Technology/Economy-
Agriculture:
Agriculture during Zhou Dynasty was similar to the European feudalism, since it was dominated by the government. In many cases, a piece of land would be divided into nine pieces of land which represents a Chinese 
character, 井 meaning “water well”. From the nine divided squares, the government took the middle square for surplus in times of famine and bad harvest, while the other surrounding eight squares belongs to the individual farmers. Ploughing methods are also introduced during this era, as well as the usage of fertilizers and pesticides.
-Ploughing Method
Industry:
Industries during the Zhou Dynasty are also controlled by the government. Bronze smelting and iron is a very important manufacture sectors during this period of time, since it could be made into agriculture tools and 
weapons. Gold and silver are also used in 
metals and wooden/lacquered objects. Engineering technology is being developed since the government was building drainage, waterways, canals, and dams. Music temperation by pipes and bells are also developed in this period. Glass productions are also introduced. Industries also developed new ideas of the dyeing of yarns and other woven materials, such as silk and linen.
- a bronze ornament -an iron weapon
Technology:
There are many new technologies introduced during this period of time, such as the 
perfection of the calendar and the first geographical map. The discovery of magnetism and mathematics has becoming easier because of the discovery of calculating with chips or tallies. Medicine advancements in this era include the descriptions of healing methods like acupuncture and mozibustion.-tallies and chips
Although the Zhou Dynasty was the longest ruling dynasty not many social changes occurred, aside from all the new inventions and technologies. The new developments resulted in a higher production rate for the government, and as a result for the government dominating the industries, they controlled the production of the materials. These developments expanded
Government-
Since the Zhou Dynasty was vast in size, the emperor alone couldn’t supervise the whole territory. The emperor separated the territories and appointed several feud lords to take care of the divided lands. As the decline of the Zhou Dynasty, the divided territories slowly fall apart and break away into individual lands.
The Eastern Zhou are divided into two sub periods, from 722 to 481 BC., it is called the Spring and Autumn Period and from 480 to 221 BC., the Warring States Period. During the Spring and Autumn Period, there were many battles and the expansion of literacy. As literacy increased, it encouraged people’s freedom of thoughts and technological advancements. The Warring States Period was a contrast to the Spring and Autumn Period, it was a period of warring advancements, such as replacing bronze with iron as the dominant warfare material and developed tactics to wars, like building walls to protect counter-attacks.
Bureaucracy was also established to manage the government, the general admistrator was divided into six ministers: Ministry of State (Tianguan 天官), Ministry of Civil Administration and Social Welfare (Diguan 地官), Ministry of Rites (Chunguan 春官), Ministry of War (Chunguan 春官), Ministry of Justice (Qiuguan 秋官), and Ministry of Works (Dongguan 冬官).
Religion-
Mandate of Heaven is strongly believed during the Zhou Dynasty, it is believed that one should be able to communicate with the ancestors and learn from their ancestor’s wisdom. The three realms of deities are the heavenly spirits, terrestrial forces, and human ancestors. The highest celestial deities were Heaven, sun, moon, stars, planets, and the different forces in the universe like wind and rain. The highest terrestrial deities were the God of Millet, the Five Offerables, and the
Philosophy-
Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, expanded the idea throughout 
Dynasty. Confucianism teaches the Five Relationships, and to perfect self through study. Confucianism’s goal is to find truth and that wisdom is accumulated from experiences, therefore, it is important to be able to communicate with the ancestors to gain knowledge. There are also schools that teach Confucianism, such as The School of Scholars and The Hundred Schools of Thought.
Taoism is also one most practiced idea, but it contrasts the idea of Confucianism. Taoism 
is founded by a Chinese Philosopher, Laozu. Taoism believes that you have to find harmony in nature and that 
Simplicity is the key to truth. Laozu, also suggests the idea of ‘action without action’ (Wei wu Wei), and that to solve problems is to understand nature. Laozu also recorded her teachings in a book, ‘Tao Te Ching’, which is widely spread.
-Tao Te Ching
These philosophies helped the leaders of the Zhou Dynasty make decisions and changed their beliefs; through
this the Zhou Dynasty’s leaders changed their way of making decisions towards the civilization.
Leaders/Contemporaries-
- King Wen was the founder of the Zhou Dynasty, and ruled from 1099-1050 BC. His goal before he died was to conquer the Shang Dynasty, but he died before he could accomplish this.
- King You of Zhou ruled during 781-771 BC., he ended the Western Zhou Dynasty, because of his silliness. Since his wife, the queen, Baosi didn’t like to laugh, King You tried to impress her by tricking the nobles that there were enemies attacking them. This humored Baosi, but not the nobles, and because of this incident the nobles did not believe King You when he called for their help. Only to know that this time the enemies really attacked, but the nobles didn’t believe, so King You died, which ended the Western Zhou Dynasty and began the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
-King Wen
- Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), was an Italian explorer, who sailed across the
Atlantic Ocean in search for a route to - Archimedes (287-212 BC), a Greek mathematician discovered levers, which is a basic tool that is still in used today.
-portrait of Christopher Columbus
No comments:
Post a Comment