CHAPTER 3: ANCIENT INDIA AND CHINA2600 B.C. – A.D. 550

SECTION 1: EARLY CIVILIZATIONS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN

• The Indus Valley is located in the region known as South Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.

• Subcontinent: is a large landmass that juts out from a continent.

• Today the Indian subcontinent includes: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan

NATURAL FEATURES AND CLIMATE

• The Indian subcontinent is divided into three major zones

1. The fertile Gangetic Plain in the north (lies just south of the Himalayas). This fertile region is made so by the Indus River, the Ganges River, and the Brahmaputra River; their tributaries carry melting snow from the mountains to the plains making agriculture possible.

2. The dry Deccan plateau: arid, agriculturally unproductive, and sparsely populated

3. Coastal plains on either side of the Deccan: use the seas for fishing and “highways” for trade.

MONSOONS

• Monsoons are a defining feature of line in the Indian subcontinent. They are seasonal winds that regularly blow from a certain direction for part of the year.

• In October: winter monsoons blow from the northeast, bringing hot, dry air that withers crops.

• In mid-June: summer monsoons blow from the southwest, they pick up moisture over the Indian Ocean and drench the land with downpours.

• Rains are desperately needed to water the crops; if the rains are late…famine and starvation may occur…however, if the rains are too heavy…rushing rivers will unleash deadly floods.

INDUS CIVILIZATION RISES AND FALLS

• About 2600 B.C. the earliest south Asian civilization emerged in the Indus River valley (present day Pakistan)

• Archaeologist believe that at least five large cities may have been prominent during the course of the civilizations history.

• Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are considered possible twin capitals of the civilization or cities that ruled the area one after the other.

• Both cities were laid out in an organized pattern; most housed were built with baked clay bricks of a standard size; houses had complex plumbing systems with baths, drains, and water chutes that led into sewers beneath the streets; merchants used a uniform system of weights and measures…all of these things have made archaeologists conclude that the Indus cities had a well-organized government.

FARMING, TRADE, AND RELIGION

• Most people living in the Indus civilization were farmers; they grew: wheat, barley, melons, and dates. They may have been the first people to cultivate cotton and weave its fibers into cloth.

• Some people were merchants and traders; their ships carried cargo of cotton cloth, grain, copper, pearls, and ivory combs to distant lands like Sumer.

• It is believed that the Indus people were polytheistic. They also seem to have viewed certain animals as sacred, including the buffalo and the bull. Some scholars think these early practices influenced later Indian beliefs, especially the veneration of (special regard for) cattle.

• By 1900 B.C. the Indus Valley civilization was declining. Scholars do not know for sure what happened to the civilization. Some theories: invasions, damage to the local environment (too many trees were cut down to fuel the ovens of brick layers), major flood of the rivers, or a devastating earthquake, or maybe a combination of events brought an end to Indus civilization.

ARYAN CIVILIZATION2000 B.C. – 500 B.C.

• Nomads who migrated across Europe and Asia. • Spoke Indo-European languages. • Intermarried with local peoples to form a group

who called themselves Aryans.• Through acculturation: blending of two or more cultures, the Aryans combined the culture and traditions of the nomads with those of earlier Indian people.

• Most of what we know about the Aryans comes from the Vedas (collection of hymns, chants, ritual instructions, and other religious teachings.

• Aryan priests memorized and recited the Vedas for a thousand years before they ever wrote down these sacred teachings….therefore the period from 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C. is often called the Vedic Age.

THE VEDAS• In the Vedas, the Aryans

appear as warriors who fought in chariots with bows and arrows.

• They loved food, drink, music, and chariot races, and dice games

• They valued cattle, which provided them with food and clothing

• Later, when they became settled farmers, they continued to measure their wealth in cows and bulls.

ARYAN LIFE• Gradually gave up nomadic ways and settled into

villages to cultivate crops and breed cattle.• They spread eastward to colonize the heavily forested

Ganges basin.

• By 800 B.C. they learned to make tools out of iron.

ARYAN RAJAHS

• Rajahs led Aryan tribes (chiefs)• Typically, Rajahs were the most skilled war leader and

were elected by an assembly of warriors.• Had a council of elders made up of the heads of

families to advise him.

• They often fought with one another to control trade and territory across the Gangetic Plain.

STRUCTURED SOCIETY• Aryans divided their society into ranked groups based on occupation.

(kuh SHAT ree yuhz)

(VYS yuz)

• The lowest social group were the dalits (DAH lits) or untouchables; this group was considered outside of the caste system. They did work that others wouldn’t do. Ex: making leather from animal skins, digging graves, or cleaning streets

ARYAN RELIGION• Polytheistic: worshiped gods and goddesses who embodied natural forces

such as sky, sun, storm, and fire.

Indra: God of War Weapon: Thunderbolt

Varuna: God of Order and Creation

Agni: God of Fire and messenger who communicated human wishes to the gods

ANIMAL DEITIESAryans also honored animal deities such as monkey and snake gods

Snake gods, when happy, were believed to bring sufficient rains, prevent water fountains from draught, cure disease and guard treasures.

Hanuman: is a Hindu god, who was an ardent devotee of Rama according to the Hindu legends. Hanuman participated in Rama's war against the demon king Ravana. Several texts also present him as an incarnation of Lord Shiva.

MORE RELIGIOUS THOUGHTS

• Brahmins offered sacrifices of food and drink to the gods; through proper rituals and prayers they believed they could call on the gods for health, wealth, and victory at war.

• As the lives of the Aryans changed so did their beliefs….some religious thinkers started moving toward the notion of brahman, a single spiritual power that existed beyond the many gods of the Vedas and that resided in all things.

• There was also a move toward mysticism: Mystics are people who seek direct communion with divine forces. They practiced meditation and yoga.

ARYAN EPIC LITERATURE

Mahabharata (muh hah BAH rah tuh): India’s greatest epic. A story about five royal brothers, the Pandavas, lose their kingdom to their cousins and after 18 days of battle the Pandavas regain their kingdom and restore peace to India.

Ramayana (rah MAH yuh nuh): this story recounts the fantastic deeds of the daring hero Rana and his beautiful bride Sita. Sita is kidnapped by the demon-king Ravana. The story tells how Rama rescues Sita with the aid of the monkey general Hanuman.

SECTION 2: HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM

Thousands of years ago…two major religions emerged in ancient India

HINDUISM

• Has no single founder

• Has no single sacred text

• It grew out of the overlapping beliefs of the diverse groups who settled India

• Started with the Aryans adding the gods of the Indus civilization to their own; later people brought other gods, beliefs, and practices.

• As a result, Hinduism became one of the world’s most complex religions, with countless gods and goddesses and many forms of worship existing side by side…although all Hindus share certain basic beliefs.

HINDU BELIEFS

• Everything is part of the unchanging, all-powerful spiritual force called BRAHMAN

• Worship a variety of gods who give concrete form to brahman

• The most important Hindu gods are Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver; and Shiva, the Destroyer. Each can take many forms, human or animal, to represent the various aspects of brahman with which he is associated

• Some Hindus worship various forms of the powerful goddess Shakti. She is both kind and cruel, a creator and a destroyer

• Over many hundreds of years, Hindu teachings were recorded in the sacred texts of the Vedas

*Upanishads (oo PAN ih shadz): are a section of the Vedas that address mystical questions related to Hinduism

KEY HINDU GODS

Shiva, the DestroyerVishnu, the Preserver

Brahma, the Creator

Shakti goddess

HINDU GOAL OF LIFE

• Every person has an essential self, or atman.

• Ultimate goal of existence: is achieving moksha (union with brahman) To do that one must free themselves from selfish desires that separate them from brahman. Most people cannot achieve moksha in one lifetime

• Hindus believe in reincarnation (rebirth of the soul in another bodily form) This allows people to continue working toward moksha through several lifetimes.

CYCLE OF DEATH AND REBIRTH

• Hindu’s believe that the law of Karma brings you closer to achieving moksha. Karma refers to all the actions of a person’s life that affect his/her fate in the next life.

• Hindu’s believe all existence is ranked: Humans are closest to brahman, then come animals, plants, and objects like rocks or water. People who live good lives are born into a higher level of existence (good karma). Those who do evil are reborn into suffering at a lower level of existence (bad karma).

• To escape the wheel of fate, Hinduism stresses the importance of dharma and ahimsa.

• Dharma: the religious and moral duties of an individual.

• Ahimsa: nonviolence

JAINISM

• About 500 B.C. the teacher Mahavira founded Jainism

• Mahavira rejected the idea that Brahmin priests alone could perform certain sacred rites.

• Emphasize meditation, self-denial, and an extreme form of ahimsa

• Jains wear masks and carry brooms to sweep the ground in front of their feet as to not kill even an insect

CASTE SYSTEM SHAPES INDIA

• Castes are social groups into which people are born and which can rarely be changed.

• Castes were closely linked to Hindu belief. To Hindus, people in different castes were different species of beings.

• Caste rules governed every aspect of life. For example: where people lived, what they ate, how they dressed, and how they earned a living.

• Rules forbade marrying outside one’s caste or eating with members of another caste.

• High-caste people had the strictest rules to protect them from the spiritually polluted or impure.

• The dalits or untouchables had to live apart and to sound a wooden clapper to warn of their approach

CASTES AFFECT THE SOCIAL ORDER

• Despite its inequalities, castes ensured a stable social order

• Law of karma determined their caste; could not change their status in this life, they could reach a higher state in a future life by faithfully fulfilling the duties of their present caste

• Gave many people a sense of identity and interdependence

• Each caste had its own occupations and leaders. Caste members cooperated to help one another

• Although separated, different castes depended on one another for their basic needs

• Over time, many additional castes and sub-castes evolved

BUDDHISM

• Founded by Siddhartha Gautama

• He was born a prince about 563 B.C.

• Tradition says that his mother dreamed that a radiant white elephant descended to her from heaven. Signs such as this led a prophet to predict that the boy would someday become a wondering holy man. To prevent this from happening, his father kept him in the family’s palaces, surrounded by comfort and luxury.

• At 16 years old, Gautama married a beautiful woman and enjoyed a happy life.

At age 29, he took a ride beyond the palace gardens and saw an old man, a sick person, and a dead body. For the first time he became aware of human suffering. He left home in search of a realm of life where there is neither suffering nor death

He wandered for years seeking answers but the ones he received failed to satisfy him. He fasted and meditated. At some point he sat under a large tree determined to stay there until he understood the mystery of life.

Legend tells us that throughout the night evil spirits tempted Gautama to give up his meditations but he fended the off. When he rose, he believed he understood the cause and cure for suffering and sorrow. He was no longer Gautama; he had become the Buddha, or “Enlightened One”.

FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

• In Buddha’s first sermon after reaching enlightenment, he explained the Four Noble Truths that lie at the heart of Buddhism

EIGHTFOLD PATH

• The Buddha saw the Eightfold Path as a middle way between a life devoted to pleasure and one based on harsh self-denial

• Buddha stressed moral principles such as honesty, charity and kindness to all living creatures

FINAL GOAL OF A BUDDHIST

A Buddhist must understand the Four Noble Truths, and commit oneself to the Eightfold Path

Next, one must live a moral life, avoiding evil words and actions

Through meditation, a person might at last achieve enlightenment

And the FINAL goal of a Buddhist is to achieve nirvana.

Nirvana: union with the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth

COMPARING BUDDHISM AND HINDUISM

Similarities

• Grew from same traditions

• Both stress nonviolence

• Both believe in karma, dharma, and a cycle of rebirth

Differences

• Hinduism: focused on priests, formal rituals, and many gods

• Buddhism: each person seeks enlightenment through meditation

• Hinduism: use of caste system

• Buddhism: rejected the use of caste system, offering the hope of nirvana to all regardless of birth

BUDDHISM SPREADS BEYOND INDIA

Distribution of World Religions Today

BUDDHISM SPREADS AND DIVIDES

Theravada Buddhism(thehr uh VAH duh)

• Closely followed the Buddha’s original teachings.

• Only the most dedicated seekers, such as monks and nuns, could hope to reach nirvana

• Spread to Sri Lana and Southeast Asia

Mahayana Buddhism(mah huh YAH nuh)

• Easier for ordinary people to follow

• Pictured Buddha and other holy beings as compassionate gods

• Describe an afterlife filled with many heavens and hells

• Spread to China, Tibet, Korea, and Japan

*Buddhism slowly declined in India; a few Buddhist centers survived until the 1100s, when they fell to Muslim armies that invaded India.

SECTION 3: POWERFUL EMPIRES OF INDIA

Northern India was often a battleground where rival rajahs fought for control of the Ganges valley. In 321 B.C., a young adventurer, Chandragupta Maurya (chun druh GUP tuh MOWR yuh) forged the first Indian empire

He first gained power in the Ganges valley. He then conquered northern India. From 321 B.C. to 185 B.C., the Maurya dynasty ruled over a vast, united empire.

• Maintained order through a well-organized bureaucracy. (royal officials that held specialized jobs like supervising the building of roads, collecting taxes, and managing state owned factories and shipyards)

• People sought justice in royal courts• His rule was effective but harsh; a brutal secret police

force reported on corruption, crime, and dissent (ideas that opposed those of the government)

• Had specially trained women warriors guard his palace

ASOKA• The most honored Maurya emperor • Chandragupta’s grandson• Fought a long, bloody war for the Deccan region of

Kalinga….horrified that more than 100,000 people died….he turned his back on further conquests

• Converted to Buddhism, rejected violence, and resolved to rule by moral example

• He sent missionaries to spread Buddhism across India and to Sri Lanka

• He also preached tolerance of other religions• Had stone pillars set up across India, offering moral

advice and promising a just government• His rule brought peace and prosperity and helped

unite the diverse peoples within his empire• He built: hospitals, Buddhist shrines, roads, and rest

houses for travelers• After his death, the Maurya empire was shattered by

rival princes

THE GUPTAS AND THE GOLDEN AGE

• Gupta rule was loser than that of the Mauryas• Much of the power was left in the hands of individual

villages and city governments elected by merchants and artisans

• Trade and farming flourished across the Gupta empire

• Crops: wheat, rice, and sugar cane• Artisans produced: cotton cloth, pottery, and

metalware

• Eventually Gupta India declined under the pressure of weak rulers, civil war, and foreign invaders. The White Huns, a nomadic people, overran the weakened Gupta empire, destroying its cities and trade.

ADVANCEMENTS IN LEARNING

• Students were educated in religious schools

• Learned religion, mathematics, medicine, physics, languages, literature, and other subjects

• Within mathematics: devised the system of writing numbers the way we do today, also the decimal system of numbers based on ten digits (which we still use today)

• Within medicine: used herbs and other remedies to treat illness, surgeons were skilled in setting bones and in simple surgery to repair injuries, and they also began vaccinating people against smallpox about 1,000 years before Europe

FAMILY LIFE

• Ideal families were a joint family: parents, children, and their offspring shared a common dwelling

• Indian families were patriarchal

• Property belonged to the whole family

• Family performed the training of children in the traditions and duties of their castes

• Children worked with older family members in the fields or at a family trade; a daughter learned that as a wife she would be expected to serve and obey her husband and his family; a son learned the rituals to honor the family’s ancestors.

• As parents, an important duty was arranging good marriages for their children, based on caste and family interests.• In northern India, a bride’s family commonly provided a dowry (payment to the

bridegroom) and financed the costly wedding festivities.• After marriage, the daughter left her home and became part of her husband’s family

WOMEN

• Women: In early Aryan society women seem to have enjoyed a higher status than in later times

• By late Gupta times, upper-class women were increasingly restricted to the home; if they went outside they were supposed to be covered from head to foot. Lower-class women labored in the fields or worked at spinning and weaving

• Women were thought to have Shakti, a creative energy that men lacked. A husband’s duty was to channel his wife’s energy in the proper direction.

• Women had few rights within the family and society

• Primary duties were to marry and raise children

• A women’s rebirth into a higher existence was gained through devotion to her husband

VILLAGE LIFE

• A typical village included:• A cluster of homes made of earth or stone• Fields where farmers grew wheat, rice, cotton, and sugar cane• People of different castes who performed the necessary tasks of daily life• Ran its own affairs based on caste rules and traditions and faced little outside

interference as long as it paid its share of taxes• A village headman and council made decisions; the council was made up of the

most respected people of the village• Landlords owned much of the land; farmers who worked the land had to give the

owner part of the harvest….often, what remained was hardly enough to feed the farmers and their families

• Villages usually produced most of the food and goods that they needed however they relied on trade for some essentials such as salt and spices as well as manufactured goods

SECTION 4: RISE OF CIVILIZATION IN CHINA

Physical barriers separated China from Egypt, Middle East, and India. This isolation contributed to the Chinese belief that China was the center of the earth and the sole source of civilization.

Barriers:• West and Southwest: deserts and

high mountain ranges

• Southeast: thick rainforests divided China from Southeast Asia

• North: Gobi desert

• East: Pacific Ocean

Huang River = Yellow River = River of Sorrows

N

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SHANG DYNASTY

• Archaeologists have uncovered some of the large palaces and rich tombs of Shang rulers

• Walled capital city, the Shang were able to drive off nomads from the northern steppes and deserts.

• Kings probably controlled only a small area; loyal princes and local nobles governed most of the land….most likely heads of important clans

• Top level of Shang society included the royal family and a class of noble warriors; there was a class of artisans and merchants; majority of people were peasants• Warriors used leather armor, bronze weapons, and

horse-drawn chariots• Artisans produced goods for nobles: bronze weapons,

silk robes, and jade jewelry• Merchants exchanged food and crafts made by local

artisans for salt, shells, and other goods not found in northeastern China

ZHOU DYNASTY(JOH)

• Zhou overthrew the Shang

• Justified their attack due to the Mandate of Heaven (divine right to rule); the Zhou felt that the Shang king was so cruel that the gods sent ruin on him.

• Zhou rewarded their supporters by granting them control over different regions; therefore, under the Zhou, China developed into a feudal state.

• FEUDALISM: system of government in which local lords governed their own lands but owed military service and other forms of support to their ruler

• China’s economy grew under the Zhou; started to use money for the first time in China; the strong economy will lead to an increase in population

• By 256 B.C., China was a large, wealthy, and highly developed center of civilization. However, the feudal lords ignored the emperor and battled one another in savage wars ….out of the wars a ruthless leader will bring an end to the Zhou Dynasty

THE DYNASTIC CYCLE

The rise and fall of dynasties

CONFUCIUS

• Born in 551 B.C. to a noble but poor family

• Brilliant scholar, hoped to be an adviser to a local ruler

• Unable to find a permanent position within government;

he turned to teaching

• He attracted many students: Siddhartha Gautama

(Buddha) and Socrates (Greece)

• Never wrote down his ideas; students collected many of

his sayings in the Analects (collection of short literary

or philosophical extracts).

• Little interest in spiritual matters, instead developed a

philosophy (system of ideas) that were concerned with

worldly goals, especially those of ensuring social order

and good government

• Taught that harmony resulted when people accepted their place in society

• He stressed FIVE key relationships:• Ruler to Subject• Parent to Child• Husband to Wife• Elder Brother to Younger Brother• Friend to Friend

• He felt older people were superior to younger ones and men were superior to women

• According to Confucius, everyone had duties and responsibilities.

• Correct behavior would bring order and stability

• Filial Piety: respect for parents; above all other duties

• Honesty, hard work, and concern for others

• In the centuries after his death, his ideas influenced many aspects of Chinese life.

• Filial piety supported traditional customs such as reverence for ancestors

• Introduced the delicate balance between two forces: yin and yang

• Hundreds of millions pf people in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam accepted Confucian beliefs

DAOISM

• Laozi (Low tza) “Old Master”: founder of Daosim

• Credited with writing The Way of Virtue

• Not concerned with bringing order to human affairs; Instead, sought to live in harmony with nature

• The Dao = “The Way”

• “Those who know the Dao do not speak of it. Those who speak of it do not know it”

• To know the Dao, one should reject conflict and strife

• Stressed the simple ways of nature and the virtue of yielding. Ex: water, does not resist but rather yields to outside pressure….yet it is an unstoppable force

ACHIEVEMENTS OF EARLY CHINA

Above: Accurate calendar with 365 ¼ days

Right: SilkChina’s most valuable export

Above: Oracle Bones

Right: Calligraphy

SECTION 5:STRONG RULERS UNITE CHINA

• Qin (chin) Dynasty brought an end to the Zhou Dynasty

• Zheng (jeng) crushed all his rivals

• In 221 B.C. Zheng proclaimed himself Shi Huangdi (shi whong di) or “First Emperor”

• He ushered in China’s classical age – a term historians use when a civilization sets patterns in government, philosophy, religion, science, and the arts that serve as a framework for later cultures

SHI HUANGDI

• Determined to end divisions that had splintered China; he spent 20 years conquering most of the warring states

• He centralized power with the help of Legalist advisers: Legalism was based on teachings of Hanfeizi (Hahn fay dzuh)

• Hanfeizi insisted that the only way to achieve order was to pass strict laws and impose harsh punishments for crimes

• Shi Huangdi tortured, killed, or enslaved many who opposed his rule; the hardest hit were the feudal nobles and Confucian scholars who loathed his laws

• He abolished feudalism and replaced the feudal states with 36 military districts and appointed loyal officials to administer them

• He standardized weights and measures and replaced the diverse coins of the Zhou states with Qin coins

• Had scholars create uniformity in Chinese writing

• Workers repaired and extended roads and canals to strengthen the transportation system

• Shi Huangdi’s most remarkable and costly achievement was the Great Wall.

• Shi Huangdi died in 210 B.C.; anger over heavy taxes, forced labor, and cruel policies exploded into revolts. Qin power officially collapsed in 206 B.C.

• Gao Zu (gow dzoo) an illiterate peasant leader, defeated rival armies and founded the new Han dynasty four years later

HAN DYNASTY

• Gao Zu (gow zoo) set about restoring order and justice to his empire

• He lowered taxes and eased Legalist policies

• He appointed Confusion scholars as advisors

• His policies created strong foundations for the Han dynasty, which lasted from 202 B.C. until A.D. 220

EMPEROR WUDI

• Most famous Han emperor

• Ruled from about 141 B.C. to 87 B.C.

• To train scholars, he set up an imperial university at Xian (shyahn)

• Improved canals and roads

• He had granaries set up across the empire so the government could buy grain when it was abundant and sell it at stable prices when it was scarce

• Imposed a government monopoly on iron and salt; Monopoly is the complete control of a product or business by one person or group

• Followed the policy of expansionism; expanding a country’s territory, by increasing the amount of land under Chinese rule.

SILK ROAD• Emperor Wudi opened up a network of

trade routes, later called the Silk Road, that would link China and the West for centuries

• During the Han period, new foods such as grapes, figs, cucumbers, and walnuts flowed into China from western Asia

• Chinese sent large quantities of silk westward

• Eventually the Silk Road stretched for 4,000 miles, linking China to the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE HAN GOLDEN AGE

Science and Medicine• Texts: chemistry, zoology, botany

• Simple seismograph (earthquakes)

• Diagnosed diseases, developed anesthetics, herbal remedies

• Acupuncture: inserts needles into the skin at specific points to relieve pain or treat various illnesses

Technology and Engineering• Invented method of making

paper out of wood pulp

• Advanced methods of ship building and invented a rudder to steer

• Invented bronze and iron stirrups, fishing reels, wheelbarrows, and suspension bridges

The Arts• Ban Zhao wrote Lessons for

Women a handbook of behavior

CHINESE ACCEPT BUDDHISM

• By A.D. 400, Buddhism had spread throughout China. Buddhist monasteries became important centers of learning and the arts. Buddhism absorbed many Confucian and Daoist traditions. Chinese Buddhist monks stressed filial piety and honored Confucius