East Asia (600 BCE to 600 CE)

1. Established belief in Mandate of Heaven
2. Developed feudal system in China
3. Kingdoms developed bureaucracies adding to dynastic stability
4. Brought down by fighting/warfare among feudal kingdoms

During the Zhou Dynasty, this was a fertile time for the emergence of key philosophies, schools of thought, and religious ideas as small states expanded, peacefully coexisted, and fought wars.

Period of disunity in China between the Zhou Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty. Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism developed during this time.

To defend off the invasions from northern invaders, Emperor Qin Shi Huang had all the walls of the kingdom fortifications joined together to create the Great Wall of China.

Ruled by the harsh, ambitious leader, Qin Shihuangdi who
1. Centralized state, killed or exiled anyone who resisted his authority
2. Burned books that did not go with his beliefs and burned scholars alive
3. Expanded the empire, standardized Chinese script and coinage, built new roads and canals, and improved trade

Overthrew the Qin.
1. First use of the civil service exam
2. Silk Roads begin to be used
3. Science and technology prospered, invented paper, improved the plow, calculated the year to be 365.25 days

Dynastic rule through Yamato clan in the Asuka period
Prince Shotoku adopted Chinese gov’t
Shotoku spread Buddhism and Chinese culture

Artistic, social, and political transformations
Shinto is main religion
Adoption of Chinese gov’t pattern
Agriculture-based society

The Sui Dynasty in China unified the area for the first time in 370 years
1. This laid the foundation upon which China would reach its second golden age and become a global powerhouse once again
a feat only possible with a unified nation
2. Spread of Buddhism throughout its boundaries, which would later become China's staple religion