AP World Terms Chapter 5

Vaishyas

• 3rd level of the varna caste system, the Vaishya class were mainly farmers, merchants, artisans; commoners who cultivated the land. They were associated with the color/symbol of yellow/wealth, and formed the thighs of Purusha, a prominent Hindu god.

Yellow Turban Rebellion

• A massive peasant uprising in China during the second century C.E. Wandering bands of peasants began to join together, provoked by the horrible living conditions of lower classes, as floods along the Yellow River and resulting epidemics compounded the misery of the landlessness and poverty. The movement gained about 360,000 armed followers by 184 C.E. and found leaders, organization, and a unifying ideology in a popular form of Daoism. The movement looked forward to the "Great Peace" which was a golden age of equality, social harmony, and common ownership of property. The rebellion devastated the Chinese economy, weakened the state, and contributed to the overthrow of the dynasty a few decades later.

Spartacus

• A slave gladiator that led the most famous slave uprising in 73 BCE in the Roman Empire. Spartacus led 70 other slaves from a school for gladiators in a desperate bid for freedom that mushroomed into a huge uprising. The group of angered slaves organized themselves into a coherent military force with their own weapons that brutally attacked slave owners along with the Roman government. After much death and battle, Spartacus and his fellow slave army fought to the death and were therefore unable to gain their freedom. The large scale uprising did nothing to end slavery as the Roman economic system continued to rely heavily upon slave labor. No further revolts took place after the defeat of Spartacus and his fellow slaves.

Jati

• Another form of caste; occupation based social groups that developed within India as urban based civilization gave rise to specialized labor and jobs. The many thousands of jatis became the primary cell of India's social life beyond the family or household, but each of them was associated with one of the great classes (varnas). Brahmins were divided into many separate jatis, or subcastes, as were each of the other varnas as well as the untouchables. • In particular regions, each jati was ranked in a hierarchy known to all, from the highest of the Brahmins to the lowest of the Untouchables. Marriage and eating together were permitted only within an individual's own jati. Each jati was associated with a particular set of duties, rules, and obligations, which defined its members' unique and separate place in the larger society. Although caste restrictions were strict, there was a form of upward mobility for entire jatis. This included acquiring land or wealth, adopting the behaviors of higher caste groups, or finding previously overlooked ancestors of a higher caste, a particular jati could slowly move into a higher category.

Brahmin

• Highest level of the varna caste system, the Brahmin class were teachers and priests whose rituals and sacrifices alone could ensure the proper functioning of the world. Tribal medicine men or sorcerers found places as Brahmins. They wielded incredible social, economic, and political power and were associated with the color/symbol of white/spirituality, forming the head of Purusha, a prominent Hindu god. They were frequently in conflict with the Kshatriya caste over who ranked highest in the varna hierarchy.

Dharma

• In Hindu belief, a person's religious and moral duties in their life. Any hope of rebirth or reincarnation into a higher class depended on an individual's performance on his/her caste duties (dharma). This belief, provided powerful sanctions for the inequalities of the caste system because it was justified by the central religion of the Indian society.

Caste

• India's caste system represented a continuity from the classical era into the 21st century; a system of rigid social hierarchy in which all members of that society are assigned by birth to specific "ranks," and inherit specific roles and privileges based on those ranks. Caste systems were arranged both as varna, four ranked levels based on identity at birth, and as jati, a set of social distinctions based on occupation (known as sub-castes of the varna system).

Sudras

• Lowest level of the varna caste system, the Sudra class performed labor work and were mainly native people incorporated into the margins of Aryan society in very subordinate positions. They were associated with the color/symbol of black/ignorance, and formed the feet of Purusha, a prominent Hindu god. They were not a part of the first three "twice-born" caste levels and were regarded as servants of their social betters, not permitted to hear or repeat the Vedas or to take part in Aryan rituals.

Aryans

• Nomads from Europe and Asia who migrated to India and finally settled (around 1500 BCE) • The caste system evolved from a racially defined encounter between Aryan invaders (light-skinned) and natives this idea has been challenged over the years, but they still hold an important place for the origins of the caste system. • The top three levels of the caste system were regarded as "pure Aryans" and were called "twice - born," for they experienced not only a physical but a formal initiation into their respective varnas and status as people of prestigious Aryan descent. • Although the top Brahmins and Kshatriya were theoretically Aryan, they absorbed many tribal peoples into their castes.

The "Three Obediences"

• Popular Confucian notion (1 of 2 Confucian ideas supporting the patriarchy) of a woman's position in life, affirmed the Chinese patriarchy - emphasized a woman's subordination first to her father, then to her husband, and finally to her son

China's scholar-gentry class

• The Landlord class occupied by the wealthy landowners of the Chinese dynasties. They possessed a high class ranking and as a class benefited both from the wealth that their estates generated and from the power and prestige that accompanied their education and their membership in the official elite. The term scholar gentry reflected their twin sources of privilege. • These large landowning families remained a central feature of Chinese society. Their wealth allowed them to live a life full of luxury, with multiple homes in both urban and rural areas, along with multi storied houses and the finest of silk clothing. They represented the top of the Chinese class system who possessed the majority of control over themselves and also those socially inferior to them. Specifically, landlords of such large estates were often able to avoid paying taxes, thus decreasing state revenue and increasing the tax burden on the remaining peasants. In some cases, they also had the ability to mount their own military forces that might challenge the authority of the emperor. These capabilities made them a threat to political authority and stability, and they were often opposed by state authorities.

Kshatriya

• 2nd highest level of the varna caste system, the Kshatriya class were mainly warriors and rulers charged with protecting and governing society. They were associated with the color/symbol of red/courage, and formed the shoulders of Purusha, a prominent Hindu god. They were frequently in conflict with the Brahmin caste over who ranked highest in the varna hierarchy.

Varnas (4)

• The four ranked classes that divided Indian society. Everyone was born into and remained within one of the four classes for life. It organized society into distinct groups of people with the top being called the Brahmins, followed by the Kshatriya, then the Vaisya, and finally the Sudra. (The untouchables were considered to be outside the varna system.) Varna theory suggests that these four classes were formed from the body of the god Purusha and were therefore eternal and changeless. The Varna system controlled the social organization of Indian society and impacted political, economic, and cultural life.

Varnashrama-dharma

• The idea, developed in classical Hinduism, that dharma refers especially to a person's responsibility regarding class (varna) and stage of life (ashrama). This was the basis of Hinduism. A key concept of Hinduism, closely connected to those of karma and rebirth, was dharma. Varna - caste; ashrama - stages of life (student life, household life, retirement, and wondering ascetic [renunciation of all worldly desires]); dharma - duty

Untouchables

• The lowest caste but not included in the Varna system. • Men and women who did the work considered most unclean and polluting, such as cremating corpses, dealing with the skins of dead animals, and serving as executioners. They were forced to wear a "wooden clapper" to notify others that they were coming because other caste groups were in great danger of being polluted or being made unclean by the Untouchables.

Empress Wu

• The only women to ever rule China with the title of Empress (690-705 C.E.) She represented a further sign of a weakening patriarchy and the cause of great distress to advocates of Confucian patriarchal values. With the support of China's growing Buddhist establishment, Empress Wu governed despotically, but she also consolidated China's civil service examination system for the selection of public officials and actively patronized scholarship and the arts. Some of her actions seem deliberately designed to elevate the position of women. She commissioned the biographies of famous women, decreed that the mourning period for mothers be made equal to that of fathers, and ordered the creation of a Chinese character for human being that suggested the process of birth flowing from one woman without a prominent male role. Her reign was brief and unrepeated.

Helots

• The people of the neighboring regions conquered by the Spartan army. They were reduced to a status of permanent servitude, not far from slavery. • These dependent citizens far outnumbered the free citizens of Sparta and represented a permanent threat of rebellion. Solving this problem shaped Spartan society decisively. Sparta's answer was a militaristic regime, constantly ready for war to keep the helots in their place. This militaristic regime shaped politics, culture, social life, and economics within Sparta, making it known as a militaristic and powerful city that required all men and women to work together in order to maintain the permanent subjugation of helots. The threatening role of helots in society also contributed to the more laid back patriarchy present within Sparta because women had to contribute as much as men in order to sustain the military lifestyle.