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| Throughout its history China has also been divided politically into two main sections. The smaller and more important section lies along the seacoast and stretches inland up the valleys of the Huang He and Chang Jiang. We call this region China Proper -- the heart of China. |
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Extraordinarily fertile yellow soil, silt carried as sediment in a river's waters
Extra: Loess comes from the German Löss or Löß, and ultimately from Alemannic lösch meaning loose as named by peasants and masons along the Rhine Valley. |
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| Early Chinese farmers in the Huang He valley built earthen dikes to protect their crops from periodic floods. The higher dikes did not end the flooding, however. Such devastating floods led the anicent Chinese to nickname the Huang He river as "China's Sorrow." |
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| a formidable desert in China that allowed civilization in China to develop in relative isolation |
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means Middle Kingdom
The lack of contact with foreigners helped give the Chinese a strong sense of identity and superiority. To the Chinese, their land represented the center of the world. |
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A succession of dynasties ruled China that all experienced a dynastic cycle consisting of several stages.
1. Founding of the dynasty - military warfare and the victor became new leader
2. Internal Peace - the dynasty used its wealth to improve roads, education, and the arts
3. Regression - Marked by decline. During this stage rulers thought less of their people.
4. When decline reached a low point with chaos and rebellion the dynasty collapsed and then a new leader emerged. |
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| The legends of ancient China tell of Pan Gu (BAHN GOO), the first man, who worked for 18,000 years to create the universe. |
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| The legends tell of the Xia (SHAH) dynasty, which ruled the Huang He region from about 2000 B.C. to about 1500 B.C. |
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| China's first historic dynasty began about 1500 B.C. along the Huang He (Yellow) River. Many scholars believe that the Shang introduced simple irrigation and flood control systems to their people. |
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| During the last centuries of Shang rule, the capital was situated near what is today the city of Anyang. (AHN * YAHNG) |
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| The Chinese believed that their ruler symbolized the direct link between the people and heaven. The gods gave the monarch the right to rule. |
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| The king's popularity depended on the success of the harvest, which in part depended on the time of planting as determined by the calendar. Priest-astronomers played a very important role. |
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| A brush is used to write characters in lines that run from the top to the bottom of the page, beginning on the right side. Writing itself became an art. |
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| Priests wrote questions on the shoulder bones of cattle or on the bottom of tortoise shells. They thrusted a heated metal rod into the bones and would interpret the pattern of cracks for an answer. |
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1122 B.C. to 256 B.C.
The most enduring Chinese dynasty. They conquered the Shang dynasty. |
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| Irrigated approximately 1,000 square miles of land. As a result, China's population grew steadily. |
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| Boy who cried wolf story. King You entertained his favorite princess by lighting warning fires which signaled the nobles that nomadic raiders were attacking. This false alarm resulted in nobles not responding to an actual attack by nomads. |
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221 B.C. - 202 B.C.
Used cavalry armed with bows and arrows to overthrow the Zhou dynasty. They connected several walls to form the Great Wall of China. Discontent caused a peasant revolt in 207 B.C. |
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| The king of the Chinese Qin dynasty from 246 B.C. to 221 B.C. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 B.C. |
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| Almost 700,000 workers has been brutally driven to build the Great Wall -- it is said that each of its stones cost a life. The structure is 25 ft high and extended 1,400 miles. |
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| A general of peasant background led a revolt against the Qin. He overthrew the empire and in 202 B.C. founded the Han dynasty. |
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