Rise Great Leader Achievements Fall

Rise Great Leader Achievements Fall

Before the Zhou was the Shang 1750-1045 BCE Aristocracy warlords Anyang Oracle bones Human sacrifice Ancestor worship bronze

The Enduring Zhou Early Zhou (Western Zhou) Period 1122-771 BCE Spring and Autumn period (Eastern Zhou)) 771-481 BCE Warring States era (during the Late Zhou), 481-221 BCE

I. Rise of the Zhou

Pattern: The Rise 1. Great Leader leads a rebellion or a conquest of smaller, independent, neighboring political units. 2. Empires grow around trade centers or trade networks. 3. The shape of empire is determined by geography.

Rise of the Zhou 1050 BCE King Wen of the Zhou plans rebellion against Shang Dynasty 1045 BCE King Wu (son of King Wen) leads military coalition Actually Uncle Duke of Zhou is in charge Wen just a boy blood thick enough in the capital to float blocks of wood King Wu of Zhou = first King of Zhou, Ji family

Rise of the Zhou Trade networks -- Made roads and canals for trade reasons

Geography and the Zhou

II. Great Leader of the Zhou

Pattern: Great Leader 1. Great Leader who founds an empire borrows from the past and uses religion to support his legitimacy 2. Great Leader skillfully exercises potestas and autoritas (potestas = brute force power; autoritas = authority from respect) 3. Succession is within Great Leader s family, though not all offspring are great. 4. Great Leader assembles a written law code

Mandate of Heaven The take over of the Zhou from the Shang was credited with the doctrine forming a Mandate of Heaven, which provided that the emperor or king ruled by divine right. If the rulers were overthrown, the Mandate of Heaven was transferred to the victors.

Pattern 4. Law Code oldest document on law = Kang Gao instructions issued by King Wu of Zhou to a younger prince How to govern a fief

III. Apex of the Zhou

Pattern: Achievements 1. There is a period of peace and prosperity at the height of an empire ( Pax ). 2. Empires connect their districts with protected road/communication networks. 3. Empires develop bureaucracy to manage the empire and divide it into administrative districts such as provinces or satrapies. 4. Cultural diffusion occurs through trade. 5. Empires enjoy accomplishments in the arts, literature, sciences, philosophy, and architecture during their height. 6. The language of the dominant culture or trading people becomes a lingua franca for the region. 7. There is a social hierarchy with limited social mobility

Pattern 1. Pax of the Permanent capital (instead of moving) Xian on Wei river Lasts until 8 th century BCE when fragmentation begins Zhou

Pattern 2. protected Road/Communication Extremely limited lack Networks of good infrastructure helped weaken king s power

Pattern 3. Bureaucracy Corvee labor Mandatory work for the state for certain period Bureaucracy strong centralized state, esp. eastern Zhou period Beginnings of government jobs due to talent instead of who you knew (meritocracy) Rise of the Shi

The Shi [ shr ]

Limited contact with other cultures However Pattern 4. Cultural Zhou people lived originally on western edge of Shang realm Adopted agriculture from the Shang Other cultural features? Diffusion In this case, the cultural diffusion is within Chinese culture zone

Source: http://www.chinaknowledge.de/history/zhou/zhou-tech.html Pattern 5. Accomplishments use of iron perfection of the calendar regular astronomical observation & recording of astronomical events 1 st geographical maps division of China into the Nine Provinces discovery of magnetism acupuncture Masters of bronze, horse drawn chariots, crossbow

Confucianism Starts during Zhou dynasty To be explained in the Han Dynasty in Topic 4 of this course

Square-Field or Well Field System 井 (jǐng), = well Square of land divided = nine identically-sized sections 8 outer sections -- serfs Produce all theirs center communally cultivated for landowner (aristocrat) By the 8 families All produce to owner Owner send portion to King all fields were aristocratowned

Big-time Agriculture Fertilization Animal-drawn plows and farm tools huge agricultural expansion Hunting becomes just a sport Huge populations in some cities Source:

directed by the government government - store surplus food & distribute it in times of famine or bad harvest Rice introduced this era Irrigation Reservoirs Dams & sluices large irrigation canal system Agriculture

Pattern 6. Lingua Franca written script evolved into its modern form Chinese character for listening

Pattern 7. Social Hierarchy Leaders appoint people to oversee each of the territories started off as walled off cities. leader of each of territories = lords receiving the title through inheritance. fighting men peasants slaves.

The Enduring Zhou System: nobles own land, peasants work it Son of Heaven Feudalism

IV. Fall of the Zhou

Patterns: The Fall 1. Leadership crisis: Government becomes corrupt. Leader may be distant, incompetent, insulated by attendants or uninterested. 2. There are foreign threats. This may take the form of mass immigration or military threat. 3. Economic collapse inflation, depression, money devaluation, disruption of vital trade routes. 4. Through time, wealth becomes consolidated. The gap between rich and poor widens. The tax burden is shifted to the lower classes. Tension between classes increases. 5. Empire breaks up into smaller political units

Pattern 1. Leadership royal line broken 8 th cen. BCE power of the Zhou court gradually diminished King Zhou Pingwang s (770 BCE) reign onwards, the Zhou kings ruled in name only true power lying in the hands of regional nobles declaring themselves to be independent kings Crisis

Qin people Pattern 2. Foreign Migrate into region from where Zhou originate Warfare within China becomes endemic as warlords fight to consolidate power Threats

Pattern 3. Economic Local aristocrats cease making tax payments up the chain to the king King no longer powerful enough to enforce Collapse

Pattern 4. Gap between Large populations result from improved farming Land = wealth In hands of aristocracy Rich and Poor

Pattern 5. Breakup fragmentation of the kingdom Esp. Spring and Autumn period Brief reunification 5 th century BCE dynasty ended in 256 BCE when the last king of Zhou died King Nan of Zhou none of his sons bothered to claim title of King of China

nobles did not even bother to symbolically acknowledge loyalty to the Ji family Qin Shi Huang's unification of China concluded in 221 BC with the establishment of the. Qin Dynasty

Qin Cycle starts again Qin Shihuangdi Great Wall Legalism Only 14 years