Chinese Dynasties: The Mandate Of Heaven

People believed their ancestors controlled what went on in life and could guide them on the right paths, provided they kept them happy. Therefore, many people would use oracle bones to communicate with them, divining answers to their questions and foretelling the future using cracks fire made in the bones. This belief in all-powerful ancestors was so deeply held in Chinese society that when the Zhou dynasty began, in order to cement their legitimacy as rulers and prevent any possible revolts, they claimed they had the “Mandate of Heaven” and that the Shang had lost theirs by ruling poorly. The Mandate of Heaven was, essentially, the divine right to rule, but with ancestors in place of a single deity. This was readily accepted, for the Chinese people trusted their ancestors’ decisions (considering their omnisciency) and did not wish to go against their wishes, risking the consequences of displeasing them. The Zhou knew that this aspect of Chinese culture was ingrained and therefore took advantage of the fact that their claim was virtually

Women weren't allowed to go to school or act in plays (Davis 91). “Women had little rights and were considered property of their father or husband and not as their own person” (Davis 90). Rich women that had servants spent their time gossiping to one another and playing cards (Davis 91).

“Floodwater dashed up against the skies... God issued a command allowing Yu to spread out the self-replacing soil so as to quell the foods in the Nine Provinces.” This myth from China’s remote past may reflect stories about the efforts of early rulers to control the flood waters of the Huang River- the mighty river that has been central to Chinese civilization since the earliest of times.” (Holt, World History textbook, 76). China is located in the far east side of Asia. They have very rugged mountains in the west, some of the tallest in the world. In the south there are many plateaus, moving north; there are semi-deserts. The heart of China, the China Proper, has been significant though it’s early years. China has three major rivers that they used for transportation, crops, and ect. they are

It crosses through China to Cambodia where it enters a delta at the mouth of the river. It then diverges towards the south-east before debouching into the South China Sea in Vietnam. This overall stretch extends approximately 4,900 kilometres before reaching the delta which diverges the river into several other outlets. On its journey towards the delta it crosses 6 countries including China, Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Art that was connected to the afterlife typically was symbolic of objects needed for use after death and these were limited to the very wealthy. Although sometimes included on a grand scale, such objects spoke less about the beliefs of the afterlife and more about what was important to each individual before death. Additionally, the most common death-related art focused not on burial or the afterlife, but instead on the practice of the living honoring their ancestors. This lack of evidence linking the afterlife to the art of ancient China supports the thesis of this essay. There was, in fact, even less evidence of a correlation between the two than expected. In fact, art in ancient Chinese culture, even the art related to deceased relatives,

For example. Waterfalls and potholes are commonly found in the upper course, and are exceedingly rare in the lower course. Meanders and Oxbow lakes are commonly found in the middle course, it is caused by erosion and deposition, these factors causes the river to have a bend during its course. Levees and flood plains are also frequently found in the lower course, there is a larger water volume, therefore floodplains are created to adapt to it’s new features, while features such as meanders will not be affective, as it has a higher chance of flood, and erosion would also change the feature very

The Yellow River is located in Qinghai, China. In the present day it is not very dense in population. It is a very high-altitude called the Tibetan Plateau. It is place of strong Tibetan and Mongol cultural traditions in present day China. The Yellow River is known by all Chinese people as the “mother river” (Wu). It is also agreed upon by almost all Chinese people that it is the cradle of Chinese civilization and the spiritual home of the Chinese people (Zhou). The Yellow River is the symbol of the Chinese nation, the spirt of the Chinese people, but most importantly civilization itself.

In ancient China, government is very different then most countries. Instead of presidents they have dynasty’s. A dynasty is a line of hereditary rulers of a country. The shang dynasty was responsible for the starting blocks of of chinese culture and civilization. The steadiness of the country during the Shang Dynasty led up to many cultural advances such as industrialized bronze casting, the calendar, religious rituals, and writing. The first king was Tang. He began to work for the people of

The Mandate of Heaven granted Chinese rulers the right to rule through divine support from above. Likewise, the mandate could be revoked and transferred to a different dynasty. This transition of power occurred when the ruling dynasty failed to maintain order and stability. In order to keep the Mandate of Heaven, Chinese rulers had to abide by certain obligations to the people. It is quite an interesting idea that seems eerily similar to the principle of popular sovereignty. Like popular sovereignty there seems to be an emphasis on the authority of the people rather than the ruling government. I wonder if the Mandate of Heaven is still in place today and to what extent the Chinese Communist Party use it as justification for their rule.

Chinese history is made up of many long and successful dynasties. One Dynasty that flourished most was the Song(or Sung) Dynasty, which was a prosperous empire from 960-1279 AD. They were a very advanced society, and had many fields in which they excelled. Some of these areas were agriculture, printing, artwork, inventions, iron working, trade…. The list goes on. The Song Dynasty also had a very state-of-the-art government system. The only people that were allowed to work in/with/for the government were those who could pass a competitive examination. These people were called scholar officials. Song artwork and literature were also very important to them. They tended

A former scholar redid the confucian ideology and helped Tang maintain its unity. Aristocracy’s power was reduced and power was now shared by imperial families and scholars. Bureaucracy was under strict control and reached from imperial court to district levels of administration.

Both the Huang He and Yangtze rivers contributed to the success of ancient Chinese civilization. These rivers provided the Chinese with fertile soil ("Huang He"). The Huang He River was given the nickname Yellow River because of the loess sediments that the river contains ("Huang He"). As a result, a majority of the population settled along the Huang He and Yangtze river valleys (Starr). This was very vital to the Chinese culture and reflected in their social classes (Perkins 4). The second class was made up of farmers (Perkins 4). “The Chinese have always felt that the owning of land for agriculture is the basis of wealth and social prestige” (Perkins 4). The rivers also provided transportation navigable by ships (Starr 21). The Chinese used boats for travel and transportation of goods up and down the rivers (Blunden

In early China Zhou took control over Shang family because he claimed that the Shang ruler had lost the mandate of heaven-just ruler with divine approval. A ruler would lose the mandate of heaven if he neglects his duties and fail to prevent natural disasters such as floods and droughts, these natural disasters were also considered as signs that the ruler had lost his mandate of heaven. The mandate of heaven had access to his recent ancestors, who also had access to other ancestors who would intercede to Di for the ruler and his people. Hence the mandate of heaven was a crucial link between heaven and earth as he was to protect his people and prevent natural disasters. Sometimes the mandate of heaven would abuse his power because he claimed

Chinese Dynasties: 1. Shang: Also called Yin, dynasty that was China's earliest historically verifiable state 1766 B.C. to 1122 B.C. A. Reason's for Rise: Unlike the early accounts of history by the Chinese, there is archaeological evidence of the Shang, who built their cities in northern China around the eastern parts of the Yellow River. For this reason they are called the Yellow River civilization. They were a bronze age people; bronze-working seems to have entered China around 2000 BC (about one thousand years after its invention in Mesopotamia). B. Territorial Location & size at height of power (map): The Shang ruled the area from the North China Plain northward into present-day Shantung Province and westward to the tip of Honan

Now I’ll tell you about the geography of China. On the east of China there are two bodies of water, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. Then in the Southeast corner of China there is the South China Sea. In the Southwest corner is India. Sharing with India on its borders there is the Himalaya Mt. and within them is Mt. Everest which is one of the biggest mountains in the world. Coming from the east, the Yangzi River flows in and stops right around the center of China. Above it is the Huang He River that flows on the same direction the Yangzi River does. The top center of China is the Gobi Desert. There are many more geography than this but here are just some that I chose to talk about.