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From Yao to Mao: A Thematic Overview of Chinese History

This article provides a thematic overview of Chinese history from ancient times to the modern period, highlighting key historical units and themes that help us understand the country's growth, change, and influences from the outside world. It challenges misconceptions about China's ethnic makeup, geographical boundaries, and cultural consistency, offering insights that enrich our understanding of contemporary problems. The article explores early cultures, historiographical issues, Chinese myths, and significant dynasties like Shang, Zhou, and Qin, leading up to the Han Empire.

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From Yao to Mao: A Thematic Overview of Chinese History

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  1. From Yao to Mao: A Thematic Overview of Chinese History Prof. Shana J. Brown Department of History University of Hawaii

  2. Tactics in studying Chinese history… • Appreciating the extraordinary degree of geographical, cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity • Countering the myth of “eternal China” by defining historical units and themes that acknowledge growth, change, influences by outside world • Looking for historical themes that enrich our understanding of contemporary problems, without reducing them to stereotypes

  3. China to the Modern Period(5000 BC – 1308 AD)

  4. True or false? • China has always been ruled by ethnic Han Chinese • The geographical boundaries of China have remained constant for thousands of years • The cultural makeup of China shows remarkable degrees of consistency

  5. Early Cultures

  6. Yangshao (5000-3000 BC) Pit houses; painted pottery; domesticated animals; sericulture? Longshan (3000 – 2000 BC) Black pottery; divination on bones; rammed-earth cities; rice cultivation

  7. Hongshan (3700-2250 BC) Jade artifacts; temple and city builders Liangshu (3400 – 2250 BC) Jade artifacts; slab tombs; silk and lacquer production

  8. Historiographical issues… • What is the difference between a culture and a dynasty? • Why and how are these cultures and / or dynasties defined as Chinese?

  9. “Early Civilization in China: Reflections on How it Became Chinese” • Hierarchical social distinctions • Massive mobilization of labor • Emphasis on the group, rather than the individual • Emphasis on ritual in all dimensions of life • Formal boundaries and models • Ethic of service, obligation, and emulation • Little sense of tragedy or irony

  10. Chinese myths of origins: the sage kings • More significant than myths focusing on semi-human or divine figures • Yao: 95-year reign • Succeeded by son-in-law Shun, who ruled for 40 years & established laws and penalties • Yu controlled floods and thus improved agriculture; founded first dynasty, the Xia

  11. The Shang (1600-1046 BC)

  12. Shang culture & society What’s wrong with the Shang? Slave society; ancestor worship; corrupt rulers

  13. The Zhou (1122-221 BC)

  14. Zhou culture & society • Zhou invade Shang • Establish new dynasty, claim mandate of heaven allows them to rule • Duke of Zhou establishes proto-Confucian ethical principals

  15. Feudal: central king & subservient fiefdoms Central state loses authority as kings become corrupt Last Zhou king is defeated by vassal, allied with “barbarian” forces Fiefdoms devolve into independent states Zhou feudalism and decline

  16. Age of Confucius and the philosophers How to create effective political & social structures to attract population, rule effectively Government based on moral persuasion and elite cooperation, not force Warring States (481-221 BC)

  17. Qin Shi Huang built the wall and burned the books; unified the writing system Rise of Legalism as a political philosophy Is tyranny the price of efficient government? Empire unified under Qin (221-206 BC)

  18. Imperial rule strengthened by bureaucracy and imperial examination system Confucian texts become orthodox Age of literature and art Qin conquered by Han (206 BC – 220 CE)

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