Pre-imperial China: XIA,

SHANG, ZHOU
 ‘Pre-imperial’ means before the creation and
founding of empires.
 Xia dynasty was a legendary
dynasty.
1. Whether it existed or not, it is still a matter
of dispute by the historians.
2. What do you know about China?
3. What are the Chinese influences that can be
found in the Philippines? Food, festivals, pansit,
noodles, firecrackers, gunpowders, superstitious
beliefs, instruments like what, etc.
4. What were the alleged events that happened in
during the Xia dynasty? During the Shang?
During the Zhou/Chou Dynasty?
 Shang Dynasty
1. It was during the Shang Dynasty when first
historical records were created.
2. Evidences of flourishing civilization such as
pottery making, bronze crafting and metallurgy
could be found.
3. What is Long Shan Culture?
Articles of Shang Dynasty: potteries (black), jade,
bronze, chariots, ancestor worship, organized
armies, human sacrifice, walled cities, feng shui,
fagua or bagua, hexagrams and lucky charms,
ampao,
 Jade was regarded as a most precious gem.
Why?
 What is the chemical composition of Jade?
 What is Yayoi culture?

 TAUGI – SEEDLINGS SA MONGGOS NGA

PWEDE MA UTAN…

 CHINA WAS NAMED CATHAY… AS IN CATHAY

PACIFIC AIRLINES
ZHOU DYNASTY: WHAT
HAPPENED
 ZHOU/CHOU DYNASTY
 BIRTH OF CONFUCIANISM AND TAOISM
 WHAT IS CONFUCIANISM?
 WHAT IS TAOISM?
 WHO WAS CONFUCIUS?
 WHO WAS LAO TZU?
 ‘TZE’ OR ‘TZU’ IN CHINESE MEANS
‘TEACHER’
 ‘FU’ MEANS ‘MASTER’
 KUNG FU TZU OR CONFUCIUS MEANS
“MASTER TEACHER KUNG”
 Sun-Tzu was the author of the
book, The Art of War.
Confucius, Lao Tzu, Sun Tzu, Han Fei Tzu,
Chuang Tzu, Meng Tzu

1. In Zhou dynasty, schools and other educational

agencies were founded. It was also the time
when great sages existed like Confucius who
was the proponent of Confucianism, an ethical
school which drafted the principles of living a
good life.
 DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN
2. Confucius taught the Doctrine of the Mean,the
Middle Way, which says that in order to survive
in this world, you must stay at the centre, not
too good and not too bad...this doctrine is
similar to Aristotle’s idea of moderation or the
virtue of temperance. EXAMPLE: IF YOU DRINK
(ALCOHOL), DRINK MODERATELY.
3. Confucius also believed that events in the world
happened because of Ti’en Ming or the mandate
of Heaven. KABUBUT-ON SA KAHITAS-AN…
LANGIT RAY MAGBUOT…
 TI’EN MING
4. Ti’en Ming is a principle equivalent to what the
Visayans call, “Pagbuot sa Kahitas-an”, mandate
of Heaven, since Confucius never spoke or
believed in a personal god. Ti’en Ming is a
phenomenon but not God. Confucianism has no
God. It is an atheist religion OR PHILOSOPHY.
5. Confucians never talked about God. They talked
about men, women and society. WE WILL FIX
THIS WORLD (EARTH) FIRST BEFORE
DEALING WITH THE WORLD OF THE GODS
AND GODDESSES. LET THE GODS WORRY
ABOUT THEIR PROBLEMS.
 CONFUCIUS
GOLDEN RULE IS JEN OR REN:
HUMAN-HEARTEDNESS OR KINDNESS OR
BENEVOLENCE OR THE GIVING-ATTRIBUTE
(DILI HAKUGAN, DILI LAUG). IT MATTERS NOT
WHETHER YOU ARE INTELLIGENT OR DUMB,
BEAUTIFUL OR UGLY, AS LONG AS YOU ARE
KIND.

SILVER RULE: DO NOT DO UNTO OTHERS

WHAT YOU DON’T WANT OTHERS TO DO
UNTO YOU.
 LAO TZU/TZE

1. Lao Tzu was contemporary to Confucius

but he has different school called
Taoism or Daoism.
2. Lao Tzu gave us the Yin and the Yang,
symbol of the harmony of the opposing
forces that make up life and the
Universe.
3. He also gave us the principle of WU-
Wei, which means non-doing; meaning,
upon confronting the changes of the
world, you must do nothing.
BALANCING POWER OF THE
UNIVERSE
 NON-DOING OR NOT
OVERDOING (WU-WEI)
4. Wu-wei means ‘don’t force things to happen,”
let nature work its way, let it be...pag move-on
na, work in harmony with nature not against her,
because the individual can never conquer nature
like we can never control the earthquake,
storms, flood,TYPHOONS etc... Nature is
always bigger and more powerful than the
individual. We have no match against nature.
EXAMPLE IS FROZEN, ELSA: LET IT HAPPEN
AS IT HAPPENS…IT IS NATURAL TO DIE…

EXAMPLE: BAHAY-KUBO, PAPER HOUSES

 THE TAO OF TAOISM
5. Lao Tzu taught Taoism, a school believing the
existence of the TAO, the underlying substratum
of the Universe, the foundation of all the things
that exist, but Tao is not God. Tao is like the
water that makes the swimming of the fish
possible.
6. Lao Tzu said that the TAO originally cannot be
named but forced to give it a name, he would
call it the TAO, originally it is indescribable,
ineffable.
 LEGALISM OF HAN FEI
TZU
1. Han Fei Tzu existed during the reign of the
dragon emperor or the jade emperor Chin Shih
Huangdi. He was the author of the Legalist
doctrines used by the emperor to rule his
empire.
2. LEGALISM IS CHARACTERIZED BY HARSH
PUNISHMENTS FOR VIOLATORS OF VERY
STRICT LAWS SUCH AS DEATH PENALTY,
DECAPITATION AND CRUCIFIXION.
3. Jade was the most precious, and most sacred
jewel/STONE in ancient China.
 UNIVERSAL LOVE OR
ALTRUISM
 Mencius OR MENG TZU was the student
of Confucius who taught that the
problems of the world can be solved by
promoting Universal Love for all mankind.
Qin [Ch’in] Dynasty, 221-
206 B.C.E.
 Established China’s first empire 
 Shi Huangdi (221-206 B.C.E)
 Legalist rule
Bureaucratic administration
Centralized control
Military expansion
Book burnings targeted
Confucian scholars
Buried protestors alive!
 Built large section of the Great Wall
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta
Army
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta
Army
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Soldiers
& Cavalrymen
Cavalry
Individual Soldiers
 The Details of an
Individual Soldier
Individual “Tombs”
The Great Wall with Towers
The Eastern terminus of the Great
Wall, Shanhai Pass
Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.E.-
220 C.E.
“People of the Han”, THE original Chinese
Paper invented ON 105 B.C.E.

Silk Road trade develops; improves life for many

Buddhism introduced into China
Expanded into Central Asia
HOW DO YOU MAKE SILK?
WHERE DOES SILK COME
FROM?
Han – Roman Empire
Connection
Chang’a
n
The Han
Capital
Liu Sheng Tomb (d. 113
BCE)

His jade suit has 2498 pieces!

 Emperor Wudi, 141-87
B.C.E.
Started public schools.

Colonized Manchuria,
Korea, & Vietnam.
Civil service system 
bureaucrats
Confucian scholar-gentry
Revival of Chinese
landscape painting.
 Han Artifacts

Imperial
Seal

Han Ceramic
House
Ceramics, Later Han
Period
Trade Routes of the Ancient World
Multi-Cultural Faces -- People
Along the Silk Road
Ruins of Jiaohe, Turphan depression.
Han dynasty outpost in Central Asia
Sui Dynasty, 581-618 C.E.

 “Land Equalization” System  land

redistribution.
 Unified coinage.
 Grand Canal constructed.
 Established an army of professional
soldiers.
 People were overworked and
overtaxed!
The Grand Canal
The Grand Canal Today
 Tang Dynasty, 618-907 C.E.
 Imperial examination (WHICH IS
EQUIVALENT TODAY TO CSC EXAM) system
perfected.

 Liberal attitude towards all religions.

 Spread of Buddhism in China

 Golden Age of foreign relations with

other countries.
 Japan, Korea, Persia
Tang Government Organization
 Tang Dynasty, 618-907 C.E.
New technologies:
Printing  movable print 
Porcelain
Gunpowder
Mechanical clocks

More cosmopolitan culture.

Reestablished the safety of the

Silk Road.

Tea comes into China from Southeast Asia. 

 Empress Wu Zetian, 624-705
The only female Empress in China’s
history who ruled alone.
Searched for outstanding individuals
to attract to her court.
Construction of new irrigation
systems.
Buddhism was the favored state
religion.
 Financed the building of many
Buddhist temples.
BUT… She appointed cruel and sadistic
ministers to seek out her enemies.
 Foot-Binding in Tang
China
Broken toes by 3 years of age.

Size 5 ½ shoe on
the right
Foot-Binding in Tang
China

Mothers bound their daughters’ feet.

 Foot-Binding in Tang
China

For upper-class girls, it

became a new custom.
The Results of Foot-Binding
Song [Sung] Dynasty, 960-1279 C.E.

Creation of an urban, merchant, middle class.

Increased emphasis on education & cheaper

availability of printed books.

Magnetic compass
makes China a great
sea power!
Song Peasant Family
Rice Cultivation Began Under
the Song
Song Rice Cultivation
Mongolian Steppes
Xinjiang Region – Typical Uygher
[Mongol] “Yurt”
Mongol Invasions
Mongol Warriors
Mongol Archer
Gold Saddle Arch –
Mongols, 13c
Gold Saddle, Front View –
Mongols, 13c
 The MONGOLS
[“Golden Horde”]
Temujin --< Genghis Khan [“Universal Ruler”]
1162 - 1227
from the steppe [dry, grass-covered plains of Central Asia]
 The MONGOLS
[“Golden Horde”]
Genghis Khan’s Tax Laws:
If you do not pay homage,
we will take your prosperity.
If you do not have prosperity,
we will take your children.
If you do not have children,
we will take your wife.
If you do not have a wife,
we will take your head.
Used cruelty as a weapon  some areas never recovered
from Mongol destruction!
Mongol Nobleman, late
13c
 Robe of a Mongol
Nobleman, early 14c
Yuan Golden Bowl, 13c
The Extent of the Mongol
Empire
 Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty,
1279-1368 C.E.
 Kublai Khan [r. 1260-1294]
Pax Mongolica [“Mongol Peace”]
Tolerated Chinese culture
but lived apart from them. 
No Chinese in top govt. posts.
Believed foreigner were more
trustworthy.
Encouraged foreign trade & foreign merchants
to live and work in China.
 Marco Polo
Marco Polo (1254-1324)

A Venetian merchant.

Traveled through Yuan

China: 1271-1295
“Black Stones” [coal]

Gunpowder.

Noodles.
Marco Polo’s Travels
Yuan Porcelains &
Ceramics
 Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368 C.E.
The Black Plague was spread by the
Mongols in the mid-14c.

Sent fleets against Japan.

1281  150,000 warriors
Defeated by kamikaze [“winds of the gods”] OR DIVINE WIND

Kublai Khan experienced several

humiliating defeats in Southeast Asia
late in his life.
China’s last native imperial dynasty!
The Forbidden City: China’s
New Capital
Revived the Civil Service
Exam
 Ming Cultural Revolution

Printing & Literacy Culture & Art

Cheap, popular books: Increased literacy leads to
woodblock printing. increased interest in cultural
cheap paper. expressions, ideas, and things:
Examination system. Literature.
Leads to explosion in Painting.
literacy.  Ceramics.
Opera.
Leads to further popularization
of the commercial market.
 Ming Silver Market
 Spanish Silver Convoys
 Triangle route:
 Philippines to China to Japan.
 Silver floods Chinese Market:
 Causes devaluation of currency & recession
 Adds to reasons for Chinese immigration
overseas.
 Reduces price of Chinese goods in Europe
 Increases interest in Chinese culture & ideas in
Europe.
 Helps fund conquest of New World 
 Encourages Europeans in conquest & trade.
 Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644 C.E.
Golden Age of Chinese Art
Moderation
Softness
Gracefulness
Three different schools of
painting developed.

Hundreds of thousands of
workers constructed the
Forbidden City.
Ming Emperor Tai Zu (r.
1368-1398)
The Tribute System
 Admiral Zheng He
(Cheng Ho)
Ming “Treasure Fleet”
Each ship 400’ long & 160’ wide

1371-1435
Admiral Zheng He
(Cheng Ho)

China’s “Columbus?” 
 Admiral Zheng He’s
Voyages
First Voyage: 1405-1407 [62 ships; 27,800 men].
Second Voyage: 1407-1409 [Ho didn’t go on this trip].
Third Voyage: 1409-1411 [48 ships; 30,000 men].
Fourth Voyage: 1413-1415 [63 ships; 28,500 men].
Fifth Voyage: 1417-1419
Sixth Voyage: 1421-1422
Emperor Zhu Gaozhi cancelled future trips and ordered ship builders and sailors to
stop work.
Seventh Voyage: 1431-1433
Emperor Zhu Zhanji resumed the voyages in 1430 to restore peaceful
relations with Malacca & Siam
100 ships and 27,500 men; Cheng Ho died on the return trip.
1498 --< Da Gama reached Calcutta, China’s favorite port.
Ming Porcelain / Ceramics,
17c–18c
Ming Vases, 18c
Ming Carved Lacquer Dish
15c
 Ming Scroll Painting
“Travellers in Autumn
Mountains”
Ming Painting – “Taoist
Scholar”
Ming Painting – “Birds and Flowers”,
(16CE)
 Ming Painting and
Calligraphy, early 16c
Imperial China’s Impact on
History
Removed religion from morality.

Beginnings of political philosophy through

which a ruler must prove he/she is legitimate.
 Mandate of Heaven
Secular law.

Valued history: The Dynastic Cycle

 Identify/Define in sentences.
1. Ti’en Ming
10. I-Ching
2. Tzu
11. Jen
3. Chin Shih Huangdi
12. Li
4. Tang
5. Ming
6. Yuan
7. Wu-wei
8. Tao
9. Tao Te Ching