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Ancient China-Geography
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Geography of China
China is Huge!!!
China is the 4th largest country in the world, covering nearly 4 million miles of land.
This vast area includes many different climates, physical features, and cultural regions.
Shaped by Geography
Every civilization is shaped by the place in which it exists. China is a great example of how a society is shaped by its geography in unique ways.
Question: Think of some of the civilizations we have studied so far. How have the Mesopotamian and Egyptian societies have been shaped by their landscapes?
Varied Landscape
The landscape of China is like stairs with four steps.
If you move across China from west to east, each step becomes lower.
Mountains like the Himalayas and Tian Shan rise up along the western border.
The next step is the Tibetan Plateau, the largest and highest plateau in the world.
The 3rd step are the deserts and hills.
At the bottom is the North China Plain.
Landscape
North China Plain
North China
Plain
The bottom step is eastern China. This area is the lowest part of china. The wide valleys and fertile plains of the Huang and Yangtze Rivers run through it until they reach the sea.
This is China's most populated area, with around 90% of the population living here.
Those areas are in red, orange, and yellow on the map.
Natural Barriers
Natural
Barriers
China's heartland, found in the river valleys of the east, is surrounded by mountains, deserts, an ocean and plateau.
These natural barriers isolated ancient China from the rest of the world.
A Natural Barrier is a Physical Feature that makes movement more difficult.
China's Natural Barriers
Mountains, deserts, plateaus, and an ocean create a ring around China.
The early Chinese were so isolated that they came to believe that China was the world's only civilization. They called their country the "Middle Kingdom", because they thought it was the center of the world.
China's
Natural
Barriers
Mountains
Mountains
Mountains are found throughout China. But the Himalayas, Kunlun Shan, and Tian Shan mountains dominate the western side of China.
These mountain ranges create a nearly impenetrable wall.
Himalayan Mountains
The Himalayas are the tallest mountain range in the world, with 12 of the 16 tallest mountains found there. This includes Mount Everest and K2.
There are about 15,000 glaciers in these mountains, which provide fresh water for billions of people in China and India.
Kunlun Shan and Tian Shan Mountains
These twin mountain ranges are found in the norwest corner of China, just north of the Himalayas.
Together they form a circle around the Taklamakan desert, and were home to many important stops along the Silk Road.
Samarkand - Tomb of the King
Deserts
Deserts
Deserts edge the northern and western lands. They are created by rain shadow from the tall mountain ranges in the west, which prevents large amounts of precipitation from reaching those areas.
The biggest is the Gobi Desert in the north. The driest is the Taklamakan Desert in the west. And the Ordos Desert is important, because it provides much of the sand and dirt that erodes into the Huang River.
Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert is one of the largest deserts in the world, stretching along most of China's northern border. It is considered a cold desert, though temperatures swing wildly, as much as 65 degrees a day.
Much of the Gobi Desert is not sandy, but has exposed bare rock like the American Southwest. Scrub brush and some grass keep camels, lizards, and gazelles alive here.
Taklamakan Desert
Taklamakan translates as "the place of ruin" or "place of no return". This name is fitting, because very little water can be found in it. In fact, years can go by without any rain falling.
Unlike the Gobi, the Taklamakan is a sand desert. Sand dunes can be as tall as 300 feet, making traveling across the desert very difficult.
Though smaller than the Gobi, the Taklamakan was more difficult for ancient people to travel through. Most took roads through the surrounding mountains.
Plateau
Tibetan Plateau
A PLATEAU is AN ELEVATED GRASSLAND PLAIN.
The Tibetan Plateau is the world's highest and largest plateau, which is a high grassland plain.
It is often called the "Roof of the World", because it is over 3 miles above sea level.
Another nickname is the "Third Pole", because it has more ice fields than anywhere other than the North and South Poles.
Ocean
Pacific Ocean
China's lands are bordered on the east by the Yellow Sea, and the East and South China Seas. All of these are part of the larger Pacific Ocean.
This coastal region is very densely populated. Shanghai, the 3rd largest city in the world, is located where the Yangtze meets the sea. Shanghai has the world's busiest port, shipping goods from all over China to the rest of the world.
Effects of
Natural
Barriers
Discussion Question:
What effects do you think natural barriers had on China?
Effects of Natural Barriers
- Protects from invaders
- Limits trade with other civilizations
- Limits immigration from other people groups
- Limits exchange of ideas and technology
- Encourages unique culture to develop
Rivers
China has over 22,000 rivers, and these rivers helped shape the early civilization that developed there.
This was especially true of the Huang River in the north and the Yangtze River in the south.
Rivers
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, or "Long River", is the 3rd longest river in the world, flowing over 3,400 miles from the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea.
It was ancient China's main source of transportation from the western frontier to the eastern plains.
Yangtze
River
The Yangtze River runs through
many mountainous areas.
Domestication of Rice
Rice is one of the most important crops in the world, serving as the main source of food for more than half of the world's population.
Rice was first domesticated by farmers along the Yangtze River nearly 8,000 years ago. It has been grown there ever since.
Rice
Terrace Farming
Much of the land around the Yangtze river is mountainous, making it hard to grow crops.
But for thousands of years, farmers have been carving hillsides by hand to create flat platforms where rice and vegetables can be grown.
These platforms are called terraces, and they cover much of the land surrounding the Yangtze River.
Terrace
Farming
Huang River
The Huang River translates as the "Yellow" River.
The Huang is the muddiest river in the world, carrying 26 times more soil in it than the Nile.
This soil, called loess, is yellow in color, giving the river its name.
Huang
River
The "Yellow" River gets its name from the color of its water.
Vocabulary
Loess
Loess is a dusty, yellow soil.
It is extremely fertile soil, full of minerals and easily drains water.
It can cause problems for farmers by settling in irrigation canals and clogging them up.
Nicknames
Nicknames
Two of the Huang River's nicknames are:
"The Mother of China"
"The River of Sorrows"
Why do you think both of these nicknames would fit the Huang River so well?
Flooding
Because loess piles up on the bottom of the river, the Huang is prone to flooding.
Geologists believe that in the last 2,500 years, the river has flooded nearly 1,600 times.
It has also changed its course at least 26 times, sometimes up to 300 miles in a different direction.
Flooding
River of Sorrows
River
of Sorrows
Flooding along the Huang have led to the loss of millions of lives over several thousand years.
The deadliest flood was in 1931, which killed nearly 4 million people.
Picture of the deadly 1931 flood, which flooded cities all along the river
Mother of China
Mother
of China
When he Huang River floods, it drops the loess along its banks and in the valley surrounding it.
This soil is so rich that farmers can grow large amounts of food on very small farms.
It is on these Huang River floodplains that the first ancient Chinese farmers began to settle.
Controlling the Waters
Flood
Control
"Whoever controls the Huang River controls China."
~Yu the Great
About 3,000 years ago, farmers began building levees to hold back the Huang River when it flooded.
They also built irrigation canals to provide water during dry summer months.
Vocabulary
Levees are walls built to keep rivers in their banks.
Levees
Yu the Great
Yu the
Great
Legend tells of a man named Yu, who was asked by the king to tame the Huang River.
For 13 years, Yu traveled up and down the river teaching villagers to build levees and dig irrigation canals.
These levees and canals tamed the river, making floods less deadly and destructive. For all his work, Yu was made king.
The Great Flood
Legend says that the king asked Yu to tame the Huang River after a great flood destroyed dozens of villages.
Archaeologists have found evidence that points to this flood being real.