Ancient Chinese

Dynasties

 (Huangdi)

The Yellow
Huangdi wasEmperor
known as the Yellow Emperor in honor of his
contributions to agriculture. Thus, yellow became the
imperial color.

Legends claim all Chinese surname originated from

his sons. He sent his sons out to different parts of China to
establish settlements, each taking on a surname based on
the geographic location they ruled.
All the noble families of the first three dynasties of
China, Shang, and Zhou (Chou) were direct
descendants of Huangdi.

Huangdi -- first ruler of China -- developed the basis of

civilization, such as domesticating animals and spoken
language.

His historian Chn Gji created

the first Chinese characters.

His wife Lou Z taught the Chinese

how to weave silk from silkworm
cocoons.

Yellow River

Yellow River second-longest river in China -- 3,395miles.

Yellow River is extremely prone to flooding. It has flooded
over 1,500 times in the last 3,5000 years -- largely due to
the elevated river bed in its lower course.

Yellow River gets its name from

the muddiness of its water, which
is a constant yellow color.
Sediment carried by the river is
deposited in large amounts at
the bottom of the river.
The sediment also created very
fertile land. Much of the rice
harvested in China is grown
along the bank of the Yellow
River.
The Yellow Rivers basin became
the birthplace of the Chinese
civilization.

Xia Dynasty
2100 B.C. - 1700 B.C .
China's first dynasty began in 2,070 BC.

Shang Dynasty
1600 B.C.-1046 B.C.

The most advanced bronze-working civilization in

the world.

Zhou (Chou) Dynasty

1027B.C. - 221 B.C.
Philosophers of this period first proclaimed the principle of the

Mandate of Heaven," the idea

that the ruler (the "son of heaven") governed by divine right but
his dethronement would mean that he had lost his mandate.
Agriculture in Zhou Dynasty was very intensive and in many cases
directed by the government. All farm lands were owned by nobles,
who then gave their land to their serfs, similar to European
feudalism. Well-Field System was established. A piece of land
was divided into nine squares in the shape of the character jing
( ), with the grain from the middle square taken by the

government and that of surrounding squares kept by

individual farmers.

Spring and Autumn Period

770 B.C. -476 B.C.
*776 BC-Olympic games started in Greece

In the year 551 B.C., the famous

thinker and educator of ancient China,
Confucius, was born. He had been
seeking to have his service accepted
by different states. To his
disappointment, no one appreciated his
ideas. So he devoted his energy to
education.
Confucius Five Principal Relationships(1) ruler and subject; (2) father and
son; (3) elder brother and younger
brother; (4) husband and wife; and (5)
friend and friend.

"To know your faults and be able to change is the greatest

virtue."
"What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others."

Sun Tzu, an
ancient Chinese
military general
and strategist is
said to have
written The Art
of War at this
time.If you know both yourself and your enemy, you

can win a hundred battles without a single loss.

All warfare is based on deception.

Qin Dynasty
221B.C.-207 B.C.

When Qin Shi Huang Di (chin

sure-hwang-dee) united China in
221 BC, he felt that his
achievements had surpassed
those of all the rulers who
have gone before him. So he
combined the ancient titles of
Huang and Di to create a new
title, Huangdi , translated as
Emperor.
He relied heavily on strict laws
To silence criticism of imperial
rule, he banished or put to
death many Confucian
scholars and burned their
books.

Qin Shi Huang Di

standardized Chinese
characters, as well as
weights and
measures.

To fend off nomad invasion, the walls built by various Warring

States were connected to make a 3,107 mile-long Great Wall.
The Great Wall is actually four great walls that rebuilt or extended over
the years

The terra cotta army was discovered by

accident in 1974 at Xian, when local
farmers accidentally broke into a pit
containing 6,000 life-size terracotta
figures.
Altogether over 7,000 terra cotta
soldiers, horses, chariots, and weapons
have been unearthed. It is believed that
an army of more than 8,000 terra cotta
soldiers were buried fifteen to twenty
feet beneath the earth not far from the
tomb where Emperor Qin is believed to
be buried .

Terracotta
Army

Han Dynasty
206 B.C. -220 A.D.

After a short civil war, Liu Bang seized

power and a new dynasty called Han
emerged.
The Han rulers change some of the
harsher laws of the previous dynasty.
Technological advances also marked
this period with two inventions, paper
and porcelain.
The Han Empire collapsed due to