China’s First Civilizations

Dominated by

2 great rivers

What is the first river?

Huang He or Yellow River

Huang He or Yellow River

In the North

What is the second river?

Chang Jiang or Yangtze River

Yellow River looks yellow because

Of large amounts of silt in the river.

Every year when the river floods into the sea it creates

Yellow water

Flooding was unpredictable

And often the floods drowned many Chinese and destroyed many homes (china’s sorrow)

The river deposited a thick layer of silt called

Loess

What was the color of the Leoss

This silt has a yellowish color

The loess made

A very fertile bed for the farmers of China.

Farmland only accounted for about

10% of the land

Most of the land was covered with

Mountains and deserts which cut China off from neighbors

Chinese people called their land the

Middle kingdom

Why did the Chinese people call their land the Middle kingdom

They believed it was the world’s center

China history is

Divided into dynasties

The first dynasty is known as the

Xia.

What is the period of the Xia

2100 BCE

We know very little about Xia and have

No physical archaeological evidence.

Shang Dynasty ruled from

1750 BC until 1045 BC (dates disputed)

Egypts Middle/New Kingdom

2050-1050 BC

Around the time of Hammurabi in Babylon

1800BC

End of the Bronze age

1200 BC

Archaeologists have found royal tombs, walls, and the remains of a city called

Anyang.

They were the first dynasty to leave

Written records

Most powerful was the

king and his family who ruled over all

Lived in large homes made from

Mud bricks and wood

Loved to

hunt

Wore elaborate gowns of

silk

Lavish decorations in the

homes

Drank wine and

ate delicious foods

Were buried in

elaborate tombs

Soldiers were professionals

who worked for the king

The soldiers used

Bronze weapons and chariots

Warlords or military leaders governed

In smaller territories for the king

Royal officials and nobles were called

Aristocrats.

They passed their power from

generation to generation.

They lived in cities and

were watched by the king.

About 9 out of 10 Chinese

were farmers

Lived in villages and worked land that was owned

by the aristocrats

They grew

wheat, rice, and millet

Required to serve in the military

during war

Merchants Included

shopkeepers, traders, and bankers Looked down on by leaders

Feudalism

Ruling Warlords and aristocrats began

Under the feudalism system

The wealthy owned the land and rented it to farmers in exchange for working the land

Farmers Kept a small percentage of what they farmed and

gave the rest of what they harvested to the nobles in exchange for the land.

Chinese believed that the

spirits of the dead lived forever and must be worshipped

Chinese believed they must keep their ancestors

happy

They offered sacrifices

to the ancestors

Priests used oracle bones

to communicate with the ancestors

Priests would read cracks on the bones to

determine answers to questions

Artifacts have told us many things about

the shang

Archaeologists have found

oracle bones, pottery, ivory and jade statues, ceremonial axes, burial sites, sculptures, vases, drinking cups, and bronze urns