James
The great wall of China was built by people being punished for breaking the law. The wall stretches from the mountains in northern China for more than fifteen-hundred miles. The wall had two purposes. One to keep peasants in who might other wise leave and become Nomads. Two it was built to keep out enemy invaders. It watch towers with guards in them looking over the land for invaders. The used signal fires to call for military back up. The guards were able to hold off invaders for just so long. The emperor forced three-hundred-thousand men to build the wall. They connected several existing walls to create The massive wall of China. It was about thirty feet high. It was also different widths at different spots. At its widest five horses could walk by each other. It is the only man made structure visible from a space ship. If it were in the United States
it would stretch from Washington D.C., to Denver Colorado.
During the last 250 years of the Chinese empire, the throne was occupied by the Manchu, a non Chinese people north of the great wall. China prospered from the first 150 years of the Manchu or Qing dynasty. The emperors Kangxi and Qianlong were enlightened rulers who supported Chinese art and culture and maintained the imperial service. However the Qing emperors feared a change might lead to a rebellion, so they clung to outdated traditions. For the first time Chinese technology fell behind other countries. Britain, France, Russia, and later Japan began to bully the Qing empire in order to get trade concessions. In 1839 a Chinese official in Canton tried to stop the import of opium, which British ships brought from India to exchange for tea. Britain declared war on China and was victorious. This encouraged other countries to demand trade concessions and awards of territory. The Qing dynasty was unable to withstand the firepower of the invaders, and in 1900 an international force captured Beijing. In 1911 the Chinese overthrew the weakened Manchu rulers to set up a republic. The last Qing, the infant Puyi, was forced to step down in 1912, bringing an end to 2,000 years of imperial history.
By: Andrew
Richard
Some of the Chinese animals include giant and red panda's, lynx, leopards, tigers, wolves, foxes, bears, martens badgers, weasels, raccoons, and mongooses. Hoofed animals include deer, antelope, gazelles, ibex, sheep, goats, yaks, wild boar, oxen and wild horses and camels. In ancient times, rhinoceroses and elephants also were found in china.
Brittany
These Chinese Dynasties were important to Ancient China. Under their rule a great empire was created . Below are the dynasties from first to last.
The Xian Dynasty
This dynasty was said to be a legend because there is no written records about them. They ruled for 300 years, but soon there rule became weak and a family called the Shang took control.
The Shang Dynasty
This group of people were framers, but they were powerful. Their dynasty lasted up to 600 years. They developed ways of organizing people. They also made up the first written language. They controlled most of the north part of China. In the eleventh century B.C. the Zhou people gained power.
The Zhou Dynasty
Also farmers the Zhou lived in the Wei Valley by the Huang He River. They were also guarded the borders from invaders at the west side. When they took power the, Zhou had the Great wall built to keep Invaders out. Before all this happened, King Wen, a Zhou leader tried to overthrow the Shang, but he failed. His son, King Wu did overthrow them, and stared the dynasty. The Zhou dynasty was the longest dynasty in China
's history, it lasted for 900 years.The Zhou believed if you were a good king then you earned a spot in heaven. If you were a bad king then you lost the right to enter heaven and was overthrown. The Zhou made up a system called Feudalism. This feudal system let the nobles own land. Most of the nobles were Zhou relatives. In 221 B.C. Qin Shihuangdi took over, and started the Qin dynasty.
The Qin Dynasty
In 256 B.C. the Qins defeated the Zhou family and gained power. Qin Huangdi was the first emperor of China. He thought that his dynasty would last for 10,000 years. So he changed his name by putting shi before Huangdi. Shi means
Afirst@ and Huangdi means Emperor@. But his dynasty only lasted 15 years.The Qins had the Great Wall finished, and he expanded China to the foothills of the Mongolian Plateau to the basin of the Chang River. He also conquered what is now called northern Vietnam. Qin established unity which let the Han dynasty rule successfully, after his defeat for four centuries.
The Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty ruled from 202 B.C. to A.D. 220. With the Han
's ruling, China made advances for the economic and cultural maters. Han rulers brought paper making to Korea, India, Japan, and Arabia. They also established the Silk Road.The Hans were Confucians. They believed that the role of the rulers is to bring happiness, and that the family is the basics of all of the human relationships. With all of the Han
's achievements the last few rulers were not very strong. Three kingdoms called the Wei, the Shu, and the Wu rebelled and overthrown the Han dynasty.The Sui dynasty
This dynasty didn
't have many achievements, but they had the Grand Canal built. This structure is one of the world's greatest building achievements. Rebellions of small cities and natural disasters weakened the Sui dynasty and soon the Tang took over.The Tang dynasty
This Dynasty lasted for 297 years. Buddhism was a big religion in China during their reign. In the seventh and ninth centuries, the Tang dynasty ran many cultural and economic advances. Block printing was invented. This made it easier to spread across the country.
During the eighth century A.D. the Tang power weakened. Their army was defeated and economics went down. Rebellions stared up in north China. From this, invaders came in China and ended the Tang dynasty. China divided into five sub-continents for five centuries. After the five centuries ended, the Song dynasty stared.
The Song dynasty
Song Taizu was the first Song ruler. He expanded trade and technical progress. This dynasty lasted for 319 years. They had regional military governors and supporters replaced by officials. This system led to great concentration of powers to the emperor. They built cities to help trade and maritime growth. They updated many developments of the past, like historical writings, paintings, and calligraphy. With all their achievements like every other dynasty they were overthrown by the Yuans.
The Yuan dynasty
Kublai
Khan started the Yuan dynasty. He stretched his empire from eastern China to the Caspian Sea. They were the first foreign rulers of China. They were from Mongolia. They improve engineering, and that extended the Grand Canal. They made a calendar which had 365.2 days. They created a new alphabet, which applied to all the languages of the empire. The Yuan were famous for not only for their achievements, but also by their gardens and palaces. After the last Yuan ruler, Zhu Yuanzhang took over and started the Ming dynasty.The Ming dynasty
In the years 1368 - 1644 the Mings ruled very strongly. During their rule the Forbidden City was built, and so were a lot of other temples were built around Beijing. They also repaired the Great Wall. People from different parts of the world came into China. The population grew fast. Ming rulers had many, little battles with Japan and the Mongolians. Soon a grope of people took power and set up the Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty
These rulers were also foreigners, but not like the other foreign leaders, they adopted the Chinese culture. They understood the ideas of Confucianism and the bureaucratic framework of the Ming period. The Qing dynasty expanded China. It
's population grew, and traditional livelihoods expanded also. Manchy, one of the Qing rulers had an official market in Guangzhou for foreign trade. They traded with Japan, the Netherlands, and England. The Qing soon weakened because of Anti-Qing rebellions. They lasted from 1796 to 1804. Their rule led European powers to take over. This was the last Chinese Dynasty.
By:Erin
Is this writing or painting? The Chinese began writing with brushes over 2,000 years ago. For centuries Chinese writers have tried to make words as beautiful as possible, so writing in Chinese is actually like painting. Historians believe that the Shang were the first Asian people to use a written language. The earliest examples of Chinese writing shows pictures of objects.modern Chinese writing developed out of using pictures.
Early Chinese scribes wrote on bamboo that was tied together in rolled bundles.They also drew their symbols on harder things such as jade,pottery,turtle shells and bone.The earliest Chinese writing was done by priest who scratched important questions on the bones such as AWill I win this battle?@.
To make the ink you take a stick of ink and grind it slowly back and forth on an ink stone.Add water until the ink is just the way you want it to be.
The Chinese language doesn
't have an alphabet.In Chinese writing different characters are used, some stand for complete words others stand for part of words.If you wanted to learn to write in ancient china you would have had to learn 3,000diffrent characters.
Caroline
The parents chose the partner of their child. A person called a go-between was in charge of bringing messages and documents between the two families. The first thing he would deliver was a document that stated the date and hour of the girl's birth. The groom's family put this information on their ancestral altar for three days. If nothing bad happened in the course of the those three days, then that would confirm a good match between the two. Then the girl's family did the same process.
After the match is said to be perfect by the astrologer, then they would arrange to meet. They then judge each other on appearance, education, character, and social position. After each party is satisfied, they begin the proper arrangements for the betrothal and marriage.
Both families bargained until they came up with the proper amount of gifts for the girl's family. The go-between brought several dresses from the groom's family, for the girl's family to pick. The girl's family also picked a date for the wedding.
The boy's family gave betrothal gifts of money, tea, bridal cakes, male and female poultry, sweetmeats and sugar, wine, and tobacco. To invite people to their weddings, the girl's family sent bridal cakes to friends and relatives. Whoever received bridal cakes were expected to give presents to the girl's parents.
The groom's family gave gifts to the girl's family to thank them for raising a good woman. If the family accepts these gifts, it means that they are giving their daughter to the groom's family.
Days after this gift-giving, a chamber pot filled with fruit and strings of coins were sent to the groom's house. If the parent's were rich, they would also send slaves for their daughter.
Days before the wedding, the bed for the bride and groom would be brought to their room and put together. (The families just put the sheets on. The slaves did the real work.) A woman with many children would have the children crawl on the bed and pick up fruit and petals that had been put their bed. This was a sign of fertility. The women would carry the bride on her back to the cockloft. There the bride would cry with her closet friends and morn about having to live with a new family.
On the day of the wedding (which was usually at the groom's house), the bride would be taken to the wedding. If
she was a reluctant bride, she would have her ankles chained and would be placed in a
cage. She would wear a red dress and beads in front of her face. The bride and groom would
exchange vows. After this, they would have a celebration and a feast. This could be the
first time they have ever spoken. 
Ancient Chinese Arts and Crafts
Chinese paintings date back before T
'ang dynasty (618-907 A.D.). Paintings of humans, birds, horses, mountains, rocks, clouds, water, flowers, trees, plum blossom, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums were growing popular as the years would pass.
The ruling of T'ang and Sang (960-1279 A.D.) dynasty really support the Chinese paintings. The Sang dynasty made a fair amount of paintings.
As the years went by more and more men wanted to paint. By the Mongol Yuan dynasty ( 1271- 1368 A.D.) There were no formal paintings, so court style was declined. Schools of ALiterati paintings@ emerged.
Some people feel as if the Chinese paintings aren't realistic but others think that the paintings are realistic. A kind of realism is sought after in Chinese paintings not to be realistic but to make as if you were in a dream. This lets the painter let out a dream that he might have dreamed this in a dream the night before. Some of the Chinese paintings are realistic and the painter might have been standing in a beautiful area.
To bring the painting alive the Chinese would use darker and lighter colors to make somewhat realistic. This represents the forces of AYin@ & AYang@.
A
Splashed-ink Immortal@ was another way of paintings. An ordinary human would stand there like a model. This made the paintings different from other paintings because the painter would capture everyday life. The person's shape and boldness. The painter would paint the background with unbridled stokes. This made the painting extraordinary.
When the Sang dynasty began, small group of artists started to write poems, notes, and names. This helped describe the paintings more.
Bronze
Bronze was the leading craft in the Shang dynasty. Beautiful bronze objects were used in religious ceremonies. Bronze was also a symbol of royal power. Bronze was used to make a lot of things such as daggers, spears,. Bells, two-spoked wheel, the two- horse war chariot, shields, and much more. The neighboring countries around China were afraid of the Shang warriors because they had this material that was good for lots of thing. In the end bronze was not used for decoration.
Jade
Jade is two stones mixed together. The two stones are
jadeite and nephrite. Both were used to make ceremonial objects and jewelry. Jade was sometimes placed inside tombs because it was believed to protect the dead bodies from decoying. In later years jade was used to make bowls, flowers, and decorative objects.
Lacquer
Lacquer is sap made from a Lac tree. The sap was mixed with colors. Most of the colors were black and red. This was used to coat the surface of the bowls, boxes, and other objects made of wood, cloth and paper.
YIN--stands for --weakness, darkness, calm, sorrow, winter, and death.
YANG--stands for
C active, strong, healer, summer, joy, and life.Yin-Yang also has these meanings Birth-Death Male-Female Heaven-Earth Matter-Spirit.
Yin-Yang compare and contrast. Yin-yang is a circle half dark half light. There is some light in the dark and some dark in the light half. Yin-and Yang have to stay together and not be apart. Yin-Yang was with every thought: art, astrology, religion, medicine, and government.
BY SOLOMON
By:Erin
The founder of Taoism is Lao-Tse; he was a contemporary of Confucius. He was searching for a way that would avoid war and other conflicts that disrupted life during his lifetime. The result of this is a book called Tao-Te-Ching.
Taoism started as a psychology and philosophy until it was adopted as a state religion. At this time Lao-Tse became ventured as a deity.
Taoism ,Buddhism ,and Confucianism became the three great religions of China. Taoism has about 20 million followers and they are primarily located in Taiwan. There are about 30,000 Taoist in North America and 1,720 in Canada as recorded by the 1991 census.
Some Taoist beliefs are practices are: *Tao is the first cause of the universe. It is the force and cause of all life. * The Tao surrounds everyone and therefore everyone must listen to find enlightenment. * Each person must nurture the Ch
'i (air ,breath) that has been given to them.