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CLASSICAL CHINA 250 B.C.E.- 600A.C.E. MANDATE OF HEAVEN The right to rule granted by heaven Zhou justified their overthrow of Shang Ruler called "the son of heaven" Only given to virtuous, strong rulers To lose mandate = someone else should rule Replacement of dynasties = Dynastic Cycle Signs one had lost mandate Corruption, heavy taxes Lazy officials and rulers Revolts, invasions, civil wars, crime Natural disasters Society develops bad morals, habits THE ZHOU DYNASTY: 1122-256 B.C.E. The rise of the Zhou The last Shang king was a bad ruler The Zhou forces toppled the Shang Political organization Adopted decentralized administration Used princes and relatives to rule regions Consequences Weak central government with ceremonial functions Rise of regional powers; often called feudalism Constant rivalry between warring families, nobles THE FALL OF THE ZHOU Iron metallurgy Iron technology spread; 1st millennium B.C.E. Iron weapons were cheaper to produce than bronze Helped regional aristocrats to resist the central power Feudal state of Qin mastered iron technology, weapons Nomadic invasion sacked capital Prior period called Western Zhou Capital moved to Loyang beginning Eastern Zhou Warring States Period (403-221 B.C.E.) Territorial princes became more independent Rise of Qin state States warred one with another Rise of Sun Tzu as military strategist Qin began conquering rivals Created vast army, no one able to stop Qin kings Last Zhou king abdicated his position in 256 B.C.E. FAMILY Central to Chinese culture: kinship Veneration of ancestors Belief in ancestors' presence, continuing influence Burial of material goods with the dead Offering sacrifices at the graves Eldest males presided over rites honoring ancestors Only males could perform religious duties Filial Piety Young must respect elders without question Elders always right, make decisions Patriarchal society During Neolithic times, Chinese society = matrilineal Rise of states, war due to men's contribution s After Shang, not even queens merited temples CONFUCIUS’ SEARCH FOR ORDER Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.) A strong-willed man, from an aristocratic family Traveled ten years searching for an official post Educator with numerous disciples Sayings compiled in the Analects by disciples Confucian ideas Fundamentally moral and ethical in character Restore political and social order; stress ritual Formation of junzi - "superior individuals" Edited Zhou classics for his disciples to study The key Confucian concepts Ren - a sense of humanity Li - a sense of propriety Xiao - filial piety Cultivating of junzi for bringing order to China 5 Relationships and filial piety as basis of society CONFUCIAN SOCIAL HIERARCHY Confucian Scholar Official LEGALISM Legalism The doctrine of statecraft Promoted a practical and ruthlessly efficient approach No concern with ethics and morality No concern with the principles governing nature Doctrine used by Qin dynasty Shang Yang (ca. 390-338 B.C.E.) A chief minister of the Qin state His policies summarized in The Book of Lord Shang Was executed by his political enemies Han Feizi (ca. 280-233 B.C.E.) Student of Xunzi, became the most articulate Legalist A synthesizer of Legalist ideas Forced to suicide by his political enemies LEGALISM IN PRACTICE The state's strength Agriculture Military force Discouraged commerce, education, and the arts How to treat people Harnessing self-interest of people for needs of state Called “carrot and stick” approach in west Called for harsh penalties even for minor infractions Advocated collective responsibility before law Not popular among the Chinese, Chinese used legalism if state threatened Legalism still doctrine common to China SECULAR CULTURAL TRADITION No organized religion, priestly class Impersonal heavenly power - tian Males performed few duties Fathers took care of family duties Rulers took care of the public duties Oracle bones Rulers, people question tian for direction Primary instruments of fortune-tellers Discovery of the "dragon bones" in 1890s Bones recorded day-to-day concerns Early Chinese writing Earliest form was the pictograph From pictograph to ideograph Absence of alphabetic or phonetic component More than two thousand characters Modern Chinese writing is direct descendant THOUGHT, LITERATURE Zhou literature The Book of Change, a manual of diviners The Book of History, the history of the Zhou The Book of Rites The rules of etiquette and rituals for aristocrats The Book of Songs The most notable of the classic works Verses on themes both light and serious Reflected social conditions of the early Zhou Destruction of early literature Most Zhou writings have perished 1st emperor destroyed most writings UNIFICATION OF CHINA The Qin State and Dynasty Partially sinified pastoralists, perhaps even Turkish Located in west China and adopted Legalist policies Encouraged agriculture, resulted in strong economy Organized a powerful army equipped with iron weapons Conquered other states and unified China in 221 B.C.E. Qin Shi Huang di King of Qin proclaimed himself First Emperor, 221 B.C.E. Established centralized imperial rule Held sons of nobles as hostages Demolished nobles castles Project of connecting and extending the Great Wall 700,000 people worked on project; 100,000 killed QIN STATECRAFT Suppressing the resistance Policies of centralization Standardization of laws, currencies, weights, measures Standardized scripts: tried to create uniform language Creates a uniform writing system but not language Tomb of the First Emperor Bitterly opposed, was opposed by Confucian scholars Buried 460 scholars alive because of their criticism against the Qin Burned all books except some with utilitarian value The tomb was an underground palace Excavation of the tomb since 1974 Terracotta soldiers and army to protect tomb The collapse of the Qin dynasty Massive public works generated ill will among people Waves of rebels overwhelmed the Qin court in 207 B.C.E. A short-lived dynasty, left deep marks in Chinese history THE EARLY HAN DYNASTY Liu Bang A general, persistent man, a methodical planner Restored order, established dynasty, 206 B.C.E. Han was long-lived dynasty Early Han policies Sought middle way between Zhou and Qin Royal relatives were not reliable Returned to centralized rule Martial Emperor (141-87 B.C.E.) Han Wudi ruled for 54 years Pursued centralization and expansion HAN SOCIAL STRUCTURE • • • • • • Patriarchal, patrilocal households averaged five inhabitants Large, multigenerational compound families also developed Women's subordination (Ban Zhao Admonitions for Women) Cultivators were the majority of the population Differences apparent between noble, lower class women Scholar bureaucrats: Confucian trained bureaucrats • Officials selected through competitive testing • Used to run the government in Early Han • Scholar Gentry • Confucian bureaucrats intermarried with landed elite • New class comes to dominate local, national offices • Strongest in late Han • Merchants held in low social esteem COMMERCE, INDUSTRY Iron metallurgy Farming tools, utensils Weapons Silk textiles Sericulture spread all over China during the Han High quality Chinese silk became a prized commodity Traded as far as India, Persia, Mesopotamia, and Rome State monopolies on liquor, salt and iron Paper production Invented probably before 100 C.E. Began to replace silk and bamboo as writing materials Population growth Increased from 20 to 60 million (220 BCE to 9 CE) Despite light taxation, state revenue was large Silk Road established: horses for silk HAN TROUBLES Expeditions consumed the empire's surplus Raised taxes and confiscated land of some wealthy individuals Taxes, land confiscations discouraged investment Much of defense consumed on defending against nomads Social tensions, stratification between the poor and rich Problems of land distribution Early Han supported land redistribution Economic difficulties forced some small landowners to sell property Some sold themselves or their families into slavery Lands accumulated in the hands of a few No land reform, because Han needed cooperation of large landowners The reign of Wang Mang A powerful Han minister dethroned the baby emperor Claimed imperial title himself, 9 C.E. Land reforms - the "socialist emperor“ Overthrown by revolts 23 C.E LOSS OF THE MANDATE The Later Han Dynasty (25-220 C.E.) Overthrown of Wang Mang restores Han New Han much weakened Rule often through large families, gentry Rise of Eunuchs in government as new source of power The Yellow Turban Uprising (Daoist Revolt) Rulers restored order but did not address problem of landholding Yellow Turban uprising inflicted serious damage on the Han Collapse of the Han Court factions paralyzed central government Han empire dissolved China was divided into regional kingdoms Period of 3 Kingdoms Local aristocrats divided empire Later fragmented further During period nomads invaded, Buddhism entered
