‘Pre-imperial’ means before the creation and founding of empires.
Shang Dynasty when first historical records were created
pottery making,
bronze crafting and
metallurgy could be found
potteries (black), jade, bronze, chariots, ancestor worship, organized armies, human
sacrifice, walled cities, feng shui, fagua or bagua, hexagrams and lucky charms, ampao,
TAUGI – SEEDLINGS SA MONGGOS NGA PWEDE MA UTAN…
CHINA WAS NAMED CATHAY (CATHAY PACIFIC AIRLINES)
ZHOU built the Great Wall
Zhou dynasty, schools and other educational agencies were founded
Confucianism, an ethical school which drafted the principles of living a good life.
Confucius also believed that events in the world happened because of Ti’en Ming or
the mandate of Heaven.
Ti’en Ming is a phenomenon but not God. Confucianism has no God. It is an atheist
religion OR PHILOSOPHY
GOLDEN RULE IS JEN OR REN: HUMAN-HEARTEDNESS OR KINDNESS
SILVER RULE: DO NOT DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT YOU DON’T WANT
OTHERS TO DO UNTO YOU.
Lao Tzu was contemporary to Confucius but he has different school called Taoism or
Daoism.
Yin and the Yang, symbol of the harmony of the opposing forces that make up
life and the Universe.
WU-Wei, which means non-doing; meaning, upon confronting the changes of the
world, you must do nothing.
Wu-wei means ‘don’t force things to happen,” let nature work its way,
Lao Tzu taught Taoism, a school believing the existence of the TAO
TAO the foundation of all the things that exist, but Tao is not God. Tao is like the
water that makes the swimming of the fish possible.
Han Fei Tzu existed during the reign of the dragon emperor or the jade emperor Chin
Shih Huangdi.
LEGALISM IS CHARACTERIZED BY HARSH PUNISHMENTS FOR VIOLATORS OF
VERY STRICT LAWS SUCH AS DEATH PENALTY, DECAPITATION AND
CRUCIFIXION.
Jade was the most precious, and most sacred jewel/STONE in ancient China.
Mencius OR MENG TZU was the student of Confucius who taught that the problems of
the world can be solved by promoting Universal Love for all mankind.
Qin [Ch’in] Dynasty, 221-206 B.C.E.
Established China’s first empire
Shi Huangdi (221-206 B.C.E)
Legalist rule
Bureaucratic administration
Centralized control
Military expansion
Book burnings targeted
Confucian scholars
Buried protestors alive!
Built large section of the Great Wall
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Army
The Great Wall with Towers
The Eastern terminus of the Great Wall, Shanhai Pass
Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.
“People of the Han”, THE original Chinese
Paper invented ON 105 B.C.E.
Silk Road trade develops; improves life for many
Buddhism introduced into China
Expanded into Central Asia
Liu Sheng Tomb (d. 113 BCE) His jade suit has 2498 pieces!
Emperor Wudi, 141-87 B.C.E.
Started public schools.
Colonized Manchuria,
Korea, & Vietnam.
Civil service system
bureaucrats
Confucian scholar-gentry
Revival of Chinese landscape painting.
Sui Dynasty, 581-618 C.E.
“Land Equalization” System land redistribution.
Unified coinage.
Grand Canal constructed.
Established an army of professional soldiers.
People were overworked and overtaxed!
Tang Dynasty, 618-907 C.E
Imperial examination (WHICH IS EQUIVALENT TODAY TO CSC EXAM) system
perfected.
Liberal attitude towards all religions.
Spread of Buddhism in China
Golden Age of foreign relations with other countries.
Japan, Korea, Persia
New technologies :
Printing movable print
Porcelain
Gunpowder
Mechanical clocks
More cosmopolitan culture.
Reestablished the safety of the Silk Road.
Tea comes into China from Southeast Asia
Empress Wu Zetian, 624-705
The only female Empress in China’s history who ruled alone.
Searched for outstanding individuals to attract to her court.
Construction of new irrigation systems.
Buddhism was the favored statereligion.
Financed the building of many Buddhist temples.
BUT… She appointed cruel and sadistic ministers to seek out her enemies.
Foot-Binding in Tang China
Broken toes by 3 years of age.
Size 5 ½ shoe on the right
Mothers bound their daughters’ feet.
For upper-class girls, it became a new custom.
Song [Sung] Dynasty, 960-1279 C.E.
Creation of an urban, merchant, middle class.
Increased emphasis on education & cheaper availability of printed books.
Magnetic compass makes China a great sea power!
Rice Cultivation Began Under the Song
The MONGOLS [“Golden Horde”]
Temujin --< Genghis Khan [“Universal Ruler”]
1162 - 1227
from the steppe [dry, grass-covered plains of Central Asia]
Genghis Khan’s Tax Laws:
If you do not pay homage,
we will take your prosperity.
If you do not have prosperity,
we will take your children.
If you do not have children,
we will take your wife.
If you do not have a wife,
we will take your head.
Used cruelty as a weapon some areas never recovered from Mongol
destruction!
Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty, 1279-1368 C.E.
Kublai Khan [r. 1260-1294]
Pax Mongolica [“Mongol Peace”]
Tolerated Chinese culture
but lived apart from them.
No Chinese in top govt. posts.
Believed foreigner were more trustworthy.
Encouraged foreign trade & foreign merchants to live and work in China.
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (1254-1324)
A Venetian merchant.
Traveled through Yuan China: 1271-1295
“Black Stones” [coal]
Gunpowder.
Noodles.
Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368 C.E.
The Black Plague was spread by the Mongols in the mid-14c.
Sent fleets against Japan.
1281 150,000 warriors
Defeated by kamikaze [“winds of the gods”] OR DIVINE WIND
Kublai Khan experienced several humiliating defeats in Southeast Asia late in his
life.
Ming Cultural Revolution
Printing & Literacy
Cheap, popular books:
woodblock printing.
cheap paper.
Examination system.
Leads to explosion in literacy.
Leads to further popularization of the commercial market.
Culture & Art
Increased literacy leads to increased interest in cultural expressions, ideas,
and things:
Literature.
Painting.
Ceramics.
Opera.
Ming Silver Market
Spanish Silver Convoys
Triangle route:
Philippines to China to Japan.
Silver floods Chinese Market:
Causes devaluation of currency & recession
Adds to reasons for Chinese immigration overseas.
Reduces price of Chinese goods in Europe
Increases interest in Chinese culture & ideas in Europe.
Helps fund conquest of New World
Encourages Europeans in conquest & trade.
Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644 C.E.
Golden Age of Chinese Art
Moderation
Softness
Gracefulness
Three different schools of painting developed.
Hundreds of thousands of workers constructed the Forbidden City.
Ming Emperor Tai Zu (r. 1368-1398)
The Tribute System
Admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho)
Ming “Treasure Fleet”
Each ship 400’ long & 160’ wide
China’s “Columbus?”
First Voyage: 1405-1407 [62 ships; 27,800 men].
Second Voyage: 1407-1409 [Ho didn’t go on this trip].
Third Voyage: 1409-1411 [48 ships; 30,000 men].
Fourth Voyage: 1413-1415 [63 ships; 28,500 men].
Fifth Voyage: 1417-1419
Sixth Voyage: 1421-1422
Emperor Zhu Gaozhi cancelled future trips and ordered ship builders and
sailors to stop work.
Seventh Voyage: 1431-1433
Emperor Zhu Zhanji resumed the voyages in 1430 to restore peaceful
relations with Malacca & Siam
100 ships and 27,500 men; Cheng Ho died on the return trip.
