Gender Structure

							    Chinese Dynasties
•   Too Many Dynasties to Remember? Lets try a SONG!
•   Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
•    Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
•    Sui, Tang, Song
•    Sui, Tang, Song
•    Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
•    Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
•   Mao Zedong
•    Mao Zedong
•   Let’s try Frere Jacques
•   http://rhs.rocklin.k12.ca.us/academics/socialscience/apwh
    /index.html
       Chinese Dynasties – Zhou 1027 BCE – 221 BCE

Zhou (1027 BCE – 221 BCE)
    Classical ideas of family, property, and
bureaucracy took shape during Zhou rule
     - The rise of competitive and quarrelling smaller states at
            the end of the Zhou period set things up for a strong
            central power to unify the Chinese lands.
     - commonalities in culture between the smaller states but
            also distinct cultural differences (similar in some
            ways to the different Greek city-states) (Bulliet 64)
           Chinese Dynasties – Qin 221 - 206 BCE
Qin (221 BCE – 206 BCE)
       - Began long period of Imperial China that would
last into the 20th century.
     Aggressive tendencies and disciplined way of life made it
     the premier power among the warring states in the early
     3rd century BCE
     - Qin rapidly conquered their rivals and created China’s first
            empire.
     - Empire was extensive – basically the China of today –
            much more extensive than the relatively compact
            zone in northeastern China of the Shang and Zhou
            - BUT at great human cost – empire barely survived
                    its founder (Shi Huangdi)
            (Bulliet 64, 160)
         Chinese Dynasties – Qin 221 - 206 BCE
Qin (221 BCE – 206 BCE)
    - Leaders were able and ruthless men
    - drew on ideas of legalism
          - cracked down on Confucianism
    - worked to eliminate potential rivals
          - eliminated primogeniture
               - so land would be split up to several heirs.
               - why?
         - abolished slavery
               - wanted a free peasantry of small land owners
               - why?
         Chinese Dynasties – Qin 221 - 206 BCE
Qin (221 BCE – 206 BCE)
    - Committed to standarization
          - with writing, weights, coinage, a uniform
                 law code etc.
          - tried to eliminate individual version of these
                 in each state.
    - Qin
          - built thousands of miles of roads
          - built canals
          - linked some walls as a barricade to
                 foreigners (Bulliet 163-164)
        Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE
Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
    - Qin and Han
           - began the long history of imperial China that would
                  last into the 20th century
           - remarkable achievement to consolidate these lands
                  because they were quite diverse in
                  topography, climate, plant and animal life and
                  human population
           - there were great obstacles to communication and
                  a uniform way of life – more so than the
                  Roman Empire experienced
           - there was no internal sea like the Mediterranean
                  that the Romans had to help with
                  transportation. (Bulliet 160)
        Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE
Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
    - Qin and Han
           - Key to empires
           -1) Agricultural production
                  - the primary source of wealth and taxes that
                  supported imperial China.
                  (Bulliet 160)
           2) Human labor
                  - the other fundamental commodity
                  - took advantage of this much as the Romans
                          did
                          - dependence on large population of
                                free peasants to give taxes and
                                labor to the state (Bulliet 161)
       Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE
Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
    - Han
            Human labor
                - in between growing seasons required
                      every able-bodied man to donate
                      one month of labor a year to
                      public work projects
                      - construction was done on
                             palaces, temples, roads,
                             canals, transporting goods
                             etc.
                - Another obligation was two years of
                      military service (Bulliet 161)
      Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE

Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
   - Han
        - continued structure and Legalist
             ideology but less harsh
        - mixed with form of Confucianism
             - emphasized the benevolence of
                  the government and the
                  appropriate behaviors in a
                  hierarchal society.
        - Han structure became the standard
      Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE
Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
    - Han -
        - Gradually, but persistently the Han
              expanded at the expense of other
              ethnic groups.
              - As they expanded they brought their
                    culture with them
              - ideas about family, Confucianism
                    etc.
              - Chinese today refer to themselves
                    ethnically as “Han”
                    (Bulliet 161, 164)
       Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE
Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
    - Han captial Chang’an -
         - thriving city
                - 246,000 in 2 CE
                - filled with officials, soldiers,
                        merchants, craftsmen and
                        foreign visitors
                - high walls to protect government
                        buildings
                - became a model for urban planning
                        - some of city was planned
      Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE

Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
   - Han captial Chang’an -
        - thriving city
              - gap between rich and poor
                   - government officials and
                    merchants lived a very
                    different life from the common
                    man
       Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE
Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
   - Leadership and Mandate of Heaven
         - continued this idea
         - ruler was regarded as a divinity – his word was law
                 to a much higher degree than in Rome.
         - However, the Chinese believed there was a strong
                 tie between heaven and the natural world
         - THEREFORE, floods, earthquakes, droughts etc.
                 were seen as a due to the emperors
                 mismanagement and a reason for him to be
                 replaced. (Bulliet 165)
           Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE
Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
    -   Leadership
             - Emperor lived secluded life with wives, children,
                    servants, courtiers etc.
             - Central government rarely came in contact with
                    the common man
                    - local officials would have contact
             - Local officials were often “gentry”
                    - moderately wealthy, educated men who
                             were desired by emperors to weaken
                             the rich, powerful rural aristrocrats.
                    - gentry were generally efficient, respected,
                             and responded quickly to the needs of
                             the people
             Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE
Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
       - Leadership (Bulliet 165 - 166)

               - System was set up
                        1) to train officials (gentry) to be
                                 intellectually capable and
                                 morally worthy to serve.
                             had to pass a civil service examination.

                         2) to measure an officials performance with a
                         code of conduct.

                - According to tradition an Imperial University
                trained the would-be officials and had more
                than 30,000 students. Some scholars doubt this however.

                - In theory any man could advance in this system.
                In practice, the sons of gentry had a distinct
                advantage to receive the necessary training.
      Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE

Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
   - Leadership (Bulliet 165 - 166)

        - When emperor died, his most favored wife
             got to choose the next emperor from
             among the males of his ruling clan.
      Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE
Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
    - Technology

        - Iron – Qin may have been first to take advantage
               of this as Chinese metallurgists were ahead of
               other areas.
        - Crossbow
        - watermill – power to use with grindstone.
        - advanced horse collar
               - allowed horse to breathe better and carry
               heavier loads.
        - Roads and waterways
               - helped with transportation and trade.
               (Bulliet 166-167)
      Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE

Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
   - Decline

       - Several reasons
        1) Harder and harder to provide adequate
              protection versus nomadic invaders
              - this led to local nobles, merchants,
                     and/or warlords offering their
                     protection
        2) military conscriptions system broke down
        3) corruption, inefficiency
      Chinese Dynasties – Han 206 BCE – 220 CE

Han (206 BCE – 220 CE)
   - Decline

        - All of these reasons led to political
               fragmentation.
        - This fragmentation lasted until the rise of
               the Sui and Tang in the late 6th and 7th
              centuries. (Bulliet 168)

        - For good comparison of Roman and Han
              Empires read pgs. 168-170