中国历史朝代讲义Word格式.docx
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horse-drawnchariotswithspoke
wheels.
PeopleinChinaused
jade
(agreenstone)forjewelryanddecoration.
Peoplehadalreadybeguntodivideupintotherichandthepoor.Weknowthatsomepeoplewere
slaves
undertheShangDynasty.Manymenwereintheking'
sarmies.
ButfinallytheZhou
conqueredthem.
WesternZhouDynasty(西)周朝
TheZhoulaunchedanattackagainstthe
ShangDynastyabout
1100BC
(thetraditionaldateis1122
BC).TheZhousaidthatthereasontheywereabletoconquertheShangwasthat
Heaven
wasontheirside.AccordingtoChinesestories,backedupinsomepointsby
oraclebones,thefirstreallyindependentkingoftheZhouDynastywasKingWu.Accordingtothestories,KingWuledabigarmywithchariotsdownthesouthbankoftheYellowRiver.In1046BCKingWucrossedtheYellowRiverandconqueredtheShangDynastyattheBattleofMuye.ManyoftheShangsoldierswentovertoKingWu'
sside,becausetheShangemperor,DiXin(KingZhou),wasunpopular.
HistorianscallthefirstperiodofZhouruletheWesternZhou,becauseatthistimetheZhouonlyruledthewesternpartofmodernChina.Chinawasdividedupintoabout200littlekingdoms,andtheneachofthesekingswasundertheZhouemperor.Undereachkingwerelesserlords,andtheselordsgaveoutlandtoindividualfarmers.Inexchange,thelordscollectedsomeofthefoodas
taxes.ThisiscalledtheSystemofEnfeoffment(FenFengZhi).
DuringtheWesternZhoudynasty,theemperorsruledfromgreatwalledcitieslikethoseofthe
ShangDynasty.WesternZhouemperorsreliedonbigstrongarmiestostayinpower.
Weknowfrom
stories
andsongswrittendownatthistimethatthesepalaceswerebuiltmainlyofbigwoodenbeams.TheZhouemperorsmadelawsabouthowfancyyourhousecouldbe.Onlytheemperorswereallowedtohaveartistscarvetheirpillarsandpaintthemred.Onlytheveryrichestfamiliescouldpainttheirpillarsblack.Peoplewhowerenotsorichpaintedtheirpillarsyellow.Butmostpeopleweretoopoortohaveanypillarsatallintheirhouse.
EasternZhou东周
In771
BC,
skillfulfighters
fromthenorthwestinvadedChina;
theymayhavebeentheancestorsofthe
Huns.TheseCentralAsianshadfiguredouthowtoride
horses
inwar,andwantedtousetheirnew
cavalry
toconquernorthernChina.TheZhou
emperors
retreatedandmadeanewcapitalatLuoyang,furthereast.SothisperiodiscalledtheEasternZhou.
PeoplecallthefirstthreehundredyearsoftheEasternZhouperiodtheSpringandAutumnperiodbecauseitwasagoodtimeforChina.Many
philosophers,like
Confucius
Lao-Tzu,wereworkinginChinaatthistime.Tool-makersinChinalearnedhowtouse
iron
tomaketoolsatthistime.
Butironalsomadegoodweapons,andthe200littlestatesbegantofighteachotherallthetime.Theperiodfrom
481to221BC
iscalledtheWarringStatesperiod.
Itwasaperiodofgreatdisorder.Thereweremanykingdomswhichfoughteachotheroverland,power,treasureandhonor.Evenifthisperiodwasfraughtwithchaosandbloodybattles,itisalsoknownastheGoldenAgeofChinesephilosophybecauseabroadrangeofthoughtsandideasweredevelopedanddiscussedfreely.
Byabout300
BC,therewereonlysevenbigstatesleft.Soonafterthat,in256BC,theZhouemperorslostpower,andtheonlyrulersofChinawerethe
kings
ofthesevenstates.ThesekingsfoughtamongthemselvesuntilthekingofQin,thestrongeststate,succeededinmakinghimselfemperorandestablishedthe
QinDynasty.
QinDynasty秦朝
TheQinDynastyistheonewhichgaveitsnametoChina.ThefirstQinemperor,in
221BC,wasQinShiHuang.Hestartedoutasthe
king
ofasmallerstate,buthewasabletoforcealltheotherstatestoaccepthisruletoo,sothenhebecamethe
emperor
ofallChina.Toshowthathewastheemperor,andmoreimportantthantheotherkings,hebuilt
bigpalaces
andhadveryelaboratecourtceremoniesinhiscapitalcityofXianyang.And,toshowthatChinawasalloneempirenow,Qinmadeeveryoneusethesame
letters
towritewithandusethesamekindsof
weights
tomeasurethingswith,allovertheempire.Officialsbegantouse
seals
toshowthattheyhadapprovedsomething.
Qindidn'
ttrusttheotherkingswhomhehadconquered,sohedidn'
tletthemrunanything.Instead,hechosehisownassistantsandsentthemoutasgovernorsandjudgesforeachpartofhisempire.And,sothathecouldkeepaneyeonthekingsandtheirfamilies,hemadethemleavetheirhomesandcomeliveinthecapitalcitywithhim,andhelphimthere.Thatwaytheycouldn'
trevoltagainsthim.
Qinalsogottogetherahugearmytokeepthekingsfromrevoltingagainsthim.Andwhenhedidn'
tneeditforrevolts,hekeptthearmybusydefendingtheempireandmakingitbiggerandbigger.SoonChinareachedfrom
Mongolia
inthenorthtoVietnaminthesouth.
ThebiggestdangertoChinawasthepeoplewholivedinMongoliaandSiberia,whooftentriedtoinvadeChina.AlotofthekingsinnorthernChinahadalreadybuiltwallsalongtheirkingdomstokeepouttheseinvaders.QinorderedhisarmytojoinupalltheselittlewallstomaketheGreatWallofChina.Thewallendedupbeing1,500mileslong(2400kilometers)!
That'
salmostaslongastheUnitedStates'
borderwithMexico(mostofwhichdoesn'
thaveawall.)
HanDynasty汉朝
LiuBang,whenheestablishedtheHanDynastyin
202BC,didn'
treallychangethatmuchfromthesystemthat
Qin
hadsetup.Hestillgotthekings
andtheirfamiliestoliveathiscapitalcity,andhestillsentoutgovernorsandjudgeswhomhecouldtrust.Hecalledforsmart
educated
mentoworkforhim,tobethegovernorsandjudgesheneeded,becauseheknewtheywouldbegoodworkersandmakefair,wise,decisions.
LiuBangdidletsomeareashavetheirownrulers,iftherulerswerereallyloyaltohim.WecallthisearlierpartoftheHanDynastytheWesternHan,becausethecapitalwasinWesternChina,atChang'
an.
LiuBang'
swifewastheEmpressLu.WhenKaoTsudied,Lutriedtotakeoverpowerforherself,andshesucceededincontrollingChinesepoliticsforsometime,eventhoughitwasverydifficultforwomentogetpoliticalpoweratthistime.
In141BC,LiuChebecameemperor.LiuChewascalledtheMartialEmperor,becauseheledmanycampaignsagainstthe
Huns
(theChinesecalledtheHunstheHsiung-Nu).Atthistime,theHunswerelivingnorthandwestofChina,andtheytriedtoinvadeallthetime.
Butjustalittlefurthersouth,the
SogdianswerebeginningtosetupsafetraderoutesthatconnectedCentralAsiatoChinaandWestAsia-thiswasthebeginningofthe
SilkRoad.Chinasold
silk
tea
westtoCentralAsiainexchangefor
andcarpets.Theyboughtsomethingsfromevenfurtheraway:
spicesfromIndia,
glass
silver
fromthe
ParthianEmpire,furand
gold
RomanEmpire,andeven
ivory
fromAfrica.
LiuChealsosetupthefirstuniversity
inChina,in124BC.Youngmen(onlymenwereallowedtogotouniversitythen)werechosenforbeingverysmartandhard-workingandthenthegovernmentpaidalltheirexpenseswhiletheywenttotheschool.Atfirsttheuniversityhadonlyfiftystudents,butitgrewquickly.Studentsattheschoolmainlystudied
Confucianphilosophy,whichLiuChealsomadetheofficialstatephilosophy.
EasternHan东汉
In9
AD,therewasashortbreakin
HanDynastycontrolofChina.AmannamedWangMang,whowasanephewofthecurrentHanempress,tookthethronefromtheemperor
andcalledhisnewdynastytheHsinDynasty.
WangManggotintopowerbypromisingtotakealotofpowerandlandfromtherichpeopleandgiveittothepoorpeople.Butthisturnedouttobehardtodo.Thepowerfulpeopledefendedtheirlandandwouldn'
tgiveitup.SooneverybodyhatedWangMang:
therichpeoplehatedhimbecausehetriedtotaketheirland,andthepoorpeoplehatedhimbecausehedidn'
tgivethemanyofthethingshehadpromised.
In17ADthepoorpeopleinShandongbeganarebellion.Theypaintedtheirfacesred(sotheywerecalledtheRedEyebrows)andattackedWangMang.WangMang'
sarmywasdefeated,andWangManghimselfwaskilled,in23AD.
Aftertherevolution,in25AD,aHanDynastyemperortookcontrolofChinaagain.HisnamewasLiuXiu.Hediedin57AD.
BecausetheHanweresostrong,theywereabletofightoffthe
Hunstotheirnorthandwest.Becauseofthis,theHunstravelledwesttoEurope,wheretheywereimportantinthe
falloftheRomanEmpiresomehundredsofyearslater.
InthelastyearsoftheHanDynasty,theempe