Learning Exercise

The Mandate of Heaven and Chinese Dynastic History

The ancient doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven definies China's cosmological understanding of government and the Emperor system. The Chinese Dynastic cycles offer lists of important contributions from China's earliest dynasties.

Course: World Civilization

Material:: Internet East Asian History Sourcebook
Date last modified:: August 1, 2008
Created by:: William Paquette
License:

Bookmark

Internet East Asian History Sourcebook

This is an excellent source of copy-right free primary source documents for classroom use. see more

Material Type:: Reference Material
Author:: Paul Halsall, Fordham University
User Rating:: 5 stars

Exercise

Instructions: When the site comes up, Scroll down and Click "Imperial China." Click and Read "Mandate of Heaven." Click and Read "Chinese Dynastic History." Write a 5-page paper describing in detail "The Mandate of Heaven." In the paper summarize the major contributions of the following Chinese dynasties: Shang, Chou, Ch'in, Han, Sui, Tang, and Sung.

Disciplines

Humanities / History / Area Studies / Asia

Audience

Technical Notes

None.

Requirements

None.

Topics

China

Type of Task

Learning Objectives

To acquaint students with the governmental concept of the Mandate of Heaven. To acquaint students with the major contributions of of China's earliest dynasties.

Assessment

Paper.