Ancient Chinese Civilization Chapter 4

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Shang Dynasty

China's first historic dynasty.

Explain how geography influenced the development of early Chinese culture and shaped Chinese attitudes toward foreigners.

China's size, the mountains to the west, northwest, and southwest, and deserts such as the Gobi isolated early peoples from most outsiders. This allowed a distinctive Chinese culture to develop relatively free of outside influences and gave the Chinese a strong sense of identity. The lack of contact also gave Chinese the belief that they were culturally superior to foreign peoples, whom they called barbarians.

Shang religious beliefs

Combined animism and ancestor worship.

Zhongguo

Middle Kingdom

China's Sorrow

Nickname of the Huang River since it is known to have devastating floods.

Inventions

Paper, sundial, water clock, and the process of printing.

Legalism

People are selfish and untrustworthy by nature and must be controlled by the threat of severe punishment for breaking the law.

Confucianism

Philosophy that stressed the importance of family, respect for one's elders, and reverence for one's past.

Five Classics

Texts used to train scholars and civil servants in ancient China.

Huang River

Yellow River

Mandate of Heaven

Zhou belief that the god of Heaven determined who should rule China.

acupuncture

process by which doctors insert needles into certain points of the body to enable life-force energy to move properly.

Analects

A collection of Confucius's ideas and teachings.

Dao De Jing

A compilation of Laozi's teachings. It became the basis for the the philosophy of Daoism.

loess

A fertile yellow soil from the Huang River.

civil service (Han Dynasty)

A system that runs the day-to-day business of government. The Han created a system of examinations to select the most qualified candidates.

leveling

An economic policy developed by Liu Ch'e that used price controls to balance the economic effects of farm surpluses or shortages.

Confucius

Ancient Chinese philosopher.

Shang Economy

Based mainly on agriculture.

calligraphy

Beautiful handwriting.

written language

Developed to be used with all Chinese dialects.

Zhou Dynasty

Did not have a strong central government Instead, they granted territories to members of the royal family and their allies.

dikes

Earthen walls built along the Huang River to prevent flooding.

yin

Female, dark, and passive.

Qin Dynasty

Founded by the ruler Chen, who took the title, Shih Huang Ti, which means "first emperor."

yang

Male, bright, and active.

Animism

The belief that spirits inhabit everything.

Zhou Dynasty

The longest lasting of the three dynasties (Zhou, Qin, Han).

oracle bones

The shoulder bones of cattle or tortoise that were used to predict the future. Priests heated the bones and interpreted the cracks that would appear.

silk road

Trade route that stretched from China to the Mediterranean region.

dialects

Variations of a language.


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