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Chapter 3
India
and
China
Early Civilization in India
The Land of India
• The geography of India is diverse.
1. To the north is the Himalayan's, the highest
mountains in the world.
2. To the south of the mountains is the rich
valley of the Ganges River.
3. To the west was the Indus River was the
cradle of Indian civilization.
4. To the south of the rivers was the Deccan,
a plateau that extends from the Ganges to
the southern tip of India. Interior was hilly
and dry. Western and eastern coasts were
lush plains.
• The monsoon, a seasonal wind pattern in
southern Asia was very important to India.
• Summer monsoon blew warm, moist air
from the southwest. Brought heavy rains.
• Winter monsoon blew cold, dry air from the
northeast.
• Crop production depended upon the rains.
India’s First Civilization
• The first civilization began in the river
valleys.
• Indus River valley supported 2 major cities:
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.
• Harappa had a population of 35,000 and
Mohenjo-Daro had 35-40,000 people. Cities
were carefully planned, divided into
neighborhoods, made of mud bricks, had
public wells, and drains connected to a
sewer system under the streets. Both had a
well-organized government, religion and
politics were closely linked.
• The Harappan economy was based on
farming. Chief crops were wheat, barley,
and peas.
• Traded with city-states in Mesopotamia.
The Arrival of the Aryans
• Around 1500 B.C., a group of Indo-European
nomads moved in from central Asia into
northern India.
• They were experts in warfare. Gained control
of all of India and became farmers. Creation
of iron plow and irrigation made it possible
to turn jungle into farmland along the
Ganges.
• Grew wheat, barley, millet, rice, grain,
vegetables, cotton, pepper, ginger, and
cinnamon.
• Around 1,000 B.C., they developed Sanskrit,
a system of writing.
• Passed down legends and religious rituals.
• Learned that they were often at war.
• Rajas (princes) often attacked each other
seizing women, cattle, and other treasures.
Society in Ancient India
• The caste system was a set of rigid social
categories that determined a person’s occupation,
economic potential, and position in society. It was
based in part on skin color.
• Top- Brahmans- Priests
• 2nd- Kshatriyas- Warriors
• 3rd- Vaisyas- Commoners; merchants or farmers
• 4th- Sudras- Largest group. Dark skinned native
peoples, not Aryans. Did manual labor and had
limited rights.
• 5th- Untouchables- Given the degrading jobs like
handling trash or the dead. Not considered
human.
• Life centered the family.
• Extended family living under 1 roof.
• Patriarchal
• Only men could inherit property and
educated.
• Men had to complete 12 yrs of study before
marriage. Divorce not allowed. Could take a
2nd wife, if 1st could not bear children
(expected to take care of parents).
• If husband died, wife was expected to follow
suttee (throw herself on the fire with her
dead husbands body).
Hinduism
• The religion of the majority of Indian people.
• Came from the Aryans.
• We learn about it through the Vedas, a
collection of hymns and other religious
rituals.
• Believed in the existence of a single force in
the universe called the Brahman.
• It was the duty of the individual self, or
Atman, to seek to know the Brahman.
• Believed in reincarnation.
• After being reincarnated a number of times,
the soul reaches its final goal, which is union
with Brahman.
• Important to being reborn, was the idea of
karma- the force generated by a person’s
actions that determines how a person will be
reborn in the next life.
• Dharma- divine law ruled karma. Did they
do their duties.
• Reincarnation justified the privileges of the
people being reborn into the higher castes,
because what they had done in past lives.
• Created Yoga “union”, a method of training
designed to lead to a union with Brahma.
• The Hindu religion had more than 33,000
gods and goddesses.
• 3 chief gods: Brahma the Creator; Vishnu,
the Preserver; Siva, the destroyer.
Buddhism
• In the 6th century in northern India, Buddhism
appeared.
• Founded by Siddhartha Guatama, also known as
the Buddha, or “Enlightened One”.
• Son of a ruling family, decided in his 20’s to spend
his life seeking the cure for human suffering.
• Practiced ascetics, self-denial to achieve an
understanding of ultimate reality.
• While meditating, he believed he had finally
reached enlightenment as to the meaning of life.
• Siddhartha believed that the physical world
was an illusion.
• Had to let go of the things in this world, pain
and sorrow could be forgotten.
• Then bodhi, or wisdom would come.
• Achieving wisdom is a key step to achieving
narvana, the end of the self and the
reunion with the Great World Soul.
• His beliefs were contained in the Four Noble
Truths and the Eightfold Path.
• He accepted the idea of reincarnation but
rejected the Hindu caste system.
• Taught everyone could reach nirvana,
appealed to lower classes.
• Rejected the multitude of gods in Hinduism.
Section 2
New Empires
in India
The Mauryan Dynasty
• Chandragupta Maurya ruled from 324-301
B.C. Governors ruled the provinces. Large
army and secret police followed his orders.
• Asoka (grandson) became greatest ruler.
Converted to Buddhism and used them to
rule. Set up hospitals, trees planted and
shelters along the road. Became a
crossroads in a trade network.
• Mauryan Dynasty ended after his death
The Kushan Kingdom and the Silk Road
• Nomadic warriors seized power and set up
the Kushan Kingdom. Spread over next 2
centuries.
• Prospered because of trade routes, especially
The Silk Road. From China to Mesopotamia
(the Roman Empire to China).
• Only luxury goods, due to the camel
caravans being difficult, dangerous, and
expensive. Chinese- silk, spices, teas,
porcelain. Indians- ivory, textiles, precious
stones, pepper. Romans- woolen and linen
clothes, glass, precious stones.
The Kingdom of the Guptas
• 320, a prince, Chandragupta created a new
kingdom in the central Ganges Valley.
• Became a dominant power in northern India.
• Created a new age of Indian civilization.
Visitors admired the civilization.
• Guptas traded with China, Southeast Asia,
and the Mediterranean. Cities built along the
trade route became prosperous.
• Made money from the pilgrims traveling to
religious centers.
• Invasion by the Huns reduced the power of
the empire.
The World of Indian Culture
• The Indian culture produced great works in
literature, architecture and science.
• The Vedas in literature.
• Pillars (to mark sites related to events in
Buddha’s life), stupas (intended to hold relics
of Buddha), and rock chambers (developed
to house monks and serve as halls for
religious ceremonies).- Architecture
• Made advancements in astronomy and
mathematics.
• Charted the heavenly bodies; knew the Earth
was round and that it rotated on its axis and
revolved around the sun; introduced the
concept of zero and used a symbol (0) for it;
devised a decimal system of counting in
tens.
• When Arabs conquered parts on India, their
scholars adopted the Indian numbering
system.
Section 3
Early
Chinese
Civilization
The Geography of China
• The Huang He (Yellow) River and the Chang
Jiang (Yangtze) River valley’s were the great
food-producing areas of the ancient world.
• Only 12% of land was farmable.
• The other land was mountains and deserts,
which protected the Chinese from other
Asian people.
The Shang Dynasty
• The 1st dynasty was the Xia Dynasty.
• Shang Dynasty replaced it. 1750-1122 B.C.
• Primarily a farming society ruled by the
aristocracy- an upper class whose wealth is
based on land and power is passed from 1
generation to another.
• Territories ruled by aristocratic warlords
(military leaders) chosen by the king. They
could be replaced.
• Rulers believed that they could communicate
with the gods to get help with their affairs.
• Used oracle bones to scratch questions into
by Priests. Bones were then heated and
broke. Priests interpreted the cracks as
answers from the gods.
• Strong belief in the afterlife. Believed that
ancestors could bring good/evil to the living
members of a family.
• Well known for the mastery of the art of
bronze casting.
The Zhou Dynasty
• Lasted almost 900 yrs. Longest in history.
• Claimed it ruled because it had the
Mandate from Heaven, that Heaven kept
order in the world through the Zhou king.
King had authority to command, from
Heaven. Chosen because of his talent and
virtue. Expected to rule according to the
proper “Way”, called the Dao. His job to
keep the gods pleased to protect the people
from bad harvests or disasters. Could be
replaced.
• Led to Dynastic Cycles: ruled successfully
and then a decline.
• Civil war breaks out called the “Period of
Warring States”. Iron weapons, infantry foot
soldiers, cavalry or soldiers on horseback
armed with crossbows.
• Peasants worked on land, but also owned
their own land as well.
• Family was basic economic and social unit.
Filial piety – duty of members of the family
to subordinate their needs and desires to
those of the male head of the family. Each
had place in family.
• Developed a written language, pictographic
and ideographic. Pictographs ware picture
symbols, usually called characters that form
a picture of an object they represent.
Ideographs are characters that combine 2 or
more pictographs to represent an idea.
The Chinese Philosophies
• Confucianism is a system of ideas developed
by Confucius, know to the Chinese as the
First Teacher.
• He provided a set of ideas to restore order to
society. Concern was human behavior.
• The key was to behave in accordance with
the Dao. Duty and humanity was important.
The concept of duty meant that all people
had to subordinate their own interests to the
broader needs of the family and the
community.
• If each person worked hard to fulfill his/her
duties, society would prosper.
• Confucius believed that government should
not be limited to people of noble birth, but
should be open to all men.
• Daoism- system of ideas based on the
teaching of Laozi, or the Old Master.
• The main ideas of Daoism are contained in
the Tzo Te Ching (The Way of the Dao).
• Like Confucianism, Daoism didn’t concern
itself with the meaning of the universe,
rather it was concerned about proper forms
of behavior.
• Believed that the true way to follow the will
of Heaven is not action, but inaction. The
best way to act in harmony with the universe
is to act spontaneously and let nature take
its course by not interfering with it.
• Legalism believed that human beings were
evil by nature.
• They could only be brought to follow the
correct path by harsh laws and punishments.
• Strong ruler to create an orderly society.
• Didn’t need to have compassion for the
people.
• Fear of harsh punishment would cause the
people to serve the interests of the ruler and
maintain order and stability in society.
Section 4
Rise and
Fall of
Chinese
Empires
The Qin Dynasty
• Made many changes in Chinese politics.
• Adopted Legalism. Anyone who opposed the
new regime was punished or executed.
• Bureaucracy was divided into: the civil
division, military division, and censorate.
Censorate checked to make sure government
officials were doing their jobs. If found
guilty of wrongdoing, they were executed.
• Created single monetary system, built a
system of roads throughout the empire, and
built walls to keep out invaders. “The Great
Wall of China”.
The Han Dynasty
• One of the greatest and longest in China.
• Confucian principles.
• Chose officials based on merit, not birth.
• Introduced the civil service exam and
started school to train officials.
• 60 million. Expanded empire to include
regions below Chan Jiang.
• Period of prosperity.
• Peasants forced into military service or labor
up to a month per year.
• Growing population reduced the size of plots
per person. Couldn’t survive, so many forced
to sell their plots and become tenant
farmers.
• Progress in textile manufacturing, water
mills for grinding grain, and iron casting,
which led to invention of steel. Paper
developed.
• Rudder and fore-and aft rigging on ships
which allowed ships to sail into the wind that
allowed for the expansion of trade.
• Peasant uprisings and wars caused the
collapse.
Culture in Qin and Han China
• Confucian writings were made into a set of
classics.
• 1974, discovered a pit containing terracotta (hardened clay) soldiers that were
believed to be with the emperor on his
journey to the next world. Also contained
horses, chariots, and bronze weapons.