Chapter 3:3-4

Pages 88-103
Key Terms
Term Definition
Mandate of Heaven a belief during the Zhou dynasty that kings
received their authority to command, or mandate,
from Heaven
Dao the proper “Way” that a king was expected to rule
in order to please the gods and protect the people
filial piety the duty of members of a family to subordinate
their needs and desires to those of the male head
of the family
Confucianism a system of ideas based on the teachings of
Confucius
Daoism a system of ideas based on the teachings of Laozi
Legalism a philosophy that stressed harsh laws and
punishments
 Geography of China
 China is known as the Middle Kingdom because they believed themselves to
be in the center of the world
 Boundaries such as the oceans, deserts, and mountains isolated China from
their neighbors.
 The mountains and deserts served as barriers that separated the Chinese people from
other Asian people.
 In the regions created by the mountains and deserts, there were other people groups
who were often in conflict with the Chinese.

Locate and label the

following on the China Mongolia
Map:
•China Gobi Desert
•Pacific Ocean
•Gobi Desert Huang He
•Himalaya Mountains (Yellow River)
Plateau of Tibet
•Plateau of Tibet •Xian
•Chang Jiang (Yangtze Himalaya Mnts. China
Chang Jiang
River) (Yangtze River)
•Huang He (Yellow River)
•Xian (Changan)
Pacific Ocean
•Mongolia
First Civilizations in China
 Xia Dynasty: Beginning of Chinese
civilization but little is known about this
time.
 Shang Dynasty (1750BC-1122BC)
 Established a Capital at Anyang and
invented bronze casting
 Shang Religious Beliefs:
○ The Shang rulers believed that they could
communicate with the gods to get help with
their affairs.
○ Priests used oracle bones to get answers
from the gods.
○ There was a strong belief in life after death.
○ Humans were sacrificed to please the gods
and to provide protection for the king and his
family on their journey to the next world.
○ The Chinese also believed that the spirits of
ancestors could bring good or evil to living
members of a family, so it was important to
treat the spirits well.
Zhou Dynasty: the longest lasting
dynasty, claimed they ruled China
because of the Mandate ofMandate
 The Heaven of Heaven is the
belief that Heaven keeps order
in the universe through a king
that rules over all humanity.
 kings received their authority to
command, or mandate, from
Heaven.
 It was the king’s duty to keep the
gods pleased to protect people
from bad harvest and disasters.
If he failed, he could be.
 This gave people the “right of
revolution.” The king was not a
divine being and could be
overthrown.
 The dynastic cycle explains
the rise and fall of ruling
families in China
Zhou Dynasty
 Artisans and merchants were not free but lived in walled
cities under the control of a lord.
 Population increased and so did trade along the Silk
Road.
 Cloth, Salt, Silk, and other luxury goods
 Filial Piety: Society was patriarchal.
 Women had no real authority but could influence public affairs
 Chinese writing consisted of pictographs and
ideographs.
Paths

of Faith
What are the three paths of faith in China?
 Use a plain piece of
white or colored Chinese
paper to describe
and illustrate the Philosophies
three major
philosophies in Confucianism Legalism Daoism
China: P. 94-97
 
 Include information
 
about the founder,
texts, view of 

government and 
human nature. 
 Each panel should 
include a title,  
picture, and at least
 
4 bullets of important
information.
Three Schools of
Thought
Confucianism
 Confucius founded about 500 BC
 The Analects are the written collection
Confucian ideas
 Government:
 Ruler should be virtuous and lead by
example and should be educated
 Should be open to all of superior talent
Three Schools of Thought:
Confucianism
 Two elements that stand out in the
Confucian view of the Dao:
Duty –
○ All people had to set aside their own needs for the broader
needs of the family and community;
 Filial piety= the respect for one’s parents that came before all other
duties.
- Everyone has a specific role in the family including
children.
○ Everyone is governed by the Five Constant Relationships.
 Father to son, elder brother to younger brother, husband to wife, ruler
to subject, friend to friend
- Older superior to younger, Men superior to women
Humanity –
○ consists of a sense of compassion and empathy for others
 “Do not do to others what you would not want done to you.”
 Three Schools of
Thought
Taoism (Daoism) : The Unspoken
Way

 The founder, Laozi (Lao Tsu)

 Basic Ideas:
 Sets forth proper forms of behavior
for human beings on Earth
 True way to follow the will of Heaven
is not action, but inaction
 Best way to act in harmony with
universal order is to act
spontaneously and let nature takes its
course by not interfering with it.
 Government was seen as
unnatural
Three Schools of
Thought
Legalism
 Hanfeizi founded it in 200’s
BC
 Proposed that human beings
are evil by nature and could only
be brought to follow the correct
path by harsh laws and stiff
punishments
 Strong ruler required to create
order