Chinese History

Loess

Located: Central Asia

Most Notable: The Yellow River

Winds from this region have deposited a yellow-brownish slit

(The slit in the water gives the Yellow River its distinctive hue and name)

Pros: Fertilized soiled and easy to poke around

Cons: Earthquakes cause too much damage

Shang Dynasty

Began: During the early second millenium BCE, Tang Shang was founder

Location: Originated in the part of the Yellow River Valley that lies in the present-day province of Henan.

Expenasion: Between 1750 and 1027 BCE they extended their control nothing into Mongolia, west as far as Gansu, and south into the Yanzi River Valley.

Population: The prominent class among the Shang was a warrior aristocracy.

Serf

During the Shang dynasty, serfs were unfree peasants working the land of aristocrats, they owed labor and had little chance of social mobility.

Shamanism

Religious practice in early China where Shamans acted as intermediaries between humans and spirits through rituals, talismans, healing practices, and oracle bone divination.

Di

There was an elitist religion centered around propitiating Di, who is a sky god called ShangDi. The religion was practiced by the royal ancestors. During the Shang rule, ShangDi had the highest rank, beneath him was the royal ancestors, then the current ruler of the Shang, and then the aristocrats.

Divination

During the Shang Dynasty, the chief sky god of the Shang, Shang Di, can inquire about the future events which is divination. Divination took place via the oracle bones.

Oracle Bones

Shamans would use a tortoise shell or shoulder bone of an animal and touch it with a heated point of a stick. The tortoise shell of shoulder bone would then crack. All the little cracks were read, thus revealing messages from the spirit world.

Lady Hao

She was a big deal during the Shang dynasty and the first named martial artist we know of in China. She wasn't just a warrior she was buried with weapons, including the bronze axe which was symbol of power. We know a lot about her because they found over a hundred inscriptions about her on oracle bones.

Axe

There were two types of axes a bronze axe and a bronze dagger axe ( the bronze dagger axe can be swung which was useful for shangs troops as they used an open formation), the axe of authority (also bronze but different) was given by shang to a general as a symbol of authority to command the battlefield and punish the enemies. Axes were not only important in the battlefield but also had a signifcant past, Lady Hao was buried was buried with axes and bows showing how symbolic they are in terms of life and death

Dagger Axe

An important weapon among the Shang community. Only used during battle in open formation

Bow

One of the oldest weapons in China

Originally made of wooden sticks with animal guts for strings

During the Shang period- Later Shang aristocrats used composite recurved bows made of bone, sinew, and wood glued together

Composite Bow

Made of: Bone, sinew, and wood glued together.

Exclusivity: Beacuse of the considerable skill and price to manufacture, a composite bow was limited only to the aristocracy.

Zhou Dynnasty

The Zhou dynasty came after the Shang dynasty and lasted for a long time in ancient China. It's usually split into two parts the Western Zhou and the Eastern Zhou. The leaders said they ruled because of the Mandate of Heaven. In Western Zhou, the king gave land to his friends, which was like a system. The Eastern Zhou had a lot of fighting, which ended up being the Warring States period. They also helped create Chinese culture with ideas like Daoism.

Halberd

The gē was a type of polearm with a bronze (later iron) blade mounted perpendicularly on a wooden shaft. Imagine a dagger-axe: the blade jutted out sideways, like an axe head, but thinner and more pointed. Some versions also had an additional spear point, making it resemble an early halberd.

Mandate of Heaven

Afer the Zhou overthrew the Shang, they replaced the Shang's chief deity Di, to Tien (heaven) the Zhou's chief deity. The word mandate means an order to do something and they claimed it was an order from heaven, giving them the authority to change their chief deity and mark the start of their dynasty.

Book of Changes

A manual created to guide Diviners in the practice of foretelling the future. Created by Zhou, this was a new way of divination.

Yin and Yang

Yin and Yang: Differences in male and female - represented the nature of male and female roles

The male (yin) was equated with the sun, active, bright, and shining

The female (yang) echoed the moon, passive, shaded, and reflective.

In its earliest form, the theory considered yin and yang as equal and alter-natingly dominant, like day and night, creating balance

Daoism

Began: During the Eastern Zhou / Warring States Period

Founded: By Daoist sage, Loazi, who sought to stop the warfare during the "Warring States Period" by urging humanity to follow the "Dao" or path.

Preach: To accept the world as they find it, avoiding futile struggles and deviating as little as possible from the "path" of nature. Or by emulating the female and conquering through stillness and gentleness.

Laozi

Founder of Daoism who is credited for writing the Dao de Jing. He taught rulers to goven through stillness and gentleness.

Literati Daoism

Mainly philosophical Daoism focused on texts and teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi, distinct from religious and devotional practices.

Alchemy

A spiritual and physical method to gain spiritual power and to live longer by. Usage of herbs for physical methods and meditation for spiritual.

Wu-Wei

Permeated type of Daoism. Literal meaning: "without action", "without effort", or "without control" and is often included in the paradox "Wei wu Wei" ("action without action" or "effortless doing"). It's advocating people to be soft and accepting like water so that the forces that assail you will flow on their way.

Devotional Daoism

This emerged during 200 AD/CE. It deified Master Lao (Laozi) and the people began praying to him and other spirits.

Xiongnu

Nomad tribes got tired of China attacking so they united as the Xiongnu Confederacy, Madoun was the leader

Battle of Muye

Major battle in which the Zhou forces defeated the Shang army and took the Shang capital

Mozi

Mozi founded a new school of thought known as Mohism that emphasized universal love, sharing, social order, honoring the worthy, and following the will of Heaven. His followers grew to rival those of Confucius in numbers.

Siege

The building of castles and walls and defensive fortifications

Li

Li are rituals, when a society preforms these rituals everything is considered to be in the proper place and order that it should be in. An example of this would be when women and men respect their elders. This ensures a society is running smoothly.

Ren

Ren (humanness) meaning benevolence and altruism. Confucius also defined rén in the following way: "wishing to be established himself, he seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others.

5 Fundamental Relationships

Ruler and subject, Parent-child, Spouse-spouse-, Younger sibling-older sibling, Younger friend-older friend

Xunzi

The third major thinker of Confucism. He was a younger contemporary of Mencius and was at odds with Mencius because he opposed his philosophy that people were inherently good. Xunzi proposed that human nature was evil and people needed to be compelled to make the appropriate choices. He also believed that education and ritual were the only way to avoid this evil nature.

Mencius

Mencius (Mèngzi 371-289) was a fourth-generation disciple of Confucius who was later regarded at the second sage of the tradition. He organized Confucian teachings[around 5 core texts Spring and Autumn Annals, Analects of Confucius, Book of Changes, Book of Documents, Book of Songs]. He popularized Confucianism and counseled rulers during the Warring States period. [His advice later compiled into his own Confucian classic, Mengzi] He taught that people are inherently good, and that with virtuous leaders, people would live life harmoniously.

Hanfeizi

-Struggles to make sence of the constant, large scale warfare and orecived moral decay on their time

-created a new religious philosophy referred to as legalism

Legalism

Subtopic: Religious philosophy, Time period: Warring States period, Legalism was a new religious philosophy created by Hanfeizi who was a disciple of Xunzi. Legalism taught that people were inherently corrupt and needed strict laws for them to behave orderly. Legalist believed the best way to run a state was through establishment and ruthless application of rules and regulations --> Totalitarian.

Li Si

Li Si discipline of Xunzi’s

- Ruined Xunzi’s Reputation

- Became the prime minister of the Qin state that suppressed Confucianism & Mohism

- Burnt their texts as they saw these religions as threats to state power

Sunzi

One of the great minds of the Hundred School of Thoughts. He was a philsopher and a military strategist. In fact he was the most famous military strategist. He wrote The Art of War which was a classic military treatise. It aimed to rely on knowledge rather than army size and violence to claim resources from the other side.

Bronze Sword

Weapon made from bronze, used by aristocrats and soldiers before iron was used to make swords. They became more common in the eastern Zhou era. Symbolized martial skill and status in armies.

Spear

A long shafted weapon with a bronze or iron tip used in infantry or calvary, became one of the most common weapons used in Chinese warfare.

Crossbow

Developed in Spring and Autumn period, used mainly by Qin. Shot slower than the composite bow but needed less training so peasants were able to use it which caused for greater military numbers.

Lamellar Armor

One of the development of defensive tactics, made off of iron, to resist crossbows and iron swords.

Qin

Qin was named Shi Huangdi. Qin unified Northern and Central China by 221 B.C.E. His rule only lasted 15 years. He weakened aristocrats and banned confusionism by burning books and brutally executing them.

Shi Huangdi

The Qin dynasty, Shi Huangdi, originally Zheng, who was the king of Qin. He declared himself Shi Huangdi, meaning First Emperor. He implemented major social, economic, and political reforms, standardizing writing, laws, and even axle lengths.

Han Dynasty

The Han dynasty ruled China after the loss of power of the Qin, from 202 B.C.E to 220 C.E and engraved themselves as an integral part of the Chinese culture.Liu Bang also known as Emperor Gaozu founded the dynasty that lasted 400 years, they changed the harsh laws imposed by the Qins and reduced taxes to save their economy, he made China a hub for trading (silk road) and expanded his control over the east and rebuilt places. However, they faced continual problems with nomadic tribes from the north such as Xiongnu.

Cavalry

An elite unit formed by Lui Bang that helped him overcome his rivals

Sima Qian

Sima qian is a chinese historian from (145-86 BC) who was better known as the father of chinese history. sima qian got this name by writing the shiji which is a book that covers 2000 years of chinas history.

Chang’an

Chang'an was the capital for many dynasties including the Western Han, Qin, and Zhou. It was located in the Wei River Valley. During the Eastern Han dynasty its base was located in Luoyang.

Repeating Crossbow

The repeating crossbow was invented in the state of Qu during the Warring States period. But it was first used on a large scale by the Han to repel an invasion of steppe warriors.

Gaozu

Liu Bang was the Han ruler and founder, Gaozu was his throne name