Unit 2

Classical Empires & Religions: Eastern(India & China) 500B.C.-A.D.550)

Concept: Culture and Belief Systems

Culture and Belief systems of civilizations

• Eastern civilizations/empires/dynasties• Mauryan Empire and Gupta Empire in India• Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties in China

China

• Who rules a dynasty is determined by the gods. This is called….?

• Mandate of Heaven- Can you explain?• The Mandate of Heaven became central to the Chinese

view of government.• Floods, riots, and other disasters might be signs that the

ancestral spirits were displeased with a king’s rule. The Mandate of Heaven might pass to another noble family.

• This was the Chinese explanation for rebellion, civil war, and the rise of a new dynasty.

China

• Dynastic cycle – the pattern of rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties

Zhou/Chou

Zhou

Zhou

• Zhou Dynasty controlled a vast stretch of land.• Tell me how you, as a ruler, would control all the

people who lived on the vast land you controlled?• The Zhou Dynasty controlled their people by a

political system in which nobles or lords are granted land the use of lands that legally belong to the king. In return, the nobles owe loyalty and military service to the king and protection to the people who live on their estates.

• This is called Feudalism.

Feudalism(click for video)

Zhou

• As cities grew so did roads and canals.• Roads and canals produced…?• Trade• Coined money improved trade transactions• All the above caused…the government to…?• New government administration position

opened up to control the daily operations of a city.

Zhou

• The major technology of the Zhou is….• The use of iron and the blast furnace that

produced cast iron.• Iron was used to create…?

• Weapons, like the dagger axe and swords

Zhou

• Class: Why was the Zhou Dynasty considered the Warring States?

• The Zhou ruled from 1027 to 256 B.C.E.• Peace and stability for the first 300 years.• For the rest of the years the Dynasty was

under attack. Why?.... (see next slide)

Zhou – the warring states

• Zhou rulers were weakening• In 771 B.C.E., nomads from the north and west

took over the city of Hao, the capital of Zhou.– Zhou moved eastward and created a new capital

in Luoyang– The Zhou kings have become powerless and could

not control…?– The noble families/lords

Zhou – Warring States

• Class- Please predict what happened next?• The noble/lords (trained as warriors) looked for

opportunities to pick fights with neighboring noble families/lords.– As their power grew, the claimed to be kings in their own

territory.– The Zhou Dynasty is considered the time of the warring

states– Because of the weakening Zhou Dynasty, the dynasty cycle

and the Mandate of Heaven will determine the new ruler.

Qin Dynasty

Qin

• The western state of Qin replaced the Zhou dynasty in the third B.C.E. (221- to 206 B.C.E.)

• The ruler employed Legalist ideas to subdue warring states and unified his country.

• What did this ruler claim himself to be?• “The First Emperor”• This ruler was only 13 years old and in 20 years of

rule he called himself “The First Emperor” or Shi Huangdi. His name is Qin Shi Huangdi.

The First Emperor

Qin Shi Huangdi

Qin Shi Huangdi

• “Strengthen the trunk and weakening the branches “• Shi Huangdi brought the branches in towards the trunk.

• This is who Shi Huangdi ruled• In order to control the land he ordered the noble families

to live in the capital city. He watched with suspicious eyes.

• He up rooted 120,000 noble families- seizing their land.• The emperor separated China into 36 administrative

districts and sent Qin leaders to control the districts.

Qin Shi Huangdi

• How did Qin Shi Huangdi control any uprisings?1. He murdered hundreds of Confucian scholars. 2. He also ordered “useless” books burned. These books

were the works of Confucian thinkers and poets who disagreed with the Legalists. However he spared farming and medical books.

• Through the collective learning of Qin Shi Huangdi, he created an autocracy. ????

• An autocracy is a government has ultimate power and uses it in an arbitrary manner.

The rule of Qin Shi Huangdi

• How did Qin Shi Huangdi actually rule the land?

• He built 4000 miles of roads to connect his empire

• He forced peasants to work against their will• He set forth a uniform standards for Chinese

writing, law (Legalism), currency, and weights and measures.

Effects of Shi Huangdi’s rule

What were the negative and positive effects of Shi Huangdi’s rule?He unified the empire.He made changes that boosted trade, transportation, and communicationHe was a cruel dictator who used slave labor, murdered people to put out their criticism, and burned books

Greatest Achievements of Qin Shi Huangdi (click on pictures for video links)(view 4 wall videos)

Video Questions• Why did Qin Shi Huangdi wanted the Terracotta Army?• To give him immortality• Was Qin Shi Huangdi a popular ruler? Why?• What might be the reason for the Army to be built for his after life? • Yes. He was paranoid. • What is the Great called to the Chinese?• The longest cemetery in the world• Why were the walls built? What were they afraid of?• The Nomadic Barbarians- Huns and the Mongols. • Why di the nomadic barbarians attack China?• China refused to trade with them. • What did the wall separate?• The “have’s and the have not's.”• Why is the wall called the greatest cemetery in the world?

Decline of Qin Dynasty

• Prediction: Out of the 5 point frame work check list of society collapse, which ones are the most significant to the fall of the Qin Dynasty?

• Shi Huangdi son ruled cruelly like his father, but the son of Shi Huangdi was less able to rule.

• This led to the rebellion of the peasants. A peasant from the land of Han, marched his troops into the capital of Qin and by 202 B.C.E Shi Huangdi gave away to the Han Dynasty.

Video of Qin Dynasty

• Chinese Empires 1-4• Listen and Learn and relearn.

Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

• Previous knowledge:• Under the Shi Huangdi, the Qin Dynasty had

unified China, Shi Huangdi conquered the rival kings who ruled small states throughout China and established a strong government.

• After Qin Shi Haungdi died in 210 B.C.E., his son proved to be a weak, ineffective leader. China’s government fell apart and was taken over by Han.

Han Dynasty

• The Han Dynasty - Overview1. Ruled china for 400 years2. Divided into two periods3. The former Han ruled for about 2 centuries until

A.D.94. Han was out of power due to the mandate of

Heaven5. Later Han ruled for another 2 centuries

• Today China refers to themselves “people of the Han”

Han Dynasty

• Civil war was caused by Liu Bang (general of Xiang Yu) turning against Xiang Yu (an aristocrat general)

• After the civil war, a new emperor arose as the first empire of the Han Dynasty-Liu Bang

Liu Bang

• If you were Liu Bang how would you rule the Han Dynasty (central government or aristocrate (feudalism)? Why?

• Liu Bang reestablished the centralized government. What does this mean, centralized government?

• A central authority controls the running of state. – Liu Bang’s central government consisted of hundreds

of local officials of provinces called commanderies. All reported to him.

Liu Bangs wins popularity

• If you were Liu Bang how would you win popular support?

1. Lower taxes2. Get rid of Legalism softened harsh

punishment• By doing this Liu Bang created what in society?

peace and stability.

What do you think this picture says?

Wudi

• Wudi took over the throne 141-87 B.C.E.• Wudi is the great grandson of Liu Bang• He continued the ideas of Liu Bang’s centralized ideas

Wudi fought the Xiongnu (barbarians) and pushed the deeper into Asia past the Great Wall.• The Xiongnu pushed south and west and displaced

other nomads.• Some historians believe that the distant grandsons

of these fierce horse-riding Huns invaded the Roman Empire.

Wudi expansion

• Wudi colonized areas northwest, now known as Manchuria and Korea.

• He conquered mountain tribes and set up colonies into what is now known as Vietnam.

• By the end of Wudi’s reign, the empire had expanded nearly to the bounds of present day China

Han Government

• Even though the Mandate of Heaven controlled the coming and going of rulers, the rulers did not rule alone.

• The emperor relied on a complex bureaucracy to help him rule.

• To get money to run the government the government levied taxes. Which is?

• The peasants had to give one month of military service each year

• Farmers had to give part of their yearly crops to the government.

• Merchants had to pay taxes

Confucianism effects on the government of Han

• Wudi employed more than 130,000 people with 18 different rank of civil service jobs-

• These jobs were obtained by taking examinations and some were rewarded by their loyalty.

• The examinations tested applicants’ knowledge of Confucianism (the teaching of Confucius who lived 400 years before the Han Dynasty)

• Confucius had taught that gentlemen should practice reverence, generosity, truthfulness, diligence, and kindness.

• Wudi set up schools for helpful job applicants to come and study Confucius’ works.

Family

Filial Piety brought back to the HanIn Confucian philosophy, filial piety is a virtue of

respect for one's parents and ancestors.

Han Inventions

• Paper was invented. Can you tell me the importance of paper?

• Paper 105 A.D.(Before books were written on silk) paper made books cheaper to purchase = more people had books= spread of education.

• Paper also made it easier for government record keeping instead of recording on strips of wood. = Chinese bureaucracy expanded

• Better communication

Other inventions(click on picture)

two bladed plow, improved collar harness for pulling heavy loads, invented the wheel barrow, improved iron tools and used windmills to grind grain

Economy in the Han Dynasty

• Trade. What development help trade/economy for the Han Dynasty? (click on picture)

The Silk Road

Unify the Cultures

• If you were the ruler on conquering other lands how would you unify your new found land/people?

• By making these conquered people part of Chinese culture… which the term is?

Assimilation

Rich gets richer=imbalance• By economic imbalance caused by customs that allowed the rich to gain

more wealth at the expense of the poor.• The rich takes advantage of the poor…How?• Custom- a family’s land was divided equally among all the father’s male

heirs• Unless a farmer could buy more land, each generation inherited smaller

plots.• Smaller plots =smaller yields=less money=debt=borrow money from large

land owners who charged high interest rate=hard to pay debt back=foreclosure and large land owner gets the farm land.

• Large landowners did not have to pay taxes, so the larger they got the less land the government could collect taxes on= government pressed harder on the small land owner to collect taxes=gap between the rich and the poor increased.

Wang Mang

Wang Mang Overthrows the Han

• The Han’s economic imbalance caused political instability.– At the palace advisors, servants and influential families created

plots to influence the emperor’s choice of who would succeed him.

– What followed was weak inexperienced emperors, one after another until A.D. 9.

• This caused chaos, revolts, and unrest across the land.• In A.D. 9, Wang Mang, member of the court, took control

of the imperial title himself and overthrew the Han. This ended the first half of the Han Dynasty known as the former Han.

Wang Mang’s rule

• He minted new money to relieve the treasury’s shortage.• He used the country’s surplus of food to feed the poor• He took away large landholdings from the rich and

planned to redistribute• What do you think was the effect of Wang Mang’s new

policy on the country?• This caused anger among the rich landowners and the

large supply of money disrupted the economy for it allowed people to increase their spending, which encouraged merchants to raise prices (supply and demand theory)

Wang Mang’s Fate

• A flood came left thousands dead and millions homeless. The public supply of food could not feed the displaced, starving people. = peasants revolted

• The wealthy revolted – they opposed Wang Mang’s land policy.

• Wang Mang was assassinated in A.D.23 by rebels• In 2 years (A.D. 25), a member of the former Han

imperial family took throne and began the second half of the Han, the Later Han.

Later Han

• Peace restored and Han was prosperous for 2 decades.

• The government tried to regain the original posts along the Silk Road, This expansion could not be maintained. Why?

• The expansion could not make up for social, political, and economic weakness within the empire itself. With in a century the Later Han disintegrated. (A.D. 220)

Han Dynasty

• Click on the title for a summary.

India

AryansMauryan

Gupta

Location of India and surrounding areas

Who are the Aryans?

• Aryans are Indo-European people who crossed over the northwest mountain pass into the Indus River Valley.

Vedas

• There was no archaeological record, their sacred literature, the Vedas, left a fairly reliable picture of Aryan Life.

• What is inside the Vedas?• The Vedas are four collections of prayers,

magical spells, and instructions for performing rituals.

Aryan Caste system

• When they first arrived in India, Aryans were divided into three social classes: Brahmins (priests), warriors and peasants or traders. The class that an Aryan belonged to determined his or her role in society.

• Eventually, non-Aryan laborers or craftsman formed a fourth group.

Caste system

About the Caste system statue, Perusha

• According to Indian tradition, four major cates emerged from the mouth, arms, legs, and feet of Perusha (the first human being).

• Perusha is identified with the creator god Brahma.• The body parts indicate the dignity and role of the

caste that emerged from it.• Shudras , non-Aryan, did work the Aryans did not

want to do • Varna, or skin color, was a distinguishing feature of

this system.

Perusha (click on title)

Group project

Make a chart for the four religions/philosophy

founder Ideology/Beliefs

geography origin and

time period

Worshiping gods

Religion or philosophy

Hinduism

Buddhism

Daoism

Confucianism

First Empires of India

• By 600 B.C.E. almost a 1000 years after the Aryan migrations, many small kingdoms were scattered throughout India.

• In 326 B.C.E., Alexander the Great brought the Indus Valley in the Northwest under Greek control-but left the region almost immediately.

• Soon after, a great Indian military leader, Chandragupta Maurya, seized power for himself.

Mauryan

Chandragupta

• He began the Mauryan Empire in 321 B.C.E.• He raised large armies to conquer more

territory. By 303B.C.E. The Mauryan Empire stretched more than 2000 miles, uniting north India politically for the first time.

Mauryan Empire under Chandragupta

Running the Empire

• Chandragupta relied on an advisor, who was a member of the priestly caste. This advisor wrote a book on how to hold an empire together.

• Following his advice Chandragupta created a highly bureaucratic government. He chose his officials carefully and kept them closely supervised.

• He divided the empire into four provinces, each headed by a royal prince. Each province was then divided into local districts, whose officials assessed taxes and enforced the law.

Asoka

Asoka

• Chandragupta’s grandson, Asoka, brought the Mauryan Empire to its greatest heights

• Asoka continued to follow the book on how to hold a vast empire together and continued the philosophy of waging war to expand his power.

• He won a neighboring battle to the south east, even though 100,000 soldiers were slain and even more civilians perished.

Buddhism and Asoka

• Asoka felt sorrow over the slaughter. • This sorrow led Asoka to follow what

teaching/philosophy/religion?• As a result, he studied Buddhism and decided

to rule by Buddha’s teaching of nonviolence and tolerence.

Why a Decline happened to Mauryan

• Even though Asoka’s concern for his subject’s well-being, His policies of tolerance and nonviolence could not hold the vast empire together when he died in 232 B.C.E.

1. Asoka had to balance the teachings from the book on how to run a vast empire and the teachings of Buddhism of unselfishness.

2. Asoka softened his rule When he converted to Buddhism.3. He allowed his own officials to look out for his subjects’ welfare.4. He kept his army but sought to rule humanely5. He sent missionaries to southeast Asia to spread Buddhism.6. Buddhism seemed to be more important than running an

empire.

Mauryan Empire of Ashoka (click on title)

Film notes:::Fill in your gaps

Gupta

The Gupta Empire

• After 500 years of invasion and turmoil, a strong leader again arose in the northern state of Magadh.

• His name was Chandra Gupta (no relation to Chandragupta Maurya).

• The Gupta was the second empire of India.• The Gupta grew the Hindu culture

An Empire being built

• Chandra Gupta I did not win by battle but by marriage. He married the daughter of an old, influential royal family.

• He called himself….?• “Great King of Kings” in 320 A.C.E.