ANCIENT INDIA AND CHINA

Indus River people depended on the river for their daily needs

rich soil Trade with other people

Twin capitals—at Harappa and at Mohenjo-daro Harrappan civilization was advanced

citadel overlooked city grain was stored in large warehouses in case of famine Had a system of weights and measures to help trade with other

cultures, mainly Mesopotamia first people in the world to grow cotton and turn it into dyed

cloth dug ditches and canals to irrigate their farms Had a system of writing They used a common currency Most striking of all is their well planned cities

drainage systems that led to brick-lined sewers lived in brick buildings, some two and three stories high by 1700 B.C., the Harappan Civilization had disappeared

http://www.mohenjodaro.net/

Mauryan India

Chandragupta: overthrew the Aryans and formed a new empire over all of northern India and into Afghanistan Died in 298 BC and was succeeded by his son & then grandson:

Asoka Asoka made the Mauryan Empire even stronger, but his

victories were so bloody and awful, that he gave up warfare He converted from traditional Indian Hinduism to the new faith

of Buddhism, and he used his power to the new religion After Asoka died in 231 BC, though, his sons and

grandsons were not as strong rulers as he was, and the Mauryan Empire gradually fell apart

Guptan Empire

In 319 AD, the king Chandragupta II managed to unite all of northern India into a great empire again

The Gupta kings were not Buddhists but Hindus, following the older Indian religion

But in 455 AD the Huns invaded India from the north and destroyed the Guptan Empire

After that, India was split into small kingdoms again until the Muslim invasions around 1000 AD

Since so many discoveries and advances were made in arts, medicine, literature and science during Gupta period, it has been called the Golden Age of India

Rulers were efficient knew how to govern firmly; not harshly Mathematics:

the value of "Pi“ discussed Algebra was developed concepts of zero and infinity were foundsymbols of numbers 1 to 9 were devised

Astronomy theory that the earth was not flat but round theory of gravity

Medicine doctors performed operations

Shang China

considered to be the first true dynasty of China

first group of people from China with written records oracle bones were turtle shells with a question

written on It was then cracked and interpreted

Sacrifice to the gods and the ancestors was also a major part of the Shang religion hundreds of slaves and prisoners were often

sacrificed and buried with dead rulers

Zhou Dynasty

1040 B.C. :The Zhou defeated the Shang in warfare It is believed that this was possible b/c the

Shang had become immoral idea of the Mandate of Heaven says that the

gods place the task of ruling on any family that is morally worthy of the responsibility

If the ruler is overthrown, then the victors had the Mandate of Heaven (dynastic cycle)

The Zhou kept much of the Shang lifestyle used the knowledge of the Shang artisans adopted much of the Shang writing system

The Zhou however, began a different form of governing, which was based on feudalism Land was given to people in elaborate

ceremonies. The landowners owed their fortune to the king. Descent became patriarchal, from father to son,

rather than from eldest brother to youngest brother as practiced by the Shang.

The Zhou also brought their religion with them. banned human sacrifice worshipped the sun and stars

Taoism

Started by a man named Lao Tzu who lived a little before Confucius, about 600 BC

Lao Tzu believed that the way to happiness was for people to learn to "go with the flow." Instead of trying to get things done the hard way, people should take the time to figure out the natural, or easy way to do things, and then everything would get done more simply. This idea is called "wu-wei", which means "doing by not doing".

Also thought that everything alive in the universe shared in a life-force. There were two sides to the life-force, which are called the yin and the yang.

The yin (the dark side) is the side of women, the moon, things that are still like ponds, and completion and death. The yang (the light side) is the side of men, the sun, things that move like rivers, dragons, and creation and birth. Everyone has some yin and some yang in them, and Taoism says that it is important to keep them balanced. Chinese doctors believed that a lot of illnesses were caused by too much yin or too much yang.

He also thought it was wrong for governments (or anybody else) to make a lot of rules and laws about how people should behave. Taoism was against anything with rules, like special food diets. He thought people should make their own decisions in each situation.

Confucianism http

://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O--AFCI4HCU&feature=player_embedded#!

philosopher in ancient China, about 500 BC His main idea was that people could achieve peace by doing

their duty people should obey the law, and do what the emperor and

government officials told them to do At the same time, the government should do its duty to the

people, and not abuse them or ask too much of them. Because Confucius wanted to make government officials

behave better, the Chinese government did not like him while he was alive. But after Confucius died, later emperors of China did use many of

his ideas.