ancient china n degree of isolation n distance from middle east n youngest primary phase culture in...
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Ancient China
degree of isolation distance from Middle East youngest Primary Phase culture in the
Old World
Prehistoric Society: Yangshao
5000-3000 BCE Ban Po Village Painted pottery Bronze tools
Unique features
intensive garden-style agriculture do not adopt the plow until very late unique soil: loess
Neolithic village at Ban Po
Early History
legendary outline three principal Neolithic Cultures later tradition: the Hsia dynasty
– no traces first historical civilization: the Shang
dynasty
Pre-dynastic cultures of China
Neolithic period
The Earliest Dynasties
Xia (Hsia)– C. 2200 BCE– Organized through
village network– Hereditary monarchy– Flood control
Shang– 1766-1122 BCE
Zhou– 1122-256 BCE
The Shang Dynasty
Yellow River
– near the frontier traditional date: 1500 B.C. invaders eventually absorbed
Shang Dynasty
Bronze metallurgy from 1200 BCE– State monopoly
Horse-drawn chariots, other wheeled vehicles Large armies Political organization: network of fortified cities, loyal
to center– 1000 cities– Capital moved six times
• Impressive architecture at Ao, Yin
Other regional kingdoms coexist: San Xingdui
Distinct Characteristics
silk no animal milk or milk products ancestor worship central place of the family
Operative unit of Society
the family not the individual not the state not the religion
Other features
ornate architecture chopsticks ideographic script
– still readable by modern Chinese divination
Oracle bone with early ideographic script
An example of Shang bronze (religious objects) cast using a “lost wax” process
More bronze ware, with early ideograms
A bronze temple bell
-many will strike two distinct and separate notes, depending on which part of the bell is struck
Organization
peasants support nobles, officials, bureaucracy, etc.
government centered in towns warrior elite poor live in primitive conditions
Distinctions
between rich and poor between male and female
– infanticide– footbinding– arranged marriages– multiple wives
Early ideology
Yin and Yang Yin: female, dark, weak, wet, passive Yang: male, bright, strong, dry, active balance of opposites
End of the Primary Phase
not as serious in China nomadic invaders the Zhou dynasty
– 1027 B.C. replaced one ruling class with another
– “meet the new boss...same as the old boss.”
Zhou dynasty 1100-256 B.C.
Zhou (Chou) Dynasty, 1122-256 BCE
No law codes: rule by decree– “Mandate of Heaven”
Aggregation of villages opposed to Shang leadership– Decentralization of authority
Development of cheap iron weaponry ends Shang monopoly on Bronze
Early money economy
Decline of the Zhou Dynasty
Decentralized leadership style allows for building of regional powers– Increasing local independence, refusal to
pay Zhou taxes Iron metallurgy allows for widespread creation
of weaponry Northern invaders weaken Zhou dynasty,
beginning 8th c BCE 771 B.C. Zhou driven east
– Internal dissention: the Period of the Warring States (403-221 BCE)
The Eastern Zhou
ruled until 256 B.C. power held by local aristocrats first Chinese literature evolution of bronze technology
Political theory
the mandate of Heaven universal monarch
– favors consolidation– xenophobic
Emperor is the Son of Heaven feudal monarchy
The Period of Warring States
771 B.C. dozen-plus states balance of power until 500’s period of consolidation by warfare
– warfare chronic
The Period of the Warring States, ca. 500 B.C.
Intellectual development
response to crisis and uncertainty Confucianism
– a sort of philosophy Taoism
– a sort of religion
The Good Old Days
breakdown of “traditional family values” no trust or confidence in government
– filled with thieves, liars, and murderers no respect for the ancestors “Why do the wicked flourish?”
Confucius (ca. 551-479 B.C.)(Kung Fu Tse)
poor family well-educated in the “classics” ambitious (wanted to be a bureaucrat...) couldn’t get honest work...so he
became a teacher
Kung Fu-Tse
Tomb of Master Kung
Confucius, con’t
wrote nothing--his followers wrote about him
difficult to separate myth from fact the Analects
– his “sayings”
The Analects
looked back to the “good old days” but favored some new ideas along with
the old rejection of the idea of in-born nobility proper training, education, and aptitude
make a “gentleman”– not simply birth into a certain family
Marks of gentility
goodness, wisdom, courage moderation of outer and inner emotions knowledge of traditional rites dissociation from all men who did not
practice these things– simple satisfaction in the practice of virtue
for its own sake
Circumstances favoring his ideas lack of mythopoetic urge lack of a strong religious tradition and
experience lack of prophets lack of anthropomorphic gods
Important Confucian concepts
Ren – innate goodness in human beings
Li – normal standard of conduct the TAO –what is appropriate no speculation on metaphysics
Confucian Ideas
Ethics and politics– Avoided religion, metaphysics– Role in government service
Confucius, con’t
a failure? ideas spread by students adopted by the Han dynasty
Taoism
supplied the metaphysical multiple lines of thought very fluid
Taoism
Critics of Confucianism/Taoism– Passivism, rejection of active attempts to
change the course of events Founder: Laozi, 6th c. BCE The Tao te Ching (Classic of Way and
of Virtue) Zhuangzi (named for author, 369-236
BCE)
Basic concepts
pursuit of justice and righteousness Wu wei wu: “
– Doing by not doing.” withdrawal and contemplation withdrawal from society
The Zhou (Chou) and Qin
rise of the Qin new technology gave land to peasants new military draft new bureaucracy
The Qin and the Legalist tradition ideology of rule absolute power of the ruler people existed to serve the state destroy Confucian philosophy?
The First Emperor
Qin Shihuangdi (r. 221-210 BCE) founds new dynasty as “First Emperor”
Dynasty ends in 207, but sets dramatic precedent
Basis of rule: centralized bureacracy Massive public works begun
– Incl. precursor to Great Wall
Shi Huangdi
united China in 221 B.C. ruled by the Legalist theory massive conscription for labor
China under the Qin dynasty, 221-207 B.C.E.
Resistance to Qin Policies
Emperor orders execution of all critics Orders burning of all ideological works Some 460 scholars buried alive Others exiled Massive cultural losses
Tomb of Shi Huangdi
Rise of the Han
rebellion of peasants Lui Bang a successful failure
Han dynasty
ruled for 400 years new bureaucracy emphasis on centralization
– weakening of the aristocracy imperial expansion destruction of the Legalists
The Han Dynasty
Han society
the Confucian educated elite free peasants non-free peasants improvement in women's’ status beginnings of “secret societies”
Population Growth in the Han Dynasty
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
220 BCE 9 CE
Population (millions)
General prosperity Increased
agricultural productivity
Taxes small part of overall income
Produce occasionally spoiling in state granaries