Section+2-4+River+Dynasties+in+China

Section 2-4

Loess: yellow silt that is fertile soil which is blown by the winds from deserts to the West and North. Oracle Bones: Priests would scratch questions in animal bones and tortoise shells and then applied a hot poker on it, which caused it to crack and then the priests interpreted the cracks and see what the gods answered. Mandate of Heaven: A just ruler have divine approval from the gods. The mandate of heaven could be lost if the king is mean. Dynastic Cycle: The pattern of rise, decline and replacement of dynasties. Feudalism: A political system in which nobles, or lors, are granted use of lands that belong to the king. In return, the nobles own lotalty and military service to the kind and protection to the people who live on their estates.
 * Bold Words:**

Peking Man: His skeleton was found and showed that people settled in the River Valley 500,000 years ago. Yu- A leader of Cina's City, Xia, and was also a mathmaticion and an engineer. Shang Di: Was a supreme god and kings communicated with him through oracle bones.
 * Key People:**

The Geography of China:
 * Key Events:**
 * China is surrounded by natural barriers like yellow sea, East China sea, and the pacific Ocean. Also by mountains and deserts.

- River Systems-
 * The Haung He (yellow river) is found in the North and deposits huge amount of yellow silt.
 * The Chang Jiang (yangtze) is in central china and connects to the Yellow river.

-Enviromental challenges-
 * Haung He river flooded and caused villages to be destroyed. Nicknamed "China Sorrow"
 * Had to supply their own goods because of isolation from other towns.
 * Invaders invaded from the West and North.

-China's Heartland-
 * Only 10% is suitable farming land.
 * North China plain is the heart land of China, its between Haung He and the Chan Jiang river.

Civilization Emerges in Shang Time:

- The first Dynasites-
 * Xia dynasty was the first Chinese city and was run by Yu. He kept the Haung He river undercontrol by irregation and he made tributaries so settlements could grow.
 * The Shang Dynasty was the first family of Chinese rulers to leave written records, and to build tombs and palaces.

-Early Cities-
 * Anyang(the capital of Shang) had higher classes live inside the citry wall in timber framed houses and peaseants and craftsman lived outside of the city wall in huts.
 * Built massive earthern walls for protection.
 * Chariot was a major tool of war that the western Asia practiced.
 * Shang Kings consulted the gods through Oracle Bones

-Development of Writing-
 * A character standed for a syllable or unit of language, not a sound. Someone could read chinese instead of speak it.
 * Everyone in china could learn the same writing style, even if their spoken language was different.
 * They had to memorize a lot of characters- up to 10,000. Nobles children learned to write, peasent children did not.

Zhou and the Dynastic Cycle:
 * Zhou people established their own dynasty with culture much like the Shangs.

-Mandate of Heaven-
 * Zhou belived that the Shang King was a poor ruler and so the gods had taken away the Shang's rule.
 * If floods or riots happen then people believed that this is the sign that the gods are not happy with the King therefor they would give the Mandate of Heaven to another noble family. It was known as dynastic cycle.

-Control Through Feudalism-
 * The Zhou Dynasty owned a vast majority of land in that case they would have members of the royal family or trusted nobles rule that region. Yet the land still belonged to the king. This was known as Fuedalism.
 * Local lords first had to submit to superior strength and control the Zhou rulers but the towns turned into cities and strengthened their power.

-Improvements in Technology and Trade- ~ Roads and canals were built to help trade ~ used coined money ~ furnaces that produced iron was made
 * Iron tools helped with weapons, farm work, and sickles, knives, and spades.

-A period of Warring States-
 * Nomads from the North and West sacked the Zhou capital and destroyed the city, yet some royal family memebers escaped and set up Luoyang.(the new capital)
 * Noble familys ruled and the lords fought with other lords and claimed to be king in their own territory.
 * The Zhou are called "the time of the warring states"
 * New Chinese Civilaztion evolves