Transcript Ancient India - Valhalla High School

Chapter 3
India and China
Geography of Indian subcontinent
The Monsoon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8Es5QTQOg
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
• Centered in Indus R.
valley 3000 – 1500 BC
• Circa 35,000
inhabitants
• Show high level of
organization
– Water
– Plumbing
– Garbage disposal
• Agrarian
• Trade (Esp. by Sea
with Mesopotamia)
Aryan Invasions
• Harappan culture
weakened by natural
disasters / effect flow of
Indus R.
• 1500 BC Indo-European
nomadic people cross into
Indus valley
• Excellent warriors
• Develop Sanskrit circa
1000 BC
• Raja is name for ruler
Society in Ancient India
• India was a conquered state
– Relatively light skinned Aryans conquer relatively
dark-skinned inhabitants Indus R. valley
• Caste System
–
–
–
–
–
Brahmans – priestly class
Kshatriyas – warrior class
Vaisyas – merchants and farmers
Sudras – peasants with limited rights
Untouchables – outside of the system did menial and
degrading tasks (5%)
• Patriarchcal
– Suttee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMPGakW08r4&fe
ature=related
Hinduism
• Origins in religious beliefs of Aryan people
– Vedas (collections of hymns and religious
rites initially passed down orally, later written
down)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Brahman – ultimate reality
Atman – individual self
Reincarnation (circa 6th century BC)
Karma – force generated by a person’s life
Dharma – divine law or your duty
Yoga – (union) method of training designed to help
individual reach oneness with God
Buddhism (Religion or Philosophy)
• Siddhartha Gautama (6th century BC)
–
–
–
–
Born to great wealth
Ascetics
Meditation enlightenment  bodhi  nirvana
Accepts reincarnation but rejects caste system – anyone can reach
nirvana as a result of behavior in this life
– Rejects multiple gods of Hinduism and forbade followers from
worshipping him or his image
• The Four Noble Truths
–
–
–
–
Ordinary life is full of suffering
This suffering is caused by our desire to satisfy ourselves
If you want to end suffering you must end your desire
The way to end desire is to seek the Middle Path
The Eightfold Path (Middle Path)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Right view
Right intention
Right speech
Right action
Right livelihood
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right concentration
Right_____
Right_____
Right_____
Right_____
The Eightfold Path
Right_____
Right_____
Right_____
Right_____
Buddhism and Hinduism
Buddhism
Hinduism
Complete the Venn Diagram using the following words: Worships many gods, reincarnation, Four Noble
Truths, associated with Aryans, karma, Brahman, yoga, Siddhartha Gautama, nirvana, bodhi, Eightfold Path,
atman, believes in rigidly defined castes, most common religion in India today, all people can reach nirvana
as a result of their actions in their current life
Later Indian Empires
• Mauryan circa 300 BC – 180 BC
– Chandragupta Maurya
• “It is power and power alone, which, only when exercised by the
king with impartiality, over his son or his enemy, maintains both
this world and the next.”
– Asoka (268 – 232 BC)
• India’s “greatest ruler
• Buddhist approach
• Kushan (circa 200 BC – 200 AD
– Primarily a trade empire
– Silk Road
• Gupta (320 AD – circa 650 AD)
– Founded by Chandragupta in central Ganges
– Trade is important as pilgrims come to visit major religious
centers under Gupta control
The Silk Road
Cultural Contributions of India
• Without military expansion, India’s culture
has spread throughout the world
– Literature
• Vedas
• Mahabharata - 90,000 stanzas (longest poem)
– Includes the Bhagvad Gita (sermon by god Krishna
emphasizing centrality of moral rightness as guide to action
• Ramayana – Rama as ideal Aryan hero
– Architecture
• Pillar
• Stupa
• Rock Chamber
– Science
• Astronomy
• Mathematics - Indians developed concept of zero and
used (0) as its symbol
– Aryabhata one of first to use algebra
• Huang He
(Yellow)
• Chang Jiang
(Yangtze)
China
Early Dynasties in China
• Xia (circa. 2000 BC)
– Traditionally marked as the origin of Chinese
civilization
– Little known about them, semi-mythical
• Shang (1750 – 1122 BC)
– Agrarian society with dominant aristocracy
• Pyramidal social structure
• Belief in supernatural (oracle bones) and in afterlife
(veneration of ancestors)
– Extraordinarily skilled in bronze casting
• Taotie mask
Early Dynasties in China
• Zhou (1045 – 256 BC)
– King becomes increasingly important and
creates a large bureaucracy
• Seen as link between Heaven and Earth
– Mandate of Heaven
• Zhou king takes authority from ruling in
accordance to the Dao
• Ineffective kings could be replaced
• “He who wins is the king; he who loses is the
rebel”
Dynastic Cycle
New dynasty
established
Central government’s
power declines
Dynasty collapses
Rebellions or
invasions
Chinese Philosophies
Confucianism
Daoism
Legalism
Chinese Philosophies
Confucianism
Daoism
Legalism
“Kongfuzi” b. 551 BC –his ideas
are studied up till 20th century
written down in Analects
Associated with Laozi (Old
Master) (perhaps a mythical
amalgam)
Not associated with any one
person
Lived at time when China was at
war with itself – addressed
question “How do we restore
order to society?”
His answer is political and
ethical – assumes that there is “an
order” and that following Dao
would lead to prosperity. Duty and
humanity are key elements
Five constant relationships:
Parent / child
Husband / wife
Older sibling / younger
Older friend / younger
Ruler / subject
Mutual obligations however,
“The duty of children to their
parents is the foundation from
which all virtues spring”
Tao Te Ching (The Way of
the Dao)
Concerned with behavior
rather than meaning
Inaction rather than action
Not like Pooh, the most effortless
Bear we've ever seen."
"Just How do you do it, Pooh?"
"Do What?" asked Pooh.
"Become so Effortless."
"I don't do much of anything," he said.
"But all those things of yours get done."
"They just sort of happen," he said
While Eeyore frets ...
... and Piglet hesitates
... and Rabbit calculates
... and Owl pontificates
...Pooh just is.
Humans are evil by nature
Harsh laws and strict
punishment necessary to
control people
Reject Confucian view that
compassion was a desirable
trait among rulers and
believed instead that a strong
ruler was needed to control
people.
Chinese Philosophies
Confucianism
If everyone fulfills their duties
then society will prosper
Humanity - takes “Golden Rule”
and states it as “Do not do unto
others as you would not wish to
have done to yourself”
Confucius believed Zhou
dynasty was a “Golden Age”
Believed in rule by “meritocracy”
Died in 479 BC
His ideas spread widely after his
death
Daoism
Legalism
Confucianism
Confucianism - Five Constant
Relationships
Ruler / subject
Older friend / younger friend
Older sibling / younger
sibling
Husband/Wife
Parent
Child
Qin and Han Dynasties
• Qin (Chin) 221- 206 BC
– Qin Shihuangdi
• Adopted Legalism as regime’s official ideology
• State is highly centralized with 3 major divisions “strengthens
the trunk and weakens the branches”
– Civil
– Military
– Censorate (the watchers)
» Provincial & County level officials appointed by emperor
based on merit
– Qin reforms
• Single monetary system
• Roads & canals
• “Great Wall”
– Terra Cotta army
The workers
will work on the
wall – or die!
Great Wall
• Linked smaller
sections of wall
that already
existed
Han (202 BC – 220 AD)
• Liu Bang
– Peasant origin
– Adopts Confucian principles rather than legalism
– Retains 3 branches of government and structure
• Introduces civil service exams and schools to train
• Wudi
– Liu Bang’s great grandson
• Han Technology
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Paper
Collar harness for livestock
Wheelbarrow
Fishing reel
Rudder
Two bladed plow
Watermills