China
The Flowering of Chinese Culture
Lesson 2
Chinese Art
► Poetry ► LiBo greatest poet
► Inspired by harmony in
nature
► Painting
► Landscapes most
popular
► Shows harmony with
nature
► Represent spirit or
essence of nature
Civil Service System
service
► Civil ► Used tests to find
examinations people for public office
► Studying for the test
was expensive
► Involved special
schools and travel
► Only the rich could
afford to take tests
► Aristocrats controlled
the government
Civil Service System
► Meritocracy ► System of reward
and/or punishment
based on merit
► People that did their
jobs well got promoted
► People that did their
job poorly were
demoted or fired
Civil Service System
► Emperor has the ► Mandate from heaven
power to govern
► Emperor sometimes
called “Son of Heaven”
► Had absolute power
but shared it with the
aristocrats
Birth of a New Economy
► Roads and River ► Government officials
needed to travel in the
empire
► Roads made travel and
trade easier and faster
► Canals and waterways
dug for same reason
Birth of a New Economy
► Farming ► Faster growing rice
allowed for more crops
to be planted during
the year
► Land given to peasants
and they were taught
how to irrigate the
fields
► Produced more food
than needed; traded it
for other goods
Birth of a New Economy
► Merchant Class ► Chinese sailing vessels
called Junks
transported goods
along the waterways
► Developed currency or
paper money to make
trading easier
► Goods now valued in
terms of money for a
money economy
Birth of a New Economy
► Merchant Class ► More trade required
more shopkeepers,
bookkeepers,
inspectors, bankers
and tax collectors
► Lived in small towns
and cities where trade
was centered
Chinese Inventions
► Printing ► Most significant
invention
► Books, calendars and
pamphlets spread
knowledge faster
► Woodblock printing
was first invented in
700 A.D.
► Moveable type
invented 1045 A.D.
Chinese Inventions
► Other inventions ► Gunpowder
► Guns
► Compass called by the
Chinese a “fish”
► Mapped the heavens
using star charts