India and China

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Hinduism and Buddhism

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It has no single founder and no single sacred text
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Due to that, it has become very complex with countless Gods and Goddesses
However all Hindu’s share certain basic beliefs

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Many Gods- or One?
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The universe is part of the unchanging, all powerful spiritual force called Brahman
Most important God’s are:
Brahma – Creator
Vishnu – Preserver
Shiva – Destroyer
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Each represents parts of Brahman
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Sacred Texts
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Hindu teachings recorded in Vedas and Upanishads
Specifically the Bhagavad-Gita

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The Goal of Life
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Everyone has an essential self, or Atman
Ultimately desire Moksha
Union with Brahman
Achieved by discarding selfish desires
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Believe in reincarnation
Rebirth of the soul in another form
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Allows people to work towards moksha

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Karma and Dharma
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Must obey the law of Karma
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All the actions a person’s life that affect his or her fate in the next life
Live virtuously and earn higher level of existence
Live selfishly and earn suffering
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They stress Dharma
The religious and moral duties of an individual
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Obey Dharma, a person acquires merit for the next life

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Also believe in Ahimsa
Nonviolence
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Opposition to the Brahmins
Emphasized meditation, self-denial, and an extreme form of ahimsa

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Foothill of Himalayas, Siddhartha Gautama founded Buddhism
Early Life
Signs predicted that Gautama would become a wandering holy man
Gautama was in the high caste system
The Search
When he discovered misery, he left home to seek the cure to misery
Sought Hindu wisdom, but found no answer
He sat and meditated for 48 days, until he understood the cure
He arose and became Buddha, “Enlightened One”

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Followers accompanied the
Buddha as he preached across
Northern India.
Some Buddhists set up monasteries and convents that grew into centers of learning.
Missionaries and traders spread
Buddhism across India to many parts of Asia.

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Four Noble Truths
All life is full of suffering, pain and sorrow
The Cause of suffering is the desire for things that are really illusions, such as riches, power, and long life
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The only cure for suffering is to overcome desire
The way to overcome desire is to follow the
Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Path being “right views, right aspirations,
Right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right contemplation.”
Final Goal is Nirvana
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Union with the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth

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Buddhism and Hinduism Compared
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Both stress nonviolence, believed in Karma,
Dharma, Moksha, and a cycle of rebirth
Buddha rejects priests, formal rituals and many gods of Hinduism

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“Work out your own salvation with diligence” Buddha
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Sacred Text
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Tripitaka
“Three Baskets of Wisdom
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“Overcome anger by not growing angry.
Overcome evil with good. Overcome the liar by truth”

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Two Sects
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Split into two major sects
Smaller groups
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Theravada
Strict Buddha followers that believed only monks and nuns could reach nirvana
Mahayana
Easier for ordinary people to reach nirvana
Saw Buddha and others God’s as compassionate and more personal
Described many heavens and hells
Decline in India
Hinduism ultimately absorbed some Buddhist ideas
Buddhism generally driven out of India

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Powerful Empires of India

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Rival Rajah’s fought over control of
Ganges Valley
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Chandragupta
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Chandragupta Maurya forged the first great
Indian Empire
After conquering the Ganges Valley, he conquered north India
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He had a well organized bureaucracy taxes, managed state owned factories and shipyards
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Effective government, but harsh crack down on dissent any differing or opposing ideas

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Asoka
Most honored Maurya emperor
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Conquered much of the Deccan Plateau
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Converted to Buddhism rejected violence, and resolved to rule by moral example
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Sent missionaries to Sri Lanka
People sent on a religious mission
Helped spread Buddhism to Asia preached tolerance
Built temples, roads, hospitals, rest houses for travelers

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Division and Disunity
After Asoka’s death Maurya power declined by 185 B.C.
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Ancient times, as today, people are divided culturally in the south and the north
Often the north was conquered by foreigners

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People of the Deccan were Dravidians with different languages and traditions
For example, women had high status and economic power
Religiously tolerant
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Trade was very important
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Improved harbors to support overseas trade
Especially to the Roman Empire

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Arose out of the north of India
Gupta emperors had a strong central government that promoted peace and prosperity
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Golden age between 320-550 A.D.
period of great cultural achievements
Peace and Prosperity
Generally a confederate style government
 locals having most power
Trade and Farming very bountiful
Exported to East Africa, Middle East and Southeast
Asia

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Advances in Learning
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Students educated in religious schools including math, medicine, physics, languages, literatures, and other subjects
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Created numerals including zero, decimal system of numbers based on 10
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Architecture
Hindus built stone temples
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Buddhist built stupas large dome-shaped shrines that housed the sacred remains of the Buddha or other holy people

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Magnificent Carvings
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Both temples and stupas, were covered in magnificent carvings of gods and goddesses including Shiva, who is a four-armed God
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Paintings at Ajanta
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Murals painted recalling Buddhist stories and legends wall paintings
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Literature
Greatest Gupta poet and playwright was Kalidasa

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Eventually Gupta India declines under the pressure of weak rulers, civil war, and foreign invaders.
One group of invaders is the White Huns from Central Asia

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Pillars of Indian Life

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“It is better to do one’s own duty badly than to do another’s duty well.” Krishna from the Bhagavad-Gita
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Many Castes
As new groups of invaders were absorbed into society, new caste systems were created

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Complex Rules
Closely linked to Hindu beliefs
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Brahmins were pure and therefore closer to Moksha than lower class individuals
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Rules and dictations, regulated what, where, when individuals in the each caste system could do
Lowest outcastes were called “Untouchables” impure jobs such as digging graves, cleaning streets, or turning animal hides into leather
Upper classes avoided contact with untouchables

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Effects
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Caste system ensured a stable social order
Karma determined their caste
By doing their current duties, the could be rebirthed into a better caste system
Caste levels depended on each other, as only certain jobs were done in each caste

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Structure
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Ideal Family was a joint family parents, children, grandchildren, uncles, and their offspring shared a common dwelling
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Patriarchal society father or oldest male headed the household prosperity belonged to the whole family

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Children and Parents
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Learned early their caste rules and duties
Son learned the ritual duties of the males
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Daughters to serve and obey husband
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Parents duty was arranging good marriages based on caste and family interests
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 bride’s father offered dowry payment to the bridegroom financed the costly wedding festivities
Daughter would leave family for husband’s family

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Women’s Lives
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Generally had freedom to wonder freely
However through the years, the women began to be restricted
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Primary duty to marry, have kids and raise them
However, few rights otherwise
High Caste widows were not allowed to remarry

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Villages were filled with each level of the caste system
Doing the duties necessary for the village to survive
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Feudal system in terms of farms
Generally self-sufficient
However there was periodic communication between villages

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Philosophy and Religion in China

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“Lead the people by virtue… and they will have a sense of shame and moreover will become good.”
Confucius is the western version of the name
Kong Fuzi, or Master Kong
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Born in 551 B.C. to a noble but poor family
Became a teacher
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Much like Gautama Buddha in India and Socrates in
Greece, he did not formally write down his sayings
However his students collected them into the Analects
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He cared very little for religion and “Salvation”
He developed a philosophy concerned with worldly goals, specifically social order and a good government
System of ideas

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Five Relationships
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Harmony resulted when people accepted their positions in life father to son elder brother to younger brother husband to wife ruler to subject friend to friend
Superiors should care for their inferiors
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Correct Behavior would bring order and stability
Filial piety respect for parents, above all other duties

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Government
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Ruler must provide a good government specifically by good example
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Spread of Confucianism
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His ideas greatly influenced Chinese rulers, especially filial piety
Spread to Korea, Japan and Vietnam, as they were taken over by the Chinese Civilizations

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Philosopher Hanfeizi stressed that rulers impose strict rules to control human greed, the greatest evil
Became known as legalism
Influences Chinese ideas that people are required to work on government projects and punish those who shirk their duties

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Founder of Daoism was Laozi, or “Old
Master”
Wrote the book The Way of Virtue
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Sought to live in harmony with nature
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Seeking “They Way”
Focus on Dao or “The Way” of the universe
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Stress the virtue of yielding water the example most often used

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Government
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Viewed government as unnatural, there the cause of many problems
Best government governs the least
A Blend of Ideas
Evolved into a religion involving many gods, goddesses, and magical practices
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Eventually Confucianism and Daoism were combined by many
Confucianism showed them how to behave
Daoism influenced their view of the natural world

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By 100 A.D. Buddhist missionaries had spread
Mahayana Buddhism from India into China
Became very popular, despite conflict with cultural view of family
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Offered escape from suffering
Offered hope of eternal happiness and presented
Buddha as a compassionate, merciful God
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Through prayer, good works and devotion, anyone could hope to gain salvation

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By 400 A.D. Buddhism a prominent religion, while absorbing some ideas form Confucianism and Daoism
Chinese Buddhist monks stressed filial piety and honored Confucius

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Strong Rulers Unite China

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Zeng rose to power and proclaimed himself Shi Huangdi or “First Emperor”
Using rewards for merit and punishments for failure, he built the strong authoritarian government of the Qin Dynasty
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Became known as the “Classical Age”
Patterns that are evident throughout Chinese history

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Unity Imposed
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Emperor abolished feudalism in China replaced it with military districts and appointed loyal officials to administer them
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Then sent spies to report back to emperor about the officials actions
High taxes paid to support armies and building projects
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Standardized weights and measures created common coinage
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 extended roads and canals had scholars create uniformity in Chinese writing

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Crackdown on Dissent
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He jailed, tortured, and killed many who opposed his rule destroyed all the works of literature and philosophy
The Great Wall
Shi Huangdi’s most remarkable achievement
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Built it to unite many walls already in place over the centuries the wall was extended
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Became a very important symbol to the Chinese protecting their civilized world from the nomadic bands from the north

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Collapse
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Anger over heavy taxes, forced labor, and cruel policies, Chin went into revolts
As Qin Power collapsed Liu Bang arose, creating the Han Dynasty
Bang Claimed the Mandate of Heaven

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Bang took the title of Gao Zu
Lowered taxes and eased harsh Legalist policies
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Appointed Confucian scholars as advisers
Lasted for nearly 400 years

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Emperor Wudi
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Wudi was the most famous Han emperor
Chose officials from Confucian wisdom and virtue
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Improved canals and roads
Built granaries in order to help stabilize grain prices
Imposed government monopoly on iron and salt complete control of a product or business by one person or group
Gave government a source of income other than taxes
Followed a policy of Expansionism
 increasing the amount of territory under Chinese rule
Took over Manchuria, Korea, Northern Vietnam, Tibet and
Central Asia

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Silk Road to the West
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Wudi opened the trade route that ended up becoming called the Silk Road
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Goods traded from Rome to China, and parts in between
Stretched for nearly 4,000 miles
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Scholar-Officials
Confucianism was the official belief of the governmental system

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Civil Service Examination
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Positions gained by merit as opposed to family background setup exams to determine someone’s capabilities
Women were closed out of governmental jobs
Dynasties rose and fell, but Confucian influence survived
Collapse of the Han Empire
Court intrigues undermined emperors who could no long control powerful warlords
 local military rulers
Weak Emperors, rebellious peasants, and ambitious warlords ended the Han Dynasty

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Science
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Wrote texts on chemistry, zoology, botany and other subjects
Observed stars and planets
 invented better timekeeping devices including a seismograph
Medicine
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Acupuncture doctor inserts needles under the skin at specific points to relieve pain or treat various illnesses
Technology
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Made paper out of wood pulp still used to make paper today
Shipbuilding invented rudder to steer
The Arts
Temples and Palaces

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The series of governments started during the Han Dynasty, lasted up until 1912
Every new dynasty sought to recapture the glory of the Han Dynasty