| A | B |
|---|
| What natural barriers protected and isolated China? | E: Pacific Ocean; W: Taklimakan desert & Plateau of Tibet; SW: Himalaya Mts.; N: Gobi Desert & Mongolian Plateau. |
| What two rivers flow from mountainous west to Pacific Ocean? | the Huang He and Yangtze |
| How did the Huang He get its name? | The river left huge amounts of dusty yellowish silt whenever it overflowed its banks. |
| What is loess? | It's the fertile deposit of windblown soil that comes from deserts in the west to the Huang He River. |
| What was the tragic outcome of "China's Sorrow"? | It was a flood in A.D. 1887 that killded nearly a million people. |
| Who is the Peking man? | His skeleton was found in northern China, showing that people settled there about 500,000 yrs. ago. |
| Name China's first dynasty and its head.. | The Xia Dynasty headed by Yu (around 2000 B.C.) |
| What projects of Yu helped people living along the Huang River? | His flood control and irrigation projects |
| How do we know much about the Shang Dynasty (1532-1027 B.C.)? | They were the first Chinese rulers to leave written records. |
| How did the city of Anyang differ from cities in the Indus Valley and Fertile Crescent? | It was build mainly of wood. |
| Describe the layout of a Shang city. | Higher classes lived in timber-framed houses with clay & straw walls; peasants lived in hovels outside the city; wide walls surrounded the city. |
| What was the social class structure among the Shangs? | A king (one of the warrior-nobles), the other warrior-nobles, and the peasants. |
| The Shangs were excellent creators of weapons and vessels made of bronze; why weren't tools made of it for the farmers? | The Shangs believed bronze was too precious to be used for tools. |
| Who were the two important authorities among the Chinese people? | The family and the king or emperor |
| What was expected of Chinese women? | They had to obey their fathers, husbands, and sons. Between 13 and 16, a girl had her marriage arranged. She was expected to bear sons. |
| How were spirits of family ancestors important in the Shang Dynasty? | The spirits had the power to bring good fortune or disaster to living members of the family. People paid respect the the father's ancestors, making sacrifices in their honor. |
| What are oracle bones? | An oracle bone is one of the animal bones or tortoise shells used by ancient Chinese priests to communicate with the gods. Questions were written on the bones, a hot poker was put on it, causing a crack. Priests interpreted the cracks. |
| What was the Chinese written language a force of unity? | People in all parts of China could learn the same system of writing, even though spoken languages were very different. |
| How many different characters make up the Chinese written language? | Over 10,000 characters... |
| A separate class lived outside the walls of cities. Who were they? | Commoners who made weapons, jewelry, religious items; bronzeworking and silk cloth were also leading crafts. |
| Who overthrew the Shang? When? | The Zhou conquered the them around 1027 B.C. |
| How did the Mandate of Heaven evolve? | The Zhou said the last Shang king was a poor ruler so the gods gave ruling power to the Zhou. This idea gradually led to the Mandate of Heaven which said royal authority came from god. |
| Know the Dynastic Cycle in China (50). | Disaster happens; Mandate lost; rebellion justified; new dynasty comes to claim mandate; dynasty eventually declines and bad events occur, justifying another rebellion, etc. |
| What is feudalism? | Political system where king grants land use to nobles; nobles then give loyalty and military service to king, and nobles also protect people on the land. |
| What improvements came during the Zhou Dynasty? | They built roads & canals, increased trade & agriculture, coined money, developed civil servant class, used iron (blast furnaces), created weapons & tools. |
| As the Zhou Dynasty declined after nomads killed their ruler, what happened to society? | Chaois, arrogance, and defiance replaced Chinese love of order, harmony and respect for authority. |
