Overview of Ancient China

China’s GeographyChina is a large country with a varied

landscape.

The heart of China is dominated by its two major rivers, the Huang He and Chang (Yangtze).

The Huang He is also called the Yellow River because is carries yellow soil called loess. It flows 2,900 miles across China before it empties into the Yellow Sea.

The Huang He is also called “China’s Sorrow” because of the flooding it can bring.

The Chang or Yangtze River is Asia’s longest at 3,434 miles long. It is an important trade route.

China’s most fertile land in in the east – the North China Plain and the Manchurian Plain.

North China Plain

Manchuria

n Plain

Much of the rest of China is dry – the Plateau of Tibet, the Gobi Desert, and the Taklimakan Desert.

Because of China’s huge size, rugged mountains, and harsh deserts, it was difficult to invade.

Gobi DesertTi

en S

han

Mtn

s

Himalayas

Pac

ific

O

cean

Invaders usually came from the north – from areas such as Mongolia and Manchuria.

Later the Chinese will build the Great Wall to keep out the invaders.

Great Wall statistics…

4,160 miles long!It’s only 3,610

miles from New York City to Paris, France.

It’s only 3,095 miles from San Francisco, California to Boston, Mass.

The Chinese considered themselves the center of the earth and of civilization so they called their country the Middle Kingdom. Outsiders were considered barbarians.

Early Chinese Civilizations

Earliest Chinese Civilization took place along the Huang He River .

It later spread to the Yangzi River.

Trade with the Middle East took place along the Silk Road.

Social Structure

Chinese often lived in clans which were groups of families who claimed a common ancestor.

BASIC CLASS STRUCTURE

rulers

nobles

merchants/artisans

peasants (the majority of the population)

Religion

Chinese were polytheistic (believed in many gods and nature spirits)

They prayed to their ancestors because they were links to the gods

Ancestor worship in China

ReligionBelieved in two

forces of nature called Yin(female) and Yang (male) that needed to be in harmony. People often did things to destroy this harmony.

Religion

Used Oracle Bones to tell the future (interpreted by priests).

LanguageMandarin is a difficult

language to learn because there are over 10,000 characters.

Used pictograms and ideographs.

Chinese known for calligraphy- elegant handwriting.

Chinese couldn’t understand each other’s spoken language but all used the same written language.

Government

China was ruled by a series of dynasties – a line of rulers from the same family.

The large government was organized into a bureaucracy – a government with many levels.

Chinese believed in the concept called the Mandate of Heaven which says that a ruler will stay in power as long as he rules well and strongly but will lose power if he becomes weak and corrupt. Then another dynasty will start.

The rise and fall of dynasties is called the Dynastic Cycle.