Ancient China

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Marigold School
2006-2007
A GenYes Project
By Ryan Ostrom
in patnership with
Mrs. Schoenthaler
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Ancient China
Its culture
Its leaders
Its Acheivements
Etc.
2033 B.C.
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Chinas Geography

• China has a variety of Environments.
• Ranging from Deserts to dense rain forests.

• In the Chang Jiang Valley farmers grow rice on
  mountains that look like steps.

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More Geography

• Chinas mountains, rivers, deserts, and seas,
  made it difficult to travel to and from China.
  The middle of China consists of mostly mountains
  and plateaus, but to the north of central China
  is the Gobi Desert. In western China there are
  the Himalayas and to the north of that is the
  largest and highest plateau in the world, called
  the Plateau of Tibet. In eastern China the
  landscape is made up of wide valleys and fertile
  planes. This is where the Huang He River and the
  Chang Jiang River are located.
• The two main rivers in China are the Huang He
  (Yellow River) and the Chang Jiang (Long River).
  The Huang He river deposits yellow silt called
  loess and this silt gives the Huang He the name
  Yellow River. Both the rivers have created
  valleys that lead to open planes. Both the rivers
  deposit fertile soil and both can cause terrible
  floods that destroy homes and drown people. The
  Huang Hes floods so badly that ancient Chinese
  called it Chinas Sorrow.

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The Silk Roads

• In 139 B.C. Wu Di sent an ambassador to western
  China to find friends. They instead found
  civilizations. Soon after they conquered the land
  and set up trade with Europe. They traded for
  horses, glass, spices, unusual fruits, musical
  instruments and other items not found in China.
  They traded mostly silk and other goods not found
  in Europe. Those who bought Chinese goods often
  traded it to others.

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Different Classes

• At the top of these classes is the Emperor and
  the Royal Family
• The second highest are Civil Servants. They were
  highly respected because they served royalty and
  could read and write.
• The third highest would be Peasants and
  Craftsmen. Although Peasants have little money
  they produce food for China. Craftsmen produce
  important things like tools, weapons, furniture,
  and other goods.
• After Peasants and Craftsmen would be Merchants.
  Merchants are considered low because they sell
  things made by someone else.
• The lowest are Soldiers, Entertainers, and
  Servants.
• Most of the people in the lower classes didnt
  climb up to other classes.

• Emperor/Royal Family
• Civil Servants
• Peasants/Craftsmen
• Merchants
• Soldiers/Entertainers/Servants

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The Poor

• In northern China the poor ate wheat noodles,
  steamed bread, and bean curd. In the south the
  poor ate rice for almost every meal if not every.
  They hardly ever had a meal with meat. The poor
  peoples houses were made of straw and mud while a
  rich persons house was often made of wood. Women
  wore simple wool garments in the winter and
  cotton garments in the summer and they never wore
  silk. The male peasants wore pants made of hemp
  and shirts made of cotton.

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The Rich

• The different classes told what you could wear
  and do. The Royal family, the Civil Servants, and
  the wealthy could wear gold, silver or jade,
  while the poor could only wear copper or iron.
  The rich ate lots of different foods. Although
  the fashion changed over time the fabric didnt.
  The rich wore silk and the poor were not allowed
  to. Silk was also a symbol status for people. Few
  wealthy women were allowed to work outside of
  their house so they had lots of free time. They
  spent it listening to music, writing poetry,
  weaving, embroidering, and sewing.

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SHI HUANGDI

• Shi Huangdi proclaimed himself emperor of China
  (259 B.C.-210 B.C.). The Emperor made a standard
  Chinese writing, a bureaucracy, scholarships,
  law, currency, and weights and measures. He
  expanded the borders of the Chinese empire, built
  a capital, a system of roads, and massive
  fortifications including the Great Wall of China
  and palaces. He was a cruel leader and killed
  anyone who opposed him and did not allow
  scholarly talk of the past and he even burned
  books of past reigns. He even had a huge stone
  army built in his tomb. They named China after
  the short Qin (Chin) Dynasty.

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Shang Dynasty

• In 1766 B.C. Tang the Successful brought 1,800
  villages under his rule. This began the Shang
  Dynasty. The Shang Armies used new technology
  including war chariots and bronze tipped spears
  to fight. The Shang society invented a writing
  system, had social classes and lived under
  monarchy. The origins of Chinese civilization can
  be traced back to the Shang Dynasty. In this
  dynasty most people lived in farming villages.
  Farmers grew grain and raised chickens, pigs, and
  silkworms. Metalworkers made bronze tools,
  weapons, and beautiful containers. They lived in
  buildings made mostly from wood and mud. Some
  cities though did have walls.

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Han Dynasty

• They became a Confucian state and their main
  goals where the unification of China. The Han
  Dynasty began in 206 when the army of Han
  defeated the Qin army at Wei. The Han government
  still punished commoners but made their decisions
  using the Confucian principle. Liu Bang, the
  emperor of China, kept most of the laws and
  regulations that the Qin had.

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Confucius

• Confucius wanted his disciples to think deeply
  for themselves and relentlessly study the
  outside world. Confucius was troubled by the war
  and thought there should be goodness in the
  government. Confucius taught people that the
  family was a model for the government. He
  thought that the people should respect their
  rulers and in return he thought that the rulers
  should love the people like a parent loves their
  children. He also taught everyone that their duty
  was to bring goodness to the society. He thought
  of these duties in five ways, parent to child,
  ruler to subject, older brother to younger
  brother, husband to wife, and friend to friend.
  His sayings were ignored during his life, but
  after he died his ideas spread and are now called
  Confucianism.

• Parent to child
• Ruler to subject
• Older brother to younger brother
• Husband to wife
• Friend to friend

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THE END
THE END
THE END
THE END
By RYAN W. Ostrom
Partner Teacher Mrs. S