The Mighty Rivers Rivers helped shape civilization North Huang He River South Chang Jiang River Huang He snowfed from high plateau flows east 2900 miles as flows across desert cuts thru yellow silt deposits loess ID: 801090
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Slide1
Ancient China
The Landscape – Lesson 1
Slide2The Mighty Rivers
Rivers helped shape civilization
North – Huang He River
South – Chang Jiang River
Huang He snow-fed from high plateau
flows east 2900 miles
as flows across desert, cuts thru yellow silt deposits (loess)
Loess colors water so Huang He = Yellow River
Empties into Yellow Sea
Slide3The Mighty Rivers
Chang Jiang = “Long River” = Yangtze River
flows 3430
miles east
to
East China Sea
from highland of Tibet
Both rivers have carved valleys that open to large fertile plains
Huang He – North China plain – first farmers in Huang He Valley
Both rivers flood- Huang He = “China’s Sorrow”
Slide4Huang He River (Yellow River)
Slide5Chang Jiang
(Yangtze River)
Slide6Mountains, Plateaus, Deserts, and Plains
China = imagine 3 steps
Steps get lower west to east
Top step = Himalayas
(highest mountains on Earth = Mount Everest)
Highest plateau – Plateau of Tibet
farther north = deserts and steppes (dry, treeless grasslands)
Slide7Mount Everest
Slide8Slide9Mountains, Plateaus, Deserts, and Plains
Middle step = central China
Mountains and plateaus
Across far north = Gobi Desert
on high plateau surrounded by mountains and steppes
Slide10Gobi Desert
Slide11Gobi Desert
Slide12Gobi Desert
Slide13Mountains, Plateaus, Deserts, and Plains
Bottom step = eastern China
Wide valleys, fertile plains of rivers
Pacific Ocean is most of eastern border
Varied climates = bottom step
North = winter is cold and dry
summer is warm and rainy
South = longer growing season
Rice in Chang Jiang Valley
Slide14Mountains, Plateaus, Deserts, and Plains
Rice grown using terrace farming = terraces dug on hill slopes
small wall on edge held in water
Slide15A World Apart
Geography isolated ancient China
Natural barriers = mountains(Himalayas), deserts (Gobi), rivers, sea
Early Chinese believed they were only civilization on earth
Slide16A World Apart
Geography also isolated groups within China
made governing difficult
people developed own cultures
separate dialects (ways of speaking)
developed
Shared heritage (legends passed down)
Legends explain origins of land and people
Slide17A World Apart
Legend = universe began as egg
Pan
Gu
(creator) slept inside the egg until it cracked
Pan
Gu
climbed out.
Top ½ of egg formed sky
Bottom ½ of egg formed Earth.
Slide18Slide19Legendary Rulers
Legend:
Shen
Nong
brought agriculture to China
Studied herbs to find out which are poisonous and could be medicine
Said to have invented Chinese medicine
Slide20Legendary Rulers
Legend: Huang Di “Yellow Emperor”
ordered invention of writing
created carts, bows and arrows
, houses
wife
Xilingshi
invented silk cloth
Legend: Yu the Great
Terrible floods covered China
Yu dug deep canals to lead water to sea and saved farming
son became king = began Xia dynasty
some evidence it actually did exist
Slide21Stop and Think
What similarities do you see between China’s development and other civilizations we have studied?
Think of geography, agriculture, mythology, etc.
What differences do you see?