June 11

China notes:
Food:
-basic food was millet, barley, wheat, beans, vegetables, fish, and hunted animals such as bears.
-ate 24 different kinds fish
-onions, garlic, dogs, pigs, goats, sheep, water buffalo, chickens.
-in times of famine even ate insects.
-ate food with chopsticks
-tea was a commonly consumed drink, became a valuable trading product.


What they wore:
-plants, animals, and silkworms supplied the flexible fibers needed to make soft wearable fabric.
-silk production became an important art and industry.
-men wore long, belted tunics with a jacket over top. This style was the same for men in different classes. The type of fabric and amount of decoration indicated the social rank of the wearer.
-Women wore plain jackets and belted skirts over simple tunic dresses.
-silk was expensive to produce and a long time to make and was considered precious, it was reserved for nobility.
-Peasant's clothing was similar in style but was made with rough fibers from plants, like hemp or banana leaf.
-wool was used as padding in outerwear and was woven into thick fabrics.
-Men wore simple hats or kerchiefs on their heads until elaborate hairstyles became popular.
-Men often wore hair in a heavy roll, with a short pig tail hanging down the back.
-Woman held their hair in place with pins made from jade, bone, and ivory.
-Women also wore necklaces and pendants made from jade and bone, often shaped like birds, tigers or elephants.

Housing:
-Capital of the Shang Dynasty was Anyang.
-Anyang covered a large area along a bend of the Hung Ho River.
-River offered some protection from invasions.
-Packed earth was used for foundations of the buildings.
-On top of the foundation were wooden pillars, used to support the walls.
-Walls were made of twigs, plastered with clay. Roofs probably thatched.
-Most buildings were built around a central courtyard.
-Most merchants and crafts people lived on the outside of the capital city, in mud huts.
-In winter, farmers lived in small villages near the city.
-Farmers homes were simple one-room huts with dirt floors, mud walls, and thatched roofs.
-In summer the farmers moved to their fields, where they lived in bamboo huts.

 Technology:
-Used the potters wheel to make high-quality pottery.
-Artisans made elaborate chariot decorations and a variety of bronze weapons, spears, knives, and axes.
-Other crafts people were equally skilled at working with jade, wood, and bone and made usefull tools for farmers and builders.
-They had cart wheels, wheelbarrows, paddle wheel boats, and sledges for transporting heavy building materials.
-Farmers had digging forks, flails, hoes, ploughs, sickles, and querns. 
-Metal workers also used anvils.
-The windlass was used for lifting heavy objects.

Religious and Spiritual beliefs:
-Most people believed in the spirit world.
-Most important god was Tien, the god of heaven.
-People practiced ancestor worship
-They believed in Filial piety, younger family members were respectful of elders and the community.
-Common people did not share the religion of the nobility.
-They worshiped various gods, whom they believed controlled the earth and crops.
-People consulted sorcerers. (aka Wu)
-Wu could work magic on nature, and provided spells to protect someone from evil spirits  and could also help provide friendly spirits.


The Burial of a King:
- When a ruler died, a great pit was dug and ramps led down into the pit.
-He was accompanied by weapons, ornaments, bronze ceremonial vessels, horses, chariots and dogs.
-servants were also sacrificed and buried with their leader so they could continue to serve him in the afterlife.


The Military:
-Nobles were the warriors and lead the armies.
-Armed with bronze axes and daggers, they rode into battle in chariots with spoked wheels.
-Foot soldiers fought at close range using spears and knives.
-China had a history of women warriors.
-Lady Hao, was the third wife of the last Shang ruler, waged several military campains.


The fall of the Shang Dynasty:
-The Shang Dynasty ruled for more than five centuries.
-The last ruler had a beautiful partner, named Ta Chi.
-Ta Chi was known for the torture she inflicted on anyone who did not show her proper respect.
-Under the cruel reign of the king and Ta Chi, people revolted.
-A group from the west called the Zhou led the up rise against the Shang.
-The last Shang king set fire to his palace and then committed suicide.

The First Emperor of China:
-of the 300 emperors of china, Qin Shi Huang Di had the greatest and long lasting effect on China.
-His Dynasty ruled from 221 BCE to 206 BCE.
-He became king when he was 13 years old.
-By age 38, he had united a number of states in the area and declared himself the first emperor of a united china.
-He set standards for writing,weights and measures,money and the law, and all parts of the country adopted them.
-These changes improved communication and business within the country. 
-People traded with countries with countries such as Persia and India.
-Qin Shi Huang Di did not believe in the teachings of Confucius, he burned many books and he burned more that 400 people who believed in Confucianism.
-If a man disagreed with the emperor he was killed and so was his family.
-Qin Shi Huang had huge projects built during his reign, including the grand canal, the great wall and the Terra Cotta warriors of Xi'an.

The Grand Canal: 
-The grand canal is the worlds longest and oldest human made canal system.
-It is 1795 kilometers long and has 24 locks and 60 bridges.
-Construction started in the 5th century CE and finished in 610 CE during the Sui Dynasty.
-The canal runs from Hangzhou, southwest of Shanghai, north to Tianjin and then to Beijing.
 -The canal is still used to transport goods to and from markets.

KW