Transcript AP World History

AP World History
Key Concept 2.1
Essential Question
How did the emergence of new codified religions
shape the world politically and culturally and what
were the belief systems of these new religions?
Key Concept 2.1 Overview
As states and empires increased in size and contacts between regions
multiplied, religious and cultural systems were transformed. Religions
and belief systems provided a bond among the people and an ethical
code to live by. These shared beliefs also influenced and reinforced
political, economic, and occupational stratification. Religious and political
authority often merged as rulers (some of whom were considered divine)
used religion, along with military and legal structures, to justify their rule
and ensure its continuation. Religions and beliefs systems could also
generate conflict partly because of beliefs and practices varied greatly
within and among societies.
Religions around the World
Interactive Religion Map
Circle the
general area of
the world’s
major religions
Judaism
The association of monotheism with
Judaism was further developed with the
codification of the Hebrew Scriptures into
the Torah.
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The Jewish people became one of the first
religions to write down their Holy texts into
on book.
Creating an organized religious texted
helped maintain cultural values among the
people.
Even when the Assyrians, Babylonians, and
Romans conquered the Jewish people and
moved them around the Mediterranean they
were able to maintain cultural traditions
because of their organized religious text.
Hinduism
The core beliefs outlined in the Sanskrit scriptures formed the basis of the Vedic religions that became
known as Hinduism.
● The original traditions of Hinduism were a mix of local traditions and traditions brought in by
the Indo-European people called the Aryans.
● Unlike many of the major religions there is no one single founder of Hinduism but a slow
combination of local traditions into an semi organized religion. It can trace its origins back
to around 2000 B.C.E.
● The Caste System is a unique organizational system in Hindu society (social control) first
brought to the Indian subcontinent by the Aryans and is based on skin color or Varnu
because the Aryans were more light skinned people (and outnumber by locals). The Caste
system is based around Karma and Dharma and the idea that you are in the place you
were meant to be.
● Reincarnation or rebirth plays and important role in the caste system and where an
individual ends up.
● The goal of Hinduism is to achieve Moksha (or release) from Samsara (cycle of death and
rebirth)
Hindu Imagery
Buddhism
The core beliefs about desire, suffering, and the search for enlightenment
preached by the historic Buddha are called the four noble truths and where a
reaction towards the dominant religion in the Indian Subcontinent Hinduism.
Crash Course
Eventually Buddhism survived in India through the efforts of the Mauryan ruler
Ashoka and will eventually spread from India into China via trade routes and
missionaries.
The goal is to reach enlightenment or Nirvana.
Confucianism
Goals was to promote social harmony by outlining proper rituals and social
relationships for all people in China, including the rulers.
Official state ideology of the Han Dynasty.
Some of the basic Confucian ethical concepts and practices include rén, yì, and lǐ,
and zhì. All these concepts deal with how people should live thier every day lives
and be satisfied with the order of their existence and not question authority.
Introduced the scholar gentry into Chinese society. Also the Imperial examination
system was brought about to promote the most able in society not those of noble
birth.
Daoism/Taoism
The core belief of balance between humans and nature
assumed that the Chinese political system would be altered
indirectly.
Go with the flow. Don’t fight what is happening. The Tao
or the way.
A tree that fights the wind will be destroyed. A tree that
bends with the wind will survive.
Daoism’s Effect on China
The idea of Fung Shue was brought about by Daoist. The idea was to build
building so they are aligned with nature and the heavens.
Acupuncture comes from the Daoist beliefs
In Chapter 1 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu wrote:
The tao that can be told
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
is not the eternal Tao
Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
The name that can be named
This source is called darkness.
is not the eternal Name.
Darkness within darkness.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
The gateway to all understanding.
Naming is the origin of all particular things.
Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Christianity
Based around the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. Drew on the traditions of
Judaism and Zoroastrianism which were prevalent in the area at the time.
Despite initial Roman imperial hostility, Christianity eventually was observed by
the Romans. Constantine in particular wanted a unifying religion for the
empire. He declared the Edict of Milan which declared official tolerance of
Christians. Emperor Theodosius the Great declared Christianity the official
religion of the Empire.
Christianity like Buddhism was originally spread by Missionaries and merchants
via the trades routes like the Silk Road.
Greco-Roman philosophy
The core ideas in Greco-Roman philosophy and science emphasized logic empirical
observation, and the nature of political power and hierarchy.
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
Ideas on how society should be ruled, the importance of the individual, even what makes
up the substance of things were discussed by these philosophers.
Philosopher like Archimedes were worshiped almost like gods for their knowledge.
The knowledge discovered by these thinkers will be forgotten in Europe during the dark
ages and will not be brought back until the Renaissance thousands of years later.
Belief systems affected gender roles
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Buddhism and Christianity encouraged monastic life or to renounce world pursuits.
In the early Christian church women played a key role in the religion’s development.
But as the religion become larger and more powerful the role of women was
lessened and women were not given any leadership roles in the church and were
instead encouraged to become nuns and isolate themselves from the world.
Hindu traditions pushed the Sati on widowed women where when their husbands
died they would throw themselves onto the funeral fire. If they did not then they
were dishonored and thrown out of society.
Confucianism emphasized filial piety or devotion to ones parents and also devotion
to the state. Following this tradition women followed the three submissions.
1. Submission to father (early in life, father could decide her role)
2. Submission to her husband and his family (mother-in-law in particular had a great
deal of power of the wife)
3. Submission to her son (more enjoyable and respectable)
Other Religious and cultural traditions
Shamanism- is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of
consciousness in order to encounter and interact with the spirit world and channel
these transcendental energies into this world.
● Use in prehistory
● Nomadic groups between 600 B.C.E. and 600 C.E. will still practice this.
● Most famous Nomadic group to practice Shamanism were the Mongols.
Animism- attribution of conscious life to objects in and phenomena of nature or to
inanimate objects.
● Used in prehistory cultures
● Animism and Shamanism go together
● Very prevelent in African cultures
Animism and Shamanism
Ancestor Veneration
Is the practice of living family members who try to provide a deceased family
member with continuous happiness and well-being in the afterlife. It is a way of
continuing to show respect toward them, and it reinforces the unity of family
and lineage.
● Keep a token of the deceased family member in the house.
● Practiced in
o Africa
o East Asia
o The Andean areas
Still practice today if you think about it.
Artistic expressions
Greek Comedies
●Followed a structure like a sitcom of today
●Common characters that people could relate to
●Made fun of politicians of the time
Greek Tragedies
●Taught sociality morality rules
●Explained consequences of not conforming to society
●Oedipus Rex
Indian Epics
●The Ramayana and Mahabharata, originally composed in Sanskrit and translated thereafter into many other
Indian languages, are some of the oldest surviving epic poems on earth and form part of itihāsa, which roughly
means tradition, or (oral) history.
●Taught how it was important to do your duty and remember your place in society. Helped reinforce the caste
system in Hindusim and Indian society.
●Everyone has a job to do in society and if you deviate from your duty bad things happen.
Architecture
Greek’s are known for columns.
Romans were known for
arches
Mesoamerica were
known for step pyramids
Ancient India was
known for domes