Geography

2 major rivers

Huang He = “Yellow River” because the soil it carries looks yellow; flows across China for more than 2900 miles

Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) = 3400 miles

Flooding was good

left behind rich topsoil that allowed farmers to grow large amounts of food on small farms

but bad that it killed many people (drowning).

GeographyOnly 1/10 of the land could be farmed because most of the country was desert and mountains.

That’s why so many settled along the Yellow River (Huang He) and the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) - farming was possible because of their flooding.

Silk Road - 4000 miles long, it was a VERY important trade route. They traded spices, porcelain, silk, and tea. Very dangerous and expensive to trade goods because you had to pay each kingdom to cross their land.

Importance of the Silk Road

China: Silk Road

Legacy of the Silk Road

Making Silk

Now that you know a little more about some of the products that traveled on the Silk Road, complete the worksheets.

Read each question and look for the answer in History Alive pages 258-263.

Reading the question before you read can help you better determine what information is most important. Use this strategy when studying a textbook.

Anticipation Guide

For each question, write what you know or develop a hypothesis for the answer.

Your notes should look like this:

1. Restate the question.

Anticipated response before research.

Response after research.

Anticipation Guide

1. How long is the Great Wall of China?

2. What was the purpose for the wall?

Great Wall of China-1500 miles long. First original structure was not the wall that you know today. Built for protection from Nomadic tribes from Mongolia and to prevent goods from being smuggled out. This is the World’s longest human structure!

Building the Great Wall of China

Read Pages 240-241

Anticipation Guide

3. What is the wall made of?

4. How long did it take to build?

5. How many people did it take to build the wall?

Video

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Anticipation Guide

6. Who built the Great Wall?

7. What happened to many of the people?

8. Can you see the Great Wall from space?

9. What has happened to the Great Wall?

10. How is the wall preserved today?

Read pages 240-241 in History Alive

Video

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

The Class System in China

Social Class = Class System = Social System

3 main social classes in China

landowning aristocrats

peasant farmers

merchants

Aristocrats

Merchants

Peasant Farmers

Aristocrats

• Very wealthy• Fancy homes• Fathers divided their land and gave it to their sons• Relied on farmers to grow crops that made them rich

Farmers• Farmers rented land and payed the land owners with crops • 9/10 Chinese were farmers• Unlike aristocrats, lived in very simple homes• Most also owned a small piece of land to grow food for their family = self-sustaining

Merchants

Peasant Farmers

Aristocrats

Merchants

Merchants

Peasant Farmers

Aristocrats

• shopkeepers, traders, bankers, etc. - provided goods and services to the landowners• Even though many merchants became rich, they were still looked down upon by aristocrats and farmers.

Big FamiliesPeople had big families to help with the farming. more kids = more crops = more bling!

Filial Piety - children had to respect their parents and older relatives.

Oldest Male in charge (the son could be in charge of his mother, and mother had to obey him). Family members placed the needs and desires of the head of the family before their own!

Men were respected - they farmed, attended school, ran government and fought wars.

Women tended to the house and raised children.