Chapter 3

Early India & China

The Aryans were Indo-European nomadic peoples who created a new Indian society.

The Aryans created India’s caste system.

The caste system was a social class system split into 5 categories.

Caste The priests or Brahmans were at

the top. The second class was the

warriors or Kshatriyas. Third, was the Vaisyas or

commoners. The fourth class called the

Sudras made up a bulk of the Indian peasant population.

The lowest class was called the Untouchables

Untouchable…

Caste: Untouchables The Untouchables were

given menial, degrading tasks such as trash collection, sewer cleaner, handling of dead bodies, etc.

To the other classes, untouchables were not considered human and were not to be treated as such.

Untouchables To a certain extent,

this unofficially continues to this day in parts of India.

Hinduism Hinduism has its origins

with the Aryan peoples. Hinduism teaches that

one’s role in life is defined by one’s birth into a certain class, or caste.

Hindus worship a multitude of gods and believe in reincarnation to achieve a higher social status.

Hinduism Dharma is the set of

divine rules. Karma is the force

generated by one’s actions that determines where one will be socially in his next life.

Following the dharma will get you good karma!

Buddhism Siddhartha Gautama was

the founder of Buddhism. The Buddha (Guatama)

believed that suffering is caused by attachment to the things of this world.

Buddhists are forbidden from worshipping any god, even Buddha himself.

Buddhism For this reason, many consider

Buddhism to be more of a philosophy than a religion.

Buddhism rejects the Hindu division of human beings into rigidly defined castes.

Instead, Buddhism teaches that all human beings can reach nirvana, or ultimate reality, as a result of their behavior in this life.

New Empires in India The Gupta Empire

traded with China, Southeast Asia, and the Mediterranean.

Asoka is generally considered to be the greatest ruler in the history of India.

Silk Road The Silk Road was a trade route started

during this time period. It ran between the Roman Empire and China

that ran through India’s Kushan Kingdom.

Science Ancient Indians

possessed an impressive amount of scientific knowledge.

Science In astronomy, they

charted the movements of the heavenly bodies and recognized that the earth was a sphere that rotated on its axis and revolved around the sun.

Math In mathematics,

they were the first scientists known to have used algebra.

Aryabhata was one of the first scientists known to have used algebra.

Math Indian mathematicians

also introduced the concept of zero and used a symbol (0) for it.

This system was adopted by Arab scholars and eventually spread through Europe.

Early Chinese Civilizations

Historians of China have traditionally dated the beginning of Chinese civilization to the founding of the Xia (SHE-A) dynasty, about which little is known.

Mandate of Heaven The Zhou (JOH)

dynasty claimed it ruled China because it had the Mandate of Heaven.

The Mandate said that the king ruled because his authority comes directly from Heaven.

Mandate of Heaven But, the Mandate

was a double-edged sword. The ruler could be overthrown by the will of Heaven if he did not rule according to the Dao or the “Way”.

One element of the Confucian view of the Dao is the idea of humanity, consisting of a sense of compassion and empathy for others.

Daoism was a system of ideas based on the teachings of Laozi (LOW DZUH).

Daoists believed the duty of human beings was to work hard and improve life here on earth.

Legalism was a third philosophy unlike either Confucianism or Daoism.

It proposed that humans were evil by nature and they could only be brought to follow the correct path by harsh laws and stiff punishment.

I am “Evil”

Rise and Fall of Chinese Empires

After a bloody civil war, the Qin (CHIN) dynasty emerged based on Legalism beliefs.

The central bureaucracy of the Qin dynasty was divided into the civil division, the military division, and the censorate.

The Qin dynasty created the censorate as a part of the central bureaucracy that had inspectors who checked on government officials to make sure they were doing their job.

Qin Shihuangdi (SHE-HOO-ANG-DEE) unified the Chinese world in part by creating a single monetary system and ordering the building of a system of roads.

Qin Shihuangdi also was instrumental in starting the building the Great Wall.

The founder of the Han dynasty was Liu Bang, a man of peasant origin.

He discarded Legalism and adopted Confucianism.

An important concept that became a crucial part of Chinese history was the Confucian belief that the government should be open to all men of superior talent.

Liu Bang started civil service exams and established schools to train these candidates.

Soon the Empire expanded and new technology prospered.

One of the technological advances of the Han dynasty was the invention of water mills, for grinding grain.

The invention that led to major expansion of trade in the Han period was the development of fore-and-aft rigging and rudders on ships.

In 1974, farmers digging a well about 35 miles east of Xian discovered an army of terra-cotta warriors who were buried in Qin Shihuangdi’s tomb showing a modern day glimpse into ancient Chinese culture.