Transcript Classical India and China

Classical India and
China
221 B.C.- A.D. 450
 Great
interaction between Europe
and Asia
 Civilizations experience a “Golden
Age” 
 Institutions are greatly developed
 Classical civilizations: India, China,
Hellenistic Civilization, Rome
Overview of Classical
Civilizations

Mauryan Empire (303 BC-232 BC)
◦ Chandragupta Maurya (had a large army and
high taxes)
 Unified the Northern part of India
 Follows rules for governing a large empire--suggested a highly bureaucratic government,
divided the empire, etc. (much like Rome)
Empires in India

Mauryan Empire
◦ Asoka’s Accomplishments (grandson of
Chandragupta)
 After a bloody war (100,000 civilians and soldiers
dead) Asoka urges religious toleration and
nonviolence in a diverse area (Hinduism and
Buddhism)
 Extensive roads built for transportation and
communication, including rest stops
India

After Asoka’s death:
◦ Political instability
◦ Power hungry regional leaders
◦ 500 years of instability with Greeks, Persians,
and Central Asians moving into India
Decline of Mauryan Empire

Guptan Empire (320 AD-450 AD)
◦ Chaundra Gupta (not to be confused with
Chandragupta), Samudra Gupta, Chaundra
Gupta II (empire reaches its height) (“Golden
Age”)
◦ Economy:
 Farming: very important
 Silk Roads: Indians acted as MIDDLE MEN, sea
trade with Europe (Rome) and Africa, SE Asia
 Effects of trade: Banking system, loans, cultural
diffusion
Empires in India

Society (most Indian families were
patriarchal)
◦ Role of women: in southern India, Tamil people
were matriarchal
◦ Social classes: caste system, small villages,
craftspeople and merchants live in special
districts
◦ Religion: revival in Buddhism and Hinduism
Guptan Empire

Chandra Gupta II death:
◦ Invaders again threatened northern India
Decline of the Guptan Empire
Han
Qin
Zhouu

The Zhou people overthrew the Shang dynasty
and seized power of the government

Mandate of Heaven
◦ A just emperor has divine approval from the
ancestral spirits to rule China.
◦Zhou
NaturalDynasty
disasters, rebellions, and assassinations
indicate that the emperor has lost the Mandate
1046-256
BCE
of Heaven.
Introduction of Iron and Coins

Western Zhou
◦ Era when Zhou rulers maintained control through
feudal system, which ended when northern nomads
invaded.

Feudalism
◦ Political system in which nobles are granted the use
of lands that legally belong to the king. In return,
nobles protect people on their land and give loyalty
to the king.

Eastern Zhou
◦ Period of Warring States
 Nobles become more powerful than their ruler and begin
to fight each other for territory and wealth.
Zhou Politics
• Confucius
Lao Tzu
6th c. Chinese Philosophers

Qin Dynasty (221 BC-202 BC) led by Shi
Huangdi
◦ Legalism/autocracy form of government
◦ Great Wall---constructed to keep out northern
invaders (notice that both India and China are
invaded from the north)
Dynasties in China
Great Wall of China
1400 miles long
Built to repel nomadic invasions
Terra Cotta Army
Social unrest
 Peasant revolt
 Weak ineffective rulers

Decline of the Qin

Han Dynasty (202 BC-220AD)
◦ Notable Rulers
 Liu Bang and his wife Empress Lu (ruled for her
son)
◦ Unified
◦ Centralized beauracratic government
◦ Destroyed rivals and increased their power
 Wu Di
◦ Expanded empire through war
◦ Colonized NE and SE China
◦ Boundaries similar to present-day China
Dynasties in China
Bureaucracy: way of organizing
government, used civil servants (exams
was based on Confucianism philosophy,
mainly upper class)
 Technology: improves government and
economy: paper (more convenient for
record keeping), harness, and plow
 Monopoly: Chinese use this to protect
their secret of silk making

China’s Government and
Economy

Chinese culture: assimilation is valued
over toleration; helps to unify the empire
China’s Government and
Economy
Political instability
 Rich vs. poor
 Economic imbalance
 Peasant revolt

Decline of the Han