Xia Dynasty Essay

Spence gives a reader a clear insight in T'an-ch'eng's economy and it's economic policies in chapter two, The Land. T'an-ch'eng government had a rather simple philosophy, the more you made the more you paid. The taxes were paid based on percentage of what you made or volunteer to work for the government. The government did take interest in its taxpayers only then people were unable to pay at all. Local History showed that there was a schedule of nine tax payments. People paid more during the harvest seasons and less during the hottest midsummer months. Structured Chinese government devised a responsible and supervisory system, which insured that the taxes were collected at full without any spillovers. Theft and cheating was a common occurrence at city's market, thus government officials created collecting points for the farmers to avoid direct contact with middlemen. All of the factors presented by Spence give the reader a closer look on the financial struggle of an ordinary seventeenth century farmer.

The economy of ancient China was based on agriculture. China was made up of farming villages along its rivers. Manufacturing and trade were carried out by merchants and artisans in walled towns.

Within the years of 221-206 BCE, the Qin Dynasty rose as a superpower. During this time period, the Warring States Era, Chinese civilization was impacted tremendously in almost every aspect. These hallmarks in history vary from the spreading of Legalism to the birth of the Great Wall of China. Through these countless contributions, the Qin Dynasty was able to revolutionize the Chinese civilization in such a short period of time.

The Great Wall of Ancient China: Did the Benefits Outweigh the Cost? The Great Wall was built by the Qin and Han Dynasty in order to protect China from the Mongols. However, the benefits of building the Great Wall of China did not outweigh the costs for building the Great Wall. In accordance to Document C, the soldiers had to leave their homes and families in order to work on building the Great Wall. This supports the claim because the soldiers had to sacrifice their families when they had already been sacrificing their lives to fight for China.

mythical patriarchs, and considered as the “founder of the Chinese nation around 4,000 B.C.E.— 3,900 years before the Nei Jing was written.” (Mainfort, 2004). Although Huangdi has been 
 traditionally credited with writing the Nei Jing, it was actually compiled by a series of unknown

To combat landlordism, he employed various strategies such as heavy taxation on the largest landowners of Jiang-nan (Brook, p. 79). However, these attempts were not enough to undermine the gentry’s landholding power (Brook, p. 79). With his late-Ming perspective, Zhang Tao would later write, “the rich get richer and the poor, poorer” (Brook, p. 79). This reflection would further gain relevance and legitimacy as the Ming dynasty advanced.

The period of 206 BCE to 220 AD of the Han Dynasty represented a time of economic and geographic growth in China. In the Han Dynasty, funerary art was very important. The Sichuan Qin Player (fig. 1), which is made out of clay, is an example of a tomb sculpture that represents a seated woman with a musical instrument. This sculpture represents how music brought the Chinese people together in Han Dynasty China.

Before the Qin Dynasty, China was composed of a network of city states that were loyal to the Chinese king. The seven Warring States had their own institutions that were run by aristocrats. The Qin Dynasty took initiative to expand their territory and to unite the Chinese empire together. Through their ruthless military techniques the Qin Dynasty was able to conquer the city states in China. The Qin Dynasty ruled from 221 BCE – 206 BCE; during their regime, Emperor Qin’s primary goal was to unify the Chinese people. Even though the Qin Dynasty was a short-lived empire, it played a major role in unifying the Chinese empire and provided a foundation for succeeding regimes through a centralized government, standardized systems, and through infrastructure.

This is the third dynasty and it lasted the longest out of all the dynasty's. The Zhou dynasty was separated into to periods. Western Zhou (1046-711 BC) and Eastern Zhou (770-256 BC). The Zhou capital was moved eastwards so it was safer from invasion. At the end of this dynasty the had a movement of the intellectual and artistic awakening.

Ancient Chinese civilization can be marked back to the Xia and Shang dynasties. Existing before were agricultural communities; people fished, raised livestock, hunted, and gathered. They grew millet (malted into beer) where water and field were available. They knitted, spun threads into cloth, created things, art. They lived in pit homes, forming villages. Villages grew, and the North China Plain grew with it into an extensive area with a solid population, possibly due to associative efforts for flood management and irrigation. These early agricultural communities constituted the basis for oncoming dynasties. Food production above those of subsistence farming encouraged plunder and conquest. Comparable to West Asia, kings of conquest emerged

Peasants were mostly farmers. Although they grew a lot of rice, they could rarely eat what they grew because they were forced to pay high taxes and if they wanted to eat rice, they would have to pay for it! The peasants instead ate barnyard grass or millet (grain). Merchants and craftsmen were growing in importance because trade between china was

All farming lands were owned by nobles. Nobles gave land to their serfs. Land was divided in nine squares. Grain was from the middle square which was taken by the government. The surrounding squares however were kept by the individual farmers. This way the government was able to store food surpluses and distribute them in times of famine or bad harvest. Some important manufacturing sectors during this time included bronze smelting, which was integral (necessary to make a whole complete; essential or fundamental) to making weapons and farming tools. Lords pay taxes and provided soldiers to Kings as needed. Bounds of loyalty weakened within small families especially among the upper classes. Sons plotted against each other over inheritance. A

The Hongwu Emperor believed that agriculture was the basis of the wealth of an Empire rather than the industry.

During this period, records were kept, enabling us to learn more about this exciting time.

The Chinese Empire was large and controlled most of Asia at one point in time. One of the dynasties that ruled the empire was the Ming Family. Ruling from 1368-1644, almost three hundred years, the Ming Dynasty impacted Chinese history very much.