Transcript Eurasian Cultural Traditions

500BCE-500CE
Legalism
 Strict Rules, Severe Consequences
 Pessimistic view of human nature
 Only the state can act in people’s long term interest
 Focus on military and farming
- nothing else was really important
 Inspired the Qin dynasty (Shihangdui)
 Discredited shortly thereafter because of brutality
Legalism
Confucianism
 Confucius
- educated aristocrat
- teachings collected in “the Analects”
 Principle
- life is unequal relationships
- superior people should lead by moral example
- superior people should be benevolent and sincere
- lesser people should be “inspired” into obedience
 Education
- advocated for broad liberal arts education
- application of liberal arts into government
Confucianism
 Became the central part of education in Han dynasty
(after Qin discredited legalism)
 Family as a model for political life
- filial piety
- women should be humble and obey men
 History
- spoke of a “golden age” in the past
- modest social mobility through education
(civil service exams)
 Confucianism was not religious, it did not discredit spirits
and gods; but educated elite had little to do with them.
Confucianism
Daoism
 Laozi “The Way and Its Power”
 Dao = “the way”
 Education and improving oneself is useless
 Withdrawal to the world of nature
 Daoism entered popular religion
- spirits, magic
 Provided the ideology for peasant rebellions
- Yellow turban rebellion
Daoism
Hinduism
 Hinduism – the polytheistic religions in India
- the term was invented by outsiders
 No Founder
 Widely recognized sacred texts created some
uniformity
 The Vedas – Holy Books of Hinduism
- compiled by Brahmins (priests, top caste)
- told orally until about 600BCE
- told of rituals and sacrifices, brought Brahmins
wealth and power
Hindu Gods
Hinduism: Upanishads
 “The Upanishads” developed in response to
dissatisfaction with Brahmins
- composed between 800-400BCE
- Brahman = world soul, atman = human soul
- moksha = liberation, or union with Brahman
- goal of reincarnation is to achieve moksha
- law of karma : one’s actions effects reincarnation
- Hinduism: reincarnate one caste at a time
Buddhism
 Siddhartha Gautama (ca. 566-486BCE)
- referred to by followers as Buddha (enlightened one)
 Central Principle: “All life is suffering”
- sorrow’s cause: craving individual fulfillment
- cure: living a modest, moral life w/ meditation
 Goal – to achieve Nirvana “oneness with the universe”
Hinduism/Buddhism
 Similarities
- life is an illusion
- karma and rebirth
- overcome demands from the ego
- escape the cycle of rebirth
- practice meditation
Hinduism/Buddhism
 Buddhist challenges to Hinduism
- rejection of Brahmin’s religious authority
- individuals take control of their spiritual
development
- achieve Nirvana from any caste
 Buddhist Women
- offered more independence than Hinduism
(though women still considered inferior)
- many women converted
Types of Buddhism
 Theravada
- respect for the teachings of Buddha (Siddhartha)
- practices, not beliefs
- Buddha is not divine, not a god
 Mahayana
- developed in early centuries CE.
- Buddha became divine
- popular religion of salvation
 Buddhism eventually spread to China along silk roads
during Han dynasty
 In first millennium, a new popular Hinduism emerged in
India w/ stories such as Mahabhrata and Ramayana
Eightfold Path
Four Noble Truths
Zoroastrianism
 Monotheism first developed in Zoroastrianism and
Judaism. Both influenced Christianity and Islam.
 Ahura Mazda – God of Zoroastrianism
- represented truth, light and goodness
 Spread in Persian Empire
 Destroyed during Alexander’s Empire
Ahora Mazda
Judaism and Zoroastrianism
 The Jews borrowed much from Zoroastrianism
- idea of God vs. Satan
- idea of last judgment and bodily resurrection
- belief of a final defeat with the help of a savior
- remaking the world at the end of time
Judaism
 Holy book: Torah (old testament)
 Prophet: Abraham (burning bush)
 Covenant with God (Hebrews were “chosen people” in
exchange for sole devotion to God)
 Foundations for Christianity and Islam
Torah
Classical Greece
 Did not create an enduring religious tradition
- system of polytheism and cults
 Most intellectuals rejected religion
- the world is a physical reality governed by natural
laws
- human reason can create a system for ethical life
- growing role of law in Athenian political life
Greek Thinkers (ca. 600-300BCE)
 Socrates “Apology”
- Plato “The Republic” (philosopher kings)
- Aristotle
 Pythagoras – Pythagorean theorem
 Herodotus – “History of the Persian Wars”
 Hippocrates – Balance of fluids in the body
Pythagoras
Comparing Buddha and Jesus
 Differences
 Gautama was royal / Jesus was lower class
 Jesus was monotheistic / Gautama ignored the
supernatural
 Jesus was more social and political than Gautama
 Jesus active for 3 years / Gautama active for over 40
 Jesus executed as a criminal / Gautama died of old age
Comparing Jesus and Buddha
 Similarities
- were mystics (claimed another level of spirituality)
- challenged conventional values
- stressed love and compassion as the basis of morality
- transformed into Gods by followers
- neither intended to start a new religion
Christianity Becomes a World
Religion
 Process began with Paul (10-65CE)
 Missionary activities
 Inclusion of non-Jews
 Women had more opportunities (still patriarchy)
 Attraction – miracle stories, caring for each other
 Christians persecuted in Roman Empire until
Constantine converts.
 Theodosius the Great makes it official religion of
Roman Empire (helps unify the empire)
Constantine