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Geography: Enviormental Challenges: Agriculture: Time Period Government Institutions Culture Religion Writing Dynastic Code Technology and Trade
 * Modern Day China
 * 2 major river systems (Yellow and Yangtze)
 * Many natural barriers
 * Taklimakan Desert, Plateau of Tibet, Himalayas, Gobi Desert, Pacific Ocean
 * Yellow River produces yellowish silt called loese, can also travel by wind
 * Huang He's flooding could destroy whole villages a.k.a China's Sorrow
 * Geographic location lead to people supplying own goods
 * Natural invaders did not keep invaders out from the inside of China
 * 10 percent of China's land was suitable for farming
 * land lies in small plain in the middle of the Huang He and the Chang Jian
 * Named the North China Plain
 * remained the center of its civilization
 * 2000 B.C.
 * 4000 years ago
 * 1st dynasty = Xia
 * emerged around 2000 B.C.
 * leader was ancient Mathamatician named Yu
 * developed flood control and irrigation projects
 * tamed Huang He
 * enabled settlements to grow[[image:china-flag-wave.jpg width="130" height="104" align="left"]]
 * Shang rose to power in Northern China around time Egypt civilizations formed
 * lasted form 1700 to 1027 B.C.
 * built various tombs
 * Shang were conquered by Zhou in 1027 B.C.
 * Anyang (most important Shang city)
 * built entirely out of wood
 * Higher class lived in timber framed houses with walls of clay and straw
 * Shang surrounded their cities with massive walls for protection
 * culture in China had striong unifying bonds
 * person's cheif loyalty in life was family
 * main virtue for parent's
 * elder women controlled fa,ily
 * women treated as inferiors
 * expected to obey father, husband, and even their son
 * bearing son's only changed women's status
 * 13 to 16 years women's marrige was arranged
 * believed that spirits of past family ancestors had power to bring fortune and disaster
 * more like troublesome neighbors who demanded respect and attention
 * Shang worshiped Shang Di : supreme god
 * worshiped lesser gods as well
 * oracle bones : scratched questions on the bones
 * then the bone was cracked after being burnt with a hot poker
 * interperated crack to determine answer
 * stood for one syllable or unit of language
 * no links between written and spoken language
 * one could read Chinese without speaking a single word of it
 * people in all parts of China could learn same system of writing
 * had to learn 1500 characters to be literate
 * scholars = 10000 words
 * code in wich how a dynasty should be taken over and how a dynasty shall end
 * Mandate of Heaven
 * used signs to also determine on how the dynasty ended
 * built canals and roads to stimulate trade and agriculture
 * coined money introduced (trading increased)
 * built blast furnaces that produced cast iron
 * weapons and farm tools were developed as well