LESSON 7.11 Review 7.11.1
Key knowledge summary Use this dot point summary to review the content covered in this topic. 7.2 How do we know about ancient China?
• Shang dynasty inscriptions are our earliest written evidence of ancient China. • Archaeological ýnds provide evidence of rich cultures during Qin and Han times. • The most exciting ýnd was the discovery of the terracotta warriors guarding the tomb of Qin Shihuang. 7.3 How did China’s civilisation begin? • No primary source evidence has been found for the legendary Xia dynasty. • Early Chinese rulers based their authority on the mandate of heaven. • Early Chinese civilisation was based on farming in river valleys in eastern China. 7.4 What were life and death like in ancient China? • Rulers were supported by powerful lords and landowning gentry, who included warriors and bureaucrats. • Peasants formed the largest group and they suffered through natural disasters and wars. • Merchants and slaves were at the bottom of Chinese society. • Life for all classes of ordinary people was harsh, especially for women. • We know much more about death and the funeral customs of the ruling classes than of ordinary people. • The ruling classes’ custom was to bury goods with the dead to provide for them in the afterlife. • Until Han times, people were also buried with rulers to serve them in the afterlife. 7.5 How did China’s civilisation affect its environment? • China is a vast country with a wide variety of climates and landscapes. • Of the large population, 90 per cent lived in the east, where agriculture was based along river valleys. • Intensive clearing of land for farming caused massive soil erosion and other environmental damage. 7.6 What were the inþuences of Confucianism, religions and laws? • Confucianism is not a religion. It is concerned with how good conduct can create social harmony. • Confucianism had no inþuence in its founder’s lifetime but had much inþuence in later periods. • Daoism and Buddhism became major religious inþuences in ancient China. • The laws of China’s ýrst emperor were based on the harsh laws of the state of Qin. • Confucianism regained inþuence under the Han and later dynasties. 7.7 How did the ýrst emperor change China? • Qin Shihuang took control of China in 221 BCE after conquering other states. He changed the defensive walls into the Great Wall of China. • He stamped out potential threats to his power through several measures, including conýscating weapons, controlling the nobles and burning books. • By 206 BCE, the Qin dynasty had been destroyed in a peasant rebellion. 7.8 Why did the Han dynasty rise and fall? • The Han dynasty carried out reforms to avoid the fate of the Qin, and China expanded under the Han. • Chinese missions led to the founding of the Silk Road, which opened trade between China and India, Persia and the Roman Empire. • Inequality grew under the Han and rebellions led to its fall in 220 CE.
TOPIC7 Ancient China 221
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