Shang+Dynasty

The Zhou dynasty conquered the first Chinese dynasty, the Shang dynasty, and claimed direct descent from the Shang rulers. This dynasty didn't established a powerful government, but instead they ruled through alliances and noble families. These families distributed land to lower class families in exhange for loyalty, which served as a vulnerable system. The rulers declared to be ruling through the "Son's of Heaven" or "Mandate of Heaven," which meant they ruled directly by the choice of the gods and worked to serve the people justly. Kings divided the people by feudalism, with the landlords holding power in the divisional lands. The Zhou dynasty was mainly based on agriculture and they extended their isolated boundaries as a result of it. Trade focused more on the higher and wealthier classes. Trade mainly consisted of wheat and rice exchange between the north and south regions. They traded with copper coins, which in turn increased the flow of trade. The Zhou attempted to unite the society under one writing system, Mandarin Chinese, but it didn't work out as a great success. Around the time of the Zhou, Confucianism and Daoism emerged as the two main philosophies, with Confucianism being more about laws and rulers and Daoism being more about the natural balance of life. The Zhou religion built on the Shang religion by believing in polytheism, but their gods were more abstract and didn't represent nature as in the Shang dynasty. Their religion stressed the balance between heaven and earth. As the Zhou dynasty declined, the Warring States period emerged, leaving China in complete turmoil as nomads came to power. States rose and fell, China expanded as a whole, and eventually nomad rule disappeared and the Qin dynasty came to power. http://www.wisegorilla.com/images/confus/Confucius5.gif

Created by Hannah Hollon 9/2/08 Edited by: Anna Mack (September 3, 2008)

Back to Unit 1 Terms