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According to the popular Chinese legend, it was the 1st pan ku who made the world
with the use of a hammer and a chisel. He completed this task after 18,000 years.
The people who preceded him also possessed pan ku’s distinct physical
appearance – they had several heads, a body resembled that of a snake and
enormous feet. It is widely held that some of the earliest and traditional Chinese
customs originated from these beings.
Prince Yu
• Xia Dynasty lasted for 14 generations before declining & being superseded
by the Shang Dynasty.
• It cannot be ascertained that it was indeed Prince Yu who established the Xia
Dynasty in 2205 BC. It is possible that Prince Yu supposedly fought off was
the Huang Ho or Yellow River which may be found in Northwest China where
the early Xia and Shang civilization were founded.
Shang Dynasty
• Animal bones and tortoise shells were used as talisman and for healing
infirmities
Heaven’s Mandate
• Is a concept in which Chinese people believed that kings were sent by gods
to rule over and administer them. They lead the people in making offerings
and seeking the intercession of their gods.
Society’s leaders
• Compose of ruling families, officials of the king’s court, including those who
possessed mystical powers and advisers of the king’s entire family.
Ordinary people
• Peasants and their families
Shang were often at war with neighbouring people & moved their capital several
times, Shang kings could mobilize large armies for warfare and huge numbers of
workers to construct defensive walls and elaborate tombs.
The capitals were also moved several times due to the overflowing of the Huang
Ho. Shang priests performed many rituals including human sacrifices to implore the
gods to spare their kingdom from the rampaging waters.
The worship of ancestors were also widespread during the Shang. Kings were
buried with ritual vessels, weapons, jades and numerous servants and sacrificial
victims suggesting that the Shang believe in afterlife. The people believed that each
person had two kinds of spirits– one is left in this world and while the other one joins
the spirit world.
Shang dynasty ended in 110 BC due to unclear reasons. Some historians say
that it’s because the Shang leaders had last the “heaven’s mandate”, and therefore
must be replaced.
The last centre of the dynasty was set up in the province of Hunan.
CULTURAL LINKAGES
- Cyrus the Great unified people of Iranian descent and created the
kingdom of Persia, eventually conquering and ruling territory from the
Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River.
Darius I
- Persia had been conquered by Alexander The Great (died in 323 BC), his
empire
- Became king og Mecedonia when his father (Philip II) was assassinated in
336 BC.
- Led his troops in campaigns against Egypt and the Persian Empire.
The Seleucids ruled the Asian Kingdom, which broke into several states. One
of these, called Bactria, straddled the east-west and north-south trade routes.
Chinese silk and Indian cotton traveled across these routes to Greece and Rome in
exchange for glass, manufactured items and gold.
Before the nomadic Kushan tribes from Central Asia conquered Bactria, Greek
influences were dominant because the new rulers absorbed Hellenistic culture, or
Hellenism. Towards the 1st century AD, Greek was the international language of
business diplomacy.
INDIAN EXPANSION
The history and lives of the Indian people were influenced in a large part by
the country’s geography. Early India was composed of Pakistan, Bangladesh and
present day India.
India is shaped like a triangle; the sea bounds the eastern and western parts.
Its third side lies in the north and the huge mountains of the Himalayas and the
Hindu Kush serve as a wall.
India was not spared from attacks from invaders who passed through the
mountains. But while this may be so, foreign influences were not that effective in
altering the lives of the Indians.
The first phase of foreign invasion of India from the early stage up to the
middle ages. There where human made passages in the mountains that the foreign
attackers used to get to India. Another route that the western countries used was
through the sea in the 16th century when sea voyages were no longer dangerous
and when vessels were already more stable and sturdy.
In about 1500BC the Aryans settled in the upper reaches of the Indus,
yammuna, and gangetic plains. Aryans spoke a language from the indo European
family and worshiped gods. They passed through the Khyber Pass and bolan in the
hindu kush mountains. Before they successfully established a settlement in the
Indian plains known as “Hindustan’ (land of the Hindus), the Aryans engage in
battles against the daisyus. These are the natives of India who were called
“Dravidians.” According to the Aryans, the Dravidians were a race of short and dark
skinned people who lived in areas with high fences. By 800BC the Aryans ruled in
most of northern India, occasionally fighting among them or with the people of the
land they were settling in.
The Aryans destroyed the cities in Hindustan, and drove away the native
Dravidians. Intermarriages between the Aryans and Dravidians became
commonplace. Not long after, the Aryans themselves sought ways to disassociates
themselves with the Dravidians. Interaction, especially intermarriages between
Aryans and Dravidians were eventually prohibited.
The Aryans lived in the rural areas. They were organized into tribes under
elected kings who served as a judge, priest and warrior. There were times when the
kings unites against the Dravidians, but there were also times when they fought
against each other.
As the Aryans slowly settled into agriculture and moved southeast through
the gangetic plain, they changed their styles in living and political structures. They
lived in houses made from hardened mud. Theirs were extended families where
even married children stayed in the same house. The father is the head of the Aryan
family. Women enjoyed a high status in Aryan society.
Instead of warrior leading a tribe, a n Aryan chieftain ruled over the territory,
with its society divided into hereditary groups. This structure became the beginning
of the caste system, which has survived in India until the present day. The four
castes that emerged from this era were the Brahmans (priest), the Ksahatriyas
(warriors and rulers), the Vaisyas (merchants, farmers, and trades), and the Sudras
(artisans, laborers, and servants).
The Aryans established city states along the coastline of the ganges river in
900 BC while they were engaged in territorial expansion. The small tribes combined
and grew, giving rise to larger kingdoms. The epic phase lasted 400 years.
The Aryans are said to be very good carpenters and makers of bronze tools.
They used horse drawn carriages, a reflection of Homeric culture. They also
worshiped many gods including Indra, the god of warriors; Varuna, the god of the
heavens; and Rudra, the god of rains.
By about 7th century, the small kingdoms in the Ganges were embroiled in
conflict. Among these kingdoms, the state of Magadha which was hen under the
Saisanuga dynasty from the Kshatriya family prevailed. According to Jain
documents, king Bimbisara, a follower of Buddha, administered Magadha. Magadha
prospered due to a flourishing trade with Babylon, Indonesia in the Philipines.
Bimbisara was said to have been killed by his son Ajatasatru who was responsible
for expanding his father’s kingdom. Ajatasatru established Pataliputra as the
kingdoms capital city.
The nandas who were from a lower social ousted the Saisanuga dynasty.
Under nandas, Jainism and Buddhism continued to spread. Darious invaded
gandhara and the lower Indus community in 516 BC.
India is source of gold and soldiers brought to Persia. With the fall of the
Persian Empire, India was left open to yet another western invasion, this time from
the Greeks. The Greeks were resolute in their desire to overthrow Persian forces all
over the world. This prompted Alexander the great to travel to Persia.
Alexander and some 30,00o soldiers transverse the Indus river in 330 BC to
reach India. Alexander and his troops first entered Punjab, after which they
proceeded to Taxila, a rich community in India. Upon their return in Punjab, they
passed through Jhelum where they engaged the forces of Porus, an Indian king in a
fierce battle. After emerging victorious, Alexander was all set to proceed to the
Ganges but his men were not so ecstatic in following him anymore. Not even
Alexander promises of his men sharing in whatever riches they would find in Asia
were enough to convince his men to go with him. After three days of mulling it over,
Alexander decided that his mission of invasion ends there. Alexander instead went
to Babylonia where he contracted malaria and died in 323 BC.
Selecus nicator I, the patron of the Seleucids, attempted to take over the
territories established by Alexander. Fortunately, the native Indians led by the
mauryans thwarted his plans.
Chandragupta Maurya, the leader of the armed forces of the Nanda king in
Magadha, established the Mauryan Dynasty with the help of a Brahman priest
named Kautilya. Chandragupta attempted to kill the king of Nanda. His plan was
exposed and so he was banished from Magadha together with Kautilya.
Over a period of ten years, Chandragupta was able to take control of Punjab
as well the plains of Indus and Ganges Rivers. Since then, he was proclaimed not as
king, but as emperor.
• the state sought ways to further improve irrigation and embarked on flood
control projects
• the Mauryan people also made their livelihood from mining and trading
The emperor did not interfere on matters of religion. People were free to choose
and practice their faith. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism spread throughout the
Empire.
Kautilya was very good adviser to the emperor. He authored the Arthasastra,
which was a political discourse stated that a leader would have to employ both good
and bad means in order to maintain his authority.
Although the emperor was callous and merciless toward his enemies, he was
lenient and bighearted to his loyal followers. This is Chandragupta’s legacy to those
who come after him.
After his death in 298 BC, his son Bindusara who ruled until 273 BC replaced
Chandragupta. Under him, the empire expanded. Ashoka, who was Chandragupta’s
grandson, was able to defeat the Kalindas (now Orissa state).
1. They got the control over rich mineral deposits and trade in Ganges
sea
Samudragupta
(335-375AD)
Chandragupta I died in 335 AD
He gave himself the titles King of Kings and World Monarch. He is considered
the Napoleon of north India.
Chandragupta II
Son of Samudragupta
Writinmgs of Kalidasa
According to Fa Hsien:
The king was generous, patient and never resort harsh punishment
A. Literature
Decimal System
on his reign, the tribe of Huns already entered Northwest part of the
kingdom
And his death in 467 AD signaled the fall of the Gupta Dynasty
Harsha(606 AD)
His kingdom was the only one in terms of strength, to replace Gupta Dynasty
In 11th century, ZHOU dynasty rose against and defeated Shang Dynasty
Zhou kingdom into→ smaller feudal states→ feudal lords( chosen by Zhou
rulers)
Civilized: practiced li
King YU- last emperor of western zhou→ disowned his son and gave the
throne to his other son →queen’s father sought help of other feudal lords and
attacked Luoyang → king was killed and they moved the capital to Lu…….
And gave way to Eastern Zhou
A. Wu
B. Chu
C. Yue
Most important
Confucianism
TEACHINGS:
A. Paternalistic government
Friends
Taoism
2nd to Confucianism
Tao= “way”
“blank paper”
Lasted 15 years
Leader: Qin Shihuangd, who confiscated all the properties of feudal lords
Before the use of bricks, the Great Wall was mainly built from Earth or Taipa,
stones, and wood.
During the Ming Dynasty, however, bricks were heavily used in many areas of
the wall, as were materials such as tiles, lime, and stone. Consequently,
stones cut in rectangular shapes were used for the foundation, inner and
outer brims, and gateways of the wall.
Hsiang Yu
China became miserable and the people returned the power to Liu Pang and
transferred the capital to Luoyang
Discovery of compass
604: Wen Ti was succeeded by his son Yang Guang → Yang Dynasty →
failed
Li Yuan: emperor
Chang-an →capital
Policies:
1. Land Reform
2. Government Reforms
3. Legalist System
4. Military System
Contributions:
A. Art
B. Buddhism
University of the Assumption
College of Nursing
Asian Civilization
BSN 3A
Group 3
Catherine Makabali
Nheyshielle Salalila
Sarah Zablan