Early River Civilizations - Yellow River Cultures & The Shang Dynasty

TB --> pp. 84-86.
READING --> "The Birth of a Son" (from Pearl S. Buck's book, The Good Earth).
READING --> "Pinyin Today".
READING --> "Some Chinese Words That Have Become Part of English".
Slides/pictures of Shang bronzes.

To explain what archaeological excavations have revealed about Old Stone Age and New Stone Age peoples in China.
To be able to discuss the importance of family and kinship in the ancient Chinese state and in Chinese society.
To describe ways in which the Shang Dynasty was a formative period in Chinese society.
To explain the Chinese concept of the "Mandate of Heaven" and the role it played in the dynastic cycle of Chinese history.
To understand the role of women in the traditional Chinese society of this early period.
To describe how the Chinese writing system evolved and is different from our own.
To explain how the Chinese writing system helped to unify the Chinese people.
To compare the social classes of ancient China with the caste system in India and be able to explain the underlying principles of each and the consequences for the individual in each. {Create a CHART}


Peking Man	Bronze Age China	Mandate of Heaven	Xia "Dynasty"
Anyang	pictograph	ideograph	phonetic alphabet
monosyllabic	polysyllabic	oracle bones	divination
dynastic cycle	*pinyin*	shaman

On a map of China, locate and label the area of the earliest Yellow River
culture in one color and the area of Shang China in another (** Be sure to
include a small color key in the lower left-hand part of your map **).

Also locate and label the early capital of the Shang Dynasty at Anyang.

Do a neat job, as you will be adding to this map as we study future
Chinese dynasties!