2. Lesson 1 Outline:
The Geography of China
I. China
a. China is the largest country in Asia and the third
largest country in the world.
b. China is a land of contrasts, meaning that there
are many differences in landforms, climate, and
the ways of the life of the people who live there.
i.
Some landforms in China are
plains, mountains, rivers, and deserts.
3.
4.
5. II. North China Plain
a. Today, this area is highly populated (many
people live there).
b. It is a center of agriculture and industry.
c. A large portion of China’s food comes from this
region
6. III. China’s Land
a. China has fertile land on the North China Plain
because it is enriched by loess, or yellowish
brown soil that blows in from the desert.
b. Crops are grown on terraces, or platforms of
earth that look like stairs.
i. China grew crops using double cropping, planting
two crops on one field at the same time.
7. IV. Beijing
a. Beijing is China’s capital.
b. It is located on the northern tip of the North
China Plain.
c. It has been a center of culture and government.
Beijing
8. V. Huang River
a. The Huang River flows through the North China Plain.
b. Early Chinese civilizations made their homes near the
Huang River Valley.
c. It picks up and carries a large amount of yellow silt, or
loess, that is dissolved in the water. This turns the
river yellow, which is why it is called Huang River, or
Yellow River in Chinese.
i. The loess originated from the deserts that
surround China.
d. Levees (walls) were built surrounding the Huang River to
control the flooding.
e. The Huang River is called “China’s Sorrow” because the
floods have destroyed crops and homes.
12. VI. Guangxi Zhungzu
a. Guangxi Zhungzu has the best area
for farming.
b. Farmers use a system called double cropping
which is when two crops are grown on the same
land.
13. VII. Tibetan Plateau
a. The land is very rocky.
b. The Tibetan Plateau is called “The Roof of the
World” because it is where the Himalayas are
located.
c. The Himalayan Mountains contain the tallest peak
in the world (Mt. Everest).
d. The Himalayan Mountains are so large that they
stretch across more than one country.
15. China’s Past
Lesson 2 Notes (pages 108-112)
I. China’s culture has remained almost unchanged
for centuries.
II. Chinese writing
a. Chinese writing is made up of pictographs,
pictures that represent words
III. Dynasties
a. China was ruled by various dynasties (ruling
family) for thousands of years.
b. They were formed around the two main river
valleys.
16. IV. Shang Dynasty
a. First dynasty
b. Farming was a way of life.
c. Bronze Age – period when tools and
weapons were made out of bronze.
d. During the Shang Dynasty they used the
oracle bone ,which they believed predicted
the future.
e. The Oracle bone was considered to have the
first form of Chinese writing.
17. V. Zhou Dynasty
a. It was the longest dynasty – over 800 years
b. Silk was an important product for the
economy.
c. Second part of dynasty known as Eastern Zhou
i. Known as the Golden Age.
ii. A Golden Age is a time of peace, prosperity, and
advancements.
iii. New money system encouraged trade
iv. Iron tools and weapons were used.
18. VI. Qin Dynasty
a. First emperor – Shi Huangdi
i. Started the Great Wall of China (took
100 years to finish). It was built to
protect the empire from northern
invaders.
ii. Shi Huangdi controlled what the people
talked about and studied.
19. VII. Han Dynasty
a. Han Gauzo -“High Ancestor” –was first ruler who was
a peasant.
b. They made many changes in roads (built new
ones), that allowed the country to unite.
c. They lifted bans on books placed by Shi Huangdi
and valued the contributions of scholars and teachers.
d. They created the first complete history of China
e. They created civil service exams that required rulers
to pass a test before they could rule. Positions of
power were no longer given out to family members
or friends, they had to be earned.
1. These were three days of testing to
determine which job each person was suited
for.
f. The Han Dynasty invented porcelain, paper, and ink
20. VIII. Silk Road
a. These roads connected China to the rest of the
world.
b. They connected Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
c. The Middle East was considered the “middleman”
i. Middleman are the people who go between buyers and
sellers.
d. They were the most important trade routes in
history.
e. The Silk Roads allowed trading and cultural diffusion
to connect more places and people than any other
trade routes.
22. Lesson 3 Outline:
The Legacy of Thought
I. Confucius
a. Confucius was a noble man who was a scholar (a
person who studies a lot about a topic, usually
humanity—the human race)
b. He lived during the Zhou dynasty.
c. Confucius was a teacher of morals, or deciding
what is right and wrong, and was a disciplined
thinker.
d. Confucius valued order, harmony, and ways of
making the world right.
23. II. Analects
a. The Analects are a collection of sayings by
Confucius that were written down by his
students.
b. The Analects gave advice to people who wanted
to do the right thing.
25. IV. Lessons Taught by Confucianism
a. Believes in teaching the middle way, which means
that a person should make balanced decisions
b. Believes that each person should accept their role in
society.
c. Children must obey and respect their parents and
teachers.
d. Found peacefulness in having order.
e. Rulers should have the Mandate of Heaven, or the
divine right to govern for the good of all people.
f. Rulers can be removed from the throne if they are a
harsh or unwise ruler.
26. V. Mencius
a. He was a follower of Confucius who declared
that people were good by nature.
27. VI. Daoism
a. Daoism the belief in finding the “way,” or dao, of
the universe.
b. Daoism did not focus on order like
Confucianism.
c. Laozi was the first great teacher.
d. Daoists believed that people should live in
harmony with nature, not apart from it.
