China: Early societies, Confucianism and the Qin dynasty

The name China means "middle kingdom" because the Chinese, with their 5,000 year old history, have always thought of themselves as the center of civilization. Like the other river civilizations that we have talked about in class Chinese civilization begins in the the land between the Chiang Jiang river and the Huang He river. There, early Chinese grew rice and wheat and eventually developed advanced societies.
Before China was united into one single empire it was a hodge podge of several separate kingdoms. The first dynasty that historians know information about is the Shang. During the Shang dynasty, the beginnings of what we associate with Chinese culture begin. The Chinese written and spoken language and the concept of a powerful King who rule according to the "mandate of Heaven" are introduced.
Later because the Shang were not living up to Heavens dictates, the Shang lost the authority to rule and we conquered by the Zhou. It is at the end of the Zhou period when the greatest teacher or morality in Asia, Confucius, teaches the people.
Confucius' teachings, which would later be called Confucianism basically says that when everyone in society acts according to their proper rule peace and harmony reigns. Confucius taught about the five relationships which must be kept in balance to create social harmony.
While Confucius was important in ancient China, he was not the only teacher. Lao Zi taught the Dao De Jing advising people to follow what he called the "Dao" or the way of inaction. Today many people in China and around Asia base their morality on these teachings as well as Buddhism which eventually was brought to China through cultural diffusion.
After the Zhou also lost control of the people and the "mandate of heaven" the King of Qin was able to bring order to the warring states and unite them all under one government once and for all. In 221 BC the Qin Emperor or Qin Shir Huangdi, united all of China under one government, made a common language, money system, laws, and generally made China what it is today. The Qin Emperor also began the work on what would become the Great Wall of China in an attempt to keep invaders from the north of China (present day Mongolia) from attacking. He also had a massive terracotta (clay) army built around what would become his tomb to protect him after his death. His son proved incompetent which led to the destruction of the Qin dynasty. Years later, after some fighting Wang Mang would reunite China under the Han.

This explains how the Five relationships work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn7grjTpcNA
see how the First Emporer of China united the country
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRizdgGDzbI
learn about the Great Wall of China
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTY7yJ7JWFU