Ancient China

September 29, 2008

The Yellow River

! !

! Huang He Known as the Cradle of Chinese Civilization, Chinas Pride, & Mother River. Also known as Chinas Sorrow.

The Yangtze River

! ! !

! ! Chang Jiang The longest river in Asia. Floods on the Yangtze were considerably more predictable than those on the Yellow River.

Xia Dynasty !
! !

2070 ! 1600 BCE Founded by Yu the Great "#. Celebrated for introducing dams and irrigation canals that controlled ooding. Possibly mythological.

Shang Dynasty !
! !

1600 ! 1027 BCE Fully developed system of writing. Created a capital at Yin, modern!day Anyang.

Fu Hao !
! !

d. ! c.1200 BCE Wife of King Wu Ding " #, the rst historically veriable Chinese monarch.

Served as high priestess and as a general.

Tomb of Fu Hao

Oracle Bones !

Zhou Dynasty !
! !

1027 ! 265 BCE Longest Dynasty in Chinese history. Beginning of the Iron Age in China. Dawn of Chinese philosophy.
!

The Hundred Schools of Thought

Mandate of Heaven !
!

The idea that the gods would bless the reign of a good and just ruler, and would disapprove of the rule of a tyrant. New dynasties could be founded by non!nobles. Similar to the European concept of Divine Right.

Confucius !
! ! !

551 ! 479 BCE Founder of Confucianism. Believed in the power of personal example over explicit rules of behavior. Confucius serves as the model of ethical behavior.

Confucius Says...
!

"Lead the people with administrative injunctions and put them in their place with penal law, and they will avoid punishments but will be without a sense of shame. Lead them with excellence and put them in their place through roles and ritual practices, and in addition to developing a sense of shame, they will order themselves harmoniously." "Analects II, 3#

Confucius Says...
Adept Kung asked: "Is there any one word that could guide a person throughout life?" The Master replied: "How about 'shu' $reciprocity%: never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself?" "Analects XV.24#

Laozi !
!

Might have lived in the 6th Century BCE. His name means Old Master. Author of the Tao Te Ching and the founder of Taoism. Possibly mythological.

Tao Te Ching ! "

!

Describes the path "tao or dao# of virtue "te or de#. Taoism stresses concepts of balance, harmony, & natural order. Wu wei "## ! without action. Pu "# ! uncarved block.

Tao Te Ching
The Way that can be told of is not an unvarying way; The names that can be named are not unvarying names. It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang; The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after its kind.

Tao Te Ching
We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel; But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the wheel depends. We turn clay to make a vessel; But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the vessel depends. We pierce doors and windows to make a house; And it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the usefulness of the house depends. Therefore just as we take advantage of what is, we should recognize the usefulness of what is not.

Sun Tzu ! $
!

Wrote The Art of War " #.

! !

Possibly mythological. Military strategy combined with Taoist philosophy. Strategy requires the ability to adapt to new and changing situations.

The Art of War

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will ght without danger in battles. If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.

Qin Dynasty !
! ! !

221 ! 206 BCE Unied China. Imposed a bureaucratic meritocracy in China. Ran a strict, legalist state. Began work on the Great Wall.

! !

Legalism !
! !

Government philosophy based on 3 concepts: Fa "# !The law code must be clearly written and made public. All people under the ruler were equal before the law. Shu "# ! The philosophy behind the laws should be known only to the ruler. Shi "# !It is the position of the ruler, not the ruler himself or herself, that holds the power.

Terracotta Army ! %
!

Found in the province of Xian "#. Buried with the rst Emporer of the Qin Dynasty. There are over 8,000 life! sized statues in the tomb.