Chinese Contributions

• China has high mountains in the west,

its rivers flow east, thus China was isolated from western culture.

• Chinese civilization begins along the

Huang He(Yellow) River.

The Yellow River (Huang He)

• The Huang He River takes its name from the vast quantities of loess which gathers along its route from the high mountains of Tibet to its mouth as it empties into the Yellow Sea.

• The religious authority of the king. It was believed that rulers received their authority from the gods. It was called “The Mandate of Heaven.” As dynasties weakened and new leaders arose, the Chinese believed that the gods were removing their mandate and giving it to another.

Xi Dynasty: Earliest rulers of ancient China

Achievements:1.Developed the potters wheel.2.Developed baked bricks for

houses.3.Harvested silk.4.Developed irrigation systems.

III. Shang Dynasty: First dynasty in China from 1766-1000 B.C.E.

Achievements:• Oracle Bones • Shamanism• Writing System• Bronze ware• Sericulture• Feudal Political System

The Shang Economy;•Built irrigation canals for crops

•Cowry shells were used as money.

•Long distance trade for copper, tin, lead, and salt

The Shang

• The Shang royal tombs included thousands of objects including human material remains.

IV. Zhou Dynasty 1029-258 BCE

• This was a time of Feudalism (Decentralized) government with competing warlords.

•551 – 478 Life of Confucius•450 Development of Chinese Calendar

Patterns in Classical ChinaZhou Dynasty (height c. 700 B.C.E.)Yangzi River valley settled"Middle Kingdom"

The long, narrow strips of wood or bamboo typically carry a single column of brush-written text each, with space for several tens of Chinese characters. For longer texts, many slips may be bound together in sequence with thread

Mandate of Heaven

The right to rule is granted by Heaven.There is only one Heaven; therefore, there can be only one ruler.

221 – 202 B.C.E.Qin Dynasty

•A single emperor rules•Great Wall of China begun•A single basic language is developed

Anarchy in China

Three Kingdoms 220-280

Shu Han 221 – 263

Wei 220 - 265

Wu 222 – 280

The Silk Road

• The Silk Road, or Silk Route, is an interconnected series of trade routes through Southern Asia mainly connecting Xi'an in China, with Asia Minor and the Mediterranean. It extends over 8,000 km (5,000 miles) on land and sea.

• Trade on the Silk Route was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, Mesopotamia, Persia, India and Rome, and helped to lay the foundations for the modern world.

The Chinese Section

The statue is at the starting point of the ancient Silk Road of Chang'an

(present Xian City).

Chinese Mathematics

The Chinese Remainder TheoremSystems of linear equationFractionsPermutations and combinationsMagic SquareNegative numbers

Chinese Medical Contributions

• Accupuncture• Moxibustion• Yin Yang Theory