Ancient China

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Ancient China
Presented By Lexi Will
Designed By Rebecca
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Overveiw

• Ancient China contributed much to the Western
  World.
• Accomplishments in Philosophy, Religion, Arts,
  Architecture, Technology, and Medicines
• Without many Chinese inventions our society would
  vary greatly from how we perceive it today
• Ancient China lasted from the beginning of the
  Neolithic Period in 12000 B.C.E. until the end
  of the Classical Imperial Era in 1234 C.E

Chinese Temple
Yin Yang
Mortar and Pestle
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The Religions -
Taoism

• Taoism (Daoism)
• The founder of Taoism was Lao-Tzu (604-531
  B.C.E), a contemporary of  Confucius
• He was searching for a way that would avoid the
  constant feudal warfare and other conflicts that
  disrupted life during his lifetime
• This resulted in his book Tao-te-Ching
• Taoism started as a combination of  psychology
  and philosophy but evolved into a religion in 440
  CE when it was adopted as a state religion
• This marked Lao-Tzu ascension into godhead
  (venerated as a deity)

Yin Yang

• Taoist Beliefs Practices
• Tao is the first-cause of the universe - it is a
  force that flows through all life
• Time is cyclical, not linear as in Western
  thinking
• Yin (dark side) is the breath that formed the
  earth, Yang (light side) is the breath that
  formed the heavens
• They symbolize pairs of  opposites which are seen
  throughout the universe, such as good and evil,
  light and dark, male and female
• Intervention by human civilization upsets the
  balances of Yin and Yang
• The Tao surrounds everyone and therefore everyone
  must listen to find enlightenment

Lau Tzu
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Taoism - Continued

• Five main organs and orifices of  the body
  correspond to the five parts of  the sky water,
  fire, wood, metal and earth.
• Each person must nurture the Ch'I that has been
  given to them
• Goal of  everyone is to become one with the Tao
• Development of  virtue is one's chief task
• The Three Jewels to be sought are compassion,
  moderation and humility
• Taoists follow the art of  wu wei which is to
  achieve action through minimal action
• One should plan in advance and consider carefully
  each action before making it
• Taoists are kind to other individuals, largely
  because such an action tends to be reciprocated
• Taoists believe that people are compassionate by
  nature

World Tai Chi Day Symbol

• Tai-Chi
• Long history involvement by Taoists in various
  exercise and movement techniques
• Tai chi works on all parts of  the body
• Stimulates the central nervous system, lowers
  blood pressure, relieves stress and gently tones
  muscles without strain
• Enhances digestion, elimination of  wastes and
  the circulation of  blood
• Tai-Chi's rhythmic movements massage the internal
  organs and improve their functionality
• Traditional Chinese medicine teaches that illness
  is caused by blockages or lack of  balance in the
  body's chi (intrinsic energy)
• Tai Chi is believed to balance this energy flow

Examples of Tai Chi
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The Medicines

• Alchemy
• Discovery of medicine in Ancient China started
  more than 2,000 years ago
• Goal of medicine was to make an Elixir of Life
  for the Emperors
• Elixir of Life is a potion that the Chinese
  believed would make you live forever become
  immortal
• Idea to discover an elixir and the science of
  medicine was influenced by Tao Ch'ien who was a
  famous poet and philosopher
• Stated that if one discovered the method of
  turning metal into gold they would at the same
  time discover the elixir of life
• Tsou Yen who was a pharmacologist, formed a
  theory on how he thought diseases were caused
• Stated that two spirit-like life forces (Yin and
  Yang) flowed through the body
• Believed diseases were thought to be caused when
  either Yin or Yang were out of balance
• Used herbs, minerals, and animal organs

Bian Que

• Medicine to Science
• Tsou Yen wrote theories about elements and made a
  system of rules of classifying large and small
  objects
• Shen Nong contributed to Tsou Yens work by
  organizing herbal medicine into two categories
  "Four Spirits" and "Five Tastes
• Four Spirits - Medicines that made your body
  respond to cold, hot, warm, or cool
• Five Tastes Medicine that is sour, bitter,
  hot, sweet, or salty when tasted

Chart of Medincal Properties
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Finer Medicines

• Acupuncture
• About a century after the discovery of medicine
  acupuncture was invented
• Needles are put in certain parts of the person's
  body
• Believed that if you put needles in specific
  spots, Yin and Yang would be become balanced
• Relieve pain and wouldn't catch any illness when
  balanced
• Chinese believed that two dragon spirits lived in
  ones heart the Black Dragon and the White
  Dragon
• Black Dragon represented bad luck and evil
• White Dragon spirit represented eternity and good
  luck
• Doctors had to inspect ones tongue to determine
  which Dragon resided in ones heart
• Yellow Tongue Meant fire from the Dragon had
  risen in your stomach
• Purple Tongue Meant that ones heart is pumping
  unhealthy blood
• Red Tongue - Healthy
• Yellow or Purple Tongue - Black Dragon
• Red Tongue White Dragon

Meridians of the Body

• Important Figures
• Li Shao-Chun was the first doctor/pharmacologist
  mentioned in early Chinese records
• Bian Que was recognized as the Shaman of Life
  as he reportedly brought a dead prince back to
  life
• Prince was actually in a coma the use of
  acupuncture rekindled blood flow in certain
  points of the body
• In 100 B.C.E. Shen Nong invented the first set of
  herbal medicines
• made a graph full of herbs and their uses
• Li Shizen travelled through China to find every
  medical achievement
• Listed 1,892 herbs and 11,000 prescriptions in a
  book
• Also corrected mistakes in some medicine uses and
  classified all the herbs used in medicine

Face Acupuncture
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The Architecture

• Great Wall of China
• Construction of the wall started in 227BC, lead
  by emperor Qin
• The Great Wall of China is 6700 kilometers long
• Runs from east to west crossing over 5
  provinces.One of the Seven Wonders of the World
• Main purpose of the wall was to block out the
  Mongolians from invading
• The wall is about 2300 years old
• Small watch towers were built in sections of the
  wall for warriors/generals to watch for any
  invading forces
• Symbolizes the power and might of the ancient
  Emperors

Great Wall of China

• Temple of Heaven
• The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 A.D.
  during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifices to
  the heavens
• Surrounded by a long wall and its size is three
  times larger than the Forbidden City
• Northern part of the wall is semicircular
  symbolizes the heavens
• Southern part of the wall is square symbolizes
  the earth
• There are many temples within the Temple of
  Heaven
• Grandest one is the The Hall of Annual
  Prayer.These temples were very important back in
  ancient China, because emperors would pray on
  good things to happen to China through these
  temples
• Today these temples are still standing in Beijing
  an are open to the public

Temple of Heaven
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More Architecture

• The Stone Lions
• Ancient Chinese believed that the lion was a
  special/sacred animal
• Believe that lions were the king of the animal
  world
• Represent power and courageMost houses back in
  Ancient China had two stone lions guarding them
• One was male and the other was female
• Stone lions had lumps on their head lumps
  represented the ranking of the owner of the
  house
• Believed that the main purpose of having stone
  lions guarding their homes was to protect against
  evil
• Even today some homes in China and even North
  America have stone lions in front of their houses
  to protect and guard the home

Stone Lion
Hall of Annual Prayer