Silk Roads and Confucianism

Ancient China and Confucianism



By: Coach Kitchens

Who built the Great wall of China and why was it built? What makes the Great Wall of China so extraordinary - Megan Campisi and Pen-Pen Chen

Multiple Choice

The Qin dynasty began construction of the Great Wall along the Northern border of China for what purpose?

• To keep nomadic invaders from the north (Mongols) out

• To aid in trade on the Silk Road

• To show the power that the Chinese government had

Qin Dynasty (221 – 206 BCE)

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❑ The Warring States Period lasted until Shi Huangdi emerged victorious and

established the Qin Dynasty.

❑ During these years of conflict a new governing philosophy emerged in China

called Legalism.
▪ Proponents of Legalism argued that humans were innately self-serving

and destructive therefore societal order had to be maintained with strict
laws and harsh punishments.

▪ Shi Huangdi, prescribed to these beliefs and built a highly centralized

bureaucracy around these tenants.

❑ While the Qin Dynasty was short-lived it is given credit for unifying China

increasing territory and creating an empire.
▪ Under the Qin, weights, measures, coinage, laws, writing, and axle

length were all standardized.

▪ The state directed the construction of extensive roads and canals, work

on the Great Wall of China began, to keep nomadic invaders (mongols) out.
•These reforms laid the foundations for the effective administration of
the vast empires of the dynasties that followed.

Multiple Choice

What was the most important accomplishment of the Qin dynasty?

• Creating planned cities with sewage systems

• Developing a system of writing adopted by the Greeks and Romans

• Establishing a republican form of government

• Expanding Chinese territory and creating an empire

Silk Roads

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❑The vast open steppe land of Central Asia was home to numerous

nomadic societies.

▪ These societies relied on a pastoral economy that exploited the

natural resources of the open steppe.
•This reliance on pastoralism made these societies experts on
the use of pack animals including horses, camels and oxen.

▪ These transport technologies combined with potential for vast

profits from the trade in silk, glassware, cotton cloth, horses,
spices, perfumes and slaves led to the rise of the Silk Road.

❑ The Silk Road operated in two principle phases, the first from about

100 BCE to 800 CE connecting Asia to Europe.
▪ In this period the trade route linked the Roman Empire in the

west, the Chinese dynasties of the Han, Sui and Tang in the East,
the Indian empires of the Mauryan and Gupta in the south, and
the Persians in the middle.

▪ The Silk Road peaked again from 1200 to 1500 CE (see

SSWH4e).

Multiple Choice

Which 2 major world regions were directly connected by the silk road?

• Asia and Africa

• Asia and Europe

• Central America and Africa

• Europe and South America

Silk Roads

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❑ During the first phase of the Silk Road, it functioned primarily as a relay system

with each merchant only traveling a portion of the full length of the road.

❑ Major trading cities developed as a result of this system like Chang’an, Samarkand,

and Bukhara.

❑ While individuals rarely traveled the full length of the trade routes, elements of

culture and technology did.
▪ Some key examples of this include: -Buddhism spread from India to China -

Christianity spread to the east -the stirrup spread from Central Asia to Europe,
China, and the Middle East -horse technology spread to China -New crops were
introduced to China (alfalfa, grapes), Rome (peaches, apricots), and the Middle
East (rice, sugarcane, and cotton).

Indian Ocean Trade

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❑ The predictable nature of the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean eased

open-water navigation and led to the rise of a vast network of exchange
between East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China
in the Classical Age.

▪Mariners, motivated by potential profits from the exchange in goods like
ebony, ivory, copper, myrrh, frankincense, dates, spices, jewels, cotton
cloth, and silk developed technologies that capitalized on the monsoon
winds and allowed the efficient transport of massive amounts of goods.
•These technologies include the dhow and lateen sail developed by
Arab sailors and the junk developed by the Chinese.

▪ Bad monsoons led to diasporic communities in the major
ports of the Indian Ocean Maritime System.
•Several of the diasporic communities left an enduring impact of the
host culture. For example the Swahili language of East Africa is a
product of the blending of Arabic with indigenous Bantu languages
and the Malay Peninsula has a Chinese community that endures to
this day.

•Once the Silk Roads came, Trade in India Decreased.

Multiple Choice

What impact did the Silk Road have on Ancient India?

• India became the middlemen and saw an increase in wealth

• it decreased trade in India and led to great isolation

• It did not have a direct impact on India

• India Lost wealth due to an increase in trade.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements about the map below is correct?

• China had the most natural resources, making it the wealthiest place

• Most trading was done in northern Asia

• Trade only occurred across mainland Asia

• Trade routes throughout Asia occurred over land and through sea

Confucianism...

Multiple Choice

Confucianism had a strong impact on the development of China mainly because this philosophy:

• Contained a framework for a communist government

• Established a basic structure for military rule

• Provided a basis for people's behavior in society through 5 key relationships

• Stressed the importance of the individual in China