ancient china 𐙚

• Qin was the state that gained power after the period of Warring States, with Qin Shihuangdi ruling
• Qin Shihuangdi created a strong central government by basing it on legalism, punishing opposition and burning books that opposed him publicly
• Qin Shihuangdi unified China by introducing one currency throughout the empire, building roads, and a canal connecting the Chang Jiang in central China
• Qin Shihuangdi helped protect China by building The Great Wall to fend off invaders like the Xiongnu and by increasing China's wealth through infrastructure projects
• Despite his positive impact, Qin Shihuangdi was viewed as an oppressor for treating people badly and making them his slaves
• Groups opposing Qin Shihuangdi included:

  • Aristocrats, whose power he reduced
  • Scholars, who resented him for burning their writings
  • Farmers, who were forced to build roads and the Great Wall of China
• The Qin dynasty fell shortly after Qin Shihuangdi's death due to his cruel rule, leading to a Civil War and the rise of a new dynasty
• The dynasty that came after the Qin was the Han Dynasty
• After the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty came into power
• The first ruler of the Han Dynasty was Han Gaozu
• Han Gaozu's policies were similar to the Qin Dynasty as both used censors, but they differed in that Han Gaozu brought peace and prosperity to his reign
• Han Wudi instituted the civil service exam
• Pros and cons of the civil service exam:

  • Pros: if you passed, you could get very well jobs
  • Cons: if you failed, you could only work at a school, as an assistant, or support family
• Farmers became tenant farmers by selling their land to aristocrats
• The Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu in the north, leading to almost 150 years of peace in China
• The Silk Road was a large trading network where only high-end goods were sold to maintain its exclusivity and high value
• Advancements from the Han Dynasty:

  • Opened China's trade system
  • Population and land mass grew
  • Created government civil service examination
  • Developed steel production
  • Advanced acupuncture
  • Improved sea travel
• Daoism, Confucianism, and Legalism arose to restore order after the Period of Warring States
• China's longest running dynasty was the Zhou Dynasty
• Wu Wang led a rebellion against the Shang Dynasty, starting the Zhou Dynasty
• Accomplishments/achievements of the Shang Dynasty include Irrigation and Flood Control and Pictographs
• An accomplishment/achievement of the Zhou Dynasty was Silk Production
• The Huang He river flowed from Mongolia to the Pacific Ocean
• The Chang Jiang river flowed from central Asia to the Yellow Sea
• China's development was shaped by Mountains, Deserts, and Rivers
• Harsh laws and punishments were taught to be necessary for an orderly society by Hanfeizi
• An orderly society comes about when everyone does their duty, according to Confucius
• Laozi taught that people should give up worldly desires and turn to nature
• Filial Piety is the idea that children should have complete respect for parents and elders
• The invention that changed warfare in Early China was the Saddle and Stirrup
• The Mandate of Heaven gave power to both the ruler and the people
• A bureaucracy is a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives
• An ideograph is a character that represents an idea
• A dynasty is a line of hereditary rulers of a country
• An aristocrat is a noble whose wealth came from the land he owned
• The mandate was the proper way that kings were supposed to rule
• Contact can have different meanings, such as a person, place, thing, or action
• In Ancient China, merchants were not allowed to have government jobs because officials shouldn't worry about money
• The three main social classes of early China were land-owning aristocrats, peasant farmers, and merchants
• The two primary responsibilities of women in Chinese society were raising children and managing the household