China High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

China High School - Essay Example Shang society was based on aristocrats with a king on the head. He had a centralized power and also was military supreme. The religion at that time was paganism and was based on ancestor worship. People were in resentment by his ruling but the king of the rival Zhou kingdom that was a part of Shang kingdom killed him. So Zhou became the ruling dynasty (1066 - 256 BC) and that was the period of extension of the Chinese civilization. The territory that dynasty's leaders had to cover was very large so due to the poor means of communication so they had to appoint people to oversee each territory and at that time this territories began to shape into cities. The lords of the territories received their titles through inheritance. As Shang dynasty Zhou dynasty was also agricultural country. The religion was paganism. The main god was god of heaven Shang Ti that at that time was called T'ien. The rulers of Zhou dynasty believed that they got their power to rule from heaven (Robert, 1999). In 770 BC the Zhou kings lost their territories that they had accredited to their lords. The lords rebelled and defeated the capital. The new capital was formed in the farther East and the period of Eastern Zhou began. The territories became more powerful and there was economical growth even through the continuous war between the territories. This was also the time when China entered the Iron Age that had a great influence on the people life and also it helped to enhance state power. Also at the period of Eastern Zhou is famous because then was a golden age of Chinese philosophy. The most famous philosopher of that period is Confucius (Morton and Lewes, 2004: 51). From the 4th century BC the state of Qin began to accumulate power and to reform its administration, economy and military. It grows stronger at the same time when Zhou kingdom weakened and died. Soon Qin conquered seven warring states and became the ruling dynasty (221 - 206 BC). The Qin dynasty was that one that put the beginning to China. The emperor wanted to conquer the warring states and he succeeded, so China became the united state. Also emperor pronounced himself as the first emperor of China or Shih Huang Ti. The first emperor unified China, standardized writing, weights, and measures throughout his kingdom. At this period was built the Great Wall of China. By this time the emperor became old and after the wrong treatment had died. Then followed the rebellion against the Qin dynasty that lead to the next dynasty the Han (221 - 206 AD). Liu Pang, took the control of the former Qin empire. He proclaimed himself emperor in 206 BC. He established the Han dynasty which would become the most durable dynasty of the imperial age. The Han Empire used all achievements of Qin dynasty and also modified politics. The Han Empire reached the peak of its development during the emperor Wu Ti (140 - 87 BC). He wanted to expand his kingdom but his reforms led to the revolt (Gascoigne, 2000: 73). During a revolt Wang Ming - a courtier, deposed emperor and established short Xin dynasty. At this period slavery was abolished and he tried to rearrange land politics but it caused a large rebellion during which the emperor was killed