Political
Government structure
Major leaders
Dynasties
Economic
Goods produced
Crops grown
Trading partners
Gov’t collection of
money
Classical China 1000 B.C.E-500 C.E.
Classical India 1000 B.C.E.-500 C.E
-dynasties- Zhou (1029-258 BCE), Qin (221-202BCE),
Han (202BCE-220CE)
-Zhou ruled through political alliances not central
government
-Qin ruled by Shi Huangdi
-Han dynasty ruled by central government under Wu
Ti
-National exam created to become a part of
government
-Strict code of law with execution as primary
punishment
-Rich crop land
-tax collections for all people
-Mandatory labor service for all men for the
government once a year
-trade was important-items: silk, jewelry, leather,
furniture, rice, and copper coins
-Maurya dynasty
Chandragupta Maurya was the first emperor
Asoka is the leader and he spread Buddhism to India
Autocratic Government
-Gupta dynasty
Greatest period of stability
Negotiation and intermarriage were used to solidify the
empire
Religion
Religious ideas
Religious leaders
-Confucianism-stressed personal virtues and solid
political systems with practices of respect, humility,
and self control
-Daoism founded by Laozi embraced harmony with
nature
-Buddhism filtered in from India
Social
Class System
How is society divided?
Roles of Women
-How are women
treated?
-large gap between upper class and lower class
-three main social groups
1.Landowning aristocracy
2.Laboring peasants and urban artisans
3. Mean people: unskilled labor
-tight knit families with parent authority over children
-women were subordinate to men
-India’s topography made it vital to trade
-India had a direct connection with Greek and Roman
culture
-Trade surpasses China due to trade with Greece, Rome,
Indonesia, and China
-Trade Items: cotton cloth, calico, cashmere, dyes,
drugs/medicine, perfumes, gold, and ivory
-Primarily Hinduism which united the culture
-No central deity was worshiped
-Buddhism and Jainism were two other religions founded
in India
-Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama
-gurus
-Belief in reincarnation
-Rigid caste systems-stated that humans were inherently
unequal; each social group is conscribed at birth
-Women were to worship their husbands as gods
-Women’s rights decreased as the civilization became
more advanced
-Women were subjected to arranged marriages
-Emphasis on the obligation to ones family group
-Marriages were arranged for women by their
parents
-women had some power during religious rituals and
their daughters
-a person does not interact with someone outside of
their caste
Intellectual/Inventions
New ways of thinking
about government or
life
New technology
created
New literature/writing
-Mandarin standard language
-Confucianism
-Standards weights and measures
-Emperor Wu Ti created a school to train men for the
exam
-Seismograph to detect earthquakes
-emphasis on hygiene
-Legalism
-accurate calendars
-math of music
-During Gupta dynasty in Nalanda they taught religion,
medicine, and architecture
-Concept of zero in math
-Arabic numerals
-Decimal system
-Ramayana, Vedas, Sanskrit writing, and Upshanidas
Art
New art forms created
-writing styles
-painting
-sculpting
-architecture
-Great wall of China was built by Shi Huangdi
-Chinese art was largely decorative stressing detail
and craftsmanship
-Artistic styles often reflected geometric qualities of
the symbols of writing
-Complex irrigation and canal system
-Painting-Bronze painting and pottery
-Calligraphy
-Indian artist created shrines called stupas painted in
bright colors
-Religious temples
Reasons for decline
-Weak dynasties stressing alliances rather than a
central government
-decrease in tax revenue
-social division-unrest between the inequalities in
each social class
-not enough resources due to overpopulation
-internal rebellions
-outside invasion-invaded by the Huns
-India was set apart from the rest of Asia giving it a
geographic advantage
-there was not a system of rising and falling but
consisted of invasion through the northwestern
mountain path
-invaded by the Kushans