Classical China (Part I)

Qin Dynasty

During/Right After the Period of Disunity (403BCE

– 221 BCE)• China is looking ORDER

o Not a great time to be alive in Chinao Lots of people in China start thinking about :

• How to restore order• How to get back to the good old days

o Three HUGE ideas come out of this period:1. Legalism2. Confucianism3. Daoism

• All three will influence China for MANY years, even up to today!

The Qin Dynasty 221-206

• Emerged from the Warring States Period (475 BCE to 221BCE)o Shi Huangdi reunited China

• Laid the foundation for a unified Chinese state that has endured to the present.

• Started the Great Wall of China (or at least a form of it)

• Uniform tax, weights, and measurement systems

• Standardized the written form of the Chinese language

Qin Political Organization

• Based on Legalism – A reaction to the disorder of the Warring States Period

• Developed by Han Feio Strict set of laws that spelled out punishments

and rewards• Humans are naturally bad and only obey

authority through force• Future dynasties were

influenced by this focus on the importance of laws

The Tomb of Shi Huangdi

Questions to Answer• In your notebook (right now!)

1. What kind of logistical efforts were required to produce such an army?

2. Based on these visual sources, and what Codega has told you about the tomb complex, how would you characterize Shihuangdi as a leader?

Confucius

China before Confucius

• Xia and Shang Dynastieso2070 B.C. - 1046

B.C.• Zhou Dynastyo1046 B.C. - 256

B.C.

Confucius• Born in 551 B.C.• died in 479 B.C.

Confucianism• a system of social and ethical philosophyo“only when character is cultivated are

our families regulated; only when families are regulated are states well governed.”

oNOT A RELIGION!oBut there are religious seeming

elements

Five relationships• father-child• ruler-subject• husband-wife• elder brother-younger brother• friend-friend•NOT EQUAL!

Power Relationships• If the superior party

behaves with sincerity, benevolence, and concern for others then the inferior party will respond with deference and obedience.o Then life (and society) is all

good!o “The relationship between

superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend when the wind blows across it.”

CENTRAL IDEA!• Filial Pietyo The

unquestioning obedience and upmost respect for parents and other senior members of the family

o Core philosophy of Confucianism

Other Important Ideas• Focus on EDUCATION as the way to

become a better person• Rituals and Ceremonies were

importanto Particularly ancestor venerationo NOT a religion but it does look like one sometimes!

• Knowledge of Confucianism becomes the way to get a government job from the 600’s until 1905.

• Persecuted in Qin Dynastyo 221 B.C. - 206 B.C.o Why would Shi Huangdi not be cool with

Confucianism (hint look at the role of the leader)

• promoted by later rulers• Becomes a central part of almost

all East Asian culture

The Roman & Han Empires

The Han

Roman Empire

Questions For Rome and the Han

1. What type of Imperial Institutions did they use to organize/control their subjects?

2. How did these empires project military power over large areas?

3. What was the social structure of the empire?4. How did social tensions and/or

environmental damage (internal pressure) lead to the decline of the empire?

5. What external pressures led to the decline of the empire?