Ancient Chinese Civilization Chapter 4
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.