Chinese Dynasties

• A dynasty is a series of rulers who are from the same family.
• Villages were groups of relatives who farmed and raised animals together.
• Upon the father's death, the oldest son would inherit property, authority, and responsibility.
• Villages grew into kingdoms with kings.
• The head of the most powerful families governed other families and made rules.
• When the king died or was unable to rule, the oldest son ruled.
• Courts and luxuries were funded by taxes.
• The Shang dynasty is the first dynasty written down in history.
• In early dynasties, the head of the ruling family was king over all the land.
• When the king died, power usually passed to the oldest son.
• The last dynasty ended in 1912.
• During the dynasty era, China divided the kingdom into parts, with each part having a leader serving the king.

The Mandate of Heaven

• The Mandate of Heaven means guiding forces of the universe selected a ruler to rule on Earth.
• Rulers were believed to have been given power because they were good and worthy.
• A ruler's power could be taken if not used for the good of the people.
• King Wen was the first ruler to claim the Mandate of Heaven.
• Legends describe a battle where fewer than 50,000 Zhou soldiers defeated over 700,000 Shang soldiers because Shang rulers were evil.
• King Wen claimed Heaven wanted the Zhou family to replace the Shang family as rulers.
• Wars or natural disasters were seen as a sign that the gods wanted a new ruler.

The Shang and Zhou Dynasties

• The Shang Dynasty were the first to leave written records.
• The Shang dynasty lasted 700 years.
• The Zhou dynasty lasted 800 years.
• Artisans made tools, weapons, containers, musical instruments, and bronze art.
• The Shang dynasty's political system was based on a strict hierarchy and aristocracy. Local rulers oversaw areas, ensured peace, collected taxes, and informed the king.
• A feudal system involved farmers giving a portion of their produce to the lord.
• China's geographic features kept it isolated and made it difficult to govern the country as unified kingdom.
• The two time periods of the Zhou dynasty are the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou dynasties.
• During the Zhou dynasty, people used iron, plows were created, and cities developed large irrigation systems.
• The Chinese had to defend against outside kingdoms.
• The Zhou dynasty fell because smaller states fought, aristocrats worked against the ruler, leadership became unclear, peaceful traditions were forgotten, and important Chinese values declined.

Wise Teachings

• Confucius, believed in restoring peace and stability and was given that name.
• Confucian values include treating others justly and not forcing others to do what you don't wish for yourself.
• Confucianism includes teachings for thinking and living, self-discipline, love, respect for elders, and worship of ancestors.
• Lao Tzu, author of the Tao Te Ching (Book of the Way), taught that life's natural force involves being thoughtful and living simply.
• The main belief of Taoism is the idea of yin and yang, which are forces that balance each other.

Duty to Respect

• Confucius believed families, society, and governments are stronger when people obey their parents.
• Filial piety involves devotion to family and being good to parents.
• Duty to parents involves taking care of them and showing them love and respect.
• All elders must be respected.
• Chinese family structure is based on hierarchy, with parents and older family members ranking higher.
• Chinese people feel connected to ancestors who died long ago.
• Children are expected to ensure parents are happy in old age and honor/worship them after death.

Silk

• Empress Lei-Tzu discovered silk when a silkworm cocoon fell into her teacup under a mulberry tree.
• Archaeologists found evidence of silk from over 8000 years ago.
• Silk became an important income source for farmers.
• Silk was expensive because only the Chinese knew how to make it.
• The trade route was named the Silk Road due to the large amount of silk fabric traded.
• Other items traded along the Silk Road included gold, ivory, spice, animals, plants, medicine, foods, and ideas.
• Ideas like printing, papermaking, gunpowder, and compass spread from China.
• Sharing the silk-making process was a crime punishable by death.
• The secret of making silk was broken when a Chinese princess smuggled silkworms out of China in her hair.

Chinese Writing

• The earliest full sentence was found on bones.
• Shang kings used professional oracles/fortune tellers to predict the future.
• Hot metal rods were inserted into bone or shell until cracked and the oracle interpreted the cracks.
• The Chinese writing system uses symbols (characters) which represent a word.
• Reading Chinese requires memorizing thousands of characters.