Chapter 3:3-4

Pages 88-103
Key Terms: Match the
Terms on the left with the
correct definition on the
right.
Term Definition
1. Legalism A. a belief during the Zhou dynasty that kings
received their authority to command, or mandate,
from Heaven
2. Dao B. the proper “Way” that a king was expected to
rule in order to please the gods and protect the
people
3. Daoism C. the duty of members of a family to subordinate
their needs and desires to those of the male head of
the family
4. Confucianism D. a system of ideas based on the teachings of
Confucius
5. Mandate of Heaven E. a system of ideas based on the teachings of
Laozi
6. filial piety F. a philosophy that stressed harsh laws and
punishments
 Geography of China
 China is known as the Middle Kingdom because they believed themselves to be in
the center of the world
 Boundaries such as the oceans, deserts, and mountains isolated China from their
neighbors.
 The mountains and deserts served as barriers that separated the Chinese people from other
Asian people.
 In the regions created by the mountains and deserts, there were other people groups who were
often in conflict with the Chinese.

Locate and label the

following on the China Mongolia
Map:
•China Gobi
•Pacific Ocean Desert
•Gobi Desert Huang He
•Himalaya Mountains (Yellow
Plateau of River)
•Plateau of Tibet
Tibet Mnts.
Himalaya China n
•Xia
•Chang Jiang (Yangtze
Chang Jiang
River) (Yangtze River)
•Huang He (Yellow River)
•Xian (Changan)
Pacific
•Mongolia
Ocean
First Civilizations in China
 Xia Dynasty: Beginning of Chinese
civilization but little is known about this
time.
 Shang Dynasty (1750BC-1122BC)
 Established a Capital at Anyang and invented
bronze casting
 Shang Religious Beliefs:
○ The Shang rulers believed that they could
communicate with the gods to get help with
their affairs.
○ Priests used oracle bones to get answers
from the gods.
○ There was a strong belief in life after death.
○ Humans were sacrificed to please the gods
and to provide protection for the king and his
family on their journey to the next world.
○ The Chinese also believed that the spirits of
ancestors could bring good or evil to living
members of a family, so it was important to
treat the spirits well.
Zhou Dynasty: the longest lasting
dynasty, claimed they ruled China
because of the Mandate ofMandate
 The Heaven of Heaven is the
belief that Heaven keeps order
in the universe through a king
that rules over all humanity.
 kings received their authority to
command, or mandate, from
Heaven.
 It was the king’s duty to keep the
gods pleased to protect people
from bad harvest and disasters.
If he failed, he could be
overthrown.
 This gave people the “right of
revolution.” The king was not a
divine being and could be
overthrown.
 The dynastic cycle explains
the rise and fall of ruling
families in China
Zhou Dynasty
 Artisans and merchants were not free but lived in walled
cities under the control of a lord.
 Population increased and so did trade along the Silk Road.
 Cloth, Salt, Silk, and other luxury goods
 Filial Piety: Society was patriarchal.
 Women had no real authority but could influence public affairs
 Chinese writing consisted of pictographs and ideographs.
Three Schools of
Thought
Confucianism
 Confucius founded about 500 BC
 The Analects are the written collection
Confucian ideas
 Government:
 Ruler should be virtuous and lead by
example and should be educated
 Should be open to all of superior talent
Three Schools of Thought:
Confucianism
 Two elements that stand out in the Confucian
view of the Dao:
Duty –
○ All people had to set aside their own needs for the broader
needs of the family and community;
 Filial piety= the respect for one’s parents that came before all other
duties.
- Everyone has a specific role in the family including
children.
○ Everyone is governed by the Five Constant Relationships.
 Father to son, elder brother to younger brother, husband to wife, ruler to
subject, friend to friend
- Older superior to younger, Men superior to women
Humanity –
○ consists of a sense of compassion and empathy for others
 “Do not do to others what you would not want done to you.”
 Three Schools of
Thought
Taoism (Daoism) : The Unspoken
Way

 The founder, Laozi (Lao Tsu)

 Basic Ideas:
 Sets forth proper forms of behavior
for human beings on Earth
 True way to follow the will of Heaven
is not action, but inaction
 Best way to act in harmony with
universal order is to act
spontaneously and let nature takes its
course by not interfering with it.
 Government was seen as
unnatural
Three Schools of
Thought
Legalism
 Hanfeizi founded it in 200’s
BC
 Proposed that human beings
are evil by nature and could only
be brought to follow the correct
path by harsh laws and stiff
punishments
 Strong ruler required to create
order
Essential Questions:
1. How did Qin Shi Huangdi promote unity in China?
2. What were Han China’s greatest achievements?
3. How were these two empires similar and different?
 Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)
 Major Achievements
 Qin Shi Huang Di
was the first emperor
and adopted Legalism
as the official philosophy
of the dynasty
 Prohibited all other
philosophies and
held public book
burnings
 known for the Great Wall
and his tomb with the terra
cotta soldiers
 Unified China through a
single monetary system
and roads
 He created a highly
centralized state with three
ministries in which officials
were chosen by a merit
system rather than
hereditary
1. Civil,
2. Military, and
3. Censorate: inspectors
checked on government
officials to make sure they
were doing their job.
Qin • Shi Huang Di tomb:
Architectur  In 1974 farmers
discovered it while
digging a well
e ○ Had an army of Terra-
Cotta Soldiers
http://dsc.discovery.com/video/index.html?playerId=203711706&categoryId=208816816&

 Shi Huang Di linked

defensive walls to
become the Great
Wall of China
 1,500 years later the
Ming Dynasty finished
the wall
 It stretches 4,000 miles
from Central Asia to the
China Sea across
northern China
 Han Dynasty 202 BC-220

AD
Founded by Liu Bang
(Han Gaozu), an illiterate
peasant that became an
efficient and benevolent
ruler
 Kept centralized state of the
Qin but rejected Legalism for
Confucianism
 Confucianism and the State
 Officials still selected based
on talent and merit
○ 165BCE first civil service
exams and established
academy to train
government officials
  Chang’an was the capital at modern
Xian.
Han Society  Han Wudi expanded the territory of the
Dynasty South and West
and  Society:
Population increased, the wealthy gained
Economy 
power and standard of living for peasants
declined
 
But they were notProductive and or harshly
as heavily taxed
treated as under Prosperous
the Qin Economy
 Trade with Central and
South Asia, Indian
Ocean, and the
Mediterranean on the
Silk Road
 New technology:
○ textile manufacturing
○ water mills for
grinding grain
○ iron casting -> led to
steel
○ Paper
○ rudder and rigging
for improved sailing
 Fall of the Han
 Wang Mang tried to
improve life for peasants
and abolish slavery but
failed and was killed in a
coup d’etat
 Some tried to restore
order but also failed.
 Division, anarchy, and
invasions lasted 400
years until the next
dynasty surfaced.
China Blog
1. Read your assigned question and use
your notes and chapter 3 to write an
answer with at least 5 sentences.
2. Post your answer to YOUR NING
PAGE in the form of a blog.
a) Use your question as the title of your blog.
b) Write your answer in the body.
3. Read 6 people’s blogs, one for each of
the other questions that are different
from yours.
1. then leave a comment for each of them.
2. It could be a statement or a question.
 Use a plain piece of
white or colored paper Chinese
to describe and
illustrate the three Philosophies
major philosophies in
Confucianis Legalism Daoism
China: P. 94-97 m
 Include information

about the founder, texts,  
view of government and

human nature.

 Each panel should

include a title, picture, 

and at least 4 bullets of 

important information.  

 
 Use a plain piece of
white or colored paper Chinese
to describe and
illustrate the three Dynasties
major dynasties in
Zhou Qin Han
China: P. 92-102
 Include information
 
about the founder,
 
philosophy of rule, major
achievements, and 

obstacles 

 Each panel should 

include a title, picture, 

and at least 4 bullets of  
important information.  