Ancient China
Geography
- The Ancient Chinese called their land Zhongguo or the Middle Kingdom.
- The isolation contributed to the Chinese belief that China was the center of
the Earth and the sole source of civilization.
Geographic Barriers:
 To the west and southwest - high mountain ranges – the Tien Shan and
the Himalayas – and brutal deserts blocked the easy movement of
people.
 To the southeast – thick jungles divided China from Southeast Asia
 To the north – lay the forbidding desert, the Gobi
 To the east – the vast Pacific rolled endlessly
- The Chinese did have contact with the outside world:
- They traded with neighboring people and, in time, Chinese goods reached
the Middle East and beyond.
- The outsiders whom the Chinese encountered were nomadic invaders. To
the Chinese, these nomads were barbarians who did not speak Chinese and
lacked the skills and achievements of a settled society.
- Nomads conquered China from time to time, but they were usually absorbed
into the advanced civilization.
Main Regions
- The Chinese heartland lay along the east coast and the valleys of the Huang
He or Yellow River and Yangzi River.
- In ancient times, these fertile farming regions supported the largest
populations. The rivers provided water for irrigation and served as
transportation routes.
- Beyond the heartland are the outlying regions of Xinjiang, Mongolia, and
Manchuria.
- The first two regions have harsh climates and rugged terrain.
- All three regions played a key role in China’s history.
- Nomads repeatedly attacked and plundered Chinese cities. At other times,
powerful Chinese rulers conquered or made alliances with people of these
regions.
- China also extended its influence over the Himalayan region of Tibet, which
the Chinese called Xizang.
“River of Sorrows”
- Chinese history began in the Huang He valley, where Neolithic people
learned to farm.
- The need to control the flow of the river through large water projects
probably led to the rise of strong central government.
- Huang He got its name from the loess, or fine windblown yellow soil, that
carries eastward from Siberia and Mongolia.
- As loess settles to the river bottom, it raises the water level. Chinese
peasants labored constantly to build and repair dikes that kept the river from
overflowing.
- If the dikes broke, flood waters burst over the land. Such disasters destroyed
crops and brought mass starvation.