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Lesson · Grade 7 · Social Studies

Ancient China and the Yellow River

  • Grade 7
  • Social Studies
  • 1 min 23 s
  • British Columbia
  • BC7-SS-12

A map of the Yellow River shows how it picks up fine yellow loess soil and spreads it over the North China Plain, where millet farms fed the growing cities of the Shang dynasty from about 1600 BCE. It then shows how floods made it "China's Sorrow", and how the Zhou idea of the Mandate of Heaven meant floods and hunger could be seen as a sign a ruler had lost the right to rule, letting a new dynasty take over.

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In one sentence

The question this lesson answers

How did one great river help ancient China rise and fall?

The Yellow River flows about 5,500 kilometres, from high mountains in the west to the Bohai Sea.

Transcript

What the lesson says

How did one great river help ancient China rise and fall?

The Yellow River flows about 5,500 kilometres, from high mountains in the west to the Bohai Sea.

It crosses a plateau of fine yellow soil called loess, which turns its water yellow.

When the river flooded, it spread this rich soil across the North China Plain.

Farmers grew millet in the rich soil, and extra food helped cities grow.

From about 1600 BCE, the Shang dynasty, a family of kings, ruled cities here.

But big floods could also wash away farms and homes, so people called it China's Sorrow.

Over time, people built earth walls called dikes to hold back floods, and canals to carry water.

About 1046 BCE, the Zhou dynasty overthrew the Shang.

The Zhou believed in the Mandate of Heaven: Heaven gives a fair ruler the right to rule.

Floods and hunger could be seen as a sign that a ruler had lost it.

Then a new dynasty could take over.

The Yellow River's rich soil helped China rise, and its floods could help bring rulers down.

Curriculum

Where this fits

British Columbia, Grade 7

Social Studies, Ancient world to the 7th century: features and characteristics of civilizations and factors that led to their rise and fallBC7-SS-12

Previous: The Indus Valley: How Water Helped Cities Rise and FallNext: Ancient Greece: How the City-States Rose and Fell

The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.

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