Picture it, at tomb so big that it held the body of Emperor Qin and over 8,000 of his warrior soldiers! You may be wondering how these protective soldiers could survive being sealed in a mausoleum with their leader. You see, they were not real, fighting soldiers. They were Terracotta Warrior soldiers made to protect Emperor Qin in the afterlife. Emperor Qin ordered construction of his mausoleum and the Terracotta Warriors shortly after he came to rule around the age of 13. (13) The Terracotta soldiers were all life size. There were soldiers, horses, chariots and weapons. All constructed to protect Qin in the afterlife.
I visited the traveling exhibit of the Terracotta Warriors at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. I was able to study and learn the history surrounding these awesome pieces of work that were first unearthed by farmers in 1974! The neatest fact that I learned was that no two soldiers were made to look alike. They all have their own unique facial features! That is amazing, considering there were over 8,000 warriors!
Follow me as we ¨unearth¨ Ancient China and learn more about this powerful, isolated civilization! This page contains some of the unit vocabulary words. These definitions will be helpful as you learn about the Ancient Chinese culture.
Oracle Bones were known to be able to tell the future. The Chinese people would get the scapula (shoulder blade) of a cow and write their prediction of the future on this bone. The people would then get a hot stick. They would place the hot stick on the bone and the heat would break the scapula. Wherever the bone was cracked, they would read it and it would become the future for them.
Philosophy is what someone believes. Taoism and Confucianism were two philosophies that were popular all over Ancient China of over 2,000 years. These philosophies are still believed by many in today's culture.
Schema Connection: For example, most teachers have a philosophy of giving out daily homework. I do not like this philosophy because it makes me have more work to do! My parents have a philosophy of only playing video games on the weekends. It is their philosophy that I will focus more on homework, if I'm not playing video games.
Dynastic Cycle is a theory stating that the rise and fall of dynasties were controlled by the heavens. When someone comes along with the mandate of heaven, that means this person has the approval of the gods to rule. After a period of time, something bad would happen and cause the people to question whether or not the ruler had the mandate of heaven. For example, a natural disaster such as a flood or earthquake would occur and a lot of people would die. Then the people start to wonder if the ruler truly had the mandate of heaven. Next, the peasants revolted and caused a time of war. The ruler emerging from the time of war would then be seen as having the mandate of heaven and the cycle would start again.
Dynasty is rule passed down from generation to generation in a single family. The Zhou Dynasty lasted for over 800 years. The Zhou Dynasty had 37 leaders. As you can see, this dynasty was very powerful. This dynasty had many natural disasters but they never lost the mandate of heaven. This is because the emperor jumped in when a natural disaster happened and helped rebuild houses and take care of his people.
Mandate of Heaven is defined as the god's approval to rule. This was how a dynasty was started. Usually, a warlord walked into a ruined society and declared he had the mandate of heaven because he won the war.
Legalism is a philosophy that says all humans are evil and strict laws need to be in place to have a successful society. Emperor Qin used legalism to rule his kingdom. Unfortunately, his sons ruled with legalism and they were soon overthrown.
Schema Connection: I would not like to live under this philosophy because then I would have to live with super strict laws. However, I can see how living under strict laws would make a successful human society.
Confucianism is the belief that peace and harmony come from respect and relationship. This means that there would be no bullies to bully people. In my opinion, this is a better way to get a perfect society than legalism. This is because Confucianism is less strict and allow people have more freedom.
Taoism is the belief that if people want to live in peace with the tao (dao) they have to live in harmony. If everyone believed in taoism, then there would be no bad people. There would be no trouble and there would be no suffering. This is the third main belief in China. Most of the people who make up these beliefs are wise because they are able to make people follow that belief.
Filial Piety is the way in Confucianism of respecting one's parents and elders. For example, I respect my parents by doing what I am asked to do when they want me to do it. I also respect my parents by making sure that I am doing the right thing so it doesn't reflect poorly on them.
Bureaucracy is a type of government where decisions are made by officials of the state, not elected representatives.
Now let's explore:
Physical Geography
Universals of Culture
Government Types
Economic Types
I visited the traveling exhibit of the Terracotta Warriors at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. I was able to study and learn the history surrounding these awesome pieces of work that were first unearthed by farmers in 1974! The neatest fact that I learned was that no two soldiers were made to look alike. They all have their own unique facial features! That is amazing, considering there were over 8,000 warriors!
Follow me as we ¨unearth¨ Ancient China and learn more about this powerful, isolated civilization! This page contains some of the unit vocabulary words. These definitions will be helpful as you learn about the Ancient Chinese culture.
Oracle Bones were known to be able to tell the future. The Chinese people would get the scapula (shoulder blade) of a cow and write their prediction of the future on this bone. The people would then get a hot stick. They would place the hot stick on the bone and the heat would break the scapula. Wherever the bone was cracked, they would read it and it would become the future for them.
Philosophy is what someone believes. Taoism and Confucianism were two philosophies that were popular all over Ancient China of over 2,000 years. These philosophies are still believed by many in today's culture.
Schema Connection: For example, most teachers have a philosophy of giving out daily homework. I do not like this philosophy because it makes me have more work to do! My parents have a philosophy of only playing video games on the weekends. It is their philosophy that I will focus more on homework, if I'm not playing video games.
Dynastic Cycle is a theory stating that the rise and fall of dynasties were controlled by the heavens. When someone comes along with the mandate of heaven, that means this person has the approval of the gods to rule. After a period of time, something bad would happen and cause the people to question whether or not the ruler had the mandate of heaven. For example, a natural disaster such as a flood or earthquake would occur and a lot of people would die. Then the people start to wonder if the ruler truly had the mandate of heaven. Next, the peasants revolted and caused a time of war. The ruler emerging from the time of war would then be seen as having the mandate of heaven and the cycle would start again.
Dynasty is rule passed down from generation to generation in a single family. The Zhou Dynasty lasted for over 800 years. The Zhou Dynasty had 37 leaders. As you can see, this dynasty was very powerful. This dynasty had many natural disasters but they never lost the mandate of heaven. This is because the emperor jumped in when a natural disaster happened and helped rebuild houses and take care of his people.
Mandate of Heaven is defined as the god's approval to rule. This was how a dynasty was started. Usually, a warlord walked into a ruined society and declared he had the mandate of heaven because he won the war.
Legalism is a philosophy that says all humans are evil and strict laws need to be in place to have a successful society. Emperor Qin used legalism to rule his kingdom. Unfortunately, his sons ruled with legalism and they were soon overthrown.
Schema Connection: I would not like to live under this philosophy because then I would have to live with super strict laws. However, I can see how living under strict laws would make a successful human society.
Confucianism is the belief that peace and harmony come from respect and relationship. This means that there would be no bullies to bully people. In my opinion, this is a better way to get a perfect society than legalism. This is because Confucianism is less strict and allow people have more freedom.
Taoism is the belief that if people want to live in peace with the tao (dao) they have to live in harmony. If everyone believed in taoism, then there would be no bad people. There would be no trouble and there would be no suffering. This is the third main belief in China. Most of the people who make up these beliefs are wise because they are able to make people follow that belief.
Filial Piety is the way in Confucianism of respecting one's parents and elders. For example, I respect my parents by doing what I am asked to do when they want me to do it. I also respect my parents by making sure that I am doing the right thing so it doesn't reflect poorly on them.
Bureaucracy is a type of government where decisions are made by officials of the state, not elected representatives.
Now let's explore:
Physical Geography
Universals of Culture
Government Types
Economic Types