How Did Geography Impact Ancient China

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Crrraaack!. The dam has just broken and all of the tons of water it was holding back are now whooshing towards you with such force that it would kill you. China borders many countries but is also separated from them by many pieces of geography. They have lots of water and seas isolating them from the 5,000 islands that live off of East China’s coast. China also has a massive plateau that stops many intruders from going too far into their land, as it is hard to cross. They also have many mountains protecting them from invaders; they have the Himalayan Mountain Range that averages 26,000 feet above sea level and 66% of China is covered by mountains. Geography positively and negatively impacted Ancient China in the aspects of agriculture, trading, and …show more content…
A canal connecting the two rivers gave access to almost all of China for major trading opportunities, “Between CE 605 and 618, Yangdi (Yang-ti; r. 604–18), the second emperor of the Sui dynasty, built a long waterway by connecting many rivers and small canals, thus extending the Grand Canal from Hangzhou north across the Yangzi to Yangzhou, and then northwest to the region of the capital city of Luoyang. By 609 the canal was extended from this far inland point to the region of modern Tianjin and Beijing in northeastern China. By sailing on local streams and lakes as well as the Grand Canal, barges could transport the food produced in the lower Yangzi region up through northern China to strengthen the northern frontier and feed the capital area” (Perkins 3). This section states that a man-made canal connecting the two massive rivers that cover almost all of ancient China would be majorly beneficial for trading purposes. This would allow for the trading of many resources that were rare to others but common to them and would allow for them to get resources that were unobtainable in their