Ch.7-Section II. China

• China is located at the heart of eastern Asia.
• Ancient Chinese referred to their land as the Middle Kingdom.
• The population of China is the largest of any country in the world, nearly one-fifth of the world's population.
• Modern China's land size is slightly smaller than the United States, but its population is about five times greater.
• China is one of the world's most ancient civilizations.
• The earliest Chinese lived in the fertile valleys of the Huang He (Yellow) and Yangtze rivers.
• China remained relatively free from outside influences for many centuries.
• Natural barriers like the Pacific Ocean, Himalayan Mountains, and Gobi Desert isolated China.
• The relative lack of foreign influence allowed the Chinese to develop and maintain a unique and stable culture from ancient to modern times.

Societal Features

• The family was the center of life in Chinese society.
• Chinese families were large and multigenerational.
• Ancestors were considered part of the family.
• Bringing honor to one's family was a major responsibility.
• Dishonoring ancestors by bringing reproach on the family name was a serious offense.
• Ancestor worship became the leading religion in China.
• Chinese houses contained ancestral altars where incense was burned.
• The Chinese hoped to receive blessings and guidance from their ancestral spirits by caring for family graves and worshiping at altars.

Language and Learning

• China's spoken language is characterized by its tonal quality.
• Varying the tone of voice on a syllable can change the meaning of a word.
• Variations in spoken languages across regions make communication difficult.
• China has a common written language.
• Traditional Chinese writing consists of roughly sixty-five thousand characters representing ideas, objects, and sounds.
• Memorizing each character to read and write makes literacy difficult.
• The vast majority of Chinese people have been illiterate throughout history.
• Even literate Chinese typically know only about four thousand characters.
• Those who master the written language have always held a place of distinction in Chinese society.
• China has been called a "scholar's world" where scholars held more influence than soldiers, priests, or merchants.
• Education for scholars began early and demanded dedication.
• The goal of scholars was a career in government service.
• Scholarship was the determining factor in obtaining a government position.
• Civil service examinations were developed to choose the best-qualified candidates.

Chinese Characters

• Noah's descendants carried knowledge of early history to China.
• The Chinese writing system preserves some of these truths.
• The Chinese character for "to forbid" references God's command to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17.
• The character "to forbid" includes the symbols for "wood/tree" and one of the basic Chinese symbols for God.
• The word "to sacrifice" comprises the symbols for "ox/cattle," "sheep," "beautiful/unblemished," and "spear."
• The character for "righteousness" includes the symbols for "lamb" and "me."
• The character for "boat/ship" contains the symbols for "small vessel," the number eight, and "person/population/mouth."

Chinese Thought and Life

• Confucianism and Taoism greatly influenced Chinese life.
• These systems of thought became the heart of China's religious beliefs and practices.

Confucianism

• K'ung Futzu (Confucius) (551-479 BC) is the most honored teacher in Chinese history.
• Confucius believed proper conduct could solve societal problems and lead to happiness.
• His disciples recorded and expanded upon his teachings, developing a system of ethics.
• Fundamental to Confucius's teaching were five basic human relationships: father and son, elder and younger brothers, husband and wife, friend and friend, and ruler and subjects.
• Confucius believed that maintaining proper relationships in these five areas would bring harmony and order to society.
• Confucius trusted China's past as the basis and guide for human behavior.
• He derived the principle "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others" from the ancients.
• A major defect in Confucius's system was his neglect of the relationship between man and God.
• The philosophy of Confucius is contained in the Analects.

Taoism

• Lao-tzu (ca. 604-ca. 531 BC) is believed to be the founder of Taoism.
• Lao-tzu taught that tao ("the way") was the pervading force in nature.
• He encouraged men to find peace and happiness by living in harmony with nature.
• Taoists believed men can achieve harmony by ceasing to strive for power, wealth, and learning.
• They should adopt a simple, inactive lifestyle, and by being passive and submissive, men can accomplish great things.
• Water is an example of being soft and weak, yet it overcomes all things.
• Confucianism became the guiding philosophy of China's educational, social, and political systems.
• Taoism became the basis of mystical, magical, and superstitious elements in Chinese society.
• Confucianism promotes an active life, while Taoism favors a passive lifestyle.
• Confucianists strive for improved government, while Taoists minimize external authority.

Dynastic History of China

• The Chinese have a passion for history.
• They have a great tradition of historical writing that traces the history of China's ruling dynasties
• Historians have used periods of dynastic rule to establish the major divisions of Chinese history.
• The Chinese maintained a strong sense of national unity despite periods of political upheaval.
• Each dynasty went through a cycle of beginning, maturing, prospering, and declining.
• The unrest that ended one dynasty prepared the way for the founding of a new one.
• While each dynasty had its own qualities, the fundamental character of society remained the same.

Shang Dynasty

• The Shang dynasty was one of the earliest known Chinese dynasties, established around 1500 BC along the Yellow River.
• The rulers of this dynasty united much of northern China.
• Archaeologists have unearthed fine examples of Shang bronze work and marble carvings.
• Knowledge of Shang culture comes from early Chinese writing inscribed on animal bones and tortoise shells.
• The Chinese wrote questions on bones or shells and heated them with a metal rod, causing them to crack, in order to determine the will of their ancestors.

Zhou Dynasty

• The Zhou dynasty overthrew the Shang rulers shortly before 1000 BC.
• It lasted over eight hundred years, longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history.
• The Zhou period is called the "classical" or "formative" age of Chinese history.
• Much of China's culture, such as family life, ancestor worship, the writing system, and Confucian and Taoist thought, became firmly established.
• The Zhou government was decentralized.
• Zhou rulers allowed nobles great freedom in ruling local territories.
• The Zhou rulers became unable to control the nobles, leading to fighting among rival states.

Early Christianity in China

• History is silent regarding the first Christian missionaries to China.
• There is evidence that a form of Christianity surfaced in China by the 600s.
• Christian missionaries from Persia arrived with a religion that centered on a holy book.
• The Tang emperor asked them to translate the Bible into Chinese.
• Christian writings from this time period teach about Jesus, salvation by faith, and loving one's neighbor.
• By the 900s, the new Chinese government attacked foreign religions and attempted to eliminate Christianity.
• In the thirteenth century, Christians from Persia were again able to renew missionary work in China.

Qin Dynasty

• Zheng restored order and took the name Qin Shi Huang (r. 247-210 BC).
• Zheng founded the Qin dynasty, from which China may have derived its name.
• Qin Shi Huang was the first to unite the provinces of China under one strong centralized government.
• He standardized the Chinese weight, measurement, and coinage systems and brought uniformity to China's writing system.
• Construction of the Great Wall was a remarkable achievement of the Qin dynasty.
• The Great Wall was a defensive barrier against the invasions of the barbaric Huns.
• Qin Shi Huang brought order and protection to China through harsh and ruthless measures.

The Tomb and Terra-Cotta Army of Qin Shi Huang

• Qin Shi Huang died in 210 BC.
• His body was entombed in an elaborate mausoleum that had taken workers his entire reign to construct.
• The tomb contained models of palaces and government buildings.
• It also housed a replica of his empire with rivers and seas of mercury.
• Crossbows were installed to release automatically if an intruder entered the tomb.
• Those who had worked on the safety devices in the tomb were buried too.
• The Chinese covered the mausoleum with earth and planted trees to give the appearance of a hill, called Mount Li.
• In 1974, farmers unearthed a subterranean passageway, inside were terra-cotta statues of ancient Chinese soldiers.
• Archaeologists have uncovered about six thousand life-size soldiers.
• Archaeologists also found clay horses and chariots.
• The Chinese created a museum on the site.

Han Dynasty

• The Han dynasty, established in 202 BC, followed the Qin dynasty.
• Some Chinese call themselves the sons of Han.
• Wu Ti (r. 140-87 BC) was the most famous Han ruler.
• He drove back the Huns and extended China's territory.
• Han rulers introduced a civil service system in which competitive public examinations determined appointments to government posts.
• The Han established the Pax Sinica ("Chinese Peace") throughout China and much of central Asia.
• Trade routes were opened with the West during this period.
• The "Silk Road" brought China into direct contact with the Greek and Roman civilizations.
• Buddhism entered China during the Han period.

Tang Dynasty

• In 220, revolts overthrew the last of the Han rulers.
• China suffered from internal wars and barbarian invasions for the next four centuries.
• In 618, the Tang rulers came to power and restored unity and prosperity to China.
• The Tang dynasty became a golden age in Chinese history.
• The Chinese enjoyed a stable government, an expanding empire, increased trade, contact with other civilizations, advances in learning, and magnificent works of art and literature.
• The Tang era was one of the finest periods of Chinese poetry, and Li Po as the most popular poet.

Song Dynasty

• Fifty years later, the Song dynasty restored order.
• The Song dynasty was politically weak compared to other dynasties.
• China was divided into the Northern Song (960-1127) and the Southern Song (1127-1279).
• The Song dynasty carried on active trade, and Chinese culture flourished.
• The Chinese excelled in painting, printing, and porcelain during this period.

Chinese Culture and the Western World

• Only recently has the Western world significantly influenced Chinese society.
• China resisted the introduction of foreign elements, and the traditional Chinese way of life remained virtually unaffected for centuries.
• Westerners viewed China as a land of mystical enchantment, due to the contrast between Eastern and Western cultures.
• Westerners profited from contacts with the Chinese.
• Europe became an open market for many Chinese goods, like silk and porcelain.
• The Chinese were the first to produce silk and carefully guarded the secret of the silkworm.
• The Chinese also developed the process for making porcelain.
• Chinese silk became fashionable in Europe, and porcelain was highly valued.
• The Chinese developed block printing, carving raised characters on a block of wood.
• They also invented movable type, but it was not widely used because of the thousands of characters.
• Many other products associated with the Western world originated in China - paper, ink, and the magnetic compass.
• The Chinese invented gunpowder, first used in fireworks.
• The Chinese were remarkably ahead of the West with regard to many discoveries and inventions.