History quiz

Theravada Buddhism

"Way of the Elders" branch of Buddhism followed in Sri Lanka and much of Southeast Asia. Theravada remains close to the original principles set forth by the Buddha; it downplays the importance of gods and emphasizes austerity and the individual's search for enlightenment.

Gupta Empire

(320-550 CE) The decentralized empire that emerged after the Mauryan Empire, and whose founder is Chandra Gupta.

How long did the battle between Pandavas and Kauravas last?

18 days

Bhagavad-Gita

A book in popular Hinduism that was a response to Buddhism and made reaching moksha way easier. Revered for their representations of Hindu beliefs.

In Northern India,

A brides family commonly provided a dowry, or payment to the bridegroom, and financed the costly wedding festivities. After marriage, the daughter left her home and became part of her husbands family.

Five Classics

A corpus of texts considered authoritative by the early Confucians. They include poetry, historical, speeches, chronicles, ritual, and divination, Texts used to train scholars and civil servants in ancient China

Who advised the rajah?

A council of elders made up of the heads of families

Women were thought to have Shakti

A creative energy that men lacked

The prosperity of Gupta India contributed to...

A flowering in the arts and learning

Sui dynasty set up...

A formal system of civil service exams, which were given at the local, provincial, and national levels. In theory, any man could take it. In practice, only the wealthy that could afford years of study, could hope to succeed.

Deccan Plateau

A high area of land at the center of the Indian subcontinent. Lacks the melting snows that feed the rivers of the north and provide water for irrigation. As a result, parts are arid, agriculturally unproductive, and sparsely populated.

Ban Zhao

A major female Confucian author of Han dynasty China (45-116 C.E.) whose works give insight into the implication of Confucian thinking for women. Favored equal education for boys and girls.

In each existence, Hindus believe...

A person can come closer to achieving moksha by obeying the law of karma

Feudalism

A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land

Siddhartha Gautama

A prince born on 563 B.C. whose early life is known mostly through various religious writings and literature

Jainism

A religion that branched off from Hinduism and was founded by Mahavira; its belief is that everything has a soul, and its purpose was to cleanse the soul. Rejected the idea that Brahmin priests alone could perform certain sacred rites. To avoid accidentally killing a living thing, Jains carry brooms to sweep the ground in front of their feet

Kuan Yin

A very popular bodhisattva in Chinese Popular Buddhism, she is the "goddess of mercy" who holds a willow branch in one hand (symbolizing the tree of life) and a vase in the other.

"Let a woman modestly yield to others. Let her respect others"

Ban Zhao

Why was the king seen as the link people Shang Di and the people?

Bc a god as great as Shang Di would not respond to the pleas of the mortals. Only the ancestors of the greatest people (ancestors of the king) could get the ears of the god.

Foreigners frequently pushed through mountain passes into northern India and...

Bc of the divided northern kingdoms were often proved incapable of resisting these conquerors

Importance of silk to China

Became China's most valuable export. To protect the control of this profitable trade item, the Chinese kept the process of silk making a secret for many years

By 256 BC

China was a large, wealthy, and highly developed center of civilization

Bc of China's isolation, there was a Chinese belief that

China was the center of the Earth and the sole source of civilization.

Wudi

Chinese emperor who brought the Han dynasty to its greatest strength

Who invented calligraphy?

Chinese scholars

Why did the Chinese struggle with Buddhism at first?

Chinese tradition valued family and loyalty, while Buddhism honored monks and nuns who gave up the benefits of family life for solitary meditation

Han empowers adopted that _______ (officials in the government) should win their positions by merit, rather than through family ties

Civil servants

Peasants in Shang Dynasty

Clustered together in framing villages. Lived in pit houses whose floors were dug several feet underground. All family members worked in the fields preparing the ground for planting or harvesting. If war broke out, men had to fight alongside their lords.

Monopoly

Complete control of a product or business by one person or group

Women were excluded from government jobs bc...

Confucian teachings about filial piety and the superiority of men prevented women from taking the civil service exam

Han emperors made _____ the official belief system of the state.

Confucianism

Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

Considered possible twin capitals of the civilization or cities that ruled the area one after the other. Both were large, some three miles in circumference. Each was dominated by a massive hilltop structure whose exact purpose is unknown. Each city also included a huge warehouse used for storage.

Shang Kings

Controlled only a small area. Loyal princes and local nobles governed most of the land. Were likely the heads of important clans.

Early Chinese money

Copper coins were made with holes in the center so that they could be strung on cords

Eighfold Path

the path to nirvana, comprising eight aspects in which an aspirant must become practiced: right views, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.

acupuncture

the practice of inserting fine needles through the skin at specific points to cure disease or relieve pain (2500 BC)

Civil service system remained in use until 1912

Dynasties rose and fell, but Confucian influence survived

The Chinese heartland lay along

East Coast Valley of the Yellow River and Yangzi River

What led to an increase in Chinas population?

Economic expansion

Despite its inequalities, caste systems

Ensured a stable social order

Ramayana

Evolved over the years as priest-poets added new morals to the tales to teach different lessons

To Hindus, people in different castes were different species of beings

Ex: a high-caste Brahmin was purer and therefore closer to moksha than someone from a lower caste

To ensure spiritual purity, a web of complex caste rules governed every aspect of life

Ex: where people lived, what they ate, how the dressed, and how they earned a living

Chinese merchants

Exchanged food and crafts made by local artisans for salt, certain types of shells, and other goods not found in northeastern China

Wudi followed ______ to increase the amount of land under Chinese rule

Expansionism

Villages usually produced most of the foods and goos that farmers needed bc (relied on trade for some essentials)

Farmers had to give the food they picked to the landlords

Most people in Indus civilization were...?

Farmers. They grew a wide variety of crops. They may have been the first people to cultivate cotton and weave its fibers into cloth.

What happened after 250 yrs of the Zhou dynasty with feudalism?

Feudal lords exercised their real power and profited from the lands worked by peasants within their domains

The Zhou dynasty was too weak to stop...

Feudal lords from ignoring the emperor and fighting each other in wars

Zhou developed into a

Feudal state (feudalism)

Silk Road stretched for 4,000 miles linking China to the Fertile Crescent, however,

Few traders covered the entire distance. Relayed in stages from one set of traders to another. Western end controlled by various people including the Persians

Although northern India shared a common civilization...

Fierce local rivalries kept it divided

What would happen if the river dikes broke?

Floodwaters would burst over the land and such disasters destroyed crops and brought mass starvation

How did Buddha die?

Food poisoning at age 80

How did the Aryans learn to farm?

From local farmers

How did Chinese people learn about chariots?

From other Asian peoples with whom they interacted with

During the Han period, new foods such as

Grapes, figs, cucumbers, and walnuts flowed into China from Western Asia

Megasthenes

Greek ambassador who wrote detailed descriptions of Chandra Gupta's capital

Which rule was looser? Gupta or Maurya? Why?

Gupta bc much power was left in the hands of individual villages and city governments elected by merchants and artisans

Indus houses

Had complex plumbing systems, with baths, drains, and water chutes that led into sewers beneath the streets.

Differences between the northerners and the Dravidians

Had different languages and traditions

Indian women

Had few rights. Their primary duties were to marry and raise children

What have archaeologists discovered about the Indus civilization?

Have not found any names of kings or queens, tax records, literature, or accounts of famous victories . The written remains of Indus civilization are found only rarely, usually on small clay seals that do not include any long passages.

Monsoons 2

Have shaped Indian life. Each year, people welcome the rains that are desperately needed to water the crops. If the rains are late, famine and starvation may occur. However, if the rains are too heavy, rushing rivers will unleash deadly floods.

Why did the Shang Dynasty emerge?

To drive off nomads from the northern steppes and deserts

Why did Zhou develop feudalism?

To reward their supporters by granting them control over different regions

What flourished across the Gupta empire?

Trade and farming

Moksha

the ultimate goal of existence, which is to achieve union with brahman. To do that, individuals must free themselves from selfish desires that separate them from Brahman.

The Indian family performed the essential function of training children in the

Traditions and duties of theirs castes

After the Buddha's death, some of his followers collected his teachings into a sacred text called

Tripitaka (Three Baskets of Wisdom)

Rules forbade marrying outside one's caste or eating with members of another caste

True

Although Asoka promoted Buddhism...

He also preached tolerance for other religions

What converted Asoka to Buddhism?

He fought in a long, bloody war to conquer the Deccan region of Kalinga. More than 100,000 were said to have dies - he was horrified at the slaughter and chose to reject violence and resolved to rule by moral example

Chandragupta Maurya

He founded India's first empire. He was an Indian prince who conquered a large area in the Ganges River valley soon after Alexander invaded western India.

How did the Buddha achieve enlightenment?

He meditated under a tree.

How did the Buddha see the Eightfold Path?

He saw it as a middle way between a life devoted to pleasure and one based on harsh self-denial. He stressed moral principles such as as honesty, charity, and kindness to all living creatures.

Who tended the silkworms and processed the cocoons into thread? And would later weave they silk threads into a smooth cloth that was colored with brilliant dyes.

Women and it was considered a laborious work

Indian children

Worked with older relatives in the fields or at a family trade

What fostered unity in early china? Why?

Written language bc all of china used the same writing system and, instead, people in different parts of china spoke differently

What did Shang priests write on oracle bones?

Wrote questions addressed to the gods or to the spirit of an ancestor. They heated the bone until it cracked and by interpreting the pattern of the crack, they could provide answers or advice from the ancestors

China extended its empire to

Xinjiang, Mongolia, Manchuria, Tibet (Chinese called it Xizang)

Ahisma

Hindu belief in nonviolence and reverence for all life

Dharma (Hinduism)

Hindu belief, a person's religious and moral duties based on class, occupation, gender, and age.

To escape the wheel of fate,

Hinduism stresses the importance of dharma

Original Chinese writing system

Included tens of thousands of characters that represented a whole word or idea. It was later simplified, but still is one of the most difficult largues to read and write.

Who owned most of the land in India?

Landlords. Farmers who worked the land had to give the owner part of the harvest. Often, what remained was hardly enough to feed the farmers and their families.

Indian daughter

Learned that as a wife she would be expected to9 serve and obey her husband and his family

Indian son

Learned the rituals to honor the family's ancestors. Such rites linked the living and the dead, deepening family bonds across the generations.

In Hindu and Buddhist centers,

Learning was not limited to religion and philosophy

Shang warriors used

Leather armor, bronze weapons, and horse-drawn chariots

Pandavas

Literally "The Sons of Pandu". The five sons of the king Pandu, led by Yudhisthira, who fight the Kauravas in the Mahabharata.

By AD 100

Missionaries and merchants had spread Mahayana Buddhism from India into china

Who spread Buddhism?

Missionaries and traders

What made trade easier in China?

Money and the new roads/canals that feudal lords constructed

Who directed the excavations of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in the 1940s?

Mortimer Wheeler

Hindu Kush and Himalayas

Mountains limited contact with other lands, leaving India's distinct culture to develop on its own

Common building materials in Indus Valley Civilization?

Mud and unbaked bricks (Harappa)

River of Sorrows

Nickname for the Yellow (Huang He) River. It often overflowed, destroying crops and bringing starvation, and destroying homes

Could you upgrade castes in one life?

No, not in one life, but in futre lives by fulfilling the duties for their present caste

Were the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas complete barriers?

No, steep passes through the Hindu Kush served as gateways to migrating and invading peoples for years

Acculturation of aryans

Nomads from Europe and Asia intermarried with local people to call themselves the Aryans. Through acculturation, the aryans combined the cultural traditions of the nomads with those of the earlier Indian peoples

Hinduism and Buddhism have a common belief in

Nonviolence, karma, dharma, and a cycle of rebirth

Han Astronomers

Observed and measured movements of the stars and planets

each caste has its own

Occupation and its own leaders

Asoka had stone pillars set up across India...

Offering moral advice and promising a just government

For a women, rebirth into higher existence was gained through devotion to her husband

Often, a widow was expected to join her dead husband on his funeral fire. In this way, a widow became a Sati, or "virtuous woman"

Kalidasa

One of India's greatest poets and playwrights

Dravidians (people of Deccan)

One of the main groups of people in India; probably descended from the Indus River culture that flourished at the dawn of Indian civilization over 4,000 yrs. ago

Hinduism became

One of the worlds most complex religions bc of the countless gods and goddesses and many forms of worship existing side by side

Indus Religion

Polytheistic. Early ties to Hindu. Especially about veneration (special regard to cattle). Viewed buffalo and the bull as sacred.

Aryans religion

Polytheistic. They worshipped gods and goddesses who embodied natural forces.

Shakti

Powerful goddess that is both kind and cruel, a creator and destroyer. Worshipped in various forms by some Hindus.

The need to control the flow of the river through large water projects...

Probably led to the rise of a strong central government and the founding of the Yellow River civilization

Chinese artisans

Produced goods for nobles, including bronze weapons, silk robes, and jade jewelry

Who led Aryan tribes?

Rajahs. Were of often the the most skilled war leader, had been elected to his position by an assembly of warriors.

Bhagavad Gita

Reflects important Indian beliefs about the immortality of the soul and the value of performing ones duty

Indus writing system

Scholars think that contact with the Sumerian may have prompted the people of the Indus Valley to develop their own system of writing, however, the Indus writing system is unique and show no relationship to Sumerian cuneiform.

Cai Lun

a Han court in China who invented paper and the wood-pulp paper making process in China in the early 2nd century CE (100s CE)

Dowry

a gift of money or property paid at the time of marriage, either by the bride's parents to her husband or, in Islamic societies, by a husband to his wife

Nalanda

a large Buddhist monastery/university in India which attracted students from all over Asia that taught mathematics, medicine, physics, languages, literature, and other subjects

Bodhisattva

a person who has attained enlightenment but who has postponed nirvana in order to help others achieve enlightenment

Upanishads

a section of the Vedas that address mystical questions related to Hinduism. Use vivido images to examine complex ideas about the human soul and the connectedness of all life.

Shakuntala

Tells the story of a king who marries the lovely orphan Shakuntala. Under an evil spell, the king forgets his bride. After many plot twists, he finally recovers his memory and is reunited with her.

Fu Hao

wife of Wu Ding (Shang dynasty king), served as military general and high priestess

loess soil

windblown dust that accumulates and forms a ridge of bluffs as it approaches higher elevations

What did the evidence of Fu Haos tomb suggest about noblewomen during the Shang period?

That noblewomen may have had considerable status

Archaeologists have concluded about Indus cities...

That they were a well organized government

From the Vedas, we learn that...

The Aryans divided their society into ranked groups based on occupation

Despite the formidable barriers,

The Chinese did have intact with the outside world

During the Zhou Dynasty

The Chinese economy grew

By 2640 BC

The Chinese learned to make silk thread from the cocoons of silkworms

Under the Zhou,

The Chinese made the first books

Sati

The Indian custom of a widow voluntarily throwing herself on the funeral pyre of her husband. Some widows accepted this painful death as a noble duty that wiped out their own and husbands sins. Other women bitterly resisted the custom.

What gives India its name?

The Indus River

Two long epic poems that Aryans memorized and recited...

The Mahabharata and the Ramayana (aryans had strong oral tradition)

What did the Zhou promote to justify the rebellion of the Shang?

The Mandate of Heaven

about 2600 B.C....

The earliest South Asian civilization emerged in the Indus River, in present-day Pakistan. Flourished for about 700 years.

Oracle Bones

The earliest known Chinese writing is found on these from ritual activity of the Shang period.

Around 1766 BC

The first Chinese dynasty for which scholars have found evidence for arose (Shang dynasty)

In Indian art, the cycle of death and rebirth is symbolized by....

The image of the wheel

Indian parents

The important duty of parents was to arrange good marriages (based on caste and family interests)

Was seen as a link between the people and Shang Di

The king

Tamil Kingdoms

The kingdoms of southern India, inhabited primarily by speakers of Dravidian languages, which developed in partial isolation, and somewhat differently, from the Aryan north. Trade was considered very important.

Bhagavad Gita

The most important work of Indian sacred literature, a dialogue between the great warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna on duty and the fate of the spirit. In the Mahabharata.

In its time, Han China was

The most technologically advanced civilization in the world

By 1900 B.C....

The quality of life in the Indus Valley was declining. Crude pottery replaced the finer works of earlier days. Use of writing halted. Mohenjo-Daro was entirely abandoned. Other cities and towns also dwindled to small numbers.

The top level of Shang Dynasty included

The royal family and a class of noble warriors

Shang Di

The transcendent God, who presided over all the forces of nature.

By 185 BC...

The unity of the Maury's empire was shattered as rival princes again battled for power across the Gangetic Plain

By about 500 B.C....

The written language, Sanskrit, that priests had used to write sacred texts bagan to flourish in literary use

Buddhism split into two groups

Theravada and Mahayana

Aryan Caste System

based on color at first = Kshatriyas (warriors), Brahmins (priests), vaishays (merchants), sudras (laborers or servants), untouchables - after religion takes over brahmins and kshatriyas switch

Northern India

battleground for rival rajahs fighting for control of the rich Ganges valley

Reincarnation (Hinduism)

belief that the individual soul is reborn after death. Allows people to to continue working toward Moksha through several lifetimes

After Asoka's death, the Maurya Empire

declined

During Gupta times, many fine writers added to the rich history of Indian literature

They collected and recorded fables and folk tales in the Sanskrit language

Through the correct rituals, Aryans believed that...

They could call on their gods for health, wealth, and victory in war. Brahmins offered sacrifices of food and drinks to the gods.

Hindus worship as many as 330 million gods and goddesses

They give a concrete form to Brahman

The Chinese sent large quantities of silk westward to fill the growing demand for it while in return...

They got fur, muslin, and glass

Thousands of rebellious peasants abandoned their village and fled to the mountains where

They joined secret groups of bandits known by colorful names

Why did ancient Chinese call their land Zhongguo, or the Middle Kingdom?

They thought they were the center of the Earth and the sole source of civilization

How did Chinese goods reach the Middle East and beyond?

They traded

In Indian society,

everyday life revolved around the rules and duties associated with caste, family, and village

In most of India,

farming depended on the rains brought by the summer monsoons. Too much or too little rain meant famine

A typical Indian village included a cluster of homes and

fields where farmers grew wheat, rice, or cotton

Chandragupta

first gained power in Ganges valley; conquered northern India; his rule was effective but harsh

Gao Zu

founder of Han Dynasty. lowered taxes, lowered legalist laws, brought Confucius scholars into court

Deccan Rulers

generally tolerated all religions as well as the many foreigners settling into their busy ports

Agni (Aryan)

god of fire and messenger who communicated human wishes to the gods

Varuna (Aryan)

god of order and creation

Asoka

grandson of Chandragupta; most honored emperor for his commitment to spreading peace and prosperity to all; was buddhist but accepted other religions; decline came after his death

Lessons for Women

guide written by Ban Zhao that taught women to be humble and obedient but also industrious

To aid transportation...

he built roads and rest houses for travelers... (planted banyan trees, mango groves, wells dug, shelters erected)

ancestor worship

honoring ancestors through rituals, such as offering food and wine to the dead

Tamil rulers

improved harbors to support overseas trade

Atman

in Hindu belief, a person's essential self. Viewed as the same as Brahman and others as a form of brahman.

Gupta Mathematicians

invented place value, zero, and numbering system/decimal system (now called "Arabic numerals" because Arabs carried them from India to the Middle East and Europe)

Indus Valley

located in the region known as South Asia, or the Indian subcontinent

White Huns

nomadic invaders from central Asia; invaded India; overran and destroyed Gupta Empire

Ramayana

one of two classical Hindu epics telling of the banishment of Rama from his kingdom and the abduction of his wife by a demon and Rama's restoration to the throne

Indian families were

patriarchal, the father or oldest male in a family headed the household. Adult sons continued to live with their parents even after they had married and had children. (A daughter would go to live with her husband and his family). Often only the wealthy could afford such large households. Still, even when they did not share the same house, close ties linked brothers, uncles, cousins, and nephews.

Yellow River Civilization

This term refers to a series of civilizations (dynasties) that emerged from the Huang He (Yellow River). The hued river gets its name from the loess soil that blows in from the north and Mongolia. Its regular flooding has earned the river the nickname of China's Sorrow due to the amount of people who have perished over the centuries.

Mahayana Buddhism appealed to many Chinese because it emphasized

personal salvation

Expansionism

policy of increasing the amount of territory a government holds

Legend of Yu

reflects the level of technology of a society making the transition to civilization

Indus Valley Civilization

Covered the largest area of any civilization until the rise of Persia more than 1,000 years later. Its cities even rivaled those of Sumer.

Monsoons

seasonal wind patterns that cause wet and dry seasons bc they blow from a certain direction for part of the year. Was a defining feature of life in the Indian subcontinent.

tamil merchants

sent spices, fine textiles, and other luxuries westward to eager buyers in the Roman empire

Hinduism has no

single founder and no single sacred text (like the Bible)

Dynastic Cycle

the historical pattern of the rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties

Zhou Dynasty

the longest lasting Chinese dynasty, during which the use of iron was introduced.

Mahabharata

the longest single poem in the world, about a war fought between two branches of the same family. One of India's greatest epics written between 1000 and 700 BC

Karma (Hinduism)

the moral law of cause and effect of actions; determines the nature of one's reincarnation

Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

1) All life is full of suffering, pain, and sorrow. 2) The cause of suffering is nonvirtue, or negative deeds and mindsets such as hated and desire. 3) The only cure for suffering is to overcome nonvirture. 4) The way to overcome nonvirtue is to follow the Eightfold Path

In the Han civil service system

1. A young man would start in a clerical job 2. Once his abilities were proven, he would move up to a local government 3. If he continued to excel, he would be recruited into the civil service

Dynastic Cycle

1. As long as a dynasty provided good government, it enjoyed the Mandate of Heaven 2. If the rulers became weak or corrupt, heaven would withdraw its support 3. Catastrophes were signs dynasties lost their Mandate of Heaven 4. New leader would start a new dynasty 5. Cycle repeats

The three major zones the Indian subcontinent is divided into

1. Gangetic Plain in the north 2. The dry Deccan plateau 3. And the coastal plains on either side of the Deccan

What scholars think happened to the Indus Civilization?

1. Invaders attacked and overran the cities of the Indus 2. Damage to the local environment, possibly too many trees were cut down to fuel the ovens of brick makers 3. Tons of river mud found in the streets of Mohenjo-Daro suggests a major flood 4. Other evidence points to a major earthquake

Wudi accomplishments

1. Strengthened the government and economy 2. Chose officials from Confucian 3. Set up an Imperial university at xian to train scholars 4. Improved canals and roads 5. Set up granaries across the empire to control supply of grain 6. Recognized finances and imposed a government monopoly on iron and salt

What happened after Asoka fought a long, bloody war?

100,000 people died and Asoka decided to turn his back on future conquests. He converted to Buddhism and rejected violence. He stopped eating most meats and limited Hindu animal sacrifices.

Despite Hinduism diversity...

All Hindus share certain basic beliefs

To Hindus,

All people and things are aspects of brahman and therefore deserve to be respected. Many Hindus try to follow the path of ahisma.

Mahayana Buddhism

Also known as popular Buddhism, is allows people more ways to reach enlightenment and boddhisatvas can help you reach enlightenment.

"God is one, but wise people know it by many names"

Ancient proverb reflects the Hindu belief that everything is part of the unchanging, all-powerful spiritual force called Brahman

Aryans also honored...

Animal deities, such as monkey and name gods

How many cities may have been prominent during the course of the Indus Valley civilization's history?

Archaeologists have uncovered 5 large cities

What did the tomb of Fu Hao tell archaeologists?

Artifacts show that she owned land and helped to lead a large army against invaders

Who wrote the Vedas?

Aryan priests

By about 800 B.C...

Aryans learned to make tools out of iron

Paved the way for the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia

Asoka

True to the Buddhist principle of respect for all life...

Asoka stopped eating most meats and limited Hindu animal sacrifices

Written Chinese took shape...

At least 4,000 years ago

Had a brutal secret police force and women warriors who guarded his palace bc he was fearful of his many enemies

Chandragupta

Most important Hindu gods

Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver), Shiva (destroyer) Each can take many forms, humans or animal, to represent the various aspects of Brahman with which he is associated

What did Asoka's rule bring?

Brought peace and prosperity and helped unite the diverse people within his empire

What blocked the easy movement of people in China?

Brutal deserts, high mountain ranges, thick rainforest, forbidding desert (the gobi), and the Pacific Ocean

Hinduism and Buddhism differed

Buddha urged each person to seek enlightenment through meditation instead of focusing on the priests, formal rituals, and many gods of Hinduism. Buddhists also rejected the caste system, offering the hope of nirvana to all regardless of birth

Maintained order through a well-organized bureaucracy. Their rule was effective, but harsh.

Chandrugpta

Grandsons of who pushed south to add much of the Deccan to their empire

Chandrugpta's grandson

Decline of Buddhism in India

Buddhism took a firm root across Asia, slowly declined in India. Hinduism absorbed some Buddhist ideas and made Buddha a Hindu god. After Buddhist centers survived until the 1100's (A.D.), they fell to Muslim armies that invaded India.

Faxian

Buddhist monk who came to India on pilgrimage to search for records of Buddha's teachings & wrote about the Gupta empire

Early aryans in India...

Built no cities and left very little archaeological evidence

Asoka sent missionaries to spread Buddhism in Asia

By doing so, he paved the way for the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia

Mohenjo-Daro

Carefully planned. Was laid out in an organized pattern, with long, wide main streets and large rectangular blocks. Most of its houses were built with baked clay bricks of a standard size.

First gained power in the Ganges valley and then conquered northern India

Chandragupta

Mahayana Buddhists

Described an afterlife filled with many heavens and hells

Chinese prized

Devotion to duty

Chinese physicians

Diagnosed diseases, developed anesthetics, and experimented w herbal remedies. Promoted the use of acupuncture.

What separated the peoples of the north and the peoples of the Deccan in the south?

Distance and cultural differences

Chinese peasants

Labored constantly to build and repair dikes to prevent the river from overflowing

To Hindus, all existence is ranked...

Humans are closest to Brahman. Then come animals, plants, and objects like rocks or water. People who live virtuously earn good karma and are reborn at a high level of existence. Those who do evil acquire bad karma and are reborn into suffering at a lower level of existence.

Chinese did what to bronze making?

Improved the art and technology of bronze-making, producing stunning bronze weapons and ritual vessels covered with intricate decorations

Where did Chinese history begin?

In Huang River valley, where Neolithic people learned to farm

Under the Guptas...

India enjoyed a Golden Age. They organized a strong central government that promoted peace and prosperity.

What happened after the White Huns overran Gupta?

India split into many kingdoms and no other great empire would come about like the Mauryas or Guptas for almost 1,000 years

Family interests came before

Individual interests

The chief Aryan deity was

Indra, the god of war

The sale of ____ and ____ gave the government a source of income other than taxes on peasants

Iron and salt

Why did Buddhism become popular in China?

It promised an escape from suffering

By late Gupta times, lower-class women

Labored in the fields or worked at spinning and weaving

The ideal Indian family was a

Joint family, in which parents, children, and their offspring shared a common dwelling

What did Guatama's father do to prevent his son from following the prophecy and becoming a ruler?

Kept him in the family palaces, surrounded by luxury and comfort

How did the Aryans get into India?

Khyber Pass through Hindu Kush Mtns

Most Indians

Knew nothing of the dazzling courts of the Mauryas or Guptas

By 600 BC

Knowledge of iron working reached China. Farmers were able to produce more food as iron replaced their old tools. Peasants began to grow new crops (soybeans). Farming became more productive.

Untouchables (Dalits)

LOWEST LEVEL OF INDIAN SOCIETY; not considered a real part of the caste system; often given degrading jobs; their life was extremely difficult; had to sound a wooden instrument called a clapper to warn of their approach

The caste system gave....

Many people a sense of identity and interdependence

Buddha (was Siddharta Gautama)

Means "Enlightened One." He is said to have renounced his worldly possessions and taught of a way to overcome suffering.

Some people in Indus Civilization were...?

Merchants and traders. Their ships carried cargoes of things to distant lands.

The headman and council

Organized villagers to cooperate on vital local projects such as building irrigation systems and larger regional projects like building roads and temples

Hinduism grew out of

Overlapping beliefs of the diverse groups who settled India

Chinese inventions

Paper, silk, the clock, the magnetic compass, printed books, gunpowder and fireworks, bronze, iron stirrups, fishing reels, wheelbarrows

Known to have 530 towers and 64 gates on the wall surrounding its city

Pataliputra

Maurya Capital

Pataliputra

Majority people in Shang China were

Peasants

Each village included

People of different castes who performed the necessity tasks of daily life . It ran its own affairs based on caste rules and traditions and faced little outside interferences as long as its paid its share of taxes. A village headman and council made decisions. The council included the most respected people of the village. In early times, women served on the council, but that changed.

Xinjiang and Mongolia

Regions beyond the heartland that have harsh climates and rugged terrain. Until recent times, they were mostly occupied by nomads and subsistence farmers.

Nomads in China

Repeatedly attacked and plundered Chinese cities

The Chinese depended on

Rivers for irrigation and transportation, they highly valued the ability to control floodwaters and to develop irrigation systems

Who could afford robes made from silk?

Royalty and nobles

Shang Dynasty

Second Chinese dynasty (about 1750-1122 B.C.) which was mostly a farming society ruled by an aristocracy mostly concerned with war. They're best remembered for their art of bronze casting.

In early Aryan society, women

Seemed to enjoyed a higher status than in later times. Some even composed a few Vedic hymns

Han Scientific Advancements

Seismograph - instrument used to detect earthquakes Magnetic Compass - instrument used to determine direction, such as north or south.

Asoka Maurya

Sent missionaries to spread Buddhism across India and to Sri Lanka

Coastal Plains

Separated from the Deccan by low-lying mountain ranges, the Eastern and Western Ghats. Rivers and heavy seasonal rains provide water for farmers. Also, from very early times, people in this region used the seas for fishing and as highways for trade.

What did feudal nobles encourage peasants to do?

Settle in conquered territories

Supreme God

Shang Di

who ushered in china's classical age?

Shi Huangdi

Buddhism founder

Siddhartha Gautama

As the Han dynasty aged,

Signs of decay appeared (most to do with weak emperors)

The emperor Wudi opened up a network of trade routes that would link China and the West for centuries

Silk Road

Aryans beliefs were changing to....

Some religious thinkers were moving toward the notion of Brahman, a single spiritual power that existed beyond the many gods of Vedas and that resided in all things. There was also a move towards mysticism. Mystics are people who seek direct communion with divine forces

Gangetic Plain

South of Himalayas and a fertile region, watered by mighty rivers: the Indus, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra. These rivers and their tributaries carry melting snow from the mountains to the plains, making agriculture possible.

Han china boasted

Splendid temples and palaces amid elegant parks. None of it has survived. Described by Han poets and historians.

IN marriage, a women's shakti helped to make the husband complete

Still, shakti might also be a destructive force

Chinese Buddhist monks

Stressed filial piety and honored Confucius

Shang astronomers

Studied the movement of planets and recorded eclipses of the sun. Their findings helped them develop an accurate calendar with 365 1/4 days

The Tamil Kingdom left a rich and diverse literature

Tamil poets described day-to-day events with the kingdom

As the Roman empire declined,

Tamil trade with China increased

Most of what we know about the Aryans come from...

The Vedas, a collection of hymns, chants, ritual instructions and other religious teachings

Period from 1500 B.C to 500 B.C. is also called

The Vedic Age

In 1122 BC,

The Zhou people overthrew the Shang and set up the Zhou dynasty which lasted until the 256 BC

Anyang

The ancient Chinese capital of the Shang dynasty.

Pataliputra

The captial of both Muryan and Gupta empires.

Caste System (Hinduism)

The class or distinct hereditary order into which a Hindu is assigned according to religious law.

Decline of the Gupta Empire

Under the pressure of weak rulers, civil war, and foreign invaders

Indus merchants

Used a uniform system of weights and measures

The outsiders whom the Chinese encountered were

Usually were nomadic invaders. Some were usually absorbed into the advanced Chinese civilization however.

Fertile farming regions that support the largest populations and rivers that provided water for irrigation and served as transportation routes

Valleys along the Huang, or Yellow, River and the Chang River

In AD 220

Warlords overthrew the last Han emperor. After 400 yrs of unity, China broke up into several kingdoms

In the Vedas, the Aryans appear as...

Warriors who fought in chariots with bows and arrows. They loved food, drink, music, chariot races, and dice games. They valued cattle, which provided them with food and clothing. Later, when they became settled farmers, families continued to measure their wealth in cows and bulls.

Throughout India's history, the village

Was at the heart of daily life

Continual interchange (people regularly interacting with others from nearby villages)

Was crucial in the establishment of common ideas across the subcontinent

An Indian father was thought to have wisdom and experience, and he enjoyed great authority. Even so, his power

Was limited by sacred laws and tradition

Indra's weapon

Was the thunderbolt, which he used not only to destroy humans, but also to announce the arrival of rain, so vital to Indian life

A husbands duty

Was to channel his wife's shakti in th e proper direction

Under Gupta rule, students

Were educated in religious schools

By late Gupta times, upper-class women were

Were increasingly restricted to the home. When they went outside the home, they were supposed to cover themselves from head to foot.

Religions that emerged in India after the Vedic Age...

Were influenced by both mysticism and the notion of Brahman

Vast majority of Indians

Were peasants who lived in the vacillates that dotted the Indian landscape

By Gupta times, India physicians

Were using other herbs and other remedies to treat illnesses. Surgeons were skilled in setting bones and in simple surgery to repair injuries. Doctors began vaccinating people against smallpox about 1000 years before this practice was used in Europe.

Zhongguo

What the Chinese called their land (means the Middle Kingdom)

"People of han"

What the Chinese called themselves bc of the advances started in Han China

5000 years after the Mauryas,

the Gupta dynasty again united much of India

From 321 BC to 185 B.C...

the Maurya dynasty ruled a vast, united empire

After Asoka's death

the Mauryan Empire declined

By about 500 BCE,

the Vedic Aryans had established themselves in the northern 2/3 of the Indian subcontinent

Mandate of Heaven

the belief that the Chinese king's right to rule came from the gods

Book of Songs

the earliest collection of Chinese poetry; it provides glimpses of what life was like in the early Zhou Dynasty

Nirvana (Buddhism)

union with the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth

Wang Chong

was a scientist that believed the comits and eclipses were not there to show how angry heaven was w/ them but just there for science reasons. he believed that nothing scientific shuld be accepted w/out proof.

How did Chandragupta maintain control?

well organized bureaucracy, royal court, secret police, women warriors guarded the palace, conquered Deccan Plateau, Ganges Valley, and Northern India.