The Shang and Zhou Dynasties

The Shang and Zhou Dynasties

A Social Studies Lesson

Objective

I will be able to describe how different group identities emerged by explaining how the Zhou Dynasty led to the uprising of aristocrats.

Multiple Choice

I will be able to explain how different _____ emerged by explaining how the _____ led to the uprising of _____ groups.

• Zhou Dynasty; group identities; aristocrats

• group identities; aristocrats; Zhou Dynasty

• group identities; Zhou Dynasty; aristocrats

• aristocrats; group identities; Zhou Dynasty

Multiple Choice

What is a dynasty?

• a collection of empires

• something you leave behind

• line of rulers who belong to the same family

• group of kings

The First Chinese Dynasty

A dynasty is a line of rulers who belong to the same family. Historians believe the first Chinese dynasty was the Shang. The Shang dynasty began about 1750 b.c. Ruins of walls and buildings show that the Shang built the first cities in China. One was the royal capital at Anyang. A palace and temple stood at the city's center. Public buildings and the homes of government officials were nearby. Beyond these stood workshops and other homes.

Multiple Choice

What was the first Chinese dynasty?

• Shang

• India

• Zhou

• Warlord

Shang Dynasty Social Classes

The king was the political, religious, and military leader of Shang China. Over time, the Shang conquered nearby areas. Kings began to rule more land and people. Warlords helped the Shang kings control territories throughout the country. A warlord is a military leader who has his own army. Warlords and other royal officials were aristocrats. Aristocrats are people in an upper class of society. Their wealth comes from the land they own. Most Chinese people, however, were farmers. They farmed the land owned by aristocrats. A small number were merchants, artisans, and enslaved people.

Multiple Choice

What is a warlord?

• a military commander with his own army

• a king

• a noble

• a type of soldier

Multiple Choice

What is an aristocrat?

• some who makes art

• an acrobat

• wealthy upper class person

• a warlord

Multiple Choice

How did aristocrats make money?

• They sold jewelry and art.

• They were paid by the king.

• Their wealth comes from the land they own.

• They used slaves so they had free labor.

Multiple Choice

Which group of people made up the largest social class in the Shang Dynasty?

• aristocrats

• farmers

• artisans

• warlords

Shang Dynasty Beliefs

- worshiped many gods

- believed the gods could bring good or bad fortune

- honored their ancestors, or long-dead family members.

- believed their ancestors would bring them good luck

- made offerings to the gods and their ancestors

Ancestors and Writing

Kings looked to their ancestors for help in making important decisions. They had priests scratch questions on oracle bones such as, "Will I win the battle?" Priests heated the bones until they cracked. Answers were found in the pattern of the cracks.

Early Chinese writing used pictographs and ideographs. Pictographs are characters that represent objects. Ideographs are another kind of character. They link two or more pictographs

to express an idea.

Multiple Select

Select all beliefs of the Shang Dynasty.

• worshiped many gods

• believed the gods could bring good or bad fortune

• honored their ancestors, or long-dead family members

• believed their ancestors would bring them good luck

• made offerings to the gods and their ancestors

Multiple Choice

How did kings use their ancestors for help?

• They prayed to them and asked them questions.

• They used their pictures to scare their children into their duties.

• They scratched questions on bones and believed the cracks after heating them were messages from their ancestors.

• They worshipped them as gods.

Multiple Choice

How is a pictograph different from an ideograph?

• An ideograph is made of several pictographs.

• A pictograph is made of several ideographs.

• Pictographs and ideographs are the same.

• A pictograph is a picture and an ideograph is writing.

The Zhou Dynasty

According to legend, the last Shang ruler was a wicked tyrant. Rebels overthrew the Shang government and declared a new dynasty called the Zhou. The Zhou ruled China for more than

800 years. The king led the government. He was helped by a bureaucracy. A bureaucracy is a group of selected officials who do different government jobs.

Multiple Choice

How did the Zhou Dynasty begin?

• Rebels overthrew the last tyrant ruler and began a new dynasty.

• They were invaded by other Chinese civilizations.

• The king decided to make a new one because he hated the last dynasty.

• The Zhous took over.

Multiple Choice

How long did the Zhou Dynasty last?

• 400 years

• 800 years

• forever

• 20 years

Multiple Choice

What is a bureaucracy?

• group of aristrocrats

• group of warlords

• group of non-elected government officials

• group of wealthy upper class people

The Growth of the Zhou Dynasty

Under Zhou rulers, China grew larger. The king divided the country into territories. Each territory was ruled by an aristocrat. When an aristocrat died, his son or another member of his family governed the territory. This means these positions were hereditary.

Zhou kings believed that the gods gave them the right to rule China. This idea is known as the Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate said that the king must rule by the proper "Way," known as the Dao. The king's duty was to honor and please the gods.

Multiple Choice

As the Zhou Dynasty expanded, who ruled the different territories?

• warlords

• aristocrats and their families

• bureaucrats

• kings

Multiple Choice

What does it mean when something is hereditary?

• it is something that happens to animals

• it gets passed down via the family

• it is something you grow into

• it is something you are given as a gift

Multiple Choice

How did kings get the right to rule?

• through priests

• through gods or the Mandate of Heaven

• they decided to be rulers

• they paid to be rulers

Multiple Choice

What is "Dao"?

• a belief that the king's right to rule came from gods

• a type of hereditary possession

• a group of aristocrats

• a belief of the proper way to rule that honored and pleased the gods

The Rise of Aristocrats

During the Zhou dynasty, new technology helped farmers. The Chinese developed better ways to bring water to their fields. With a better irrigation system, farmers were able to grow more food than ever before. Under the Zhou, China's trade expanded also. Silk from the Zhou dynasty has been found as far away as Greece.

The aristocrats became more powerful under the Zhou. They began to ignore the king. They each took control of their own territory, or states. Aristocrats began to fight each other for power. These battles lasted for nearly 200 years. This time in Chinese history is known as the “Period of the Warring States.”

Multiple Choice

What technology did the Zhou Dynasty develop?

• farmers

• weapons

• irrigation systems

• tools

Multiple Choice

How did the Zhou Dynasty become wealthy?

• Farmers were able to grow more food and trade expanded, especially the trade of expensive silk.

• Aristocrats demanded more money from farmers.

• The Dynasty traded silk.

• They sold water and information about how to build canals

Multiple Select

Select all the ways aristocrats gained power during the Zhou Dynasty.

• They began to ignore the kings.

• They were told by the kings that they could be their own rulers.

• They had control of territories, which they began to control as their own.

• They hired warlords and bureaucrats to protect them.

• They fought each other for power.