“The Middle Kingdom”

Why do the call their country the Middle Kingdom? (see notes)

• Himalayan Mountains to the Southwest, thick Jungles to the South, Ocean to the East, Siberia North/northeast, Gobi Desert to the North, Taklamakan desert west/northwest (Taklamakan means to “two enter one leaves” (or something to that effect in local Uighur language)

Pre-Historic China

PEKING MAN500,000 years ago !!!

I’m not kidding!!

Longshanwas a tribal but specialized culture in China, centered on the central and lower Yellow River and

dated from about 3000 BC to 2000 BC.

• high level of skill in pottery making,

• the establishment of cities, as rammed earth walls and moats

• Rice cultivation

• Early small scale silk production

• Divination using cracked cattle bones

•Beginning of Chinese Writing

夏朝 Xia Dynasty:From Myth to Reality(1959)

• ca. 2070 BC–ca. 1600 BC • Capital: Yangcheng •United surrounding warring tribes to control

the flooding of the River•Yu the Great succeeded after 13 years!•Diverted the river via canals; not by dikes•Establishment of Feudalism and •hereditary monarchy•Slavery•Currency: Cowries•Astronomy•Calendar based on the Great Dipper (Lunar)•Development of Animal Husbandry

商朝Shang Dynasty

• Bronze workers • Development of writing system to over 3,000 characters/symbols• Record keeping using turtle shells• Ancestral worship• Military superiority

1600 BC–1046 BC

周朝Zhou Dynasty

1045 BC–256 BC

•Philosophy•Bureaucracy•Economic growth•The looooooooooongest dynasty

The dynastic cycle refers to the rise and fall of dynasties.

The Dynastic Cycle in China

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Chinese Traditional Social Hierarchy

Hundred Schools of Thought• The fish trap exists because of the fish; once you've gotten the fish

you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit; once you've gotten the rabbit you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning; once you have the meaning you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten

words so I can have a few words with him?        -Zhuangzi • What one does not wish for oneself, one ought not to do to anyone

else. -Confucius • People are submissive to power, and few of them can be influenced

by doctrines of righteousness. -Han Feizi• Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. –Lao Tzu