Chapters 2,3,4,&5

Religion

You need to consider the following

• • • How does religion influence the different developing cultures?

How does cultural tie into what we have already learned about politics?

Did the culture of these places affect the fall of the empire?

Diverse Forms of Worship

• • Older forms of worship persisted in this time period, especially in less-advanced societies ▫ Usually these were based on veneration of the spirits (shamanism and animism) Ancestor worship remained common in many societies such as China, Africa, Mediterranean ▫ Funeral practices ▫ Sacrifice, etc.

Is it a religion or a philosophy??????

Culture and Politics

• • Key: Religion/Culture is a major component to the political landscape Obedience to the State rather than to a god.

▫ Harmonious earthly life ▫ Balance ▫ Ceremony ▫ Tradition

3 Major Religions develop

Confucianism Legalism Daoism

Confucianism

• • • • Confucian ideas ▫ Fundamentally moral and ethical in character ▫ Restore political and social order; stress ritual ▫ ▫ Government is an extension of family relationships Primarily a system of ethics Gave bureaucracy a common belief system ▫ Emphasis on individual virtuous behavior both by the ruler and the ruled Education: accessible to all talented and educated members of society

Confucius (Kung Fuzi) 551-478 BCE

• • • • • Founder If people could be taught to emphasize personal virtue a solid political life would naturally result Respect for one’s superiors Wrote: The Analects ▫ Principle of

Jen :

 “Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you” Mencius ▫ promoted Confucius’s teachings and slightly modified them

5 Relationships of Confucianism

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Father and Son Elder brother and younger brother Husband and wife Older friend and younger friend Ruler and subject

Daoism

• • • • Arose about the same time as Confucianism during the Zhou dynasty ▫ Prominent critics of Confucian thought Laozi (Lao-tsu)- furthered Daoism Embraced ▫ traditional Chinese beliefs in nature’s harmony ▫ ▫ added a sense of nature’s mystery General conditions of the world unimportant; harmony with nature is more important Han rulers persuaded Daoist priests to stress loyalty to the emperor

Legalism

• • • • The doctrine of statecraft ▫ Promoted a practical and ruthlessly efficient  approach ▫ No concern with: ethics and morality  the principles governing nature ▫ Discouraged art, and literature Doctrine used by Qin dynasty Called for harsh penalties even for minor infractions Disdained Confucian values in favor of an authoritarian state ruled by force

You have how many gods?????

Vedic and Epic Ages

• • • • Aryans (Indo-European) migrants- hunting and herding peoples originally from central Asia Vedas- sacred books of the Aryans ▫ Rig-Veda- 1028 hymns dedicated to the Aryan gods ▫ Mahabharata- India’s greatest epic poem ▫ Ramayana ▫ Upanishads- epic poems with a more mystical religious flavor Encouraged tight levels of village organization Indian caste system takes shape- partly because Aryan invaders saw indigenous people as inferior

Hinduism

• • • • • • • Unlike all/most other world religions Can encourage both political/economic goals and worldly pleasures No founder, no central figure so it unfolded gradually Very tolerant of different religions Provided several channels for the good life Supplied some unity Allowed people to hold on to some older rituals

Buddhism

• • • • • C. 563 BCE Siddhartha Gautama was born ▫ Buddha is divine Started as a rebellion against Hinduism ▫ It was a threat to the Hindu way of life Argued for the individual and went against the caste system and the priests Wasn’t able to hold a strong portion of India ultimately The Four Noble Truths + Noble Eightfold Path = Religious goal of Nirvana

The Spread

• • •

Hinduism

Allowed many people to keep old beliefs Gave lower class people hope of a better life through reincarnation Eventually all of India but not strong anywhere else •

Buddhism

Unlike Hinduism Buddhism travelled out of India

▫ Monks ▫ As it spread it adopted many of the local beliefs (syncretism)

Syncretism

• • • This is the ability of religions to morph and merge with other religious/cultural beliefs By being flexible religions could attract more followers This process was central to the spread of many of the world’s major religions

Jainism

• • Believe in Karma, Dharma and Moksha Expected to following five principle of living: ▫ Non Violence ▫ Speak the truth ▫ No stealing ▫ Only one spouse ▫ Avoid excess

From Polytheism to Monotheism

Religion of Greece and Rome

• • • • • • Both were polytheistic Gods used to explain nature and human action Rome borrowed from the Greeks Christianity is going to develop during the Roman Empire Christians would not put the emperor before God Didn’t create a Formal/Significant World Religion

Judaism

• • • • Monotheistic faith takes shape in this era Exile of Jews from homeland begins Jewish Diaspora 400 BCE Jewish doctrines and customs formalized Dietary and marriage restrictions

Christianity

• • • • • • Jesus of Nazareth (ca. 4 BCE- 29 CE) Teachings proved popular among the poor but authorities soon persecuted him Roman law made Christianity illegal Apostles tried to spread teachings ▫ Tried to widen its appeal by allowing some changes, such as not having to observe Jewish dietary restrictions- this helped convert Greeks and Romans Caught on among poor, slaves, noncitizens 313 CE Constantine legalized Christianity in Edict of Milan

Culture is more than religion

• • China’s culture evolved with very little from the outside world ▫ Surrounded by barbarians with little to offer  Didn’t want much from them anyway ▫ Didn’t want to teach others their culture HOWEVER ▫ China did receive some cultural from the outside  Buddhism

Art in China

• Art was created in a detailed, proportional, and balanced manner ▫ Nature was emphasized ▫ Often very decorative ▫ Jade, pottery, ivory, bronze, and silk ▫ Calligraphy

Science in China

• Many innovations ▫ 364.5 days per year ▫ Movement of the planets ▫ Seismographs ▫ Advanced medical knowledge ▫ Acoustics ▫ Architecture ▫ Inventions  Paper, compass, water mills, porcelain, silk, plows

Cultural Developments in India

• • • Some great pieces of literature were written ▫ Common themes of love and heroics Science and Math ▫ One of the worlds 1 st university ▫ Sterilization and clean ▫ Small pox vaccine ▫ Number system still in use (0) Art ▫ Stupa: spherical shrines to Buddha

Greek Philosophers

• Socrates: one of the founders of Western Philosophy, virtue, justice, and piety. Question • Plato: student of Socrates, Teacher of Alexander the Great, founded the first higher learning institution in the western world. Understand true, good and beauty. The Republic • Aristotle: student of Plato, wrote about many subjects such as politics, logic, music, biology, ethics etc.

Math and Science in the Mediterranean

Pythagoras and Euclid: Geometry Galen: Anatomy Ptolemy: Sun around the Earth

Art and Architecture in the Mediterranean

• • Great achievements in Architecture ▫ Columns, Aqueducts Theater: ▫ Drama and Comedy

Japan

• • Seemed to have skipped the Bronze age: ▫ Stone  Iron Shinto ▫ Provided for both worship of political leaders and natural spirits

The Americas

• Olmec ▫ Beginnings of major artistic developments in the Americas ▫ Polytheistic