Ancient
Chinese Civilization
Dominic,
Juan, Michael
GEOGRAPHY
For thousands of years,
the ancient Chinese thought they were pretty much alone on the planet Earth.
They knew there were people to the north, the Felt Tent People - the Mongols -
but they did not know that other advanced ancient civilizations existed
anywhere else.
China's natural barriers
to the west, south, and east helped to protect these early people from
invasion.
China's natural barriers
include seas - the China Sea and the
Yellow Sea, both located in the Pacific Ocean. These seas provide a huge
coastline, which provided trade routes and easy access to food.
China's natural barriers
also include mountains, deserts, and rivers.
As you can see, China has many natural barriers, all of which helped to
keep her isolated from the rest of the world for many thousands of years.
DYNASTY
Many dynasties in Ancient
China lasted for hundreds of years. But the Qin Dynasty lasted for only 15
years. Yet, First Emperor Qin accomplished an amazing amount of change.
Qin was the first man to
control all of China. He did not want to be called a king. he called himself
First Emperor Qin. He died of natural causes. But in the short time that he
ruled China, he readied China to be pulled together as one country. But at what
cost?
First Emperor Qin was a
legalist. Legalists believe that people are basically bad. They believe that it
is necessary to control and regulate every minute of people's lives so they
have the discipline needed to work hard in the fields and in battle.
Qin ran his dynasty with
absolute control and swift harsh punishment. It was illegal to whine about
Qin's government. If you simply suggested that things might be improved, you
could be put to death without a trial.
Bureaucracy: To control
his people, First Emperor Qin developed a system of bureaucracy. He divided his
empire into 36 provinces. Each province was divided into districts. He put two
government officials in charge of each province. It was their job to put strong
people in charge of each district.
Workers were well trained
and paid. They reported to supervisors. People at each level supervised those
below them.
Spy System: To make sure
everyone did their job correctly, First Emperor Qin set up a spy system. People
had to spy on each other - it was the law. People had to spy on each at work
and at home in their neighborhood or village. If people turned in lawbreakers,
they were rewarded. If they did not, they were executed. It was a simple
system, and it worked very well.
This organization system
gave Qin great power. That power allowed him to make huge changes. Qin knew
that to unify China there had to be big changes. Most of his laws had something
to do with protection.
Changes:
Land: First Emperor Qin
took land away from the nobles. He did not want the nobles rising up against
him. Anyone who argued with Qin was either buried alive or put to work building
the Great Wall.
Standardization: He
introduced one system of weights, measures, money, written language, and laws.
Nobody argued with him.
Law Code: He introduced a
new law code that applied to everybody. He created a huge law enforcement
group, whose job was to enforce the laws.
Peasants: Peasants were
assigned a job. They were either assigned the job of farmer or of silk maker.
It they tried to do anything else besides their assigned job, they were sent to
work on the Great Wall. If people were lazy or slow at doing their assigned
job, they were sent to work on the wall.
Censorship: Qin practiced
total censorship. He persecuted scholars and destroyed books. He defined
useless books as any book about anything except books about medicine,
agriculture, or prophecy. Useless books were burned. Over 400 scholars who
refused to turn in books were either buried alive or sent to work on the wall.
Qin did not believe in any education for the common man. According to Qin, the
more time people spent studying, the less time they had to grow food. He
especially disliked the teachings of Confucius. He had all Confucius' books
burned.
Qin did not think his rule
was cruel. He said, "A thousand may die so that a million may live."
He built roads, canals, and bridges. His public works projects probably saved
millions of lives that would have been lost to floods and famine. Although many
people died building the Great Wall, it did provide an advantage in war.
No rebellion occurred
during his rule. He died in 210 BCE. Once he was dead, his son took over. His
son did not rule for long. People revolted again the Qin government all over the
countryside.
The peasant who led that
revolt became the new emperor. His dynasty was called the Han Dynasty. Life
vastly improved during the Han Dynasty.
THE GREAT WALL
The Chinese worked on the
Great Wall for over 1700 years. In turn, each emperor who came to power added
pieces of the wall to protect their dynasties. But the wall was not a solid
wall. It was a line of disconnected
barricades.
First Emperor Qin wanted a
much better barricade to protect his people from the Mongol invaders to the
north. He wanted a strong wall 30 feet wide and 50 feet high.
First Emperor Qin used
peasants, captured enemies, criminals, scholars, and anyone else who irritated
him, and put them all to work building the Great Wall. Laborers were not paid
for their work. It was slave labor.
About 3000 people worked
on the wall during the Qin Dynasty. Rocks fell on people. Walls caved in.
Workers died of exhaustion and disease. Laborers were fed only enough food to
keep them alive. There is an old Chinese saying, "Each stone in the wall
represents a life lost in the wall's construction.
This project continued
long after First Emperor Qin’s death. Building the wall was a project that continued
for many hundreds of years until the wall was over 3700 miles long. Most
emperors used the same system that Qin used, forced labor.
Today, the Great Wall
still stands. It can be seen from space, it’s that big!
CULTURE
This holiday is celebrated
approximately 15 days after the start of the Chinese New Year. Chinese Lantern
Festival is very old.
Legend says . .
There are many wonderful
stories about how the Lantern Festival first began. One story is that in
ancient times, people would go in search of spirits with burning sticks. They
thought the spirits could be seen during a full moon.
Another is about a lonely
young girl, in Han times, who tricked an emperor into having a wonderful
festival just so she could visit with her family! The emperor had such a good
time, he decided to make this festival an annual event!
TRADE
The Silk Road was not
actually a road. It was not paved. It was not even a single route.
The Silk Road was a name
given to any route that led across China to Rome. It was a 4000-mile trip. At
one end was China. At the other end was Rome.
Each had something the
other wanted. Rome had gold and silver and precious gems. China had silk and
spices and ivory.
Ideas also traveled along
the Silk Road, ideas that affected everyone.
The Romans were not
surprised to hear of another great civilization hidden over the mountains. They
had been looking for “the Silk People” for a long time.
The Romans discovered
pieces of silk from some of the people they conquered. Silk quickly became
popular in Rome. But it was scarce. The Romans wanted more silk. But they did
not know who was making this wonderful material.
The Romans tried to find
the traders as they came into the towns and villages. But the traders hid from
the Roman soldiers. They knew they had nothing to tell them. They did not know
who was making the silk. They only traded for the silk. They traveled a short
way along the silk road and traded with the people they found.
In frustration, the Romans
sent out parties of soldiers to follow the Silk Road, and find the source, the
people who were making the silk. Most of the soldiers never returned. Those who
did reported they could not find a way through the desert. They had to turn
back.
It was incredibly
dangerous to travel along the Silk Road. You faced desolate white-hot sand
dunes in the desert, forbidding mountains, brutal winds, and poisonous snakes. There was one nice section, called the Gansu
Corridor, a relatively fertile strip that ran along the base of one of the
mountains. To reach this strip, you had to cross the desert or the mountains.
And of course, there were always bandits and pirates.
Even the traders did not
make the whole trip. They worked in relays. Each trader would go a certain
distance, exchange their goods for other goods, and hopefully return. The next
would move along the road, trade, and hopefully return. There were three main routes, and all were
dangerous.
Northern Route – Westward
to Black Sea
Central Route – Westward
to Persia, Mediterranean Sea, Rome
Southern Route – Westward
to Iran, India
The Silk Road took
caravans to the farthest extent of the Han Empire. Sections of the Great Wall
were built along the northern side of the Gansu Corridor to try and prevent
bandits from the north from harming the trade.
Over the centuries, the
Silk Road developed a civilization of its own. Where possible, the Silk Road
became lined with huge temples and booming cities. It became far easier to
travel the road. But it was never easy. There were still vast stretches of
deserts and mountains to cross, with no city or water in sight.
DYNASTY & DAILY LIFE
Han Introduction: This was
not the Golden Age of China, but life was very good for many of the people
because of the demand for Chinese silk. The creation of the "silk
road" - the trade routes across the fierce deserts - allowed trade to flourish more easily with
the Roman Empire.
People bonded together
into one civilization during Han times. They had a common culture. Even in
remote sections, district officials copied the manner of the imperial court.
Peasants built homes and plowed their fields in the same way all over China.
Han writing tells us
little about their daily life. Han tombs, however, tell us quite a lot. The
Hans buried clay models of their homes and belongings, in their tombs. Models
included details like little clay furniture and little bronze oil lamps.
The Arts & Sciences:
So much was lost during the book burnings of the Qin Dynasty. The Han people
tried very hard to replace the literature that was lost during Qin times,
especially the works of Confucius.
They created new works of
literature and music. Beautiful murals were painted on the walls of palaces.
Scroll painting began. Craftsmen made jade jewelry and carvings, gold ornaments
and belt hooks, delicate paintings with wire thin brush strokes. Iron was used
for making plows and other cast iron objects. Glazed pottery was brightly
painted with lively hunting scenes, mountains, trees, clouds, dragons, tigers,
and bears. Their medicine was advanced. They invented acupuncture.
Their science was also
advanced. During Han times, these ancient people invented paper. They also invented
an instrument that told them when an earthquake was happening, somewhere in the
Empire, so they could send troops and food to help. and little bronze oil
lamps.
The Arts & Sciences: So much was lost
during the book burnings of the Qin Dynasty. The Han people tried very hard to
replace the literature that was lost during Qin times, especially the works of
Confucius.
They created new works of
literature and music. Beautiful murals were painted on the walls of palaces.
Scroll painting began. Craftsmen made jade jewelry and carvings, gold ornaments
and belt hooks, delicate paintings with wire thin brush strokes. Iron was used
for making plows and other cast iron objects. Glazed pottery was brightly
painted with lively hunting scenes, mountains, trees, clouds, dragons, tigers,
and bears. Their medicine was advanced. They invented acupuncture.
Their science was also
advanced. During Han times, these ancient people invented paper. They also
invented an instrument that told them when an earthquake was happening,
somewhere in the Empire, so they could send troops and food to help.
Public Schools: One of the
Han emperors (Emperor Wudi), around 100 CE, agreed with Confucius that
education was the key to good government. He started a system of public
schools, for boys only, taught by Confucian teachers. The teachings of
Confucius were nationally honored. Schools were set up in each providence.
There was a major school, called
the Grand School, in the capital. In the beginning, only 50 students were
allowed to study at the Grand School. In
less than 100 years, enrollment at the Grand School was over 30,000 students.
Jobs: Jobs were given to
educated people, as well as nobles. People were paid for their work.
Life in the Cities: Only
about 10% of the population (1 out of 10 people) lived in the cities. Cities
were neatly laid out with main streets and alleyways. Each city was surrounded
by a strong wall, made of earth and stone. As cities are today, the ancient Han
cities were centers of government, education, and trade. Most marketplaces,
throughout the city, had free entertainment. Musicians played bells, drums, and
string instruments, and jugglers and acrobats performed.
The Poor: The poor lived
in houses packed together. They had very little food, and little to no
sanitation. Many of the young males joined street gangs. Gangs wore distinctive
clothes and armor, that identified their gang. Teen gangs roamed the cities,
terrorizing people.
The Rich: The rich rushed
to imitate the imperial palace. They built elaborate homes, decorated with
drapery, and cashmere carpets. They furnished family tombs with stone lions. On
the lions, and on other sculpture, they added inscriptions mentioning how much
each item had cost!
The rich lived in
comfortable, large houses with many rooms and fireplaces. Each home was built
around a central courtyard. They had elaborately carved furniture that showed
Greek and Roman influence, and painted stuccoed walls with floral designs.
Other walls were left bare to display paintings or bronze mirrors. Dinner was
elaborate. Kids were tutored in science, math, literature, art, religion, and
music. Some studied in their homes, and some at the home of their tutor. The
rich did not use the public schools. They wore belted robes with long sleeves
lined with silk. When it was cold, they wore warm fur coats, made of squirrel
and fox skins and leather slippers.
Merchants & Craftsmen:
As in Shang times, merchants were hardly recognized as men. Once the canals
were built, some merchants and craftsmen became rich. A really successful
merchant might ride in a cart with a coachman, buy a title from an emperor, and
built a mansion surrounded by pools and gardens. This absolutely infuriated
officials and peasants. (The merchants didn't till the soil. They weren't
nobles. There ought to be a law, to stop them from doing this, and for a while,
there was a law, forbidding them from riding in carts and chariots.)
Life in the Country:
Country folk were farmers. They lived in one or two story mud houses with tiled
or thatched roofs. They had curtains on the windows. Barns and other buildings
surrounded the house. Several families lived in one house to allow them to work
their fields together.
They still did not own
their farms, but farms were larger in size, because families had learned to
team up. This solved a major problem. Together, they were able to produce more
food, some years, than they needed, which allowed them to trade food for other
items.
They still worked very
hard. They went to bed at dark and got up at dawn. They dressed in simple
clothes. Both men and women wore shirts and pants made of scratchy cloth, and
sandals made of straw. They stuffed their clothes with paper and cloth, to stay
warm in the winter. They steamed much of their food over boiling water on
stoves. In the south, they ate rice, steamed dumplings, and fish, flavored with
garlic and onions. In the north, they ate much the same, only they ate wheat
instead of rice.
