The influence of geography on the Chinese Civilization
Huang He, also known as the Yellow River, stretches across China for more than 4,666 km from Mongolia to the Pacific Ocean. The Chang Jiang, also known as Yangtze River, flows for about 5,470 km across central China before emptying into the Yellow Sea. These rivers are related to the civilizations because the cultivated valleys in which these rivers are, is one of the great food-producing areas of the ancient past. The influence of geography on the Chinese civilization is that this forbidding landscape is a key feature of Chinese life and history. Geographical barriers, mountains, and desert isolated the Chinese people from peoples in other parts of Asia. Also, the contact between Chinese and countries that surrounded China, normally led to a conflict, so the army had to protect their land.
First Chinese Civilization :
Historians have dated that the first Chinese civilization was the Xia (Shyah) Dynasty, more than 4,000 years ago. Historians and scientists know very little about this particular dynasty. This dynasty was quickly replaced by the second dynasty : The Shang
Shang Dynasty :
It replaced the Xia dynasty , was the second dynasty , it existed from 1750 BC to 1045 BC. It was mostly a farming society ruled by aristocracy whose major concern was war. Also, they must have five capital cities before settling Ayang. They had huge city walls, royal palaces, and large royal tombs. The king had the power to remove the leaders. They were from an upper class whose wealth is land-based, and who passes powers from generation to generation . They are best remebered by the mastery of bronze.
Chinese religion:
Chinese believed in a life after death, the practice of burning replicas of physical objects to accompany the dead on their journey to the next world . To communicate with the gods, priests made oracle bones. The priests recorded answers from gods on bones.
Zhou Dynasty Starting:
The last of the Shang ruler was wicked and swam in ponds of wine. This led to the ruler of the state, Zhou, to establish a new dynasty . The dynasty ruled for almost 800 years, being the biggest that lasted in time .
Mandate of Heaven:
The Mandate of Heaven is the process in which God told the priests who the next leader should be, meaning that a new dynasty would start. The mandate of heaven was double-aged, it was also tied to the pattern of dynastic circles . All dynasties ended with a civil war, and a new dynasty was always decided by the Mandate of Heaven.
Economic and political situation of the Chinese civilization during the Zhou Dynasty:
When the Zhou dynasty was in power, the basic features of Chinese economic and social life began to take shape and to start. The peasants worked on lands owned by their lord and each peasant family farmed an outer plot for its personal use and they joined with other families to work the inner one to their lord. The artisans and merchants lived and walled towns under the direct control of the local lord. There was also slave classes. In ancient China the family served as the basic economic and social unit.
"Filial piety" concept in China:
It refers to a son or daughter. Then refers to the duty of the family members to subordinate their needs to those of the male head of the family . This term describes to a system in which each family had his or her place.
Chinese writing system getting started:
The Shang dynasty first started using a symbol system that included pictographs and ideographs that represented any object or animal, and there was around that went with each character. Other cultures started using pictographs and ideographs that the Shang dynasty started using, but then started using phonetic symbols that represented speech sounds. Chinese language has never abandoned its original format.
Huang He, also known as the Yellow River, stretches across China for more than 4,666 km from Mongolia to the Pacific Ocean. The Chang Jiang, also known as Yangtze River, flows for about 5,470 km across central China before emptying into the Yellow Sea. These rivers are related to the civilizations because the cultivated valleys in which these rivers are, is one of the great food-producing areas of the ancient past. The influence of geography on the Chinese civilization is that this forbidding landscape is a key feature of Chinese life and history. Geographical barriers, mountains, and desert isolated the Chinese people from peoples in other parts of Asia. Also, the contact between Chinese and countries that surrounded China, normally led to a conflict, so the army had to protect their land.
First Chinese Civilization :
Historians have dated that the first Chinese civilization was the Xia (Shyah) Dynasty, more than 4,000 years ago. Historians and scientists know very little about this particular dynasty. This dynasty was quickly replaced by the second dynasty : The Shang
Shang Dynasty :
It replaced the Xia dynasty , was the second dynasty , it existed from 1750 BC to 1045 BC. It was mostly a farming society ruled by aristocracy whose major concern was war. Also, they must have five capital cities before settling Ayang. They had huge city walls, royal palaces, and large royal tombs. The king had the power to remove the leaders. They were from an upper class whose wealth is land-based, and who passes powers from generation to generation . They are best remebered by the mastery of bronze.
Chinese religion:
Chinese believed in a life after death, the practice of burning replicas of physical objects to accompany the dead on their journey to the next world . To communicate with the gods, priests made oracle bones. The priests recorded answers from gods on bones.
Zhou Dynasty Starting:
The last of the Shang ruler was wicked and swam in ponds of wine. This led to the ruler of the state, Zhou, to establish a new dynasty . The dynasty ruled for almost 800 years, being the biggest that lasted in time .
Mandate of Heaven:
The Mandate of Heaven is the process in which God told the priests who the next leader should be, meaning that a new dynasty would start. The mandate of heaven was double-aged, it was also tied to the pattern of dynastic circles . All dynasties ended with a civil war, and a new dynasty was always decided by the Mandate of Heaven.
Economic and political situation of the Chinese civilization during the Zhou Dynasty:
When the Zhou dynasty was in power, the basic features of Chinese economic and social life began to take shape and to start. The peasants worked on lands owned by their lord and each peasant family farmed an outer plot for its personal use and they joined with other families to work the inner one to their lord. The artisans and merchants lived and walled towns under the direct control of the local lord. There was also slave classes. In ancient China the family served as the basic economic and social unit.
"Filial piety" concept in China:
It refers to a son or daughter. Then refers to the duty of the family members to subordinate their needs to those of the male head of the family . This term describes to a system in which each family had his or her place.
Chinese writing system getting started:
The Shang dynasty first started using a symbol system that included pictographs and ideographs that represented any object or animal, and there was around that went with each character. Other cultures started using pictographs and ideographs that the Shang dynasty started using, but then started using phonetic symbols that represented speech sounds. Chinese language has never abandoned its original format.
Beliefs
What is Confucianism?
It is named after Confucio, who invented it. It is the idea that there is no natural order, but actions can make a better place or community by placing the interests of society or other people before your own, you shouldn't be selfish.
What is Daoism?
It was founded by Laozi, who was a poet and philosopher of Ancient China. Daoism, also known as Taoism, is the belief that the universe has natural order and a perfect balance, and no actions, good or bad, can change it. If you want to live in peace you should let it continue its course and not interfere.
Political Systems
What is Legalism?
It was developed by Han Fei Tzu and it is not a philosophy or religion. It is a political system in which the leader(s) wanted to input hard laws because they were sacred that if people had too much liberty, they might overthrow them (rulers/government).