Chapter 3 Notes

Ancient India & China

India

• Diverse Geography• Himalayan and Karakoram mountains

• Ganges and Indus River Valleys

• Deccan Plateau

Ancient India

• Indus Valley Civilization• (3000 BC to 1500 BC)

• Major Cities were Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa

• Well organized with public wells & advanced drainage system

Indus Valley (continued)

• Theocracies

• Economy based on farming by the Indus River

• Traded with Mesopotamia

Aryans (1500 BC)

• Moved from Asia into India and conquered the Harappans

• Controlled all of India by 1000 BC

• Could farm with the help of the Iron plowshare

Aryans (continued)

• Developed Sanskrit, their first writing system• Used for recording legends and

religious chants

• The Vedas were religious hymns• The Bhagavad Gita was the most

famous section of the Mahabhara

Caste System• Light-skinned Aryans looked down

on dark skinned subjects

• A set of social categories that determined a persons occupation & economic potential

• The caste system still exists today

5 major castes• Brahmins (priests)

• Kshatriyas (warriors)• Vaisyas (commoners)• Sudras (Dark skinned natives who worked for the Vaisyas)

• Untouchables (not considered human, lived in separate areas)

Hinduism

Collection of ancient beliefs, no single “founder”

• Believed in the existence of a single force in nature, called Brahman

• A person’s actions will determine how they are reborn in their next life

• Goal is to be unified with Brahman

Buddhism• Founded by Siddhartha GautamaBeliefs:

• Escape from suffering• Promise of eternal salvation

Spread throughout China

Monasteries became important centers of learning

Mauryan Dynasty (324 BC)• Centralized government with

provinces

• Asoka was the greatest ruler in the history of India

• He used Buddhist ideals to guide his rule • Provided rest stops & animal hospitals

Silk Road (around 1 AD)• Silk was China’s most valuable

product

• Ran from China to Eastern Europe

• India prospered from the trade between the Romans and the Chinese

Gupta Empire (320 AD)

• Known for religious toleration

• Great traders

• This was the Golden Age of India

Indian Science• Earth was round, on it’s axis, and

revolved around the sun• Algebra• Concept of zero

• Indians gave their number system to the Arabs• The Arabs gave this number system

to the Europeans

Ancient China

• Diverse geography•Huang and Yangtze rivers

•Deserts, Mountains•China isolated by natural barriers

Shang Dynasty (1750 – 1122 BC)

• Major concern was war

• King could choose & remove aristocratic leaders

• Strong belief in life after death

• Mastery of bronze casting

Zhou Dynasty (1045 – 256 BC)

• Mandate of Heaven• heaven kept order through the king

• king had authority from heaven to command

Technology & Family

• Technology• Irrigation was widely used• Increased food production due to iron plowshares…

this led to increased populationE048186 Trinity+1

• Family• Filial piety -> duty of members of the family to put

the needs of the leading male in the family ahead of their own

Religion• Hinduism & Buddhism

• focused on freeing the soul from the cycle of rebirth

• Confucianism, Daoism, & Legalism• focused on the immediate world and how to

create a stable order in that world

Important People

• Confucius: Great Teacher• People must behave in accordance

with Tao (the Way)

• Filial piety: respect family, elders first

Confucianism

• 5 relationships• parent and child, • husband and wife, • elder sibling and junior sibling,

• elder friend and junior friend,

• ruler and subject

Confucianism (continued)

• Duties & responsibilities

• Filial piety

• Social Harmony

• Kings should lead by example

Daoism• Based on the ideas of Lao Zi

• Tries to set proper forms of behavior for human beings on Earth

• Act spontaneously and let nature take its course without interfering in it

Legalism• People are evil by nature

• Create order through strict laws and harsh punishment

• Feudal leaders agreed with this

Qin Dynasty (221 – 206 BC)

• United China into a centralized state

• Legalism became their ideology• Bureaucracy divided into 3 parts:

• Civil, military, censorate (Checked on government officials)

• Built the Great Wall of China

Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD)

• Established schools for civil positions

• Followed Confucius’ ideals

• Population increased

• Expanded Chinese Empire

Great Chinese Inventions• Magnetic compass

• Gunpowder

• Paper

• Printing

• Iron casting (led to steel)

• Fore-and-aft rigging for ships