HUANG HO AND YANGTZE-THE SEAT OF EARLY CIVILIZATION IN

CHINA
Paleolithic Age- Chinas history began with the discovery of the Peking
man.
The civilization founded on the Yellow River or Huang Ho had led the
ancient world in arts, science, philosophy, and the skills in governance.
GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA
China is bounded by mountain ranges at the northwest and high plateaus
at the southwest slope.
TWO MAIN PARTS OF CHINA:
1.China Proper- heart of China, The Middle Kingdom. It includes
the traditional 18
provinces, surrounded by natural barriers.
2.Areas that surround China Proper- Tibet, Sinkiang, Mongolia, and
Manchuria.
THE BIRTHPLACE OF EARLY CIVILIZATION
Yellow River- deposits yellow powdered soil hundreds of feet deep in these
places called loess.
- also known as the Huang Ho River.
- measures 2,900 miles in length, and is very shallow.
- vital for irrigation.
- carries silt that usually settles at the bottom raising the water
level higher.
- dams built by the Chinese oftentimes break and the river runs
wild and causes
so much destruction.
- also called as Chinas Sorrow.
Yangtze River- measures 5,471.62 km. long, and it is quite deep.
- allows large ocean-going ships to travel 600 miles upstream
to the great city
of Wuham.
Si River- measures more than 1,931.16 km.
- serves as an important commercial waterway.
THE DYNASTIC CYCLE IN CHINA

PEACE AND
PROSPERITY
UNDER A STRONG

DYNASTY DECLINES;
POWER GROWS
WEAKER

NEW DYNASTY
RESTORES PEACE
AND ORDER

REBELLION AND
BLOODSHED- NEW
DYNASTY EMERGES

DISASTER OCCURS;
REBELLION OCCURS

REBELLION IS
JUSTIFIED

DYNASTIES OF CHINA
THE SHANG DYNASTY (1500-1028 BCE)
Second Chinese dynasty after Xia Dynasty.
Ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as China proper in
the Yellow River Valley.
Anyang- capital of the Shang Dynasty.
- was excavated around 1930.
- revealed bronze works that suggests an age of strong religious
feelings.
Bronze works and other bronze materials were used for offering food and
wines to their ancestors.
System of writing with written symbols and inscripted characters.
Developed a lunar calendar for the king depended on good harvest.
The government also employed priest-astronomers to determine the
time of planting with the use of the calendar.
Religions: combination of animism, and ancestor worship. It also includes
reverence for older people in the family.
Its economy was mainly characterized by farming.
People grew millet and rice.
Domesticated animals and used elephants in times of war.
Learned to weave silk cloth from silk thread.
Shang artisans laid foundations for Chinese ceramics arts.
Kaolin- very fine white clay used to shape potteries.
Shang rulers were noted to have become cruel and wicked (1028 BCE).
THE CHOU DYNASTY (1028-256 BCE)

Longest dynasty that ruled China.

Wu Wang- founder of the Chou dynasty.

- expanded the Chinese territory.

Its rule claimed to have the Mandate of Heaven- orders from

the gods.

Its government lasted for three thousand years because it was

planned very well.

There were officials for every task in the empire.

Civil service examination- given by the government to any

man who was interested to
serve the government.

Feudal system- provinces were ruled by governors. As the

feudal states were numerous and
became increasingly independent, the states fought with one
another
(Warring States Period).

The Chou rulers became greedy and lost the loyalty of their
subjects.

Different philosophies were formed on the meaning of life and the

right way to live it.

The people were confused because the ideologies of Confucuis,

Mencuis, Lao Tzu, and the Legalists Group contradicted as to what
kind of relationship should exist between a ruler and his subjects.

IDEOLOGIES:
Confucius- urged for social harmony.
Legalists Group- wants a stern government of punishment and rewards.
Lao Tzu- believes in Taoism.
Mencius- asserted the innate goodness of the individual, believing that it
was society's influence that causes bad moral character.
THE CHIN DYNASTY
Reunited China after the downfall of the Chou Dynasty.
Xianyang- capital.
Chin Shih Huang-ti- known to be the First Emperor (221-206 BCE).
- conquered the barbarians at the southern part of his
empire and
subdued the Huns in the north, led by Hsiung Nu.
The emperor ordered the construction of the Great Wall of China to
keep barbarians out of the borders of China. Thus, protecting the country
from nomadic invasions.

 To put a stop to the warring states, he commanded the Chin officials to

put the feudal states under their control.
An order to burn all books was commanded by the emperor.
The death of Shih Huang-ti in Shandong Province came and he was
succeeded by his son who wasnt able to hold on to the powerful rule of
his father.
Rebellions against the new emperor began and in four years, these rebels
beat Chin's huge army and destroyed the capital at Xianyang.
The two main rebel leaders, Hsiang Yu and Liu Pang, fought over who
would be the next emperor.
THE HAN DYNASTY
Liu Pang (9260 BCE 220 CE)-founded the Han dynasty.
Changan (now Xian)-capital city.
Gained high reputation so that until the modern times, the Chinese often
referred to themselves as the Man of Han.
Confucianism triumphed.
Confucius- regarded with respect (revered) as a patron saint of scholars.
Civil service examination was the way by which Han officials were
selected from the Confucian school.
Renewal learning was also emphasized.
Scholars were allowed to read and memorize the Confucian Classics.
PRECIOUS LITERARY PIECES
Five Classics of Confucius- collection of greatest writings of Confucius.
Analects- contain Confucius words of wisdom recorded by his students.
Pan Chao- one of the greatest female Chinese literary writers.
Ssuma-Chien- first great historian of China who compiled the complete
history of China.
Wu Ti- greatest emperor of Han dynasty.
- drove the barbarian Huns who had earlier broke through the great
walls.
- because of his successes in battles, people called him the
Martial Emperor.
Great Silk Road- route discovered by the Chinese to the markets of Syria
and other eastern Mediterranean lands.
Silk- first to launch China with the rest of the world, in means of trading.
Buddhism was brought about by the traders. It reached China when
disorder was spreading and spread rapidly as the dynasty neared its
collapse.

THE SUI DYNASTY

Yang Chien- reunited the Northern and Southern part of China in 589 CE.
Ordered the building of the Grand Canal, connecting Yellow and Yangtze
River to unify the two parts of China.
Short- lived.
Laid the foundation for the Golden Age of China.
People turned against this dynasty because he ordered endless building of
walls and palaces.
THE TANG DYNASTY
China was under this dynasty for 300 years.
Li Yuang- founded this dynasty.
Golden Age of China- China achieved its most powerful and wealthiest
status.
Extended its frontiers to the farthest west invading the Turks in the
North and a powerful cultural influence over neighboring states such as
those in Korea and Japan.
Buddhism reached its height during the Tang rule.
In the 800s, a Tang emperor persecuted Buddhism.
Reached its height about 750 CE.
It gradually declined under the rule of weak emperors.
THE SUNG DYNASTY
Established by Sung Tai-Tsu in 960-1279 C.E.
Middle 900s- Sung emperors were threatened by Khitans (a group of
Mongolian people) who decided to buy peace in the form of annual
tributes.
Bribes failed to stop the barbarians, and they captured Kai-Yang, the
capital of Sung.
Civilizations of China remained at its greatest height under the Sung
dynasty.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
1.Foreign trade was expanded.
2.Several inventions in the form of gunpowder, printing, use of ink, and
paper were made during this age.
3.This period was considered the Golden Age of painting. Their paintings
done on silk scrolls showed their great tradition of landscape painting.

4.Magnetic compass was invented and found to be useful for finding

directions and for navigation.

CHINA UNDER THE MONGOLS: THE YUAN DYNASTY

Temujin- better known as Genghis Khan.
- one of the greatest conquerors of the world.
- led the Mongols, fearsome warriors from the grasslands north of
China.
Kublai Khan- Genghis grandson, who succeeded him after he died.
- established the Yuan Dynasty with Khanbalik (Peking) as
its capital.
- ruled the largest empire the world has ever known.
- his empire also included Central Asia, Persia, and a part of
Russia.
- built the first Imperial Highway to bind his empire together.
Marco Polo - famous European traveler from Italy.
- one of the trusted officials of the Great Khan; served the court
for 17 years.
- 1292- he left Cathay the name given by Khan to China.
Kublai Khan died in 1295.
1330's- people all over the whole Mongol Empire were suffering from the
Black Death- the
swollen (bubonic) plague.
Red Turbans- an active movement in northern China during 1350s CE.
Chu Yuan Chang- conquered China and threw Mongols out.
1368 CE- proclaimed himself emperor, and captured Beijing, the
Mongol capital.
THE MING DYNASTY
Native dynasty of China.
Chu Yan Chuang- led the Chinese rebellion against the Mongols.
- proclaimed himself as emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
- renamed himself Ming Tai Tsu when he became
emperor.
- built his capital in Nanking or the southern capital.
- it was during his time that Chinas naval fleet developed.
With the leadership of Chenglo, China had the greatest naval power.
Yunglo- replaced Chenglo as emperor in 1421.
- moved the capital to Peking (The Imperial City).

 Forbidden City- only the emperor and his court can enter; found in the
center of Peking.
The foreign invasion and the raid of Manchus of Manchuria broke to the
Great Wall and raided the borders of Ming China.
THE MANCHU (MANCHU EMPIRE)
Included Mongolia, Manchuria, Korea, Tibet, Indochina, Eastern
Turkestan, and China Proper.
Originally formed by three provinces, Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning.
Kept the system set up by the Ming.
Ching Dynasty- the Chinese name of the Manchu.
Wu San-kuei- led the first real rebellion against the Manchu in 1673, but
it was not
successful.
In the early 1900s, the Manchu people were down to only about 80% of
the previous conquering population.