chinese river valleys. geography natural barriers protect from east himalayas and taklamakan desert...
TRANSCRIPT
Chinese River Valleys
Geography
Natural barriers protect from East Himalayas and Taklamakan Desert Isolation = self-sufficient
“Middle Kingdom”
Huang He (Yellow River) and Yangtze River Fertile soil called loess – blown by the winds from
deserts 10% of land is arable Flooding could be disastrous, nicknamed: “China’s
Sorrow”Fertile land support large population
FLOODING, FISHING, AND TOXIC RUNOFF
The Yellow and Yangtze Rivers Today
…?
The control of water is becoming a point of conflict between neighboring countries
SHANG
ZHOU
QIN
Early Chinese History
The Shang Dynasty
1700-1027 BCE
Big claim to fame! First rulers to leave written records
Oracle bones
Built cities of wood Wealthy within the city walls Poor outside the city walls
Constantly at war – overthrown by the Zhou (1045-256 BCE) who created the Mandate of Heaven
Oracle Bone from the Shanghai Museum
Family Religious Beliefs
People outside China = barbarians Ethnocentrism (belief that
your civilization is superior)
Loyalty to the familyFilial PietyWomen inferior
Arranged marriages 13-16Mulan - Honor
Family ancestors influenced life (+/-)
Spirits were not gods
Paid respect to spirits
Mulan - Family Spirits
Chinese Culture
Writing System
No connection between China’s spoken and written language AKA – One can read Chinese without being able to
speak a word of it People all over China could read it even if the spoken
language was very different Written language helped unify a large, diverse land
1,500 characters to be barely literate
10,000 to be a scholar
1) Traditional 2) Simplified
3) Pinyin
4)English
These have been translated to pinyin
Easy to figure out Still easy to figure out
Look what I found as a result?
And…I’m lost