Transcript Time Period II

Time Period II
600 BCE – 600 CE
600 BCE to 600 CE:
• Why 600 BCE?
– Rise of classical civilizations (Greece, Rome, Qin,
Han, Maurya, Gupta)
– development of major world
religions/philosophies (aka: Axial Age circa 500
BCE-ish)
• Why 600 CE?
– Islam
• Begins a new round of universalizing religion &
conquest
• Collapse of most Classical Period Empires
• Big Picture Events:
– Development of true empires (large, centralized
land holdings containing diverse people groups)
beginning with Persia in 500 BCE
– Apex and fall of Classical empires
– Development and spread of universal world
religions and belief systems (mainly Buddhism &
Christianity)
– Major development and expansion of large trade
networks
• Rise and fall of Empires
• China
• Zhou dynasty collapses in 256 BCE
– Longest lasting dynasty, develop the Mandate of
Heaven
• Warring States Period marked the ending
several hundred years of their dynasty
• 3 Ways to harmony developed by 200 BCE 
Legalism, Daoism, Confucianism
• Qin dynasty (221 BCE-209 BCE) Really short
period
• Shi Huangdi- known as the first emperor of
China
– Unifies China after the warring states period
– Uses legalism to straighten everyone up
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People are evil by nature
Super strict
Government is there to keep people from chaos
Burned Confucius’ works
• Builds tomb guarded by Terra Cotta warriors
and starts the Great Wall
– Modern wall you can walk on today is from Ming
Dynasty
– Walls’ goals over the years: keep out Cent. Asian
nomadic pastoralists!
• Standardizes weights, measurements,
currencies, laws and written language
• Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 200 CE)
• Legalism out, Confucianism back in
• Golden Age of China
– Golden Age anywhere = Peace, culture, art
• Established the Silk Road
– Han trade out silk and Romans give up precious
metals esp. silver
– Tons of diffusion on the Silk Roads
– Buddhism spreads into China via silk road toward the
end of the Han around 200 CE
• From India to China
• Civil Service Confucian Exam begins w/ Han
– Based on teachings of Confucius
• The Analects = his book
– Government should be highly educated & strictly
moral.
– Ren & Xiao = basis of human interactions
– Very hierarchical
– Created a government bureaucracy skilled and
stable
• Based on merit
– Possibility of social mobility through the test
– Society is male dominated due to Confucianism
• Husband-wife, older brother-younger brother etc…
– Technology
• Paper manufactured, sun dials, calendars,
compass, rudder, seismograph, water power
• India
• Mauryan Empire (322- 185 BCE)
– First to unify much of South Asia (Indian
subcontinent)
– Ashoka
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First super-violent, then converted to Buddhism
Patron of Buddhism  monasteries, etc.
Larger geographically than Gupta
Traded with outsiders
Centralized bureaucracy & military w/ spies, etc.
Hinduism doesn’t go away, but Buddhism is the statesponsored religion
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Gupta Empire (320- 550 CE)
G=Golden
Hinduism reemerges as main power
Hinduism altered by interaction w/ Buddhism to
be more about unity of soul w/ the Universal Soul
(Upanishads & Bhagavad Gita = examples of this
in holy writings)
• Golden Age of India: 0-9 Number system
developed (what we call Arabic numerals),
concept of zero, concept of pi, Sanskrit writing
flourishes, predicted eclipses, figured out
inoculation against diseases, surgeries and bone
setting
– Maya also have zero w/o interaction
• Therefore, it must have been aliens. Yeah. Aliens.
– Not as centralized, smaller than the Mauryan
– Hinduism VERY reasserted
• Major continuity throughout Indian history = Hinduism just
keeps holding strong b/c it can just subsume new religious
ideas so easily. Example = Buddha becomes another
incarnation of a previous Hindu god
• Sati a strong example of patriarchal society in
India
– High caste women throw themselves on funeral pyre
of husband
– Way of women to purify her soul & move up in the
system in her next reincarnation
600 BCE to 600 CE: Mediterranean
Empires
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Persian Empire by around 500 BCE
Cyrus the Great starts the Empire (modern Iran)
Zoroastrian religion
Known to take ppl over, but let them worship
how they pleased
• Leader known as “King of Kings”
• Clever Qanat irrigation system of covered canals
to avoid evaporation & salinization
• Royal Road (1600 miles of roads comparable to
eventual Roman roads)
– Led to trade and ease of governing
• Capital Persepolis (comparable to Chang’an,
Athens, Rome, Teotihuacan)
– Really rich city, lots of gold
• Persian War = v. Greeks
• Kicked out of Greek area by Delian League of
Greeks in Persian War and finally defeated by
Alexander the Great of Macedonia
• Greece
– Adopted Phoenician alphabet
– Geography makes them unique
• Mountains, crappy soil = turn to trade & cultural
interactions w/ others
– City-states
• Athens- democracy (limited), science, arts, philosophy,
architecture (Parthenon)
• Sparta- militaristic
• Join together in Delian League to fight in the Persian
War
• Culture- Olympics, mythology, epic poems of the
Odyssey and Iliad (Homer), drama and comedy,
development of philosophy (Socrates, Plato,
Aristotle, Alexander) X taught Y
– Aristotle model of Greek thought by use of logic
• Reason, logic, truth is based on observations
• Peloponnesian War
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Delian League falls apart
Athens v. Sparta (Civil war)
Sparta wins
All of Greek city-state = Weakened; power vacuum
Taken over by Alexander
• Alexander the Great
• Conquered Greece, Egypt, Persia, all the way to
Indus River and spread Greek culture (Hellenism)
– Awesome @war
– Empire facilitated interaction and spread of culture
(Greece, India, Persia, and Egypt)
– Hellenistic Empire
– Golden Age
• Library of Alexandria in Egypt center of learning
(good comparison to later Timbuktu, Mali)
– Geometry, medicine, anatomy, circumference of the
earth, Pythagorean theorem, geocentric thought of
Ptolemy
• Rome (Greatest achievements are law and
engineering)
– Roman Republic
• Senate, Twelve Tables Law Code (comparable to
Hammurabi’s law code)
• Concrete & roads & aqueducts!
• Patricians (rich) and Plebeians (poor)
• Military domination and expansion with the Punic wars
v. Carthage (N. Af.)
• Empire
• First Emperor: Julius Caesar killed (44 BCE),
Octavian Augustus becomes emperor in 31 BCE =
EMPIRE PERIOD BEGINS
• Empire stretches from England to Middle East
• Pax Romana (Roman peace)
– Golden Age
– Comparable to Golden age of Athens, later Pax
Mongolica
– Law- innocent unless proven guilty by court
– Engineering (Coliseum), aqueducts (for clean water)
– Roads (comparable to Persian royal road and later
Incan roads)
• Roman culture influenced by Greek cultural
diffusion
– Roman/Greek gods the same; Hellenistic building
style, young Roman men go to study in Athens at
Plato’s Academy
• Slavery- Both Greek and Roman society heavily
dependent on slavery (comparison to Chinese
dependency on the peasants)
– China had peasants, not slaves
– Slaves did all jobs, not just regular labor  less
motivation to innovate new technology to save labor
• Silk Road
– Rome traded precious metals with the Han for silk
600 BCE to 600 CE: The Americas
• Americas
– Maya (200s BCE – 900s CE)
– Develop later than Mediterranean and Chinese
classical civs b/c not in river valley & difficulty in
domesticating maize
– “3 Sisters” ag system of maize, beans, & squash
• Warring city states under one ruler (Tikal, Chichen Itza)
• Writing system-glyphs (comparable to Egyptian
hieroglyphics)
– Pictographs + syllabrary
– Means “carving”
• Super complex calendars able to predict solar
eclipses, etc. Both ritual calendar & solar
calendar.
• Developed zero as a placeholder like Gupta
India
• Popol Vul = religious text  ball games are
reenactments of sacred myths
• Steppe pyramids of Tikal (Guatemala) and
Chichen Itza (Yucatan, Mexico)
– Compare with ziggurats in Mesopotamia and
Egyptian pyramids
• Teotihuacan
– Huge City in valley of Mexico (later model for
Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan)
– Based on grid
– Similar time as Mayas
– Turquoise & quetzal feathers = trade goods
throughout Americas
– Perhaps 100,000 people
• Comparisons
– Maya and Gupta develop the concept of zero
independently
• Rome and Han
• Politically centralized but Han had centralized
bureaucracy based on merit rather than local elites
• Economically both used the silk road to exchange
goods
• Religiously Rome was first polytheistic later adopted
Christianity (380 CE) while the Han relied on
Confucianism and later Buddhism filters in
– Both adopted foreign religions
• Social: Coerced labor in Rome = slaves, Han = peasants
• Intellectual: Roman law and engineering/ Han civil
service exam, export goods, & labor-saving tech
• Artistic: state sponsored art
• Greeks and Romans much more dependent on
slavery than the Han
• Maya were warring city states similar to that of
Greece
• Classical empire capitals
– (Athens, Persepolis (Persia), Teotihuacan, Chang an,
Rome)
• Golden Ages(Rome Han Gupta)
– Peace
– Art/Science
– Trade
• Fall of Empires
• Maya- possible exhaustion of fragile tropical rain
forest environment; wars over limited resources
desired by upper classes
• Han China- (220 CE)
– Internal - population increases, land problems,
corruption, peasant rebellion called Yellow Turban
(184 CE), disease
– External- conflict with nomadic Xiongnu
• People from Cent. Asia w/ good horses
• Roman Empire (Western Rome falls in 476 CE,
East survives as the Byzantine Empire)
– Internal- tax revolts, poor leaders, division of
empire, violent death of emperors, over
expansion, decrease in trade, reliance on
mercenaries, disease
– External- Huns and Goths (Cent. Asian nomads)
Gupta- Invasion by the White Huns- cost weakened
state and eventually overrun
– Hinduism and caste system survived
– China & India = cultural elements remain after
centralized political authority falls
600 BCE to 600 CE: Belief Systems,
Part 1
• Polytheism- most early civilizations were
polytheistic (belief in many gods)
– Animism- Africa, Americas – objects can have
spirits (ANIMATE)
– Shamanism- Americas, Central Asia (Shamans go
between real and spirit world)
Hinduism
• Began with Aryan invaders and is the oldest of
the major religions
• No founder & no cohesion  a set of hugely
diverse practices we stick under one label
• Caste system established and priests are at the
top of the social hierarchy
• Goal = reincarnation up the “ladder”
• Follow dharma (rules of your caste) next life
determined by karma
• Karma – what you do this life (following your
set caste dharma or duties) will determine
your caste next life
• Reincarnation- cycle of life and death
• Moksha- release from the cycle of life and
death
• Hinduism keeps India together through
different empires
• Vedas and Upanishads sources of prayers that
guide Hindus
– Rig Veda = impersonal gods
– Baghavad Gita = makes religion personal
• Patriarchal
– Sati
– Women could not achieve moksha
• Always serves as a continuity in South Asia &
India
• Hinduism & Buddhism both diffuse to SE Asia
– On sea roads (600-1450)
Buddhism
• Symbols include the 8 spoked wheel & water
lotus
• Spawned out of Hinduism like Christianity out
of Judaism
– Reaction against Hinduism’s impersonal nature
(rituals are run by top caste) & strict hierarchy
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Can reach nirvana in this life (anyone can)
Not about castes
Personal effort counts a lot!
Appeals to the poor
• Founder was Siddhartha Gautama (500s BCE
during Axial Age)
• Four Noble Truths– life is suffering
– Suffering is caused by attachment to stuff and ppl
(desire)
– There is a way to end suffering
– It is the Eightfold Path
• Follow the Eightfold path-right
conduct/meditation (being good and nice)
• Nirvana (peace/bliss through release of all
desires)- comparable to Moksha in Hinduism
• Appealed especially to the poor since nirvana
could be achieved in one lifetime
• Offers a monastic life for men and women (like
Christianity)
• Universalizing Religion (like Christianity and
Islam)
– Easily adapted to other cultures
• Monastic (like Christianity) – monks and nuns
– Escape society to worship
• Split Theravada (monks in monasteries) (lesser
vehicle) and Mahayana (new, all people,
personal devotion to deities done outside a
monastery) (greater vehicle)
• Ashoka- Fosters Buddhism in India
• Silk Road spread Buddhism to China and on to
Korea and Japan
600 BCE to 600 CE: Belief Systems,
Part 2
• China
• Confucianism
• Developed during the Warring State period
– Need to bring order during this time
• Emphasis on education, respect, reciprocity,
virtue and order
• Filial (family) piety (respect)
– Respect for elders, respect a child should show for
parents
– Five Relationships: Mutual respect keeps both in
harmony
• Superior and inferior
• Ruler to ruled, Father to Son, Husband to Wife, Elder
brother to younger brother, friend to friend
– Gov and dads love it
• Embraced by governments as ruler superior to
ruled
• Civil Service Exam based on Confucian
Analects
– Government bureaucracy based on merit
– Allowed for the possibility of social mobility
• Patriarchal society develops as a husband
superior to wife
– Eventually see foot binding in Time Period III
• Eventually combines with Buddhism to form
Neo-Confucianism during the Tang dynasty
• Daoism (Yin Yang)
– Founder Laozi
– Harmony with nature (escape to the forest!)
– Influence on Chinese culture with chemists,
botanists and astronomers
• Legalism
– Philosophy of Shi Huangdi and Qin dynasty
(221BCE)
• Terra cotta warriors and great wall
• Axial Age – means “pivot” or “turning point”
– Confucius, Buddha, Socrates and Laozi all around
the same time
• Jesus around 400 years after these thinkers
• Mohammed around 1000 years after these thinkers
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Middle East
Judaism (Star of David)
First great monotheistic faith
Influenced Christianity and Islam
Covenant with God
– Contract says Jews are His special people
• Founder Abraham
• Follow the laws of Moses in the Torah
• Deuteronomic Code to remain intentional unassimilated (so
they can remain monotheistic among so many polytheists)
• Not universal because it stays in the same area
• Christianity
• Developed out of Judaism
• Jesus
– Crucified under the Roman Empire
– Religion was spread by his followers, especially
Peter & Paul
• Universalizing religion (like Buddhism and
Islam)
• Offers a monastic lifestyle (like Buddhism)
• Most populous religion today
• Spread of Christianity
– Paul, Roman roads, Roman dominance
– Spread through Mediterranean & N. European
world through trade, war, migration
• Roman Empire embraces Christianity
• Constantine issued the Edict of Milan (stopped
persecution)
• Made Official Roman Religion in 380 CE
• Too late to save and unify Rome
• Western Rome falls in 476 CE, Christianity will be
a continuity in Europe (like Hinduism in India)
• Christianity keeps Western Europe together
through Dark Ages
600 BCE to 600 CE: Trade Networks
• Interactions of the Classical period (Silk Roads, Sea
Roads and Sand Roads)
• Silk Road
• Three Golden Ages of the Silk Road
– Started with the Rome and Han
– Tang/Song in China with the Abbasid dynasty
– Pax Mongolica
• Silk a desired commodity throughout the silk road
• Facilitates diffusion of disease, technology, beliefs and
ideas
– Buddhism from India to China
• Indian Ocean (Sea Roads)
• Route linked India, East Africa, Middle East,
Southeast Asia and China in flourishing trade
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Arab merchants and India early leaders of the trade
Knowledge of the monsoon winds vital
Lateen sail
Dhow & Junk Ships
• Silk, salt, metals and spices (pepper, cinnamon,
nutmeg) a trading continuity
• Diffusion of beliefs
– Hinduism and Buddhism & later Islam to Southeast
Asia
• Trans-Saharan (Sand Roads)
• Camel (ship of the desert) in 100s BCE
significant
• Camel saddle in 300s CE greatly increases
trade across the Saharan
• Trade connects Sub-Saharan Africa with North
Africa and Mediterranean
• Mediterranean
– Carthage, Phoenicians, Greeks, Berbers, Romans and
Egyptians all traded
• Sub-Saharan
– Bantus culture & language is a common link
– Connect Sub-Saharan Africa with East Africa and the
IOMS
• Americas
– Trade during this time is limited and is regional unlike
Afro-Eurasian world
– Continents are vertical unlike Afro-Eurasia (Horizontal)
• Different crops
• Crops can’t spread north to south as easily
• Mountains, climate regions
• Review
• Rise and fall of classical empires
– China- Qin/Han, India- Mauryan/Gupta,
Mediterranean- Persian/Greek/Roman, AmericasMayans
• Compare Rome, Han and Maurya/Gupta
• Development of world belief systems
– Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism,
Judaism and Christianity
• Trade Routes
• Silk Road, Indian Ocean, and Trans-Saharan