Ancient Chinese Culture

Ancient China DBQ     Ancient China made advancements to many things that we still use on a daily basis. Not only did China make advancements, they also were inventors. These inventions improved their lives then and still improves our lives now. To this day, we still use these inventions and advancements.

Usually you would hear of hundreds of people being killed by terrorist attacks, airplane crashes, or war, but in Ancient China, the Great Wall of China killed hundreds of peasants in the makings through forced labor. The benefits didn't outweigh the costs because through the makings of the wall, it separated families, killed soldiers, and families/ loved ones sacrificed their lives and lifestyle.

During the period of ancient chia there were many philosophers who saw their own views upon the ways of which china was to be run. With the time there were many rulers which lead their views on china’s government and its exploits and so with these views came counterviews. There were those who saw a new way to run china for bad or for worse such as two famous philosophers named Confucius and Han Fei. Confucius wanted china to be run with peaceful yet firm rules and restrictions whereby the people of chia would act in such a way that was thought to be most moral and respectful. A quote from the analects of Confucius (Doc 1.) says “Lead the people with governmental measures and regulate them with laws and punishment, and they will avoid wrongdoing but will have no sense of honor and shame.

The world's longest man made structure started out as the world's biggest cemetery. In 221 BC Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered for the construction of a great wall to protect, impress, and glorify Ancient China (history.com). His labour force was mostly made up of soldiers, peasants, convicts, and volunteers and it is estimated that 400,000 died during the construction (background essay). While the Great Wall costed Ancient China lots, it gave them protected from their biggest threats, protected merchants trading on the Silk Road, and opened China up to the rest of the world.

“ All our civilization is based on invention; before invention, men lived on fruits and nuts and pine cone and slept in caves “ - Reginald Fessenden. All major civilizations have a significant influence on mankind and the different inventions the civilizations produced. Although, it is evident that the Chinese Civilization has the greatest impact on the development of man out of all of the civilizations due to the innovation of gunpowder, and the discovery of the silk road.

New agricultural techniques, porcelain, metallurgy, printing, and naval technology were few of the technological elements that reinforced the established features of social order. New agricultural techniques helped in the expand of their agricultural potential, the dynasties gained reputation from porcelain technology which moderately diffused to other societies producing porcelain in large quantities, metallurgical techniques as well diffused to lands beyond China, printing produced texts quickly and popular works appeared in huge quantities, and naval technology included of the magnetic compass which soon became common for mariners to use. Population growth, patriarchal social structures, and gunpowder were technological elements reinforcing established features of political order. Population growth reflected the capacity of economy and distribution of food, patriarchal social structures included of concern to preserve family fortunes and foot binding, and gunpowder was an element used for military effectiveness. These aspects provided a fundamental change in traditions because they changed their whole concepts of how to use goods as in previous Chinese eras.

1 in 6 adults residing in what was once among the most literate nations in the world have been deemed “functionally illiterate”. During the 1800s, over 90% of the former nations population could speak our native tongue. Currently, only about 0.2% of our population is fluent in the indigenous language. Welcome to Hawaiʻi!

The next main factor in the story is society's attitude towards illegitimacy. Any woman who bore a child out of wedlock was treated with disgust and held an air of shame and disgrace. This caused those who did happen to have their children out of wedlock to give them up and send them off to orphanages in hope their child would be alright. A lot of these single mothers tried to send their children to one such orphanage called "The Coram Hospital". An example is when Melissa, a young girl just found out she was pregnant and says "'And Mama? What about Mama? The disgrace. We'll both be thrown out. Destitute." This is a good example of the consequences of illegitimacy. If anybody found out about such circumstances the mother and her acquaintances would be thrown out and homeless. The writer includes this factual information in the story and it entwines

Geography will make or break an empire. China had all the key components to make them dominate their competition and utilize resources. China's natural defenses, river valleys, and impressive trade system led to a thriving empire.

The woman in question has committed adultery after her husband left for the states and gets impregnated in the process. The village is furious and attacks the woman and declares her as an outcast in the society. The man who impregnated her does not face any repercussions. This societal reaction drives the woman to commit suicide together with her newborn. Her immediate family is also angered by her and they decide to delete her from history by never mentioning about her in any family conversation.

One of the most striking parts of the novel (that is also similar to previous discussions in Women Writers) deals with abortion. Winnie, after having two children, refuses to bring any more lives into the world because of her abusive husband. She feels for her first two children, Yiku and the late Danru, with such passion, that she aborts her babies rather than subject them to a tortured life with her evil and dominating husband, Wen Fu. Winnie later tells her daughter, Pearl, "I cried to myself, this is a sin - to give a baby such a bad life! . . . In my heart, I was being kind (627)". This situation recalls to mind Maxine Hong Kingston's short story, "No Name Woman", a story in which a similar thing happens for similar reasons. In Kingston's story, the narrator's aunt throws herself as well as her newborn baby into a well to escape a future of ridicule and oppression, not from an abusive spouse, but from a

Change is always happening in the world, old things go and new things come. In traditional Chinese culture the changes are very apparent and passed down from generation to generation. The world looks or the “next thing,” making new traditions that challenge the old. This is shown as Yu-I was set free from everything she was held back by. Being set free in a China is a big deal because women and men were not treated equally, men were to be served by the women. Yu-I explained how she wanted to have filial piety, “[…]We married whoever our parents chose for us.” (68) Men in China have power, and for a woman to feel equal she had to feel as if she had the amount of power as the man and that she will be able to liv her life on her own without having

In accordance with the ancient China, the ancestors are those relatives who have died and who would have the task of being the mediators between the heaven or the place where they are, and the Earth where there is the rest of the family and its lineage; this way, they would look over the care of its decedents in the ground. For such a motive, the families were worrying for the well-being of these ancestors across gifts and majestic tombs.

There were several important inventions during the medieval times in China; but there were three key inventions that advanced the Chinese culture. These are three inventions that changed your world. The Chinese culture is very intelligent. Their inventions are the movable type printing, mechanical clock, and the umbrella. These are some of the inventions, but there is a lot more.

China has about five thousand years history which is a very long period of time. Also, the Chinese civilization was growing with these periods of time and it will continues greater than ever. Many wars and unhappinesses were happening during this period. Although, the time has passed, the histories and the civilizations have not passed. These family virtues, serious, working attitudes, sense of justice and the great Confucian tradition have been deeply assimilated into the Chinese people. Some Chinese traditions are different from North American’s. The Chinese culture has many special characteristics which are very interesting for people to learn.