ParaPhrasing

Chapter 5

Xia Dynasty is the first Chinese dynasty, which was established around 2200 BCE along the Yellow River with Yu as their king and Erlitou as their capital. Organized large-scale public works projects to help establish authority and political institutions. Encouraged the development of metallurgy, leaders needed bronze weapons to maintain control. Erlitou had modest houses, pottery workshops and a bronze foundry. Along with the expanding of the agricultural population, towns and villages developed throughout the Yangzi River and the Yellow River valleys. The Yellow River was the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization, and it was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history. The river is 2,920 miles long before emptying into the Yellow Sea. The Yellow River shows an amazing flood that devastates fields, communities and everything in its way. It caused so much destruction that people started to call it by the nickname “China’s Sorrow.”

Technology helps explain the rise and success of the Shang dynasty. Bronze metallurgy went to China from southwest Asia, with horse-drawn chariots, horses and other wheeled vehicles. They reached China by 1200 BCE. Shang ruling elites monopolized the production of bronze in the Yellow River Valley by controlling access to copper and tin and by employing craftsmen to produce large quantities of bronze weapons. Control over bronze production strengthened Shang forces against those of the Xia and provided them with better weapons than their rivals. Shang nobles used bronze to make fittings for horse-drawn chariots. Shang armies had little difficulty imposing their rule on agricultural villages and extended their influences throughout much of the Yellow River Valley.

Family has served as the principal institution for the socialization of children throughout the human history. The ex-tended family in China emerged as a particularly influential institution during neolithic times, and it continued to play a prominent role in the shaping of both public and private affairs after the appearance of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou states, Additionally, early dynasties ruled their territories largely through family and kinship groups.

The creation and evolution of Chinese characters are closely interwoven with the development of Chinese culture. Chinese characters are the basic carriers of traditional Chinese culture, and, as an important tool for extending, spreading and exchanging ideas have played a critical role in the long history of the Chinese nation. One may well argue that without Chinese characters Chinese culture would not have achieved the splendors it did. The characters used in contemporary Chinese writing are direct descendants of those used in Dhang times.There are more than two thousand characters inscribed on oracle bones. In addition, most of them have a modern counterpart.