Indus River Valley is present-day Pakistan
Flourished for about 1,000 years then
vanished.
Cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
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Each city was laid out in a grid pattern
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All houses were built of uniform oven-fired clay bricks
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Houses had modern plumbing, baths, drains and
water chutes that led into sewers beneath the streets.
Most people of the Indus Valley were farmers.
They were the first people to cultivate cotton,
and weave fibers into cloth.
Religious Beliefs – they were polytheistic and
believed in a mother goddess = the source of
the universe.
We do not know what happened to them.
Scholars believe that it may have been
Aryan Society
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Groups of Indo-European people who migrated across
Hindu Kush mountains.
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They built no cities and left no statues or stone seals.
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They were ruled by “raja” (princes).
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We know about them from the “Vedas” – a collection
of prayers, hymns, and other religious teachings.
From Nomads to Farmers.
They settled into villages to grow crops
and breed cattle.
Around 800 B.C. they learned to make
tools out of iron.
By 500 B.C. a new Indian civilization
emerged, people shared a common
Aryans divided people by occupation There are three
basic groups –
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The Brahmins – priests
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The Kshatriyas – Warriors
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Vaisyas – herders, farmers, artisans and merchants
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Sudras – peasants
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Untouchables – lowest level. Not considered
humans. They must walk with two sticks that they
clap together to warn others that they are near.
If touched by an untouchable you must wash the
Three generations living under the same roof.
The father or oldest male was the head of the
family.
Upper class boys were taught by a guru.
They were not allowed to marry until they finished
12 years of school. Divorce is not allowed.
Marriages were arranged by the parents.
Ritual of the Suttee
◦ Dead people are put onto Pyre – then set on fire.
Information comes from the Vedas – a collection of hymns and
prayers.
Believed in a single force in the universe, a form of ultimate
reality or god called Brahman. Goal was to merge with Brahman at death.
Reincarnation – rebirth of the soul until it reaches union with
Brahman.
Karma: the force generated by a person’s actions that
determines how the person will be reborn in the next life.
Dharma: divine law. Requires all people to do their duty.
Yoga: a method of training designed to lead to union with
Three main gods:
Brahma – the creator
◦ Vishnu the Preserver
◦ Siva the destroyer
◦ Angi the god of fire and a messenger who communicated human wishes to the gods.
◦ Fierce Indra was the god of war
◦ Varuna was the god of order and creation.
Siva the destroyer
Fierce Indra Vishnu the preserver
Mahabharata:
◦ India’s greatest epic. Nearly 100,000 verses. Talks about the battles that rival Aryan tribes fought to gain control of the Ganges region.
◦ Five royal brothers (Pandavas ) lose their kingdom to their cousins. After an 18 day battle they regain their kingdom.
◦ The most famous section is the Bhagavad Gita a sermon by the god Krishna on the eve of a major battle. His message:
“In taking action , one must not worry
It is an account of the
fictional hero Rama and his beautiful bride Sita.
Rama finally rescues Sita
with the aid of the monkey general Hanuman.
The story has many moral
Founder was Siddhartha Gautama
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Son of a ruling family
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Raise in luxury and sheltered life
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At the age of 16 married
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Decided to spend his life seeking the “cure” for
human suffering.
At age 29 he left the palace
From age 29 – 35 he fasted, meditated then
found enlightenment.
Sat under a fig tree for 48 days reached
“Enlightenment” changed his name to Buddha
which means “enlightened one”.
Bodhi = wisdom
Nirvana = ultimate reunion with the Great World
The Four Noble Truths:
◦ Ordinary life is full of suffering (life is full of sorrow and suffering)
◦ The suffering is caused by our desire to satisfy ourselves (we suffer because we want the things we know we can not have)
◦ The way to end suffering is to end desire for selfish goals ( the way to overcome these frustrating desires and
reach a state of not wanting)
◦ the way to end desire is to follow the middle path. ( the way to reach this state of enlightenment is through
We need to know the four noble truths
We need to decide what we really want
Speak the truth and speak well of others
Do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, do not be unchaste, do
not take drugs or do alcohol.
Do work that uplifts our being
Follow the right effort – stay the course
We are the result of all thought
Buddha rejected the idea of priests, formal rituals and
many of the gods of Hinduism.
He rejected the idea of the caste system.
He taught for 45 years.
People began to see Buddha as a god, and nirvana as
heaven.
Buddhism divided into two sects:
◦ Theravada – follow Buddha’s original teachings
The Shang Dynasty
◦ 1750 to 1045 BC.
◦ Farming society rule by an aristocracy.
◦ There were 5 different capitals cities the last being Anyang
◦ The empires were divided into territories rule by warrior or military leaders.
◦ Chinese kings were buried with their servants.
◦ They were the first to introduce the concept of Ancestor Worship.
Religion of the Shang
Shang Di – mother goddess who brought plants and animals to
Earth.
Oracle Bones: used to communicate with the gods. Questions Oracle Bones: used to communicate with the gods. Questions
were written on the bones, then a hot rod was inserted into the were written on the bones, then a hot rod was inserted into the bone how the bones broke would give the answer.
bone how the bones broke would give the answer.
Yin – Earth, darkness, female
Yang – Heaven, light, male
The importance of Yin and Yang is to maintain balance in the
Political Structure:
◦ King was seen as a link between Heaven and Earth.
◦ Territories were continued with governing officials responsible to the king.
◦ Mandate from Heaven:
It was believed that the Zhou king ruled over all humanity by a
mandate or command from heaven- he was to rule a proper way called Dao “Way”.
If he did not rule to keep his people safe – then he could be
overthrown.
Dynastic Cycle – with each new ruler there would be a time of
Life:
◦ Peasants worked the land for both themselves and the lord of the estate.
◦ Artisans and merchants lived in towns under control of the local lord.
Technology:
◦ Better development of irrigation & large scale water projects.
◦ Increase in food products.
◦ Development of iron plows
◦ more food led to increase in population to 50 million
Family is the basic economic and social unit
Filial Piety – respect for ones parents and
ancestors
Chinese Writing:
◦ Pictographs – pictures
◦ Ideographs – to relay ideas or thoughts
Male supremacy is the most important part of the
family.
◦ Men were responsible for providing food for the family, work in the fields, govern warriors, scholars and
government workers
Confucius:
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Called the “First teacher” Kungfuzi meaning
“Master Kung” .Born 551
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Traveled around China trying to convince political
leaders to follow his ideas.
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There were massive executions, and the country
needed to restore order.
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His saying are written in the Analects.
Five Constant Relationships: Not a religion
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Humans should act in harmony and with purpose.
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Five Constant Relationships:
Parent and child – parent should be loving and child
respectful
Husband and wife – husband should fulfill their
duties, wife should be obedient
Older sibling and younger sibling – older should be
kind, younger respectful
Older friend and younger friend
Ruler and subject – rulers should be benevolent
Tao Te Ching (The Way of the Dao).
Discover the “Way of the Universe”.
Tao can not be explained in words - it has to be sensed or felt
and could only happen after the mind had been emptied of all other thought and emotion.
Symbols _ raw silk, uncarved block of wood, newborn child – all in
their natural state unchanged by society.
Does not involve itself in the meanings of the universe – but
serves as guide for proper forms of behavior.
“The best way to act in harmony with the universal order is to act
Proposed that human beings were evil by
nature and therefore needed strict and
harsh laws with stiff punishments.
Believed that a strong ruler was needed to
create an orderly society.
Mencius – He taught that individuals were
Ruler was Qin Shihuangdi meaning the
First Qin Emperor at age 13.
Legalism was the form of government.
Public book burning.
Central Bureaucracy – civil division,
military division and censorate
(inspectors).
Unified the Chinese world.
Single monetary system.
Extended the border of China to the
Built to keep the
enemies out.
Has been rebuilt many
times.
Many workers died
and were buried in the
wall.
Spans 1500 miles.
Greatest and longest in Chinese History
Founder was Liu Bang (exalted Emperor of Han)
Changed government from Legalism to Confucianism.
Government officials were chosen based on merit rather than birth –
civil service exams.
Population increased to 60 million
Emperor Han Wudi increased the southern regions of the empire.
Society – land taxes were high, forced labor and military service was
common
New Technologies: water mills, iron casting, paper, rudder and
fore-and-aft rigging for ships, magnet to record earthquakes.
Silk worm was protected for 3,000 years. Under the Han
Most famous discovery came in
1974 – farmers found an
underground pit near the burial
mound of the First Qin Emperor.
It contained an army of solders –
imperial guard to be with the
emperor in the next world.
made of terra-cotta.
Archeologists estimate there are
more than 6 thousand soldiers.
