CHAPTER ONE China and the Chinese People China is a huge country in East Asia stretching from the East China Sea into the interior of Asia The Chinese first settled thousands of years ago along rivers in the eastern part of the country They used the rich soil to grow crops like wheat and rice The land produced lots of food and the population grew Many separate kingdoms arose Building an Empire About 2,200 years ago one of those kings conquered the others His name was Shi Huangdi and he took the title Emperor For more than two thousand years China was ruled by powerful emperors Sons came after fathers and were followed by their sons This string of rulers from the same family is called a dynasty Several dynasties ruled China for hundreds of years Over time China developed into a brilliant civilization Craftspeople made beautiful silk clothing and delicate pottery Inventors made the first gunpowder coins paper and printing presses The philosopher Confucius taught his followers how to 4
Capital city City 600 miles 800 kilometers RUSSIA KAZAKHSTAN KYRGYZSTAN TAJIKISTAN PAKISTAN MONGOLIA Beijing CHINA Shanghai NORTH KOREA SOUTH KOREA East China Sea NEPAL INDIA BHUTAN Bay of Bengal Canton TAIWAN Hong Kong South China Sea MYANMAR BURMA VIETNAM LAOS China is a very large country in East Asia with well over a billion people This is the largest population of any country in the world live moral lives Laozi another philosopher taught how to live in harmony with nature Artists wrote beautiful poems and illustrated them with delicate drawings 5
The tomb of Shi Huangdi China’s first emperor is guarded by thousands of warriors made from terracotta or baked clay THE GREAT WALL Nearly three thousand years ago Chinese kings began building earthen walls to protect their kingdoms Later these walls were connected and built of brick and stone The system came to be called the Great Wall of China This huge structure stretches some 4,500 miles 7,250 km across northern China Today tourists can stroll along the wall and marvel at this great feat 6
Troubled Times By the 1700s China’s power had weakened European countries began to take over parts of China In the 1800s the power of the Emperor was weakened further by two wars with Britain which British ships bombarding the Chinese city of Canton during a war fought in the 1850s The British victory led to a decline in the power of the emperor of China 7
