MT 1 Flashcards
What are the two major geographical regions in which most of the activity we cover in
this course takes place and what are their important characteristics?
Northern and Southern Heartland Regions
North: Loess highlands (flat land and lack of water, Loess dirt which is fertile, lots of cliffs), Yellow River (lots of silt which becomes mud when floods and then soil)
People built walls
Millet
South: Yangzi River (upper, middle, lower. Swampy. Domesticated rice in lower)
Sichuan High Basin: temperate climate, ample rainfall, good soil. Very good for agriculture
What are the key social and technological characteristics of the Neolithic period? What
sorts of changes take place over the course of this period?
Early: depend on plains for millet and rice so they became domesticated
Textile production
Social stratification was big because of material wealth and trade (and bigger graves)
Quality of ceramics and pots increased
Musical instruments and silk
Middle Neolithic (Jade Age): Social ranks because elites used jade objects, fine pottery, and other high quality crafts Bigger cities (and moat system, water system) Strong belief in afterlife and ancestor worship
Late Neolithic:
Large walls and defensive barriers for warfare
Calendars
Weapons b/c of more warfare
Elite graves had accumulation of jade and other luxuries
Gender: men had bigger graves
Large wall cities show social stratification. Clear defined quarters for different types of people
Better agricultural system
Religion: elaborate feasting and ancestor worship. Oracle bones!!!
What are some of the ways that the Shang kings maintained power and legitimized their
rule?
Myth of corruption of Xia that led to their overthrow
Kings used oracle bone divinations as connection with Di. King was connection between spirits and humans
Sacrifices played central role (victims were war prisoners and treated almost identically to animal sacrifices)
Incipient bureaucracy: well-defined hierarchy. King had ultimate control over complex economic network
Royal hunts and tours reminded people of King’s power. People were responsible for providing king and company on tours (way of taxation)
What do we know about the basic structures of Shang religion from the evidence
provided by oracle bones and mortuary practices?
Shang king implemented schedule of rituals to link humans and spirits. Wrote on the tortoise plastrons or cattle scapula after ceremony for record keeping
Worshipped Di (divined Di, did not sacrifice to him)
Nature deities next (earth, yellow river, mountains, sun. Sacrificed)
Ancestors +ancestresses: helped convery knowledge from Di in return for sacrifices. Ancestor worship was king’s obligation
Status distinctions continue after death. Ritual treatment ensure place in afterlife, bronze and animal sacrifices buried with dead show prestige and power
Most sacrifices were prisoners- showed king had ultimate control over life and death
What were the key aspects of the Shang economy?
King owned all the land
King and elite would go on royal hunts (killed animals and inspect border)
King would pass through multiple regions- had to give tribute (hunts were paid for by this)
Elite controlled all resources and oversaw workers and craftsmen
Rural population was monitored too: elites oversaw agriculture
Elites enforced peasants to supply grain and produce to govt. Or perform unpaid labor or military service
Shang would receive tribute from dependants and allies
Access to raw materials required trade and control
Shang bronzes have been found all over the palce
No tax system
What were the important features of bronze production in the Shang and Western
Zhou? What can they tell us about those societies?
Shang: durable artifcats were bronze vessels, weapons, and tools
Religious goods too (bronze bells)
State expansion required effective metal weapons, helmets, and tools. Inscribing texts onto bronze vessels
Western Zhou:
Signature artifact is inscribed bronze vessel
Bronze vessels in ritual
Used to communicate with ancestors and spirits
After Zhou got central plains, they began to inscribe long texts onto bronze vessels
Quality began to decline over time due to detoriating skills of bronze artists. High social rank = fine workmanship
Became literate b/c inscribed divination records
What were the important characteristics of the Shang written script?
Single graphemes (letters) were used to represent single morphemes (meaning bearing units in words) Zodiagraph
How do our sources for the Western Zhou differ from those for the Shang?
Western Zhou:
transmitted textual sources and discovered sources
first time we have textual
3 main ones: Shang Shu (Documents), Shi (Poems), Zhouyi (Zhou changes/early divination manual)
Discovered sources validate transmitted ones
Inscribed bronzes spread from central Zhou to local courts reflecting literacy
Bronces contained info outside court while Oracle bones of Shang only had King
Both had bronze inscriptions by Western Zhou were long ones
Shang:
Sima Qian’s record of Shang from Han dynasty (these were proven right)
Oracle bones- limited because only used as religious practice and contain info about King and Court
Large cities have been excavated
Written oracle bone evidence require just as much interpretation as non written evidence
Shang had one or two word bronze inscriptions
What does it mean to call the Western Zhou a “ritual state”? How does a “ritual state”
work in terms of social and political organization?
Government was inseperable from ritual behavior
High offices held by nobility (often hereditary)
Gifts from sovereign to officials. Frequent performance of rituals and grand feasts with music, song, and dance. Rituals dedicated to deities
Sovereignty of Kings and territorial lords involved frequent performance rituals
King’s legitimacy comes from: charisma as possessor of Mandate of heaven
Power to authorize extension through a process of command (possession of bronze vessels which also signified possession of ming and de)
King could gift bronze vessels to noblemen to grant access to spirit world
3 supervisors at top of political hierarchy (land, public construction, military affairs/hunting)
What are the main traditional theories of how the Poems (Shi) were compiled?
Theory of compilation: Confucious pared down collection of 3000 poems in Classic of Poetry to over 300. Whiel false, it shaped how monks interpreted selection and ordering in terms of Confucius intentions, Like Fishhawk
THeory that ministers sent our for songs from common folk that were compiled to become Classic of Poetry. Especially visible in Huge Rat that speaks out against tyrant king with poilitical satire
Regardless of truth: these shaped people’s thoughts on the purpose of the poetry: to conveycollective ideas and reflect daily life
What is the role of ritual in some of the early pieces in the Poems? What images to they
give of the early Zhou rulers?
Poetry distinguishes ritual from ordinary activities by changing its context. Naming something gives it ritual meaning and these rituals are meant to allow for human control of otherwsie destabilizing things.
Some of the poems serve as propaganda of Zhou by supporting Mandate of Heaven of founding Zhou kings. King Wen is glorified in Overbearing in his criticism of the last ruler of the Yin-Shang Dynasty. Poems gave actions of royal Zhou legitimacy and meaning
Describe the transition from the Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn period. What
are the key changes that take place?
Spring and Autmun period begains as Zhou power declined after the move East
Zhou got weaker, territorial states got strong. Multistate government that tried to maintain measure of peace and harmony among rulers of these states
Weakening of Zhou lead to emergence of Ba (protectos of ZHou and mandate of Heaven)
Large scale production of Iron begins
Hundreds of small states begin to appear
Increase of large walls showing warfare
More organized government based on ability rather than hereditary. Position of minister appeared
Rise of Shi (men of ability)
Shi were lowest nobility. Highly educated, originally trained for military. Responsible for majority of changes and innovations
Increase in food production. Bigger population and more social complexity
Political life dominated by handful of larger outer states that expanded through conquest/absorption of smaller states and colonization of outer borders (ex: Qin, JIn, Yan, Qi, Chu)
What are the most important aspects of the thought of Confucius as presented in the
Analects?
Humanist perspective because it emphasizes how humans relate to each other and develop interpersonal relationship with one another
Foxuses on how people should behave properly using and maintaining virtuous practice through a process of continuous self examination and introspection
Rulers should not enact laws or punishments because that is a failed state
Rulers should get their people to act properly by acting properly themself and utilizing de
Rituals were important because they allow people to voluntarily act with proper intentions and thus enact correspondence between name and substance by being fully present in the moment
Through rectification of names people would learn to be benevolent and act their place in society
Through filiality, continually learning and examining oneself, and the embodiment of the spirit of rituals, which connects more broadly to the alignment of name and substance, people can live in harmony with each other and practice benevolence
How are the states of the Warring States period different from those of the Spring and
Autumn period in terms of political and social organization?
Western Zhou was extinguished and absorbed by handful of periphery states. Most of surviving small states in Warring period were turned into powerless dependencies
Warring states was host to series of shifting alliances involving deadly battles in which a series of aristocratic ruling clans were exterminated
Government involved not only agricultural management but also means of protecting resources from coercive power (farms faced starvation when armies trampled crops, arimers grew larger and rulers abandoned old fashioned rules of warfare, militaries became more mobile and longer campaigns, Peasants were drafter for military service.
Poetry distinguishes ritual from ordinary activies
Some of the poems serve as propaganda of Zhou (support Mandate of Heaven of founding Zhou)
What do the writings attributed to Shang Yang present as the key factors in creating a
strong state?
Legalist- state must have power and oversight in every part of public life
Household registration, people into mutually respoinsible, legally binding groups of 5-10 people to keep each other accountable
State should devote intense focus on agriculture to produce food for the poeple and a strong military which was the sole predictor of social mobility and rank in society
People should be aware if they pursued these and followed the law theyu’d be provided with rewards
If they failed to abide by law they’d be punished
Laws applied equally
Flattery nor merit could allow a person to evade repurcussions
Transparency in governing, obedience by the people, and a strict emphasis on the law were all emphasize by Shang Yang
