Dynasties of China, Religion of China, Culture of China, Literature of China

1. Introducing

2. LITERATURE OF
CHINA
Introducing

3. OVERVIEW

4. The name CHINA is derived from the
name CH’IN or QIN dynasty that ruled China
in ancient times.
OTHER NAME: The People's Republic of China
AREA: 9,600,000 sq. km
POPULATION: 1.3 billion (as of 2004)
NATIONAL FLAG: Five-Stars-Red-Flag
LOCATION: middle and East Asia, bounded on
the east by the Pacific Ocean
OVERVIEW

5. DYNASTIC CYCLE

6. DYNASTIC CYLCLE

7. TIMELINE
1766-1050 BCE SHANG DYNASTY
1050-256 BCE CHOU DYNASTY
221-206 BCE CH’IN OR QIN DYNASTY
202-20 BCE HAN DYNASTY
581-618 BCE SUI DYNASTY
618-907 BCE TANG DYNASTY
960-1127 SUNG DYNASTY
1271-1368 YUAN DYNASTY
1368-1644 MING DYNASTY
1644-1911 CHING/QING/MANCHU DYNASTY
1911-1949 THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA
1949-present PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
DYNASTIC CYLCLE

8. SHANG DYNASTY:
Emperor Tang
• The first historical dynasty
• The dynasty contributed a number of achievementsto
civilization. (e.g. bronze metalworks)
• Chinesewritten languagewas another achievement.
• Developed calendar system thathad 360 days and 12
months.
• Slavery was practiced during this dynasty.

9. CHOU DYNASTY:
Emperor Wu-wang
• Emergence of philosophies like
Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism.

10. CH’IN OR QINDYNASTY:Shih Huang-ti
• Shortest dynasty
• Promoted unificationand centralization of
government.
• ShihHuang-ti orderedmass killingof scholars
and the burningof books,especially those that
dealt with Confucianism.

11. HAN DYNASTY
• Expandedthe Chinese Empire
• It used Confucianismas the philosophical basis ofthe
empire.
• Conducting of Civil Service Examinations
• Buddhismwas introduced.
• During this dynasty, China continued toadvance
culturallyand technologically.

12. SUI DYNASTY:
Emperor Wen
• Northern and Southerndynasties were
united.
• The dynasty endedrevolts,assassinations,
andthe people’sangertowards oppressive
imperialmeasures.

13. TANG DYNASTY:
• Territorial expansion.
• Buddhismtemporarilysuppressed.
• CivilService examinations basedonConfucianism.
• Age of great achievementsin poetry, sculptureand
painting.
• Invention of magnetic compass and gunpowder

14. SUNG DYNASTY
• Arts and culture continued to prosper.
• China’s economy improved
• Confucius’ books became widely known

15. YUAN DYNASTY: foreign rulers
• Mongol Dynasty foundedby Kublai
Khan.
•Growingcontact with the west.
•Confucianideals discouraged.

16. MING DYNASTY:
• The lastdynasty under indigenous Chinese rule.
• Mongolsexpelled.
• Confucianism,civilservice examinations reestablished.
• Contactwith Europeantraders, missionariesexpanded.
Porcelain(famous Ming vases), architecture, the novel
and drama flourish.

17. PEOPLE OF CHINA
• CHINESEHAN PEOPLE- With a
populationof 1159.4 million,the
Han Chinese can be foundin
almost every part of China.
• 55 MINORITIESIN CHINA-are
distributed extensively
throughoutdifferentregions of
China.

18. LANGUAGE IN CHINA
• Many dialectsare spoken in
China, but Mandarinisthe
most widely spoken
• 70% of the people in China
speak it
• It isthe most widely spoken
languagein the world (100
millionpeople speak it
worldwide

19. Facts about the Chinese Language
• It is nonphonetic-thewrittenform gives no
clues to its pronunciation
• There are over 20,000 differentcharacters
• There are four major tonesand a “toneless”
pitch used. The meaningof a word can
change depending on thetone
• They use a base-tennumber system (terms
for 1 to 10; 11 would be “ten one”)

20. EDUCATION IN CHINA
• China’s literacy rate: (age
15+ who can read and
write)
total population: 91.6%
male:95.7%
female: 87.6%

21. RELIGION

22. RELIGION

23. Taoism :LAO TZU
• Daoism
• It can be roughly translated into Englishas “path”, or “theway”
• It is basically indefinable.
• It has to be experienced.
• It refers to a power which envelops, surrounds and flows throughall
things,living and non-living.
• The Tao regulatesnatural processes and nourishes balancein the
Universe.

24. Buddhism :SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA
• “Teachingof the awakenedone”
• Buddhism traveled from India during
the Han dynasty
• It is estimatedthatthere are between
280 millionto 350 million Buddhists.
It is theworld’s fifthlargest religion.
• 20-25% of China’s population is
Buddhist

26. Confucianism : CONFUCIUS
• Developed from theteachingof
Confucius
• System of moral, social, political
and religious thought
• Greatly influencedChina up until
the 21st century
• It is an ethicalbelief system
rather thana religion, and is
based upon the concept of
relationships

27. Foundations of Confucianism
Three Principles: （三纲）
Theking is the master of the minister; the
husband isthe masterof the wife;the fatheris the
master ofthe son. These threerelationships
representall the relationshipsin ahighly
hierarchicalsociety.

28. CULTURE

29. CULTURE

30. • Chinese traditionof foot binding
• Chinese Chopsticks
• Chineseknots
• Chinese familynames
• Beijingopera
• ChineseShadowPuppetry
CULTURE

31. LITERATURE

32. LITERATURE

33. • Chinese Literature is extensive because it
includesevery form of writing
o Books of history
o Politicaland philosophical disquisitions
o talesof marvels
oPlays
LITERATURE

34. ANALECTS – collection of Confucius’ or Kung-fu-tze’steachings
- are masterpieces of serenity and
insights
LITERATURE

35. FORMS OF LITERATURE
1.Poetry
2.Prose
3.Fictions andnovels
4.Drama and Opera

36. POETRY
• Poetry became China’s
major literary achievement.
• The Chinese poets
celebrated the delights of
nature and pleasures

37. Li Po or Li Tai-Po
• China’s most popularmaster
• He did not live long enough
becausehe was drowned while
attempting to finish “The Moon
in the YellowRiver”

38. Tu Fu
•A more refined poet
who was Li Po’s
favorite

39.  春望
国破山河在
 城春草木深
感时花溅泪
 恨别鸟惊心
烽火连三月
 家书抵万金
白头搔更短
 浑欲不胜簪
 The country is broken, though hills and rivers
remain,
In the city in spring, grass and trees are thick.
Moved by the moment, a flower's splashed with
tears,
Mourning parting, a bird startles the heart.
The beacon fires have joined for three months
now,
Family letters are worth ten thousand pieces.
I scratch my head, its white hairs growing thinner,
And barely able now to hold a hairpin.

40.  The most importantpoeticwork produced
during the classical periodwas the Shih
Ching(Book of Poetry), an anthologyof
ancientpoems writtenin four-word verses
and composed mostly between the 10th
and the 7th centuries BC.
SHIH CHING (SHI JING) 诗经

41. PROSE
 From the 6th to the 3d century
BC, the first great works of
Chinese philosophyappeared.
Philosophicalwritings, e.g.
ConfuciusAnalects
 Historical writings:oneof the
representative works is Shi Ji
(RecordsofHistory史记), by
SimaQian司马迁 （145-90
BC）

42.  ShiJihas 103 articleswith more
than 50,000 Chinese
characters.

43.  《史记 秦始皇本纪》Records of History:
Biography of Qing Shihuang

44. • Thisopera was extremely popular in theQing
Dynasty court
• It uses a combinationof stylized actions like
singing,dancing,dialogue and acrobatic
fightingto tell a story or present different
characters and their happiness, anger, sorrow,
surprise, fear and sadness.
DRAMA AND OPERA

45. FICTIONS AND NOVELS
Four great classical novels:
 Journey to the West
 Dream on Red Chamber
 Romance of Three Kingdoms
 Water Margin