Early Society in East Asia

Early Society in East Asia From Traditions and Encounters chapter 5 Key Terms Big Picture

Ancestor Veneration Human beings have inhabited east Asia since at least two hundred thousand years ago. The domestication of rice began around 7000 B.C.E., and Artisans neolithic societies such as the Yangshao rose in the valley of the Yellow River by approximately 5000 B.C.E. Early dynasties such as the Xia, China’s Sorrow Shang, and Zhou saw the rise of a distinctive and in many ways uniquely secular society. Politically, none of the early dynasties achieved Consort centralization until the Qin unification in 221 B.C.E. Nevertheless, despite centuries of unstable political decentralization and at times outright warfare, Dynasty the Chinese moved inexorably toward the establishment of a remarkably sophisticated political and social structure. Works such as the Zhou Extended Family classics, and especially the Book of Songs, remained the foundations of Chinese thought for centuries. Hereditary State

Loess Content Objectives

Mandate of Heaven  Discuss early agricultural society and political developments in early China. Oracle Bones  Understand the rise and fall of the Zhou dynasty.  Identify key aspects of ancient Chinese society and culture. Royal Court  Explain the connections between early Chinese writing and cultural development. Shang  Understand the relationship between Chinese cultivators and the nomadic peoples of central Asia. Steppe Nomads  Identify the reasons behind the southern expansion of Chinese society. Xia

Zhou Language Objectives

 Students will discuss early agricultural society and political developments in early China.  Students will explain the rise and fall of the Zhou dynasty.  Students will list key aspects of ancient Chinese society and culture.  Students will discuss the relationship between early Chinese writing and China’s cultural development.  Students will summarize the relationship between Chinese cultivators and the nomadic peoples of central Asia.  Students will identify the reasons behind the southern expansion of Chinese society Essential Understanding

1. Where did the Chinese acquire their technical knowledge (e.g. wheeled vehicles, metallurgy, horse-drawn vehicles)?

2. In what two river valleys did Chinese civilization emerge? What three dynasties emerged to bring order to China?

3. Where does the Yellow River (Huang He) get its name?

4. Where other cultures we’ve studied were concerned with irrigation, early Chinese civilizations along the Yellow River were concerned with what?

5. Who founded the Xia (shee-a) Dynasty? When did the Xia Dynasty come into power, and what precident did it establish?

6. When did the Shang dynasty come to power? Why do we know more about the Shang than the Xia?

7. What did the Shang control that gave them an advantage over the Xia?

8. Briefly describe the Shang political structure – how many different capitals did they have?

9. In what way did the Shang rulers keep order? (Hint: like the Pharoahs)

10. What dynasty rises and eclipses the Shang?

11. How did the Zhou overtake the Shang?

12. Briefly describe the Mandate of Heaven.

13. Briefly describe the Zhou political organization.

14. How did a decentralized government lead to the downfall of the Zhou?

15. What set the Elites apart from the less privileged societies?

16. How extensive was Chinese trade during Shang times?

17. What were peasants’ lives like?

18. How was the role of family important in Chinese life?

19. Chinese society was organized around ______.

20. What was religion like in Ancient China? 21. What are “oracle bones”? What do they tell us about the Ancient Chinese?

22. What is the earliest form of Chinese writing?

23. Aside from the Yellow river and Imperial societies, who else existed in Ancient China?

24. Describe briefly the nomadic way of life.

25. What Chinese State emerges in the Yangzi River valley?

26. Describe the period China enters with the collapse of the Zhou.