Good Evening my wonderful students! It is very important that you spend time reviewing the powerpoints that I have linked here. We are not going to have much time in class to review the classical empires of India and China, so, you will be responsible for this information! I know that this is a lot of information, but, it covers all that I need you to focus on for these empires.
Ok, here is your blog assignment for today! Read through the powerpoints/notes linked here. (Remember, you are more than welcome to print out the powerpoints at home if you are able and keep them in your notes!) As you read through the powerpoints, I want you to focus on the theme of religion and philosophical beliefs...
Respond to the following...DISCUSS THE DEVELOPMENT OF BUDDHISM AND HINDUISM IN INDIA (which dynasty is mostly responsible for the spread of each religion, basic ideas of each religion, importance in political and social aspects)...then...DISCUSS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHINESE RELIGIONS AND PHILOSOPHIES OF CONFUCIANISM, LEGALISM, AND DAOISM (again, which dynasty is mostly responsible for the development & spread of each, the basic ideas of each, and the political and social importance of each).
Maurya and Gupta India
Ancient China
Chinese Philosophies
Ancient China..Shang & Zhou
China: Qin & Han
Buddhism and Hinduism development:
ReplyDeleteWhich dynasty is mostly responsible for the spread of each religion?
Buddhism: Zhou Dynasty
Hinduism: Gupta Dynasty
What are the basic ideas of each religion?
Buddhism: Buddhism has two branches and different levels of dedication etc (sort of like Christianity). The basic concept is the attempt to reach Nirvana, (sort of like heaven) to do this one has to end all of their desires.
Hinduism: Dharma (ethics and duties) Samsara (rebirth) Karma (right action) Moksha (liberation from the cycle of Samsara)
What is the political and social importance of each?
Buddhism: Importance is placed on escaping from the material life and of extinguishing desire. Buddhism is based upon the equality of all in the religious life, women as well as men. The aim of the Buddhist is to obtain eternal life (Nirvana) by extinguishing all desire for material existence.
Hinduism: Hinduism is an important source of political discourse in India. Hindu minorities have played significant roles in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Hindu symbols are frequently used in political campaigns of Indian politicians.
Development of Chinese religions and philosophies of Confucianism, legalism, and Daoism:
Which dynasty is mostly responsible for the development and spread of each?
Confucianism: Tang Dynasty
Legalism: Qin Dynasty
Daoism: Han Dynasty
What are the basic ideas of each?
Confucianism: Confucius basically believed that that ruler lived to serve the people, not the other way around. Confucius's also hold strongly to the beliefs of ancestral worship (or worshiping their ancestors) as well as strong family loyalty and respect to elders.
Legalism: They believe that a highly efficient and powerful government was the key to resorting order. They also believe that government should use the law to end civil disorder and restore harmony. Lastly, they believe in controlling ideas as well as actions.
Daoism: One of the basic ideas of Daoism is to avoid manipulation of the world in obtaining a certain outcome, and lines in the Dao De Jing such as embrace death with your whole heart, encourage an acceptance of death as an inevitable part of the life cycle. However, the followers of Religious Daoism work reverently towards reaching longevity and immortality as a central goal of their doctrine.
What is the political and social importance of each?
Confucianism: The only way a person could achieve an important position in the government or in society was by having a good knowledge of Confucianism. To become a government official it was necessary to pass a difficult civil service examination based on the ideas of Confucius. Since it was Confucianism that kept the leaders in power, they were opposed to any changes. The people believed that they were the only civilized community in the world and they looked down on the beliefs and cultures of other people.
Legalism: Legalism, unlike the other three schools of Chinese philosophy was based mostly on political issues. These theories and philosophical points had nothing to do with the big picture of life.
Daoism: Daoism is a polytheistic faith that also accepts the gods and goddesses of Chinese folk religion.
You are the best Hayley Bealknap!!! :)
ReplyDeletePart One: Development of Indian religions
ReplyDeleteThe Buddhist movement is one that has been intertwined with eastern society for as long as history has been recorded. Even before it became an officially recognized and practiced religion, it's characteristics and practices still flowed through the lives of the individuals in the area.
Siddhārtha Gautama was the historical founder of Buddhism. Buddha found patronage in the ruler of Magadha, emperor Bimbisara. The emperor accepted Buddhism as personal faith and allowed the establishment of many Buddhist "Viharas." This eventually led to the renaming of the entire region as Bihar. During the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.E., commerce and cash became increasingly important in an economy previously dominated by self-sufficient production and bartered exchange. Merchants found Buddhist moral and ethical teachings an attractive alternative to the esoteric rituals of the traditional brahmin priesthood, which seemed to cater exclusively to brahmin interests while ignoring those of the new and emerging social classes. This motivated the spread of Buddhism throughout more economically advanced areas of the world. Merchants proved to be an efficient vector of the Buddhist faith, as they established diaspora communities.
Hinduism is a religious belief that primarily deals with polytheistic practices and appreciation alongside ceremony and rituals. It is also a term for a wide variety of related religious traditions native to India. By the 8th century, the "Hindu golden age" of the past millennium was over. The formerly rich philosophic literature tended to be reduced to scholastic quarreling and infighting between innumerable sects, notably between emerging traditions of Vaishnavism and Shaivism. During the 19th century, Hinduism developed a large number of new religious movements, partly inspired by the European Romanticism, nationalism, and esotericism (popular at the time). An important development during the British colonial period was the influence Hindu traditions began to form on Western thought and new religious movements.
According to recent statistics, "As of 2007, of an estimated 944 million Hindus, 98.5% live in South Asia. Of the remaining 1.5% or 14 million, 6 million live in Southeast Asia (mostly Indonesia), 2 million in Europe, 1.8 million in North America, 1.2 million in Southern Africa". This shows how far the religion has spread throughout the world as a whole, and it's potential to influence the future generations.
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ReplyDeletei agree with both haley and rice they both pretty much listed all the information about the ancient indians and ancient chinese
ReplyDeletePart Two: Chinese Philosophies
ReplyDeleteFirst off, let me begin by saying it's actually spelled Taoism if one is using the English alphabet. Tao is ones path, or way of life. The objective of a Taoist is to establish harmony with the Tao, which is everything that exists, the origin of everything and because of the latter it is also nothing. The word "Tao" is usually translated as "way", "path" or "principle". Taoism had not only a profound influence on the culture of China, but also on neighboring countries. While the philosophical Taoism is not institutionalized, the religious Taoism is institutionalized and present in multiple countries.
You know the movie "The Big Lebowski"? Well the main character known as "The Dude" was a modern Taoist, although he didn't know it. There is even a small light-hearted ideology known as "Dudeism". Look it up, I'm not lying.
Taoist propriety and ethics emphasize the Three Jewels of the Tao: compassion, moderation, and humility, while Taoist thought generally focuses on nature, the relationship between humanity and the cosmos.
Confucianism is basically the idea that you respect your elders and all that jazz. I'm not even going to touch on it because it's not relevant, and just super obvious. Basically this old dude who was "wise" in ancient China was named Confucius and he said some "stuff" and told people to respect elders and now they teach it as if people actively follow it in world history classes. It's just basically obvious rules of respect, but some dudes gave it a name based on another old dude a long time ago. Confucianism isn't "deep" or "profound"... it's blatantly obvious.
Legalism is like another Confucianism. It's like a utilitarian political philosophy that did not address higher questions like the nature and purpose of life. Woop-de-doo. It's not deep or pretty or poetic, it's stupid and obvious. It makes so much sense that it doesn't even have to. We already understand it without actually having to think about it.
Confucianism and legalism don't deserve to be taught. Teaching them under special names like that is like teaching how to walk under a class called "Walkism" and getting all sentimental about it.
Tao is the only legit Chinese philosophy out of the three mentioned, and it addresses big questions. Contrary to what Hayley said, it is not "polytheistic". Tao doesn't even feature any gods. Just individuals finding their place in the universe and coming to peace with nature.
Overall, Buddhism and Hinduism are polytheistic religions founded in India that deal with ceremony. Taoism is a beautiful philosophy applicable to everyone's life.
Well, I hope that about summed it up, and anything I got off of the internet I rephrased to fit the format I was using and added additional information. Hope you find it acceptable, and sorry I couldn't post this last night.
Posted by Anton Bartusov (Rice).
I posted this earlier, but I needed to get rid of the link to my blog, just in case it violates some sort of school regulation.
Buddhism is a religion that started off by just a way of life. Till it became a faith and belief for many people. It has a big change on the region by periodly changing the name of the region to Bahir by Buddhist leaders.
ReplyDeleteHinduism is a religion that is big on rituals and daily practices. But also had a blen of diffrent and all types of religions. But by looking at the data Anton shows with the spread of Hinduism is just saying they went EVERYWHERE!...nicely done explaining counter.
Peace and much love
Carlos Arellano
I agree with everybody. Good work!(:
ReplyDeleteThe Buddhist movement is one that has been intertwined with eastern society for as long as history has been recorded. Even before it became an officially recognized and practiced religion, it's characteristics and practices still flowed through the lives of the individuals in the area.
ReplyDeleteSiddhārtha Gautama was the historical founder of Buddhism. Buddha found patronage in the ruler of Magadha, emperor Bimbisara. The emperor accepted Buddhism as personal faith and allowed the establishment of many Buddhist "Viharas." This eventually led to the renaming of the entire region as Bihar. During the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.E., commerce and cash became increasingly important in an economy previously dominated by self-sufficient production and bartered exchange. Merchants found Buddhist moral and ethical teachings an attractive alternative to the esoteric rituals of the traditional brahmin priesthood, which seemed to cater exclusively to brahmin interests while ignoring those of the new and emerging social classes. This motivated the spread of Buddhism throughout more economically advanced areas of the world. Merchants proved to be an efficient vector of the Buddhist faith, as they established diaspora communities.
Hinduism is a religious belief that primarily deals with polytheistic practices and appreciation alongside ceremony and rituals. It is also a term for a wide variety of related religious traditions native to India. By the 8th century, the "Hindu golden age" of the past millennium was over. The formerly rich philosophic literature tended to be reduced to scholastic quarreling and infighting between innumerable sects, notably between emerging traditions of Vaishnavism and Shaivism. During the 19th century, Hinduism developed a large number of new religious movements, partly inspired by the European Romanticism, nationalism, and esotericism (popular at the time). An important development during the British colonial period was the influence Hindu traditions began to form on Western thought and new religious movements.
Chandragupta, 321 BCE-298 BC, he divided his empire into provinces, then districts for tax assessments and law enforcement. He feared assassination, food tasters, and slept in different rooms.
ReplyDelete