This document provides an overview of ancient Chinese civilization, including its geography, earliest dynasties, and cultural developments. It describes how China's isolation due to natural barriers like deserts and mountains allowed civilization to develop independently. The earliest dynasties, like the Xia and Shang, established many cultural traditions still present today, such as respect for ancestors and a unified writing system. The Zhou dynasty expanded on these foundations and established the concept of "Mandate of Heaven" to justify changes in ruling dynasties.

1. Ancient China
Unit 1: River Valley Civilizations
Day 5

2. Essential Question
1. How does Ancient China displays
examples of being a civilization?

3. What will we learn?
1. Geography of China
2. The earliest dynasties (Xia, Zhou,
Shang)
3. Development of Chinese culture

4. Geography & Culture
1. Setting the Stage:
a. China’s first city walls were built 1000 years after the walls of Ur, the
great pyramids, and the planned cities on the Indus River.
b. Unlike most cultures on earth, the civilization that began in China 4000
years ago still thrives there today.

5. Geography & Culture
2. The Geography of China
a. Natural barriers isolated ancient China
b. East: The Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and Pacific Ocean
c. West: Taklimakan Desert and 15,000 ft Plateau of Tibet
d. Southwest: Himalayas
e. North: Gobi Desert and Mongolian Plateau
f. Mountain ranges and desert
dominate 2/3 of China’s landmass

7. Geography & Culture
g. River Systems
i. Huang He (Yellow River) in the north
1. Deposits large amounts of yellowish silt called
loess.
2. Loess is blown by winds from deserts into the
river

8. Huang He (Yellow River)

9. Geography & Culture
g. River Systems
ii. Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) in central China
1. Flows East from the Yellow Sea
2. At 3964 Miles long, it is the longest river in China

10. Geography & Culture
h. Environmental Challenges
i. Disastrous floods from the Huang He
ii. Trade was difficult so settlers became self-
dependent
iii. Geography did not make invasion impossible
i. Only 12% of China’s land is
suitable for farming
j. Most farmable land is on the
North Central Plain between
the Yellow River and Yangtze

11. Earliest Dynasties

12. Geography & Culture
3. The Development of Chinese Culture
a. Fossils show that modern humans lived in SW China 1.7 million years
ago
b. According to legend, the first Chinese dynasty, The Xia Dynasty,
started about 2000 B.C.
c. Chinese viewed everyone outside of their culture as
barbarians
d. Viewed themselves as center of civilized world
e. Chinese name for China was Middle Kingdom
f. Family is central to Chinese society; respect for one’s
parents
g. Women treated as inferiors
h. Girls were arranged to be married between 13 and 16

13. Geography & Culture
i. Religion: Spirits of ancestors had power to bring good
fortune; not seen as gods
j. Use of Oracle Bones- priests scratch question on
bones, apply hot poker, bone would split, interpret
the cracks
k. No links between spoken and written language
l. One could read Chinese without being able to speak the
language
m. All parts of China learned the same system of writing
even if spoke different language thus unifying parts of
China
n. Needed to know 1500 characters just to be considered
literate; scholars knew 10,000 characters

14. Geography & Culture
i. What do you see in
the image below?
j. What might this be
used for?
k. Which
characteristic of
civilization does
this describe?

15. Chinese alphabet

16. Zhou & the Dynastic Cycle
a. 1027 BC a people called the Zhou overthrew the Shang
culturally similar
b. Zhou believed in Mandate of Heaven or divine approval
to rule
c. Mandate of Heaven became central to Chinese view of
government
d. This helped explain the Dynastic cycle: a pattern of
rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties if the spirits did
not approve of one king’s rule

17. Zhou & the Dynastic Cycle
f. Zhou dynasty innovated roads , coined money , blast
furnaces
g. The Zhou were generally peaceful
h Later years of Zhou Dynasty known as Warring States
period due to weakened power of Zhou kings, attacking
nobles, and war lords

18. Mandate of Heaven

19. Dynastic Cycle

20. Zhou & the Dynastic Cycle
Result: The heart of Chinese culture, love of order,
harmony, and respect for authority, were replaced by
chaos, arrogance, and defiance. The Qin Dynasty would
bring new order to one of the oldest civilizations on
earth.