Classical civilizations - China, India, and the Mediterranean
Foundations: c. 8000 B.C.E.–600 C.E.
Major Developments
- Classical civilizations - China, India, and the Mediterranean
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- Classical Civilizations – those with lasting influence over vast numbers
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- Political Developments
- Major themes
- Recurrent invasions from people from North
- Flooding a problem – how to control rivers
- China
- Zhou – 1027-771 BCE replaced Shang – mandate of heaven – rationalization
- Expanded territory – added southern rice valley
- further centralized gov’t
- Feudal system
- Too large to control
- Developed bureaucracies – bureaus - departments
- Worked for couple centuries
- But nobles build up wealth/power
- Split off into individual kingdoms
- Nobles given power over small regions
- King gave noble protection for loyalty
- Too large to control
- Emperors lived lives of luxury
- Standardized language
- Classical age
- Hundreds Schools of Thought
- Philosophers – practical and metaphysical
- Wanted to see political reform
- Hundreds Schools of Thought
- Longest lasting dynasty
- Mandate of Heaven
- Power as long as gods allowed
- Corruption/military defeat weakened a ruler > gods no longer in favor
- Lasted until 500 BCE when internal conflict – Era of Warring States
- Qin – after Era of the Warring States – 221-202 BCE
- Shi Huangdi – “First Emperor” > dictatorial
- name applied to country
- Unified country by conquering warring feudal states
- Abolished feudalism
- Instituted centralized gov’t that would be model
- one of briefest dynasties
- Major precedents
- Strong emperor
- Large Bureaucracy
- Expanded territory to Vietnam
- Defensive wall – Great Wall
- Shows empire well organized, centralized, brutal
- Weights, measures, coinage standardized
- Silk cloth encouraged
- Established uniform laws
- Legalism – state sponsored alternative to Confucianism/Taoism
- People are basically evil – must be kept in line w/ strict laws
- Rule cruel/autocratic
- Refused to tolerate any dissent
- Dissent in book > burned
- Dissent in scholar > killed
- Refused to tolerate any dissent
- Heavy taxes for peasants
- Overburdened peasants revolted and overthrew in 207 BCE
- Unified country by conquering warring feudal states
- Han – 200 BCE – 220 CE
- Governmental bureaucracy grew stronger
- Effective administration, postal service, tax-collecting
- Territory expanded to Central Asia, Korea, Indochina
- Under Emperor Wu (140-87 BCE) expanded furthest
- Wu Ti = Warrior Emperor
- Under Emperor Wu (140-87 BCE) expanded furthest
- Chinese civil service exam
- Excellent communicators/highly educated
- Test lasted for days
- Open to everyone, but only wealthy could afford to prepare
- Bureaucracy highly skilled
- Time of peace settled across China
- Threat of Huns not as significant as in Europe
- Government oversaw iron production
- Government sponsored and maintained canals, irrigation
- Name “Han” still used to refer to people
- Main goal – unification of China
- Reestablished Confucian philosophy
- Two million ethnic Chinese moved to northwestern region to colonize imperial frontier
- Expanded territory west to Turkistan
- Internal struggles for power destabilized
- Taxes grew to high
- Peasant uprising 184 BCE
- Yellow Turbans – secret society – anti-Han support
- Ended dynasty – led to Three Kingdoms
- Outside invaders made it tough to protect borders
- Similarities to Han and Roman empires
- Large and powerful
- Conquests plus effective administration
- Next 350 years state of chaos
- Governmental bureaucracy grew stronger
- Three Kingdoms (220-265 CE) – three domains
- Wei – northeast
- Shu – west
- Wu – south and east
- Balance – two kingdoms balance out third
- Wei grew more powerful – reunited in 265
- Zhou – 1027-771 BCE replaced Shang – mandate of heaven – rationalization
- India
- Aryans (1500 BCE)
- Lighter skinned Aryans + Darker skinned Dravidians
- About 600 BCE – divided into 16 states
- At first establish warrior aristocracy/enslaved Dravidians
- Maurya Empire (321-185 BCE)
- strong centralized
- Promoted trade and communication
- After brief period of rule Alexander the Great
- 330-321 BCE
- Regional lord – Chandragupta Maurya
- Powerful military
- Greatest ruler – Ashoka
- Successful warrior – converted to Buddhism
- Turned away from military conquest
- Disgusted by bloody victory over Kalinga
- Preached nonviolence/moderation
- Disgusted by bloody victory over Kalinga
- Building projects undertaken
- Admired for justice and attempts to create harmony between religions
- Rock and Pillar Edicts – billboards
- Live generous and righteous lives
- Missionaries sent out to spread Buddhism
- Brahmins lost power – angered
- w/ death Brahmins undermined
- Buddhism pushed to fringe of empire
- collapsed due to attacks from outsiders
- large, efficient bureaucracy
- maintain order, collect taxes, build infrastructure
- Gupta Empire (320 to 550 CE)
- ruled through central gov’t allowed village gov’ts power
- Advantageous alliances and military conquests
- More decentralized/smaller – “golden age”
- Firm supporters of Hinduism
- Brahmins restored to traditional role – advisors/gurus
- Control based on local lords
- Paid tribute for local autonomy
- One of the more peaceful/prosperous eras
- Around 450 CE Northern invaders brought Gupta empire to slow end
- much order from caste system/Hinduism
- Aryans (1500 BCE)
- Mediterranean
- Persian Empire – Cyrus the Great – system of provinces w/ governors
- Single code of laws
- Greece – not single political system/city-states
- Prevented from being united – terrain/islands
- Independent and competing
- Needed to be militarily powerful
- Civil wars plus expansion to new colonies
- Constant conflict between self and outsiders
- polis – city-state – politics
- Most oligarchies – narrow, elite families
- Transition to democracy gradual
- Monarchy > aristocracy > democracy
- Draco and Solon – fair, equal, firm laws
- Transition to democracy gradual
- Key city-states
- Athens – democracy – others dictatorship, oligarchy
- Direct democracy – male citizens – lot – general assembly
- Height under Pericles – 462-429
- even with restrictions, most representative government in ancient world
- Direct democracy – male citizens – lot – general assembly
- Sparta – rigid, slave-holding dictatorship
- most effective/feared army
- Athens – democracy – others dictatorship, oligarchy
- Persian Wars (492-479) led to Athenian dominance
- Golden Age of Pericles – Delian League
- Followed by Peloponnesian War
- Led to Greek weakening
- Open to Persian influence
- Invasion from North – Macedon – Philip II
- Led to Greek weakening
- Philip II son – Alexander the Great
- 33 – exhaustion, alcoholism, fever
- campaign – 40,000 troops, 20,000 miles, 3600 days
- Roman Republic –
- Senate from patrician class, two consuls, tribunes protect interests
- Most positions by aristocrats
- Roman Empire
- Bureaucrats – civil servants
- Captured areas – provinces, but a bit of self-government
- Single Roman Law Code throughout
- Bureaucrats – civil servants
- Persian Empire – Cyrus the Great – system of provinces w/ governors
- Major themes
- Major trading patterns within and among Classical civilizations; contacts with adjacent regions
- China
- Zhou
- Qin
- silk cloth encouraged
- Roads constructed
- Forced labor to build thousands of miles
- Han
- Trade along Silk Roads increased
- Economy strong – monopoly of silk production
- Downturn in agricultural production hurt
- Trade thrived
- Helped spread Buddhism
- Carried far more luxury items than culture
- Government sponsored and maintained canals, irrigation
- Trade along Silk Roads increased
- India
- Aryans
- Mauryans
- Promoted trade and communication
- Ashoka creates roads with rest areas for travelers
- Roads connected with the Silk Roads
- Wealthy through trade
- Silk, cotton, elephants to Mesopotamia/Rome
- Buddhist missionaries sent out
- Angered Brahmins
- Guptas
- Traded ideas – “Arabic” number system
- Mediterranean
- Greece
- Gained wealth and power through trade/strong navy
- Trade necessary because agriculture on large scale impossible
- Natural harbors, mild weather
- Trade and cultural diffusion by boat
- Had to develop sophisticated methods of communication, transportation, governance to regulate trade
- Wine and olive products for grain
- Replaced barter system with money system
- Money invented by Lydians
- Alexander the Great
- 20,000 miles – conquered Persian Empire
- Opened traded to Hellenistic world
- 20,000 miles – conquered Persian Empire
- Gained wealth and power through trade/strong navy
- Greece
- China
- Arts, sciences, and technology
- China
- Zhou
- Iron Age
- Xin
- Modernized army
- Iron weapons, crossbows, cavalry warfare
- Modernized army
- Han
- Paper
- Accurate sundials/calendars
- Broaden use of metals
- Agriculture improves
- ox-drawn plow
- collar to prevent choking
- Zhou
- India
- Aryans
- Vedas – part of Hindu scripture
- First transmitted orally – later recorded in Sanskrit
- Sanskrit – elite language
- Epic Age (1000-600 BCE)
- Ramayana
- Mahabharata – greatest epic poem of India
- Upanishads – collection of religious epic poems
- Mauryans
- Guptas
- Classical Age of India
- Supported Hinduism led to revival in Hindu art, literature, music
- Great temples built
- Fashioning iron for many uses/weapons
- Guptas – enthusiastic patrons of Hindu culture
- High towered temples
- Lavish wall paintings – Caves of Ajanta
- Growth of Sanskrit as language of educated
- Inoculation of smallpox
- Sterilization during surgery/cleaning wounds
- Plastic surgery/setting of bones
- Astronomy – eclipses – identification of planets
- Classic Hindu temple – courtyards, paintings, sculptures
- Scientific/mathematic breakthroughs
- Pi, zero, decimal system
- numerical system – called “Arabic” due to traders
- Aryans
- Mediterranean
- Overview – celebration of life, human experience
- Served as inspiration for Renaissance and Enlightenment
- Greek – Golden Age – 500-350 BCE – “Periclean Age”
- Philosophy
- Truth through rational thought and deliberate observation
- Many findings proved erroneous
- Process, not findings that are key
- Precedent – seeking knowledge for its own sake – pure science
- Nature became focus – more orderly than gods
- Truth through human examination not religious ritual
- Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
- Rational inquiry
- Socrates – seek answers by asking questions
- Be rational with moral issues
- Skeptical about conventional methods of thinking
- Tried and convicted for corrupting the youth
- Committed forced suicide
- Plato – student of Socrates – wrote down his teachings
- Perfect “forms” were basis of nature
- Wrote of perfect government – philosopher kings
- Academy – 387 BCE – first higher learning institution
- Aristotle – logic, observation, experimentation led to scientific method
- Need for moderation and self-knowledge
- Knowledge of physical world through observing phenomenon and drawing conclusions
- Truth through rational thought and deliberate observation
- Sculpture/Architecture among ancient world’s finest
- “Classical” architecture
- Pillars and cupolas copied around the world
- Geometric shapes – triangles and cylinders
- US impact seen from Capitol buildings
- Realistic human statues
- Students of human body
- Statuary survived to this day
- “Classical” architecture
- Math and science – Pythagoras
- Built on knowledge of Babylonians/Egyptians
- Hippocrates – diseases have only natural causes
- “Father of Medicine”
- First to say medicine different science than religion
- Created field of medicine
- Hippocratic Oath – Greek idealism
- Body has four “humors” – yellow bile, black bile, phlegm and blood
- Literature
- Homer – West’s first literary masterpieces
- Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripedes
- Vernacular
- Herculean, read horoscopes
- Comedies and tragedies
- First practitioners of theater
- Homer – West’s first literary masterpieces
- China
- Social and Gender Relations
- China
- Zhou
- Xin
- Han
- Traditions reinforced through strengthened patriarchal system
- Society further stratified
- Elite class – educated governmental bureaucracy
- Peasants
- Artisans
- Unskilled laborers, small number of slaves – mean people
- Themes
- Few live in cities – less than 10%
- Social hierarchy
- Confucius – five basic levels of relationships
- ruler/subject
- father/son
- elder brother/younger brother
- husband/wife
- friend/friend
- each relationship has set of duties/responsibilities between superior/subordinate
- harmony the result of right conduct
- North – wheat, south – rice
- Fishing, hunting, forestry, tea growing main industries in mountain
- Tenant farmers – bulk of rural population – for landlords
- Power from court of emperor – implemented by scholar-gentry
- Hierarchy in Provinces
- Scholar-gentry landlords
- Military
- Artisans
- Landed peasants
- Landless tenant peasants
- Hierarchy in Capital
- Emperor, Officials, Eunuchs, Military, Artisans
- . When crops failed
- Higher starvation, infanticide, lawlessness, peasant revolts
- Extended family
- Call on spirits of dead ancestors – advocates with gods
- Extended family most influential feature
- Multi-generational homes – respect to elders
- Patrilineal wealth – passed down to son
- Female identity extension of father/husband
- Family to family network of connections
- Business, social life, marriage
- Patriarchal – voice of authority for family – to government
- Taoist – yin/yang
- Assertive masculinity vs. gentle/submissive female
- Women could get power in court
- Favored concubine/wife
- Daughters not valued as much – female infanticide
- Sold as servants/slaves for debts
- Taoist – yin/yang
- India
- Caste system – introduced by Aryans – migrated 1500 BCE
- 3000 BCE – Varna – four classes – where is soul
- Brahma – priests
- Warrior class
- Farmer/merchant class
- Laborers
- Scheduled class/untouchables – outside class structure
- Assigned menial jobs
- Birth determines occupation, traditions, social strata for spouse
- 3000 BCE – Varna – four classes – where is soul
- Tenets of Hinduism/caste maintained order
- Aryans
- Village organization – patriarchal control
- Customs devalued role of women
- Not allowed to own property
- Bound them to fathers and husbands
- Sati – women killed selves on husband’s funeral pyres
- Honor and purity to wife
- Sati – women killed selves on husband’s funeral pyres
- Bound them to fathers and husbands
- More isolated/segregated – purdah
- Contact w/ family members only, no public
- Not allowed to own property
- Used skin color to separate classes
- New elites had darker skin than conquered people
- First three classes Aryans – final dark-skinned
- During Epic Age – warriors and priests reversed authority
- Mauryans
- Guptas
- Women saw rights diminished
- Declared minors in need of supervision by male
- Daughters neglected, infanticide
- Couldn’t participate in sacred rituals/study religion
- Couldn’t own property
- Child marriage became norm – girls six/seven
- Due to property issues in urban area
- Because of strict caste division, slavery not widespread
- Return of Guptas solidified caste system
- Proliferated and evolved
- Brahmin – priestly class
- Kshatriya – warrior
- Vaishya – producing caste
- Shudra – servant caste
- Harijans – untouchables
- Not even a caste
- Do tasks that might “pollute” Hindu culture
- Waste products, butchering, carrying dead
- Further castes – jatil – subcastes
- Proliferated and evolved
- Women saw rights diminished
- Mediterranean
- Slavery – Sumerians – survivors of opponents into labor
- Egypt – Hebrews, Sumerians, Romans – Nubia
- 1000 CE Islamic East Coast – trans-Saharan slave trade
- children of slave could convert and be freed
- female slave marries owner, freed
- Muslims took slaves from conquered territory
- Serfdom – Middle Ages – Western/eastern Europe
- peasant can use plot of land in exchange for protection
- worked lord’s land
- peasant can use plot of land in exchange for protection
- Greece
- Overall – three groups
- citizens – adult males engaged in commerce
- free people with no political rights
- non-citizens/slaves – had no rights 33%
- Slavery common - excluded from political life
- enabled democracy
- Greek citizens time to meet, vote, create works of art and philosophy
- potential to move up
- skilled jobs, partially owned businesses, maybe buy freedom
- enabled democracy
- women treated as inferior – excluded from political life
- In Sparta, some girls received military training
- Greatest female equality of all city-states, maybe nations
- Married to men in their teens
- Father choose husband, power switched to new hus
- Virginity prized until marriage
- Childbirth expected after wedding
- Could not own property, participate in political life
- Divorce only initiated by man
- but…did have significant roles in religious festivals and rituals
- In Sparta, some girls received military training
- Overall – three groups
- Slavery – Sumerians – survivors of opponents into labor
- Caste system – introduced by Aryans – migrated 1500 BCE
- China
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Subject:
US History [1]
Subject X2:
US History [1]