Part 1, Chapter 2 Outline
New Civilizations in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, 2200-250 BCE
1. EARLY CHINA, 2000-221 BCE
a. Geography and Resources
i. China is isolated
1. SW – Himalayas
2. W – Pamir & Tian Mountains, Takla Makan desert
3. NW – Gobi desert
4. N – Mongolian steppe
5. Not totally isolated, but led to distinct development
ii. The East Asian Environment
1. Yellow/Yangtze – 2 key rivers, give E-W movement
2. Eastern agricultural zone
a. North – erratic rainfall
b. South – seasonal monsoons
c. Timber, stone, metal deposits, cultivatable land
d. Loess – light silt deposited by wind/water of Yellow River Valley in N China
iii. Intensive Agriculture
1. Large #s of people needed to be coordinated
a. Clear forest
b. Construct dikes
c. Dig reservoirs
2. Staple crops: millet, wheat, rice
a. Rice paddies took much effort
i. Flat land needed
ii. Surrounded by water channels
iii. When crop is ripe, paddy is drained
iv. Rice can feed more people per acre, led to population growth in S China
b. The Shang Period, 1750-1045 BCE
i. Early Societies
1. Used pottery wheel, high powered kilns, harvested millet, used stone tools, produced
silk cloth
2. 2000 BCE – made bronze (1000 years ahead of MPT/Middle East)
3. First dynasty: Xia
4. Second dynasty: Shang 1750-1045 BCE
a. Written record: oracle bones
i. Bottom turtle shells, shoulder bones of cattle
ii. Religious, royal items
ii. Oracle Bones and Shang Religion
1. Earliest oracle bone: 13th CBCE
a. Sophisticated writing
i. Ancestor of modern Chinese & other SE Asian alphabets
ii. Several hundred characters represented a one syllable word for an
object/idea
iii. Small number of people could do it
b. Religion
i. Supreme god – Di. In the sky, unleashes storms. Indifferent to humans
ii. Deceased go to same sphere as Di
iii. Many gods, can intervene on earth
iv. Link: Shang ruler – ancestors – Di
1. Ruler = link between heaven/earth
2. Gives ruler great authority
iii. King and Elite
1. Elite: warrior class
a. Bronze weapons
b. Chariots – originated in western Asia
c. Frequent military campaigns = more plunder
d. Royal tombs
i. Elaborate, decorative, many valuable items
1. Weapons, instruments, jewelry, bronze
2. All accompanied deceased to afterlife
3. Bronze = status & authority
iv. Cities
1. Shang cities not well preserved due to climate/building materials
2. Pounded earth defensive walls
3. Buildings – wood posts/dried mud
4. Commoners lived outside of administrative centers
c. The Zhou Period, 1045-221 BCE
i. Zhou – hundreds of miles W of Shang in Wei River valley
1. Overthrew Shang
2. Longest lasting line of kings
3. Founders
a. Wen – vassal, was a prisoner, started a rebellion of Shang outsiders
b. Wu – attacked Shang capital, first ruler of dynasty
ii. The Mandate of Heaven
1. Wu justified his rule
a. Last Shang ruler was tyrannical
b. Invoked Zhou (best Zhou deity)
c. Heaven gave Wu authority as long as he looked out for the people
i. If he neglected his people
1. Stopping invasions
2. Natural disasters
3. Floods
4. Famines
ii. Heaven would then withdraw the mandate & give it to another
2. Mandate of Heaven
a. Validated monarchy by connecting religious and political spheres, survived for
3k years
iii. Zhou Government
1. Records
a. Book of Documents – decrees, letters, historical records
b. Book of Songs – 305 poems, ballads, folksongs (about rulers/peasants)
c. Zhou elite recorded careers, left in bronze inscriptions
2. Pyramid scheme consolidation
a. Wu gave loyal relatives/allies territory in return for loyalty
b. These people then gave it out to other supporters
i. Feudal in nature
3. Wu died; his uncle, the Duke of Zhou, ruled in his place while young Cheng grew up
a. D of Z loved by Confucius. “ideal administrator.” Gave up power to Cheng once
he was old enough
4. Zhou cities
a. Grid plans
b. Main gates faced cardinal directions
c. Major buildings faced south
i. Feng shui – structures harmonious with terrain
iv. Religion and Daily Life
1. Divination – throwing short sticks onto a mat & interpreting their patterns
a. Book of Changes – explained each of 64 patterns
2. Book of Songs – gives great views into large cross-section of Zhou commoners
v. Fragmentation and Rivalry
1. 11 to 8th CBCE – Zhou monarchical power erodes
a. 771 – Zhou capital attacked by enemy coalition, Zhou move to Luoyang
2. Begins Eastern Zhou Period 771-221 BCE
a. Monarchs – figureheads, given light allegiance by other rulers in N/C China
b. Spring & Autumn Period 771-481 BCE
i. Spring & Autumn Annals
1. Described kingdoms meddling in other kingdoms’ affairs,
consolidating small # of larger kingdoms
ii. Warfare prevalent, changed
1. Used to be for the nobles, with a code of conduct
2. Higher stakes later on meant a more cutthroat approach
a. Massive #s of people slaughtered
b. Conscripted farmers fought
3. Sunzi – Art of War
a. War = chess game
i. Deception
ii. Use of landscape
iii. Psychological warfare
iv. Best victories – no fighting
v. Can then incorporate other side
4. Technological advances
a. Fighters on horseback
b. 600 BCE – iron replaces bronze
i. China – first to use steel
iii. Government changed
1. Rulers recorded population, land, agricultural products to better
tax the people & conscript them for projects, warfare
2. Bureaucracy grew – skilled scribes, accountants, surveyors
d. Confucianism, Daoism, and Chinese Society
i. Eastern Zhou period gave us Confucianism and Daoism
ii. Confucianism – not a religion
1. Kongzi (Confucius) 551-479 BCE
a. Lessons on morality, conduct, government passed orally
b. Written down centuries later in the Analects
i. Book of Documents, Songs, Changes, & Spring & Autumn Annals = core
texts of Confucianism
c. Liked earlier Zhou rules, wanted to go back
d. Rituals – forms of behavior that guide people daily. Promote greater harmony
between people.
e. Family – fundamental component of society
i. Conduct in home prepared members for working for the State
ii. Hierarchical order – filiality of children to parents. Determined by
age/gender.
1. Obedience, reverence, love
f. Ren – humaneness. Feelings of benevolence/compassion to family members,
would transcend all activities
2. His ideas weren’t widely known in his time.
a. Mengzi (Mencius) 371-289 BCE – essential goodness in humans. Leaders should
lead by example
b. Xunzi 310-210 BCE – people had to be compelled to make the right choice. This
thought lead to Legalism.
iii. Daoism – path of nature
1. Emerged during Warring States Period with Laozi.
2. No empty formalities, rigid hierarchy
3. Text – Classic of the Way of Virtue
4. Material world a reality or obscuring us from perceiving higher reality?
5. Education, knowledge, rational analysis – obstacles to understanding, better off trusting
our intuition/instincts
6. Avoid useless struggles of society
7. Death – transformation into another plane of existence
iv. Male and Female Roles
1. Clan fades away
2. Three generation family: grandparents, parents, children – social unit
3. Fathers – top of the hierarchy, had absolute authority
a. Arranged marriages, could sell labor of family members
b. Only member to offer rituals to ancestors
c. Could have concubines (had 1 wife)
d. Remarriage if wife died (women discouraged to remarry)
4. Yin/yang – complementary factors that maintain equilibrium of the world.
a. Yang - masculine, yin – feminine
i. Male toughness balanced by female gentleness
e. The Warring States Period, 481-221 BCE
i. Warfare accelerated. Only 7 major states remained at the end.
ii. Each state needed security – defensive walls, large armies, new military tactics/org/technology,
new administration to produce bigger revenues
1. Fought outside bands of foreigners
2. Fought to enlarge agricultural lands – source of wealth/manpower
iii. The Qin and Legalism
1. Qin – Wei River valley
2. Commanded farmers & put them in large, trained armies
3. ~250 BCE – Lord Shang led Qin govt.
a. Didn’t care about his subjects’ opinions
b. Disbanded nobility – sent them away, took away privileges
c. Later Qin rulers followed his example
2. NUBIA, 3100 BCE – 250 CE
a. Nile River valley, between Aswan & Khartoum
b. Corridor for trade between Tropical Africa & Mediterranean
c. Gold, copper, semi-precious stones
d. Early Cultures and Egyptian Domination 2300-1100 BCE
i. Nile = important
ii. Aswan – southern point of Egyptian territory
1. Sent caravans to collect gold, copper, stones from Nubia
iii. Egyptian Domination
1. Middle Kingdom 2040-1640. Aggressive towards Nubia.
a. Wanted Nubian gold middlemen out
b. Built mudbrick forts S of 2nd Cataract to protect interests
2. Kush 1750 BCE – Nubian kingdom
a. Defensive walls, monumental structures
b. Human sacrifice of 100’s of servants for royal burials
3. New Kingdom 1532-1070. More aggression towards Nubia
a. Go further into Nubia, destroy Kush
b. Frontier now moved to 4th Cataract
c. Egyptian governor - “Overseer of Southern Lands”
i. Ruled from Napata, near Gebel Barkal (Holy Mountain)
d. Sold Nubian gold to Middle East
e. Nubians were forced to work & assimilate, esp. noble families/children
e. The Kingdom of Meroe, 800 BCE – 350 CE
i. Egyptian authority collapses in Nubia 1200 BCE
ii. 8th CBCE – New Nubian kingdom emerges
1. 8-4th CBCE – Napata
2. 4th BCE to 4th CE – Meroe
iii. 712 – 660 BCE – kings of Nubia ruled all of Egypt (25th dynasty)
1. Revived monumental building in Egypt
2. Revived Egyptian art, religion
3. Resided at Memphis
4. Thebes was the seat of celibate female relation to the King. “God’s Wife of Amon.”
iv. Nubian Domination of Egypt
1. 701 BCE – Nubian dynasty offered help to Palestine vs Assyrians
a. Assyrians then invaded Egypt, drove Nubians south by 660 BCE
b. Napata becomes new center, Nubians keep Egyptian customs
v. The Shift South to Meroe
1. Meroe – better for agriculture, trade
2. Brought back sub-Saharan influence, Egyptian influence faded
3. Matrilineal system – King succeeded by his sister’s son
4. Nubian queens sometime ruled (even in partnership w/husbands)
5. Had a royal city, temple of Amon (ram god)
6. Became overrun by camel riding nomads from the west.
7. Trade moved to Red Sea by Romans eventually, Meroe lost influence.
3. CELTIC EUROPE, 1000-50 BCE
a. Continental Europe – good for agriculture and herding.
i. Timber, metals, adequate rainfall, large rivers
ii. 500 BCE – Celts move across large part of Europe
1. Celts shared common linguistic features, originating in Central Europe
b. The Spread of the Celts
i. Indo-European – 1st appearing in GER, AUS, CZR ~1000 BCE
ii. Lived in hill-forts, traded w/Mediterranean societies for crafts & wine
iii. Homeland and Migrations
1. Celts moved throughout Europe – FRA, GB, IRE, Northern ESP
2. Rome sacked 490 BCE by Celts
3. 300 BCE – Celts ranged from HUN to ESP & IRE
4. No Celtic nation
iv. Mediterranean Observers
1. Greek/Roman writers thought they were heathens
a. Long hair, burly, rustic
c. Celtic Society
i. Warriors, Druids, and Commoners
1. Julius Caesar – Sacked Gaul 58-51 BCE (Alesia)
a. Good source for Celts
2. Classes
a. Warriors, professional groups of priests and bards, and commoners
i. Warriors owned land/cattle/monopolized wealth
ii. Commoners labored land
iii. Houses – wooden framework w/clay & straw, thatched roofs
iv. Wooden fences for protection
3. Druids – Celtic priests in Gaul/GB
a. Religious, judicial, educational figures
4. Good metallurgical skills, farming skills, shipbuilding skills
5. Tin was a big commodity
ii. Celtic Women
1. Child rearing, food production, crafts
2. Freer in sexual relations, marriage was a mutual property contribution
3. Daughters married to fellow tribes for alliances
d. Belief and Knowledge
i. Celtic Religion - natural
1. 400 Celtic gods/goddesses associated with kinship groups
a. Lug – god of light, crafts, inventions
b. Epona – horses
c. Cernunnos – horned god
d. The Mothers –fertility cult
e. Halloween (Samhain), May Day (Beltaine) – festivals @ key agricultural cycle
moments
2. No temples, worshiped whichever local represented a divinity
3. Burial of elite – many grave goods
4. Celtic priests believed in reincarnation
4. FIRST CIVILIZATIONS OF THE AMERICAS: THE OLMEC AND CHAVIN, 1200-250 BCE
a. 15,000 years = isolation of Americas from Eastern Hemisphere
b. The Mesoamerican Olmec, 1200-400 BCE
i. Volcanically active region
ii. Minerals – obsidian, quartz, jade
iii. 3500 – maize, beans, squash, manioc = domesticated.
iv. Farmers developed surpluses, led to population increase
v. Origins of Olmec Civilization
1. 1200 – 400 BCE
2. Center: San Lorenzo 1200 – 900 BCE
3. Later Center: La Venta 900 – 600 BCE
4. Each major center was defaced/destroyed/abandoned.
vi. Ceremonial Centers
1. Large platforms/mounds
a. Served as focal points of urban centers
2. Small populations of Olmec elite
3. Artisans decorated buildings with carvings/sculptures
4. Merchant class who traded jade, obsidian, pottery
vii. Religion and Power
1. Kingship? – religious/secular roles
2. Portraits of kings done w/massive head sculptures, each unique
3. Polytheistic
4. Anthropomorphic
5. Rulers = jaguars
6. Shamans organized religious/cultural life
a. Calendar organized ritual culture/agriculture
viii. Cultural Legacy
1. Little evidence of empire.
2. Jade carvings of jaguar god & other Olmec wares discovered in distant locales
a. Displays cultural influence
b. Ancestor of all subsequent Mesoamerican civilizations
c. Early South American Civilization: Chavin, 900-250 BCE
i. In the Andes
ii. Trade and the Rise of Chavin
1. 1st villages near coastal plains, plains
a. Diets of fish, eventually corn
2. Inherited Caral culture, economics
3. Capital – Chavin de Huantar, in the mountains near modern Lima (Peru)
a. At the intersection of trade routes
b. Connected coastal economy/inland economy
i. Quinoa, coca leaves, corn, potatoes, llamas
c. Roads, bridges, temples, palaces, irrigation, drainage, textiles all prevalent
d. Groups thought of themselves as bro/sis, aided each other
4. Llamas – only domesticated beast of burden
a. Wool, milk, transport of large goods/amounts of goods
i. Increased trade
iii. Society and Technology
1. Class distinctions
a. Local chiefs & king dominated politics
b. Priests – symbolized by jaguar-man on pottery? (Similar to Olmecs)
2. Large stone complex, multilevel platforms – cut rock/adobe
a. Decorated w/reliefs of serpents, condors, jaguars, humans
b. Largest building 250 ft wide, 50 ft tall
3. 500 BCE – metallurgy (coincides w/appearance of corn in Chavin)
a. Suggests sustained trade w/Mesoamerica
b. Silver, gold
i. Status symbol
c. Abundance of pottery
4. Chavin may have exerted influence militarily
a. However, religious symbols (jaguar diety), dispersed broadly
i. Chavin de Huantar = pilgrimage site?
iv. Decline
1. No evidence of conquest/rebellion of Chavin