China

Regionalisation Era

Aryan Migration = Proto-Indo-European Diffusion

Vedas

the Axial Age

"...the spiritual foundations of humanity were laid simultaneously and independently in China, India, Persia, Judea, and Greece. And these are the foundations upon which humanity still subsists today." Karl Jaspers

Isaiah

Jainism

The Theory of Seven Conditioned Predications:

• syād-asti—in some ways, it is;
• syād-nāsti—in some ways, it is not;
• syād-asti-nāsti—in some ways, it is, and it is not;
• syād-asti-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is, and it is indescribable;
• syād-nāsti-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is not, and it is indescribable;
• syād-asti-nāsti-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is, it is not, and it is indescribable;
• syād-avaktavyaḥ—in some ways, it is indescribable.

Upanishads

Socrates

Bhagavad Gita

The Blessed Lord said: Time I am, destroyer of the worlds, and I have come to engage all people.

Janapadas and

Mahajanapadas

Buddhism

Four Noble Truths (Fronsdal summary):

• Suffering occurs.
• The cause of suffering is craving.
• The possibility for ending suffering exists.
• The cessation of suffering can be attained through the Noble Eightfold Path.

Confucianism

Ren = to love others

Mandate of Heaven

Laozi

There is a thing inherent and natural,

Which existed before heaven and earth.

Motionless and fathomless,

It stands alone and never changes;

It pervades everywhere and never becomes exhausted.

It may be regarded as the Mother of the Universe.

I do not know its name. If I am forced to give it a name, I call it Tao, and I name it as supreme.

China

India

Pristine

River

source: wikimedia

• Intro: Story of Zheng (First Qin Emperor)
• Extensive travels
• Brilliant military campaigns (same weapons as enemies, but army a meritocracy)
• Defeated 6 independent kingdoms, united China under one person’s rule
• Standardized measurements
• The Origins of Chinese Civilization, 1200-221 BCE
• Intro: Yellow River valley - agriculture + writing
• The First Agriculture, 7000-1200 BCE
• Early Chinese Writing in the Shang Dynasty, ca. 1200 BCE
• Shang Dynasty Relations with Other Peoples
• The Zhou Dynasty, 1045-256 BCE
• Confucianism
• Daoism
• Qin Rulers Unify China, 359-207 BCE
• Intro: Legal reforms made Qin strong
• Prime Minister Shang and the Policies of the First Emperor, 359-210 BCE
• Legalism and the Laws of the Qin Dynasty
• The Han Empire, 206 BCE - 220 CE
• Intro: Legalism + Confucian exterior
• Han Government and the Imperial Bureaucracy
• Ban Zhao’s Lessons for Women
• Extending Han Rule
• Intro: Han Empire expanded territory
• Han Dynasty Conflict with the Xiongnu Nomads, 201-60 BCE
• Han Expansion to the North, Northwest, and South

Chapter Review:

Following the lead of the First Emperor, the Qin and Han dynasties created a blueprint for imperial rule that lasted for two thousand years. In the centuries after the fall of the Han, China was not always unified. But subsequent Chinese rulers always aspired to reunify the empire and conceived of China’s physical borders as largely those of the Han dynasty at its greatest extent.

Questions:

What different elements of Chinese civilization took shape between 1200 and 221 BCE?

- shared diet, with division of meat and vegetable dishes dated to at least 1200 bc; same time first written characters; 500 bce Confucius taught obedience to parents and ruler, yet didnt say anything about the other world so many people turned to Daoism which offered “immortality to a rare few and eternal detention in underground jails to everyone else.”

What were the most important measures in the Qin blueprint for empire?

- Census, mutual obligation groups, single law code, standardized weights and measures, meritocracy in army and government.

How did the Han rulers modify the Qin blueprint, particularly regarding administrative structure and the recruitment and promotion of officials?

- Disparaged the Qin, but adopted the title emperor; created different admin districts; after 140 bce - officials could be promoted only after demonstrating knowledge of Confucian texts in written exams.

Which neighboring peoples in Central, East and SE Asia did the Han dynasty conquer? Why was the impact of Chinese rule limited?

- Briefly conquered parts of NW China, Vietnam and Korea, but their influence was limited because they stayed in their garrison towns.

• Intro
• Ashoka
• The Origins of Complex Society in South Asia
• Complex Society in the Indus River Valley, 2600-1700 BCE
• The Spread of Indo-European Languages
• The Indo-European Migrations and Vedic Culture, 1500-1000 BCE
• Changes After 1000 BCE
• The Rise of Buddhism
• The Life of the Buddha
• The Teachings of the Buddha
• The Mauryan Empire, ca. 320-185 BCE
• Life and Society in the Mauryan Dynasty, ca. 300 BCE
• Mauryan Control Outside the Capital
• Ruling by Example: The Ceremonial State
• South Asia’s External Trade
• Chapter Review

Yangshao

the Yellow Emperor

3000bc

Longshan

A Rosetta Stone for the Indus Script

Harappan

2000bc

Aryans

Shang

Kurgan vs. Anatolian hypothesis

1500bc

Vedic India

Reciprocity

1000bc

Zhou

Adinatha

770bc

Spring and Autumn Period

Tat Tvam Asi

Om

Siddhartha

Master Kong

Taoism

500bc

Warring States

Mauryan

"First" Emperor

Qin

Ashoka

Han

1

Gandhara Style

the Silk Roads