China’s Dynasties

1. Xia
• Around 2000 B.C.
• Founder, Yu, was engineer.
• Legendary dynasty.
 
2. Shang
• 1700-1027 B.C. 
• Left written records
•Capital Anyang, made of wood
• Sharply divided social classes between nobles and peasants. 
• Use of Family System= Father Head of house.
 
3. Zhou
   • Overthrew Shang, 1027 B.C.
• Culture very similar to Shang
• Lands stretched beyond Yellow river in North, and Yangtze in South. 
• Implied Feudalism 
• Made roads and Canals, Coined money, Iron tech.
• Started making smaller walls • Ended in 256 B.C.
 
4. Era of Warring States (not a dynasty)
  • Chinese civilization collapsed, and chaos took over. 
• Confucianism counters all the violence throughout China.
• Sun Tzu comes up with “Art of War”
• Dou comes in also.
• Occurred during the decline of the Zhou Dynasty 
 
5. Qin  • 3rd century B.C., replaced Zhou
• Ruler was Shi Huangdi, tyrant 
• Li Su- legalist prime minister
• Used legalist ideas to unify warring states
• Stopped internal Battles
• Doubled China’s size – north of Yellow river, and south to Vietnam 
• “Strengthen Trunk and Weaken Branches”
• Brought 120,000 noble families to Capital to watch them.
• Killed Confucian scholars
• Burned all books opposing Legalism.
• Autocracy- government having unlimited power.
• Made irrigation systems and roads
• Connected smaller walls of Zhou making great wall
• Lasted only one emperor long then fell to Han in 202 B.C.
• Unified China 
 
6. Han 
• Founded by Liu Bang in 202 B.C.
• Stopped harsh punishments and taxes
• Lasted 400 years( 200 years then brief break then another 200 years)
• Wudi- Martial emperor, great-grandson of Liu Bang, reined 141-87 B.C. a. Defeated
Xiongnu raiders b. Established colonies in Korea, Manchuria(north), and Vietnam(south)
• Territory brought to equal Modern day China
• Levied taxes
• Expanded Great Wall
• Bureaucracy employed 130,000+ people, had 18 different civil service jobs.
• Han inventions
- Paper 105 A.D.
- Collar Harness
- 2 blade plow 
- Wheelbarrow
- Water mills 
•Population 60 million 
• Government made monopolies with commerce, in fields of Salt, iron, coin making,
and alcohol.  • Government sent farmers to settle new lands.
• Rich got richer and poor got poorer.
• Wang Mang- Confucian scholar, overthrows Han 9 A.D. 
a. Makes more coins
b. Redistributes land
• Mang assassinated 23 A.D. Han regains control
• Never reach power that they had earlier 
• Han dies in 220 A.D.