Ancient Chinese Concepts and Practices

Mandate of Heaven

• The balancing forces within nature
• Pieces of turtle bone or shell used to try and predict future events
• The belief that the right to rule was given by the gods above or by the Divine
• (202 BCE-220 CE)

Filial Piety

• (1600 - 1050 BCE)
• (1050 BCE - 256 BCE)
• The major ports/trading areas of the Silk Road were: China, India, Arabia, Persia, Egypt, and Italy.
• Loyalty to the family/male head of the household

Dynasty

• The belief that the right to rule was given by the gods above or by the Divine
• Isolating them from the rest of the world
• A series of rulers from the same family over time
• China is unified (Qin=Chin)

Yin & Yang

• Robbers, Sandstorms, Extreme heat and thirst
• To protect the emperor, Shi Huangdi, in the afterlife
• Festival of Lanterns
• The balancing forces within nature

Legalism

• Founded by a man known as Laozi.
• a thin, beautiful pottery of clay baked at a very high temperature. Invented in China
• To protect the emperor, Shi Huangdi, in the afterlife
• The idea that harsh laws and punishments were needed to control the evil human nature

Oracle bones

• Lasts 15 days
• Pieces of turtle bone or shell used to try and predict future events
• Created books and scrolls.
• Analects is the sacred text

Tao

• Isolating them from the rest of the world
• The proper way or path to follow
• Lunar New Year
• Altas Mountains

Confucianism

• Founded by Siddhartha Gautama.
• It is more of a philosophy than a religion.
• Yellow River (Huang He) and Yangtze River (Chang Jiang)
• Oracle Bone

Started by Confucius

• Golden Age of China (The time period when the use of paper money, gunpowder inventions, and printing occurred)
• Started by Confucius
• It is yellow because of the yellow sand of the Gobi Desert that flows through it
• Yellow Sea and Pacific Ocean

Analects is the sacred text

• Of Confucianism
• Of Taoism
• Of Buddhism
• It began in India and traveled to China via the Silk Road