An OverviewA Glimpse of Traditional Chinese Culture

The Brief Chronology of Chinese History()Paleolithic Period()1,700,000-10,000 years agoNeolithic Period()10,000-4,000 years agoXia Dynasty () 2070B.C.-1600B.C. Shang Dynasty () 1600B.C.-1046B.C.Western Zhou Dynasty () 1046B.C.-771B.C.Spring and Autumn Period ()770B.C.-476B.C.Warring State Period() 475BC-221BC

The Brief Chronology of Chinese History()Qin Dynasty() 221BC-206BCHan Dynasty (Western Han & Eastern Han)() 206BC-220ADThree Kingdoms () 220-280ADJin Dynasty (Western Jin & Eastern Jin)() 265-420Southern and Northern Dynasties() 420-589Sui Dynasty () 581-618Tang Dynasty () 618-907

The Brief Chronology of Chinese History()Five Dynasties () 907-960Liao Dynasty () 907-1125Song Dynasty (Northern Song & Southern Song) () 960-1279Western Xia Dynasty()1038-1227Jin Dynasty () 1115-1234Yuan Dynasty () 1206-1368

The Brief Chronology of Chinese History()Ming Dynasty () 1368-1644Qing Dynasty () 1616-1840 (Opium War)-1911Republic of China()1912-1949Peoples Republic of China()1949-

The historical development of the Chinese culture

1. The Dawn of Chinese History: The Pre-Qin Period Culture() (1)The Earliest Human Beings in China: Yuanmou Man (dated back to 1,700,000 years ago, the earliest human beings ever found in China)-Lantian Man (walk upright on 2 feet)-Peking Man (skilled at making fire, making and using stone tools)- Upper Cave Man (18000, resembled modern human beings in appearance ) (2) The Great Myth of the Creation of Man in Ancient China (3) Ancestors of the Chinese Nation:4000 years ago, Emperor Yan and Empreror Huang defeated Chiyou.

The historical development of the Chinese culture

(4) Confucius, the Great Educator(5) The Hundred Schools of Thought and their Exponents.(6) The Art of War: the world first treatise on military science

The historical development of the Chinese culture

2. The period of Great Feudal Unity: The Qin and Han Dynasties (1)Qinshihuang, the First Emperor in Chinese History(2)The Great Wall(3)Sima Qian and his Records of the Historian(4) Zhang Heng, and his seismograph / seismoscope(5) Zhang Zhongjing, the saint of medicine and Hua Tuo, the founder of surgery

The historical development of the Chinese culture

3. The division of China once more and the intermingling of ethic groups: The Three Kingdoms, the two Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Chao Cao, Zhuge LiangWang Xizhi, the saint of calligraphy

The historical development of the Chinese culture

4. The heyday of Feudal Society: The Sui and Tang Dynasties(1) The Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty(2) Xuanzangs Journey to the West(3) Jianzhen Crosses the Ocean to Japan

The historical development of the Chinese culture

5. The continued development of Feudal Society and the coexistence of ethnic regimes: The Five Dynasties, and the Liao, Song, Xia, Jin and Yuan Dynaties (1)Yue Fei, Wen Tianxiang(2)The Four Great Inventions(3)Riversides scene on the Pure Brightness Festival(4) Sima Guang and the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government

The historical development of the Chinese culture

6. The period of further development of the unitary multi-ethnic country and the decline of feudal society: The Ming and Qing Dynasties (before the opium war of 1840)Zhu Yuanzhang, Zheng He, Qi JiguangLi Shizhen and Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica)

The historical development of the Chinese culture

7. Modern Period(1) Lin Zexu and the Destruction of Opium at Humen(2) The first Opium War(3) The May 4th Movement

The historical development of the Chinese culture

8. Contemporary Period

Brief introduction to Chinese Symbols

National DayNational Emblem National Anthem National Capital

Chinese celebrate October 1 as National Day in honor of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949.National Day

National Flag

The red color of the flag symbolizes revolution and the yellow color of the stars the golden brilliant rays radiating from the vast red land.The design of the four smaller stars surrounding a bigger one signifies the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

National EmblemComposed of patterns of the national flag, the Tiananmen Rostrum, a wheel gear and ears of wheat, it symbolizes the New-Democratic Revolution of the Chinese people since the May 4th Movement in 1919 and the birth of New China.

National AnthemMarch of the Volunteers was written in 1935 and was officially adopted as the national anthem of the PRC on December 4, 1982.The lyrics of March of the Volunteers goes as follow: Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves; Let us amount our flesh and blood towards our new Great Wall! The Chinese nation faces its greatest peril, The thundering roar of our people will be heard! Arise! Arise! Arise! We are many, but our hearts beat as one! Selflessly braving the enemys gunfire, march on! Selflessly braving the enemys gunfire, march on! March on! March on! on!

National CapitalOn September 27, 1949, BeiPing was renamed as Beijing and became capital of the PRC.Beijing is not only the nations political centre, but also serves as its economic, scientific and cultural heart.

GeographyLocation and BoundaryTopographyRivers and LakesClimate

Location and Boundary

Whats the location of China in the Map?Located in the east of the Asian continent, on the western shore of the Pacific ocean, the PRC has a land area of about 9.6 million sq km, and is the third largest country in the world, next only to Russia and Canada.

Topography

What are the features of Chinese topography?China is a country of varied topographical features with highlands in the west and plains in the east.Taking a birds-eye view of China, the terrain descends from the west to east like a four-staircase:

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in Southwest China; (above 4000m)Inner Mongolia Plateau, the Loess Plateau, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the Tarim Basin, the Junggar Basin and Sichuan Basin; (1000m-2000m)The Northeast Plain, the North China Plain and the Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain; (500-1000m)The continental shelf

Rivers and LakesMore than 1,500 rivers each drain 1,000 sq km or larger areasRich in water-power resourcesExterior and interior river systemsThe Yangtze River and the Yellow River24,800 natural lakesThe Grand Canal

Whats your impression of the Yangtze River? The Yangtze River is the longest river in China; (6,300km)It flows through 11 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.It is one of the main artery of water transportation between eastern and western China.

Whats your impression of the Yellow River?The Yellow River is Chinas second longest river; (5,464 km)The most heavily silt-laden river in the world.The Yellow river catchment area is an important base for grains in China.

Anything about the Grand Canal?The Grand Canal is also called Jinghang Canal (1,801 km)The canal was open to navigation over 1,000 years ago.It passes through one city, four provinces and links five major rivers.

ClimateA warm climate and distinct seasonsContinental monsoon climate in China: 1) cold and dry winters; 2) warm and humid summers;

An outline history (10 minutes)

Yuanmou Man and Peking ManThe Ancient PeriodThe Modern Times

Yuanmou Man and Peking ManThe first primitive man known to have existed in China is Yuanmou Man, who lived 1.7 million years ago.Peking Man, who existed more than 400,000 years ago, could walk upright, make and use simple tools, and make use of fire.

The Ancient PeriodWhy are we called the descendants of Yan and Huang ()?Chinese history began with two legendary figuresEmperor Huang and Emperor Yan, who, together with their tribes, inhabited the drainage area along the middle reaches of the Yellow River. By the time of Xia Dynasty, after centuries of living side by side, these two tribes had gradually merged into one. Consequently, the Chinese people usually themselves the descendants of Yan and Huang.

Yu conquering the flood Yu inspired people to dig ditches to divert water instead of building dams. He worked ceaselessly for 13 years and succeeded in controlling the floods. The First Emperor of Qin He unified the Language, the measurement system and the currency, set up the prefectures and counties system, constructed the famous Great Wall and built extravagant palaces and mausoleums.

Administrative Divisions (5 minutes)Three-tier system (), dividing the nation into provinces, counties and townships

At present China has 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities and two special administrative regions (SAR)

Population (5 minutes)More recent data using sampling by the National Bureau of Statistics announced that at the end of 2005, the population of China was 1,307.56 million.What is one child policy? It is a policy of family planning, hoping to control the population increase, improve population quality.

Distribution of the Ethnic groups (10 minutes)56 ethnic groups (Han, 91.59%)According to the fifth national census conducted in 2000, the population of all the 55 minority ethnic groups totaled 106,43 million, accounting for 8.41 percent of the total population of China.What is the ethnic policy in China? Equality, unity, mutual assistance and common prosperity are the basic principles of the Chinese government in handling the relations between ethnic groups.

Guess what ethnic group are they from?

Dong

Yi

Tujia

Li

Miao

Students Presentation(20 minutes) Please do brief introduction to your hometown including the details about the location, population, climate, the main scenesetc.First in pairs and to the whole class.

ExercisesPlease prepare for next class presentation.Divide the whole class into groups. Each group will present their PPT to the whole class.Time : 10 minutes (Followed by 5-minutes comments from other students)Topic: any topic in Chinese cultureArrangement: two groups each time