Transcript Classical China - Ms. Ferrari's PRE

• WARM-UP: Write a good thesis sentence using the following topic.
How did Hinduism have a direct affect on Indian society in the classic
period?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCzuAMVmIZ8
• NOTES: CHINA
• YOU HAVE A QUIZ TOMORROW!
• HOME WORK: STUDY INDIA & CHINA (Make sure you are completing
the reading guides as you go along)
THESIS SENTENCE
Your thesis is the road map for writing your paper. Make sure you write about what your
thesis says! Make sure you have a good thesis to write on!
• STEP 1
• What is your topic?
• Create a question about your topic.
• STEP 2
• Find reasons (try to find 3)
• Find 3 things that support your topic
• STEP 3
• Combine steps 1 & 2
• Put it all together
• MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER YOUR QUESTION!
Classical China
Legalism, Daoism, Confucianism
•What were conditions like in
China that led to the rise of
new philosophies and
religions?
China during the Zhou Dynasty
•Mandate of Heaven
•Notion that China should be ruled by
one dynasty
•„Warring States“ (403-221 BCE),
perceived as time of chaos, disorder
•Traditional Chinese religion includes
belief in heaven as a supernatural force,
worship of ancestors, belief in demons
and spirits, gods, yin and yang that
balance each other
•What is Legalism?
LEGALISM:
• Philosophy to rule a state
• Humans seen as stupid and shortsighted
• Need to be ruled through incentives or punishment
• Only social classes of value are peasants and soldiers
• Official doctrine of Qin dynasty under emperor Shihuangdi (221-206
BCE)
• ** Merchants in china were below pesants and were scorned by
chinese eletes
•Who is Confucius?
Confucius
• Born to an aristocratic family in northern China (551-479)
• Tried to solve China´s problems by creating a new philosophy about
state and society
• Could never find a position, but had many followers
• Students collected his teachings - „Analects“
•What are the main ideas
of Confucianism?
Main Beliefs
• Moral example of superiors should restore order
• Five (mostly unequal) relationships: father-son, older brotheryounger brother, husband-wife, ruler-subject, friend-friend
• Goal: Harmony in society
• Superior needs to be sincere, benevolent, show genuine concern for
other, inferior responds with respect and obedience
• Ren (kindness, benevolence), Li (propriety, respect), Xiao (filial piety)
•What impact does Confucianism
have on Chinese society and
culture?
Impact on Society and Culture
• People have capacity for improvement
• Education is key to moral betterment (liberal arts – language,
literature, history, philosophy, ethics)
• Stress on rituals and ceremonies (provide stability)
• Chinese bureaucrats educated in Confucian philosophy (from Han
dynasty onwards 200BCE)
• **LIKE HINDUISM, CONFUCIANISM SUPPORTS THE SOCIAL
DIFFERNCES IN CHINA
• Examination system (students had to pass tests to
achieve positions in government – merit system)
• Education in theory open to everyone, in reality only
for those with enough resources
• Family model for state
• Filial piety and ancestor veneration (sacrifice, visiting
graves, erecting tablets and shrines)
• Seen as training ground for reverence to emperor
• ** The education system established a hierachy
• Women inferior to men, education so that they can better serve a
husband and raise sons, some control but behind the scenes
• Justifies inequalities in China
• Rulers have to follow moral norms or forfeit Mandate of Heaven
(upheaval, replaced by other dynasty)
• Secularism of Chinese elite society (magic and spirits of little help to
educated people)
SACRED SITES OF CONFUCIANISM
(1) Ch'u-fu (Qufu)--Confucius's=
birthplace, a pilgrimage site;
(2) Beijing – site of the Temple of
Heaven, location of Imperial
ceremonies performed on
behalf of the nation;
(3) Beijing – location of T'ien-an
Men Square
(4) Mt. T'ai and Mt. Wu-T'ai—holy
mountains valued by all three
major religions of China; sites
where officials offered prayers
on behalf of the people;
(5) Korea
(6) Japan
• The Symbol means total
harmony, righteousness,
in your own life and in
your relations with your
neighbor.
BEIJING:
THE
FORBIDDEN
CITY
THEME: LOCATION
THE CONFUCIAN CITY AS A MODEL
OF THE UNIVERISE
CONFUCIUS AND MENCIUS SAY:
"The greenery on Niu Mountain was once beautiful, but since it was near a large
city, it was attacked by lumberjacks. How could it retain its beauty? Still, by
breathing in the sunlight and rain, how could new buds and sprouts not
appear? But then cattle and sheep came and fed themselves, and by the time
they were done, it was completely barren. If people saw this barrenness, they
might have imagined that there had never been any greenery. How could the
mountain be inherently like this? In the case of people, how could they lack the
mind of Humanity and Righteousness? But the daily damaging of the goodness
of their mind is just like the lumberjacks on the mountain. Being chopped down
day after day, how can it manifest its natural beauty? One may breathe in
fresh air day and night, but if you allow the enjoyment of evil doings with
people to close in on you, the air gets thin, and your daytime activities stifle
you. Because of this stifling, the fresh air is insufficient. Being insufficient, your
goodness of mind is not nourished, and there will be little difference between
you and the animals. People see our animalistic nature and assume that we
have never had great endowments. How could this be our real nature?
Therefore, if it is properly nourished, there is nothing that will not grow. If it is
not nourished, there is nothing that will not die. Confucius said: 'Use it and you
will keep it; ignore it and you will lose it. “
•What were the origins of
Daoism?
•Founded in 6th century BCE by
legendary Laozi
•Wrote supposedly Daodejing (The
Way and its Power)
•Ideas more explicitly expressed in
4th century BCE (warring states!)
What are Daoism’s main ideas?
•Withdrawal into the world of nature
•Behavior should be spontaneous,
individualistic, and natural
•Focus on nature, not society
•Dao – the way of nature, a principle that
underlies everything (the “force”)
•What impact does Daoism
have on Chinese culture?
•People encouraged to withdraw from
society, lead simple, uneducated life
•Contemplation in nature, mediation
•Complementary to Confucianism – one
could be both
•Popular Daoism adopts magic, fortune
telling, search for immortality (leads to
discoveries in chemistry)
•Provided ideology for Yellow Turban
Rebellion (184-204 CE)
•Yellow Turbans demanded utopian
society without landlords and
government
DAOIST SYMBOLS
Direction
Element
Symbol / Constellation
Season
Force
East
Wood
Azure Dragon
Spring
Yang
South
Fire
Vermilion Bird
Summer
Yang
West
Metal
White Tiger
Autumn
Yin
North
Water
Black Tortoise
Winter
Yin
Center
Earth
none
none
Neutral
• Tai Chin (1388-1452). Returning
Home in Spring
Legend
SACRED SITES OF DAOISM
(1) Home of Lao Tze
(2) Tao Te Ching revealed at Mt. Chung-nan Shan
(3) Founding of the Celestial Masters
(4) Mao shan
(5) Dragon and Tiger Mountain
(6) Taoist pilgrimage site
THE DAO TE CHING, CHAPTER 39
• The things which from of old have got the One (the Tâo) are-Heaven which by it is bright and pure;
Earth rendered thereby firm and sure;
Spirits with powers by it supplied;
Valleys kept full throughout their void
All creatures which through it do live
Princes and kings who from it get
The model which to all they give.
All these are the results of the One (Tâo).
If heaven were not thus pure, it soon would rend;
If earth were not thus sure, 'twould break and bend;
Without these powers, the spirits soon would fail;
If not so filled, the drought would parch each vale;
Without that life, creatures would pass away;
Princes and kings, without that moral sway,
However grand and high, would all decay.
• When and where and how was the
first empire in China created?
• Describe Shihuangdi’s actions in
government. How did they help to
unify the country?
• How did Shihuangdi try to reform
Chinese society?
• What is legalism?
• Ruler of Qin, Shihuangdi conquerors all of China by
221 BCE
• Imperial policies: drafted hundreds of thousands to
build roads, fortifications (Great Wall of China)
• Persecutes Confucian and Daoist scholars, follows
legalist doctrine
• Centralized bureaucracy
• Standardized script, currency, weight, measurements,
legal standards
• Dynasty collapses shortly after Shihuangdi’s death in
210 BCE
Qin Dynasty
• When and how did the Han dynasty
come into being? How long did it
last?
• Describe the government structure
of the Han Empire. How did that
differ to other classical civilizations?
• Describe the extent of the Han
empire. What cultural implications
did that have?
• Rebellions against Qin
• Rebel leader Liu Bang establishes Han dynasty in 206
BCE
• Measures of political control
- Maintaining large army, conscripted soldiers
- Early Han expands into Central Asia under Emperor
Wudi
- Taxes on agriculture, trade, craftsmen
- Government monopolies on iron and salt production
- Centralized bureaucracy (examination system,
imperial academy in Chang’An)
The Han dynasty
• The problem of land distribution
- Free peasants important for government for taxes and labor
conscription
- Large landowners can increase their holdings
- Poorer peasants work as tenants who owe 50% of their harvest or as
slaves on large estates
- Banditry increases, sometimes peasant rebellions
Society during the Han dynasty
• Aristocracy: large landowners
• Scholar gentry: bureaucrats educated in Confucian
thought
• Peasants: free peasants, tenants,
• Some slaves
• Merchants: could be wealthy, but looked down upon
by landowners and bureaucrats
• Patriarchal society: filial piety, five relationships
Technology
• Big improvements in iron technology, lead to bigger yields in
agriculture and larger population
• Development of compass
• Silk (weaving done mostly by women, provided extra income for
peasants)
Compass from the Han dynasty
• Emperor Qin
Shi Huangdi´s
terracotta
army
Confucianist Thought about State
• As a ruler, King Wen abided in humanity. As a minister he abided in
reverence. As a son he abided in filial piety. As a father he abided in deep
love. And in dealing with the people of the country, he abided in
faithfulness.
• From „The Great Learning“
• Question: What should good government be based on
according to the source above? How does it reflect
the ideas of Confucianism?
•If the ruler has virtue, he will have the
people with him. If he has the people
with him, he will have the territory. If
he has the territory, he will have
wealth. And if he has wealth, he will
have its use. Virtue is the root, while
wealth is the branch.
• From „The Great Learning“
Coins issued during the reign of
Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BCE)
• Pair of Footsoldiers,
Western Han Dynasty
• Earthenware with traces
of pigments
• Military Watchtower,
Eastern Han Dynasty
• Low-fired earthenware
with green glaze
• Prancing Horse, Eastern
Han dynasty
• Earthenware with traces
of pigment