Hinduism
- A diverse body of religion, philosophy and cultural practice
- Native to India
- Belief in reincarnations and a supreme being of many forms and natures
- Brahma - creator god - senior member of the triad of great gods - he felt alone and separated from the world - split himself and created the god Shatapura
- Vishnu - preserver god - god of preservation and protector of creation - often represented resting on the coiled serpent Shesha - never sleeps - when the forces of good and evil are not balanced, Vishnu will incarnate himself as a human to set the forces equal
- Shiva - destroyer god - destroyer of the world (so that it can be re-created) - also called Lord of the dance - Shiva often has a third eye, cobra necklace, vibhuti (3 horizontal lines on forehead made from white ash), and a trident - sometimes represented as half man and half woman - is known to have a wild passion, which causes extreme behavior and his relationship with his wife - Paryati bring him balance
Maurya Empire
- Founded after the death of Alexander the Great
- The first three emperors were Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara Maurya, and Ashoka Maurya
- All the emperors were able to gain land
- 9,000 elephants
- 8,000 chariots
- 30,000 calvary
Gupta Empire
- Chandragupta was dying and he told his son to rule the world
- His son went on an extreme military campaign
- He conquered Bengal, Nepal, Assam, Malava and eventually Ujjayini
- 500,000 infantry
- 50,000 calvary
- 20,000 charioteers
- 10,000 elephants
- Navy with more than 1,200 ships
- At its height, they had more than 3/4 million soldiers
Buddhism
- Stupas - mound-like structures - typically the ashes of the deceased - used by Buddhists as a place of meditation - five types
- Relic - remains of Buddhist leaders
- Object - objects that belonged to Buddhist leaders
- Commemorative - commemorative events in life of Buddha and his disciples
- Symbolic - symbolizes aspects of Buddhist theology
- Votive - constructed to commemorate visits or to gain spiritual benefits
- Theravada - is the oldest surviving Buddhist branch - the more conservative of the two major traditions of Buddhism - practices mainly in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos
- Historians estimate that the founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama commonly known as Buddha
- It's a religion home to the Indian subcontinent that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings where the people worshiped Buddha
- Buddha is recognized as being an awakening and enlightening teacher
- Thought of more as a 'way of life' than religion
- Practice meditation
- The Four Noble Truths: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering
- Believe in karma - which in turn determines reincarnation (believe after death that they will be reborn again)
- There are six planes in which they can be reborn - into the three fortunate realms and the three unfortunate realms
- Three fortunate realms - the realm of demigods, the realm of gods, and the realm of men
- Three unfortunate realms - of animals, ghosts and hell - suffer untold suffering, the suffering of the realm of main is far less
Behind the Buddhist Art
- Originated from Indian subcontinent
- Spread from contact with other cultures throughout Asia
- Influenced the development of Hindu art
- Buddhist art flourished and even influenced the development of Hindu art
- Buddhism almost disappeared in India around the 10th century
- Worked with broke, wood, thatch and bamboo
- Made stone railings, gateways, sculptures and stupas
- Painted scrolls
- Made images of nature
- Gods/goddesses
Behind the Hinduism Art
- According to Hindu view, there are four goals of life on earth, and each human being should aspire to all four
- Everyone should aim for dharma, okama, or human and righteous living; artha, or wealth acquired through the pursuit of a profession; exual love and finally, moksha, or spiritual salvation
- Costume decorations, perfumery, jewelry making, magic and illusions, ointments for charm and virility, manual dexterity, skilld of cooking, eating and drinking, beverage and dessert preparation, sewing (making and mending garments), and embroidery
Advancements
Medicine
- Ayurveda - ancient science of medicine that originated in India
- Used the practice of herbal medicine
- Believed the body has three types o energy that controlled the body and affected health
- Vata - motion including blood circulation, breathing, blinking and heartbeat
- Pitta - metabolic system,
Surgery
- Introduced as a common practice
- Sushruta came up with 120 surgical instruments, 300 procedures and 8 surgery classifications
- He also created plastic surgery, first one was a nose job
Literature
- Greatest time for poetry and drama
- Well known writer of this time was Kalidasa - Indian dramatist and poet
- Classical Sanskrit writer
- Sanskrit is the classical language in India
- 2 Categories of Literature
- Sruti - listened to or heard
- Smriti - remembered or memorized
Math
- The decimal number system still used today was first developed in India
- Made early contributions to the study of the concept of zero as a number, negative numbers, arithmetic, and algebra
- Trigonometry - Sine and Cosine
- Early, simplified versions of Calculus
- Works consisted of different sections
- Sutras -set of rules or problems in verse to help the student memorize them
- Prose Commentary - composed by several scholars that described the problem in detail
Astronomy
- Ancient India used stars and planets to create astrological charts
- Calculation of occurrences of eclipses
- Determination of Earth's circumference
- Aryabhata - presented a mathematical system that the sun spins on an axis and considered the motion of the planets in respect to the sun
Early China
- The Qin Dynasty were very harsh on taxes, labor quotas, and strict punishments
- The people of the Qin Dynasty rebelled and a war of rival kings started throughout all of China
- Two powerful people emerged: Xiang Yu and Liu Bang
Han Dynasty
- These two leaders ended up hating each other and fought their last battle in 202 BC – Liu Bang won and declared himself the first emperor of the Han Dynasty
- The Han Dynasty ruled China for more than 400 years
- However, their rule was broken up into 2 parts because there was a time where they lost their power for a short period of time
- Very influential, even today people from China often refer to themselves as “people of the Han”
Bang’s Steps to Unified China
- First goal was to destroy the rival kings’ power
- He was going to do this by establishing centralized government
- This is where the central authority controls the running of the state
- He also lowered taxes and softened the harsh legal punishments of the people
Empress Lu
- When Bang died, his son became emperor but not really
- The real ruler was the son’s mother – one of Bang’s wives
- When Lu died, the people that supported Bang were upset and they executed the people who Lu had put into power
Wudi
- After 30-40 years of turmoil and poor leadership, Bang’s great-grandson rook control of the Hans and his name was Wudi
- He is known throughout history as the “Martial Emperor” because his idea of expanding China was throughout war
- The first set of people that he had to deal with were the Xiongnu (shee-Ung-noo)
Xiongnu
- Were fierce nomads known for their deadly archery from horseback
- Usually attacked China’s farms and would take people hostage and steal goods
- Early Han emperors would try to send them gifts to stop but they usually would not quit
- Wudi had other ideas and sent 100,000 men to fight them
Pyramid
- Top tier – Emperor
- 2nd tier – King, Governor
- 3rd tier – State officials, nobles, and scholars
- 4th tier – Peasants
- 5th tier – Artisans, merchants
- 6th tier – Soldiers
- 7th tier – Slaves
Han Technology
- Advancements included paper – paper was invented in 105 AD – before this book were written in silk
- Silk is very expensive
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