Unit 2 Reading Quiz #4

Why did the Chinese call themselves the middle kingdom?

Chinese saw their country as center of the world

Why was Yu from the Xia Dynasty respected?

His flood-control and irrigation projects helped tame the Huang He and its tributaries so that settlements could grow.

Near Beijing (northern China), __________ was found, known as the ___________

Homo erectus skeleton; Peking man

What are the two major river systems?

Huang He and Chiang Jiang

How did the use of iron impact Zhou agriculture?

Iron tools made farm work easier and more productive. The ability to grow more food helped Zhou farmers support thriving cities.

Disadvantages of Ancient China environment:

1.) Huang He floods could be disastrous (sometimes destroyed whole villages → nicknamed "China's Sorrow") 2.) Geographic isolation → supply their own goods instead of trade 3.) natural boundaries did not completely protect from invasions (invasions from west + north occurred several times)

Write the steps of the dynasty cycle

1.) Strong dynasty establishes peace and prosperity; it is considered to have the mandate of heaven 2.) Dynasty declines and becomes corrupt; taxes raised, etc. 3.) Disasters like floods, famine, and revolts occur 4.) Old dynasty is seen as having lost the mandate of heaven; rebellion is justified 5.) Dynasty is overthrown through rebellion; new dynasty emerges 6.) New dynasty restores peace and is considered to have the mandate of heaven The cycle repeats...

Only about ____% of China's land is suitable for farming

10

Around___________, a people called the ______ overthrew the Shang and established their own dynasty.

1027 B.C.; Zhou

The Zhou ruled from around

1027 to 256 B.C.

The Shang Dynasty lasted from around

1700 B.C. to 1027 B.C.

Describe how people's view of the Zhou changed. How did this impact the local lords?

At first, the local lords lived in small walled towns and had to submit to the superior strength and control of the Zhou rulers. Gradually, however, the lords grew stronger as the towns grew into cities and expanded into the surrounding territory. Peoples who had been hostile toward the lords gradually accepted their rule and adopted Zhou ways. As a result, the local lords became less dependent on the king. More and more, they fought among themselves and with neighboring peoples for wealth and territory.

Among the oldest and most important Shang cities was

Anyang

The shang dynasty was the first...

It was the first family of Chinese rulers to leave written records.

Who was the leader of the Xia Dynasty?

Its leader was an engineer and mathematician named Yu.

___________ and __________ dominate ⅔ of China's land

Mountains and desert

____________ somewhat isolated ancient china from other civilizations

Natural barriers

About the time the civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley fell to outside invaders, a people called the __________ rose to power in northern China.

Shang

The Shang worshiped a supreme god, ___________, as well as many lesser gods.

Shang Di

why did the Shang dynasty need walled cities?

Shang peoples needed walled cities because they were constantly waging war.

Lady Hao took charge of _______________

She also took charge of rituals dedicated to the spirits of Shang ancestors, a duty reserved for the most distinguished members of the royal family.

The __________ Desert + 15,000 ft Plateau of _______ are in ______________ China.

Talkimakan; Tibet; West

Where does most of China's farming land lay?

The North China Plain

How was the chariot first introduced?

The chariot was probably first introduced by contact with cultures from western Asia.

Describe the houses of upper-class people in Anyang

The higher classes lived in timber-framed houses with walls of clay and straw. These houses lay inside the city walls.

The earliest writing systems in the world developed from pictographs. The writing system used in China today is directly related to the pictographic writing found on Shang oracle bones. True or false?

True

There were practically no links between China's spoken language and its written language (unlike Egypt). True or false?

True

According to legend, the first Chinese dynasty, the _______ Dynasty, emerged around ____________

Xia; 2000 BC

What is the Chiang Jiang river also known as?

Yangtze

What is the Huang He River also known as?

Yellow River

What is the north china plain?

a small plain between Huang He + Chiang Jiang. It is China's heartland and has remained the center of the civilization

People living outside Chinese civilization were _____________

barbarians

Chinese believed what about family ancestors?

believed that the spirits of family ancestors had the power to bring good fortune or disaster to living members of the family.

Anyang was one of the _____________ of the Shang Dynasty

capitals

Chang Jiang is in ______________ China

central

Elder men in family ___________ + ______________

controlled property issues; made important decisions

What did the Zhou use Iron for?

create weapons + common agricultural tools

Describe family ancestor spirits

did not regard these spirits as mighty gods. the spirits were more like troublesome or helpful neighbors who demanded attention and respect. Every family paid respect to the father's ancestors and made sacrifices in their honor. Through the spirits of the ancestors, the Shang consulted the gods.

Professional warriors underwent lengthy training to learn the techniques of

driving and shooting from horse-drawn chariots.

The Chiang Jiang River flows _____________ to the ___________ sea

east; yellow

What were the disadvantages of the Ancient Chinese writing system?

enormous number of written characters to be memorized—a different one for each unit of language. this severely limited the number of literate, educated Chinese. As a general rule, a noble person's children learned to write, but peasant children did not.

In China, Person's loyalty through life was to the

family

Zhou Dynasty controlled lands that stretched

far beyond the Huang He in the north to the Chang Jiang in the south.

The Huang he deposits huge amounts of yellowish silts when it floods. This silt is actually ______________, which is brought to the river by ___________________

fertile soil called loess loess is blown by the winds from deserts to the west and north

To govern this vast area, it gave control over different regions to members of the royal family and other trusted nobles. This established a system called __________

feudalism

Anyang was situated in a ____________

forest clearing

early rulers introduced ideas about ____________ and ____________ that shaped Chinese civilization.

gov't and society

The Mandate of Heaven became central to the Chinese view of

government.

Lady Hao was a wife of

king Wu Ding, a Shang ruler, during the 1200s B.C.

On behalf of her husband, Lady Hao

led more than one military campaign, once with a force of 13,000 troops.

The archaeological remains of one city include a HUGE wall of packed earth that must have taken _______________

many years and many workers

The Shang surrounded their cities with _________________ for protection.

massive earthen walls

The two rivers generally flow from the ____________ to the _________________

mountainous west to Pacific Ocean

The Zhou had adopted much of the Shang culture. Therefore, the change in dynasty did not bring sweeping cultural change. Nevertheless, Zhou rule brought

new ideas to Chinese civilization.

Shang society was sharply divided b/w

nobles and peasants

Huang He is found in ___________ China

northern

each character of Ancient Chinese writing generally stands for

one syllable or unit of language.

Shang kings consulted the gods through the use of

oracle bones, animal bones and tortoise shells on which priests had scratched questions for the gods.

family was closely linked to

religion

Most important virtue was

respect for parents

The Shang kings built elaborate palaces and tombs that have been uncovered by archaeologists. The artifacts found here ____________

reveal a lot about society

First chinese civilization developed in a

river valley

People owed obedience and respect to the

rulers + elders

Family was central to

society

Fossil remains show ancestors o/ modern humans lived in __________ china ___________ years ago

southwest; 1.7 million

Political boundaries of China have expanded/contracted depending on

strength/weakness of rulers

The legend of Yu reflects the level of

technology of a society making the transition to civilization.

To justify their conquest, the Zhou leaders declared that

the final Shang king had been such a poor ruler that the gods had taken away the Shang's rule and given it to the Zhou. T

the Zhou kings at Luoyang were almost powerless, and they could not control the noble families. true or false?

true

The walls of Shang cities demonstrate

walls demonstrate the Shang rulers' ability to raise and control large forces of workers. (like Indus cities + Egypt pyramids)

Ruling class of ______________ governed the Shang

warrior-nobles headed by a king

Unlike the cities of the Indus Valley or Fertile Crescent, Anyang was built mainly of________________

wood

To the east of china = To the southwest of china = To the north of china =

yellow sea, east china sea, pacific ocean Himalayas Gobi Desert and Mongolian Plateau

Culture in china had strong unifying bonds because

Group was more important than the individual

Around ___________, some of these settlements grew into China's first cities.

2000 BC

Walls of first Chinese cities built _____________ years ago. (at least ____________ years after Ur walls, great pyramids, and Indus cities built)

4000; 1000

In ________, nomads from the north and west sacked the Zhou capital and

771 B.C. murdered the Zhou monarch.

Explain how priests consulted gods?

After inscribing a question on the bone, a priest applied a hot poker to it, which caused it to crack. The priests then interpreted the cracks to see how the gods had answered.

Women were treated as inferiors. Explain

Expected to obey fathers, husbands, sons When girl is b/w 13 - 16, marriage is arranged and she moves to husband's house Only by bearing sons for her husband's family could she improve her status

What is feudalism?

Feudalism is a political system in which nobles, or lords, are granted the use of lands that legally belong to the king. In return, the nobles owe loyalty and military service to the king and protection to the people who live on their estates. (Similar systems would arise centuries later in both Japan and Europe)

What might be signs that ancestral spirits were displeased with a king's rule?

Floods, riots, and other calamities might be signs that the ancestral spirits were displeased with a king's rule.

A few members of the royal family escaped and set up a new capital at

Luoyang.

The Zhou's justification developed over time into a broader view that royal authority came from heaven. A just ruler had divine approval, known as the

Mandate of Heaven.

Zhou cast iron production would not be matched in Europe until the

Middle Ages.

What was a major advantage of the Ancient Chinese writing system

People in all parts of China could learn the same system of writing, even if their spoken languages were very different. Chinese written language helped unify a large and diverse land, and made control much easier.

What does the Peking show about the Ancient chinese?

Remains show that people settled the river valley 500,000 years ago

The Zhou Dynasty produced many innovations. Provide examples

Roads and canals were built to stimulate trade and agriculture. Coined money was introduced, which further improved trade. Blast furnaces that produced cast iron were developed.

Why was the Zhou period called the period of warring states?

The lords sought every opportunity to pick fights with neighboring lords. As their power grew, these warlords claimed to be kings in their own territory. As a result, the later years of the Zhou are often called "the time of the warring states."

Describe the houses of the lower-class people in Anyang

The peasants and craftspeople lived in huts outside the city.

Ancient chinese civilization continues to thrive today (unlike others). True or false?

True

Even before Sumerians settled in Mesopotamia, early Chinese cultures were building farming settlements along the Huang He. True or false?

True

The culture of ancient times still affects Chinese culture today. True or false?

True