The document provides information on early East Asian civilizations including the Shang and Zhou Dynasties in China. It discusses that the Shang Dynasty ruled from around 1556 BC to 1046 BC according to current texts and was the first Chinese empire, using tools like the wheel and domesticating animals. Oracle bones from the late Shang Dynasty containing early Chinese script provided historians with insights. The Zhou Dynasty then overtook the Shang and ruled for over 800 years based on a philosophy of a "Mandate from Heaven." Popular philosophers from this era included Confucius who emphasized education and virtue, Laozi who blamed laws for restricting human nature, and Han Fei who believed the state was more important than individuals.

1. EAST ASIAN
CIVILIZATIONS

2. The earliest Chinese empire
is said to be the Hsia
Dynasty, but apart from
literature, there is no proof
of its existence.

3. Shang Dynasty
•It is the second oldest empire. It is also considered as
the first Chinese empire.
• According to traditional historiography, ruled in the
Yellow River valley in the second millennium
BC, succeeding the Xia Dynasty and followed by
the Zhou Dynasty.
• Archaeological excavations indicate that during the
Shang Dynasty, the people used the wheel. They wore
silk and furs from animals which were hunted and
later, domesticated.

4. Shang Dynasty
• According to the traditional chronology based upon
calculations made approximately 2,000 years ago
by Liu Xin, the Shang ruled from 1766 BC to 1122
BC, but according to the chronology based upon the
"current text" of Bamboo Annals, they ruled from 1556
BC to 1046 BC.
• The emperors of the Shang Dynasty came from
aristocratic families who were former military leaders.
The war forces of the Shang Dynasty were made up of
one thousand (1,000) to ten thousand (10,000)
soldiers who rode on chariots.

5. Oracle Bones
• In 1930, systematic excavation
was undertaken in Anyang. The
dragon bones were in fact bones
of oxen, sheep, turtles, and other
animals which were more than
three thousand years old. They
were called oracle bones.
• These bones were consulted by
diviners by ancient times in the
hope of answering pressing
questions like :
“When will the rains come?”

6. Oracle Bones
• Chinese historians and
scholars were able to read
the writings on the
bones, which is similar to
modern-day Chinese script.
• The vast majority of the
inscribed oracle bones date
to the last 230 or so years of
the Shang dynasty.

7. Chou Dynasty
• The Chou period lasted for eight hundred sixty six
(866) years, from 1122B.C. to 256B.C.
• The Chou conquerors explained the reason for
their supremacy as “mandate from heaven,” a belief
that became the center of Chinese political thought.
• According to this belief, Heaven grants the
emperor, the “Son of Heaven,” the right to rule as
long as he behaves properly and virtuously.

8. Chou Dynasty
• The Chou first coexisted and then fought with the
earlier Shang Dynasty, living to the west of them in
what is now Shensi Province, with a capital
originally in Hao (Zongzhou).
• A good emperor, it was then believed, brought
with him peace, good harvest, and contentment
among his people.

9. Chou Dynasty
• In the latter part of the Chou Dynasty, the
noblemen built more powerful kingdoms, and
initiated wars among themselves. The title “Son of
Heaven” became merely symbolic; in reality the
emperor was powerless.
• By 600B.C. the power of the Chou Dynasty was
over, but the legacies remain as enduring traditions
of the Chinese people.

10. Popular Chinese
philosophers or
scholars

11. Confucius
• He was a Chinese
teacher, editor, politician, and
philosopher of the Spring and Autumn
period of Chinese history.
• According to him, harmony in society
is attained only if the proper relationship
between people is restored and
properly observed.
• According to him also that virtue is not
given or inherited. It is attained through
education, and anyone who wants to
work for the government must work
toward a proper education.

12. Confucius
• His followers wrote down his teachings in the Five
Classics and the Analects. These works became the
basis of Chinese education, which emphasizes the
fundamental values of
benevolence, righteousness, propriety, filial piety, and
justice.

13. Lao
• was a philosopher of ancient
China, best known as the author of
Tzu Ching (often simply
the Tao Te
referred to as Laozi).
• He blamed society for the
individual’s behavior.
• According to his philosophy, the
laws and traditions created by man
forced the individual person to live
contrary to the ways of nature, or
the “Tao,” causing chaos in society.

14. Han Fei
• also known as Han Feizi, was a
Tzu
Chinese philosopher who, along
with Li Si, Gongsun Yang, Shen
Dao and Shen Buhai, developed
the doctrine of Legalism.
• According to him, the leading
proponent of the school of
Legalism, the most important
element is the state, and the
welfare of the individual person
is subordinate to that of state.