Transcript Indian and Chinese Empires

Indian and Chinese Empires
Chapter 7
Mauryan Empire
• Chandragupta
Maurya Seizes
Power in 321 B.C.,
starts Mauryan
Empire
• Chandragupta
defeats Seleucus I;
north India united for
first time
• Chandragupta uses
taxes to support his
large army
Mauryan Empire
• Chandragupta’s chief adviser
is Kautilya, a priest
• Chandragupta creates
bureaucratic government
• He divides the government to
make it easier to rule
• Asoka—Chandragupta’s
grandson, brings the
empire to its height
• After a bloody war with
Kalinga, Asoka promotes
Buddhism and peace
• Preaches religious toleration—
accepting people of different
religions
• Builds roads, with wells along
them
• Asoka dies in 232 B.C.;
kingdoms in central India
soon break away
Gupta Empire
• Chandra Gupta marries
into kingship in north
India in A.D. 320
• Starts Gupta Empire—
India’s second empire;
flowering of Indian
civilization, especially
Hindu
culture
• His son Samudra Gupta
expands empire with
conquest
• Majority of Indians are
farmers; entire family
raises crops together
• Families are patriarchal—
headed by the eldest
male
• Farmers have to contribute
work to government
and pay heavy taxes
• Some Tamil families are
matriarchal—led by
mother rather than father
Gupta Empire
• Height of the Gupta
Empire “Golden Age”
• Chandra Gupta II rules from
A.D. 375–415
• He defeats the Shakas and
adds western coast
to empire
• Gupta Empire sees
flourishing of arts, religion,
and science
• After Chandra Gupta II dies,
the empire declines
Changes in Hinduism and Buddhism
• Traditional Hindu and
Buddhist Beliefs
• A More Popular Form of
Buddhism
• Hinduism blends Aryan and
other beliefs; belief in many
gods
• To Buddhists, desire causes
suffering but suffering can
be overcome
• Belief in bodhisattvas
develops—potential
Buddhas who save
humanity
• Mahayana sect—Buddhists
accepting new doctrines of
worship, salvation
• Theravada sect—Buddhists
who follow original
teachings of Buddha
• Wealthy Buddhist
merchants build stupas—
stone structures over relics
Changes in Hinduism and Buddhism
• A Hindu Rebirth
• Hinduism is remote from
people by time of Mauryan
Empire
• Hinduism moves toward
monotheism; gods part of
one divine force
• Chief gods:
• Brahma—creator of the
world
• Vishnu—preserver of the
world
• Shiva—destroyer of the
world
Indian Culture
• During the Mauryan and Gupta
empires, poetry, literature,
drama, and dancing flourished
• Astronomy, Mathematics,
and Medicine
• Ocean trade leads to advances
in astronomy
• Indian astronomers in Gupta
Empire prove that world
is round
• Mathematicians develop idea
of zero and decimal
system
• Doctors write medical guides
and make advances in
surgery
Indian Trade Grows
• India’s Valuable Resources
• India has spices, diamonds,
precious stones, and good
quality wood
• Trade routes called Silk Roads
connect Asia and Europe
• Indians build trading posts to
take advantage of the Silk
Roads
• Indian merchants carry goods
to Rome by sea
• Merchants trade by sea with
Africa, Arabia, China,
Southeast Asia
• Effects of Indian Trade
• Increased trade leads to rise of
banking
• Bankers lend money to
merchants, careful of degree
of risk
• Increased trade spreads Indian
culture to other places
• Trade brings Hinduism,
Buddhism to other lands
Han Dynasty
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In Qin Dynasty peasants resent high
taxes and harsh labor, rebel
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Liu Bang Founds the Han Dynasty
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Liu Bang defeats Xiang Yu, a rival for
power, and founds Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty—begins in 202 B.C., lasts
400 years
Han Dynasty has great influence on
Chinese people, culture
Liu Bang establishes centralized
government—a central authority rules
Liu Bang lowers taxes and reduces
punishments to
keep people happy
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Liu Bang dies in 195 B.C.; wife Lü seizes
control of empire
Liu Bang’s great-grandson Wudi rules from
141 to 87 B.C.
“Martial Emperor” Wudi defeats Xiongnu
(nomads) and mountain tribes
Colonizes Manchuria, Korea, and as far south
as what is now Vietnam
Chinese believe their emperor has
authority to rule from god
Believe prosperity reward of good
rule; troubles reveal poor rule
Complex bureaucracy runs Han
government
People pay taxes and supply
labor, military service
Government uses peasant labor to
carry out public projects
Han Dynasty
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Wudi’s government employs 130,000;
bureaucracy of 18 ranks of jobs
Civil service jobs—government jobs obtained
through examinations
Job applicants begin to be tested on
knowledge of Confucianism
Wudi favors Confucian scholars, builds school
to train them
Only sons of wealthy can afford expensive
schooling
Civil service system works well, continues
until 1912
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Invention of paper in A.D. 105 helps
spread education
Collar harness, plow, wheelbarrow
improve farming
As population grows, farming regarded
as
important activity
Government allows monopolies—control
by one
group over key industries
Techniques for producing silk become
state secret
as profits increase
Assimilation—integrating conquered
peoples into
Chinese culture
Most women work in the home and on
the farm
Some upper-class women are educated,
run shops, practice medicine
Han dynasty lasts until 220 AD