Religion in China

Section 4.4-4.5

Confucius

• Born 551 BCE• Scholar• Advised rulers• Zhou Dynasty• Turned to teaching• Never wrote down ideas• Philosophy: system of ideas concerned with

worldly goals, social order and good govt

5 Relationships

• Harmony when people accept place in society

• 5 key relationshipsFather to sonElder brother to younger brotherHusband to wifeRuler to subject Friend to friend

• Except for friendship, none of relationships are equal

Duties

• Superiors should care for inferiors• Inferiors owe loyalty and obedience to

superiors• Correct behavior brings order and stability• Filial piety: respect for parents above all

other duties• Honesty, hard work, concern for others

Government

• Ruler had responsibility to provide good govt• In return people should be respectful and

loyal citizens• Lead by good example• Should be well educated

Spread of Confucianism

• Ideas influenced Chinese life• Rulers relied on ideas• Traditional customs- ancestor worship• China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea• 1/3 of world under influence of ideas

Legalism• Hanfeizi • “Nature of man is evil”• Order through strict laws, harsh punishments• Strength, not goodness, is most important for

rulers• Many rulers found Legalism more effective than

Confucianism• Qin Dynasty– Rules so severe that future generations hated

Legalism– Worked for building Great Wall of China

Daoism

• Unspoken way• Laozi- “Old Master”• Lived at time of Confucius• The Way of Virtue• Living in harmony with nature• Focus- finding the Dao• Reject conflict

Daoism

• Viewed government as unnatural• Evolved into popular religion with gods and

goddesses• Searched for immortality• People blended Confucianism and Daoism

into one religion– Confucianism- how to behave– Daoism- how to view natural world

Buddhism in China

• 100 AD– Mahayana Buddhism spread to China

• Chinese had trouble—give up family tradition for solitary meditation (monks)

• Popular in times of crisis• 400 AD- spread through China• Buddhist monasteries– Absorbed Confucianism and Daoism

Shi Huangdi

• Conquered warring states• United dynasty using Legalism• Built Qin dynasty• 36 Military districts• Monitored nobles, had spies across empire• Standard weights and measures• Transportation, building projects

Dissent

• Jailed, tortured, killed all opposition• Book burning

Great Wall of China

• All walls joined together and extended• Thousands worked through all conditions• 25 feet high, topped with road• Workers died and were buried in the wall• Thousands of miles long• Symbol of people• Divided civilized world from nomadic

“barbarians”• Qin dynasty collapsed, Han dynasty founded

Han Dynasty• Han Wudi• 141 BCE-87 BCE• Confucian rule• Monopoly on iron and salt– Complete control of product or business by one

group• Expansionism– Increasing amount of territory and Chinese rule– Drove nomads beyond Great Wall– Expanded into Koreas, Vietnam, Tibet, Central Asia

Silk Road

• Trade route• New foods to China– Walnuts, grapes, figs, cucumbers

• Glass• Chinese sent silk westward– Growing demand

• Stretched 4,000 miles• Goods relayed in stages• Linked Persia to China

Han

• Confucianism- official belief of state• Collapse- courts undermined leaders• Warlords controlled region- powerful

military leaders• Overthrew in 220 AD• Invaders poured over Great Wall– started own states

Han Achievements