a place called Shang as a plot of land

The Shang dynasty united people of the Yellow River Valley and defeated those who rose against them

The Dynasty ended when the last Shang king, Di Xin, was overthrown by Wu of Zhou

Zhou Dynasty Ruled China from about 1027 – 221 BCE

– the longest dynasty in Chinese history

The Zhou dynasty appointed “lords” to control certain plots of land and the people who lived there This spread the power to many upper-

class men

The Zhou dynasty has many advancements Ox-drawn plows, iron, horseback

riding, coins, chopsticks, and the crossbow

Roads, canals, major irrigation projects

The philosophies of Confucianism and Taoism emerged

Originated the “Mandate of Heaven” An ancient Chinese philosophical

concept that determines whether a Chinese ruler is able to rule

Qin Dynasty Lasted from 221 – 206 BCE

Saw China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang He started out as king of the Chinese

State of Qin, and became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BCE at the age of 49

He is a pivotal figure in China’s history Unified China

Passed a series of major economic and political reforms

Built and unified sections of the Great Wall of China

Famous city-sized mausoleum guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army

Massive national road system

To ensure his political stability, he outlawed and burned many books and buried scholars who opposed him alive

After Qin Shi Huang’s death in 210 BCE, civil war broke out, ending the Qin Dynasty