Asian History

Written Chinese

1) "civilization" = wenming. "Wen" = writing, "ming" = understanding. China wants to be seen as civilized, and, to them, the way to civilization is through written language. 2) The Chinese have had fully developed script since the 14th century B.C.E. It's been in continuous use, and hasn't changed much. 3) Early Chinese writing was discovered in 1899 through scholar Wang Yirong, whose house guest discovered them on bone specimens while taking "dragon bones" as a cure for malaria. He sent his house guest to get some bones, house guest noticed strange markings on them, and went and got him. Wang Yirong decided to buy them, found the source, and all of China was told about the spot. 4) Ancient Chinese people communicated with thier ancestors or the Emperor of Heaven (Shangdi) by writing on bone (oracle bones). The questions were written in a yes/no format ("Will Lady hao be in good health after she gives birth to her baby?" "Will Lady Hao not be in good health after she gives birth to her baby?") and then heated until the bone cracked. The diviner then tried to interpret the character pu (an affirmative reply) on the cracked side of the bone. 5) Chinese is logographic, meaning that each symbol represents a different concept. There are two types of logographs in Chinese: simple and complex. Symbols for more complicated words were often simple logographs combined together to create a different meaning: "love" is the symbol for mother + the symbol for child. "Flute" is the symbols for mouth and reed. 6) A writing system based only on pictures can be kinda limiting. To create more words, scribes began adapting words that were picturable to also stand for words that sounded similar to the origin word. (An English example: let's say that <0> is the character for 'sun'. Since they sound similar, you could also begin using this character for words like son, soon, sung, sin, and shun, and let the correct meaning be deduced from context.) In Chinese, this means that each symbol stands for a certain set of sounds. 7) But this could also get a little confusing, so scribes developed another organizational tool- significs were combined with these phonetics in order to give the reader a clue as to which meaning was intended. (The symbol for "man" could be combined with the symbol for "sun" to create "son". A symbol for a mouth could be combined with "sun" to indicate "sung".) 8) each character is a single-sylable word 9) Because the Chinese writing system is based in pictures and not sounds, anyone who speaks a variation of Chinese can read it, regardless of language. The Chinese may not speak the same languages, but they can all read the same script. 10) In the past decade, the Chinese government has attempted two big language reforms. They simplified complex characters, and, although people still write the traditional way in Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc., it is largely used throughout all of mainland China. They also improved the way in which spoken Chinese was transcribed in the Roman alphabet using the Wade-Giles System. They created pinyin in 1958 to replace this system. People aren't sure if this new system is actually less ambiguous than the old one, but I think it is.

The Three Jewels of Buddhism

1) *"I take refuge in the Buddha"* A. Buddha was once a Himalayan prince named Sidhartha Guatama. He had great wealth, a wonderful wife, and a child who could inherit the throne, but, when he encountered old age, death, and disease in the outside world, he became an ascetic in order to escape from these horrors. He left home without telling anyone and renounced his status and position as royalty. B. He traveled south along the Ganges to find someone to teach him how to be a proper ascetic. He learned and mastered meditation, but it did him no good- meditation still wasn't an escape from old age, death, or disease. He joined a group of ascetics who practiced psychical punishment and mastered their methods, but found psychical pain to be no more liberating than psychical pleasure, and left. C. He wandered along the river bank and stopped to meditate under a fig tree for several days. During this time, he was able to gain insight into the truth of the human condition (referred to as his True Awakening). The place where this occurred became known as Bodh Gaya, and the tree itself became known as the Bodhi Tree/Tree of Enlightenment. At this point, Gautama became the Buddha- the Enlightened One. Not a deity, but an example of spiritual excellence. D. Buddha established a large following, reaching out to ascetic groups he had previously been a part of and establishing the Four Noble Truths (old age, disease, death, and escape). 2) *"I Take Refuge in the Dharma"* A. In the Majjhima-nikaya, the Buddha explains that he became free of desire and unwholesome thoughts by becoming tranquil and passive. In this state, he was able to recall details of his past lives and examine karma, the cycle of birth/death, etc. B. Becoming free from desire is the final Awakening. C. Life is inherently filled with suffering (duhka, dukkha). Everything about life is impermanent (anitya). Even the self is impermanent- it is only a temporary compound of moods and emotions (anatman/annata). Life is suffering, and the cure to this sad state of affairs is the Eightfold Path. 3) *"I Take Refuge in the Sangha"* A. The sangha is the term for the community of Buddhist monks. They gather together for three months during the rainy season, building community, rereading sacred buddhist texts, practicing meditation, and instructing new followers B. The vinaya is something of a "rulebook" for this situation, created to institute order within these groups. The most serious rules are no sex, no theft, no destruction of life, and no claiming superhuman powers. In addition, one may not handle gold or silver, engage in trade, drink, or eat anything after noon.

Demographics of South Asia

1) 1.7 million people; 1/4th of the world's population 2) RELIGIONS OF INDIA: 80% Hindu 13% Muslim 2.3% Christian 1.9% Sikh 3) RELIGIONS OF NEPAL: 80% Hindu 9% Buddhist 4% Muslim LOTS of Hinduism in South Asia. 1) Islam is more popular in other regions of the world, such as... WEST in Pakistan- 95%, 174 million EAST in Bangladesh- 89%, 154 million SOUTH in the Maldives- 100%; Islam is the mandatory religion 2) Buddhism is more popular in other regions of the world, such as... SRI LANKA- 75% Buddhist 15% Hindu 8% Christian 7% Muslim BHUTAN- 75% Tibetan Buddhist 24% Hindu

Indus Valley Civilization

1) 2500-1500 B.C.E. 2) world's third civilization (after Egypt and Sumer) 3) Established a trade route with Sumer; common 'exotic' exports were peacocks, monkeys, ivory, gems, spices, and incense 4) Indus River = water source for towns/cities, transportation 5) Farmers grew crops of wheat/cotton; utilized to make cloth 6) Three major cities: Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, and a third near the border of India and Pakistan that has not been excavated due to political tensions 7) had a system of law, but the language in which it was written has never been deciphered. Depicted religious ideas mostly through sculpture, not text. 8) Harappa + Mohenjo Daro: A. built on grid systems B. bathrooms w drains leading waste water out into the street, which then led waste water into sewage channels, which then led to waste cesspits located outside the city C. Despite this impressive technology, these civilizations both seem to have lacked systems of written language. All known samples of Indus script come from inscriptions of terra cotta seals. Nobody knows how to translate any of it- there's too many characters for a phonetic script (like English), but not enough for a logographic script (like Chinese). It may have resembled the writing style of Cuneiform, but we don't know because the longest Indian script we've ever found is 26 characters long. Therefore, this script probably functioned as a way to convey the basic stuff- who sent x thing, where it came from, what it was, etc. D. Did the animals that appeared most frequently on these seals (bull, tiger, camel, antelope, and elephant) have some sort of religious significance? Other seals include a woman being sacrificed, a horned god (not Shiva, but "first draft" Shiva- Proto-Diva), and the same horned god being worshipped, so we know these seals *could* be used for some sort of religious purpose. E. Frequent depictions of females decorated in necklaces, bangles, belts, and elaborate headdresses. Tittays out. Could have been how the women of this time dressed, could have been the precursor to the Hindu deity Shatki, who then evolved into multiple female deities. 9) The Indus Valley Civilization spanned more than 1,000 miles, so how did they manage to develop any form of centralized government at all? *Did* they manage any form of centralized government at all? We haven't found any palaces or temples. There is no evidence of the Indus Valley Civilization having a rivalry with any other states (along with thier lack of weaponry). The closest we get to any sort of organizational structure are two assembly halls, located at the highest points of each of the two cities. These cities could have been run from these assembly halls by religious officials, in something resembling an oligarchy (NO royals). 10) The Indus Valley Civilization collapsed between 2000 and 1500 B.C.E.- we don't know what happened, but the most recent theory was a 200-year dry spell

The Gupta Empire

1) 320-550 C.E. 2) The Mauryan Empire dissolved after the death of Ashoka. The central government collapsed, leaving the ruling of India to local villages. During this time, India had a prominent trade route with Southeast Asia, and ideas of Brahmanism/Buddhism were carried to Thailand and Cambodia. 3) In 324 C.E., another empire was established- the Gupta Empire. This empire is often referred to as the classical era because of its emphasis on/inventiveness in art, architecture, literature, science, and math. The Indian philosopher Aryabhata was the first to figure out that the earth rotates on an axis. They developed types of math such as trigonometry, defined zero, and calculated the solar year. It was during this period that the cave art in Ajanta depicting Buddha was also produced. 4) This period also brought back Brahmanic religious orthodoxy ( :( ), re-establishing royal/religious rituals and reinvigorating the caste system ( :(( ). 5) There is a firsthand account about life in this period written by Chinese pilgrim Faxian. He traveled into India in search of Buddhist knowledge, and wrote a memoir about his travels titled *A Record of the Buddhist Kingdoms*. (Another famous Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang came over later in 627 C.E. for the same reason, but at this point in time the Gupta Empire had collapsed, and presence of Buddhism had been extinguished.)

Kanji Sphere

1) A term referring to the areas of Asia where kanji is used (written language) 2) Encompasses East Asia, China

Indian Independence

1) After Indian independence was declared, the Indian empire was divided into three nations, with religion (Hindu and Muslim) being the primary dividing factor. 2) During this time, there were also 526 "princely states" that had not been absorbed by the British government, and, therefore, had to retire their (royal) rulers in order to be a part of the Republic of India. 3) Regional and linguistic divisions also made it hard for India to unify. They redrew state and territory boundaries more than 12 times in order to satisfy the "regional pride" of the people. (The lastest redraw happening in 2014, so this is far from finalized.) 4) Despite the vast religious, linguistic, and racial differences in India, it is the largest democracy in the world, with a constitution guaranteeing free speech, a free press, and equality (they didn't ban the caste system, but they *did* ban the concept of "untouchability", and some of the worst consequences of the caste system).

the Medieval Period

1) After the Gupta Empire fell, another period of decentralization began. In Western India, the Rajput royal family developed. During this point, the caste system was expanded and elaborated upon to become the modern caste system we know today. As small states began to grow larger, they pulled non-related people in the area into this caste system. Along with the original three castes, another caste was developed: Shudra. Vaishyas mutated to become a higher class of merchants, while 'Shudra' was now used to describe everybody else. 2) Hinduism also changed during this time. Before this, Hinduism was court and household-based, giving families the option to choose the deities they wanted to worship. As a result, three became incredibly popular (Shiva, Vishnu, and Shakti), and the Indian people as a whole began building temples to honor them. People began to declare multiple various entities as incarnations all part of a single, higher god.

Austro-Tai Language Family

1) Around 4500 B.C.E., people speaking the Austro-Tai languages migrated from South China into Taiwan (people who stayed in South China eventually moved into Southeast Asia as the Thai, Northern Burma as the Shan, and Laos as the Lao). At about 3500 B.C.E., they further migrated southward into the Philippines. Here, the Malayo-Polynesian culture began to develop. They moved further, both westward into the Indonesian Islands and eastward toward the Pacific Islands. 2) Illustrates change in words as a result of change in environment. Went from words related to wet-rice cultivation (feild, wet, rice, sugarcane, cattle, water buffalo) to words related to the equatorial islands (banana,yam, coconut). In Pacific Islander people, the word "rice" disappeared. 3) The most widely dispersed language family

Etymology of Hinduism + Buddhism

HINDUISM: 1) "Hinduism" as a term was created by Christian European peoples to describe the religion of India as a whole (obviously, that's problematic, given that India has more than one religion, and widely differs in beliefs and practices even within that religion) 2) "Hindu" as a term was created during the Muslim expansion into South Asia, when Islamic peoples began to need a term to distinguish between the native religion and their own. A "Hindu" was a person who followed the customs of Hind (that said, "custom" and "religion" don't always line up) 3) Despite both of these things, Hinduism is now a fixed category in the world's religions BUDDHISM: 1) Based not on a region, but on the important religious figure (Gautama Buddha, 5th century B.C.E.) 2) Most followers of Buddhism are located in East and Southeast Asia 3) While there is only one Buddhist religion, there are many different branches (comparable to Christianity: only one Christianity, but you can be Baptist, Protestant, Lutheran, Catholic, etc.)

Religion and Writing

In Asia, writing is considered to be a religious (and, therefore, a deeply revered and somewhat mysterious) thing. In North India, the name for Sanskrit is "devenagari", meaning "writing of the gods". The earliest form of Sanskrit, brahmi, meant "of Brahma", one of the Hindu gods. Japan has the concept of "word mana" (kotodama), where writing is considered to have a spiritual power. 2) While writing originated in the Middle East as something of an organizational tool, writing originated in China as a tool for ancestor worship, which turned writing into something to be used for religious purposes all across Asia.

The Beginnings of China + the 3 Earliest Chinese Dynasties

In the first century B.C.E., Sima Qian, now referred to as the "Great Historian", began recovering lost Confucian texts after the First Emperor Qin Shihuang attempted to obliterate Confucianism. As a court historian and archivist, he was able to gather a great majority of these Confucian documents and later wrote the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) while under employ during the Han dynasty. The Shiji documented the three earliest Chinese dynasties: A. The Xia Dynasty B. The Shang Dynasty C. The Zhou Dynasty But he kinda just wrote down whatever without passing judgement on the credibility of the texts, so take it with a grain of salt. The Xia Dynasty, for examples, is recorded only through myths about Yu the Great, who tamed the Yellow River (prevented flooding). You gotta maintain those floods to be seen as a good emperor in China's eyes.

Laozi (Lao Tsu) and Confucius

LAOZI: 1) Lived during the same period as Confucius. "Lao" = old and venerated, "zi" = master. 2) Was he one person? Many people? Who knows! 3) Laozi was the keeper of the imperial archives during the Zhou Dynasty in the new capitol of Luoyang. The Zhou Dynasty began to decline, and Laozi's plan was just to peace out, but some dude was like "wait don't leave and take all that knowledge with u can u write me a book" . So he wrote two books: one, detailing the meaning of the Way (referred to as dao/tao), one detailing the meaning of Virtue (referred to as de/te). Later, both words were combined to create the Daodejing, the "Classic of the Way of Virtue". 4) The Daodejing has 81 verses. The Dao makes up verse 1-37, the De verses 38-81. 5) Laozi tried to revitalize society by framing it as the 'sphere of manifest reality'- although true reality is beyond the earthly realm, one must be involved in society to get a hint of what reality is really about. (This "true reality" is referred to as the dao.) Society can be used as a gateway to understand true reality. All psychical things have a unity with the dao, and, because all psychical things come from one source, they all operate on the same principles. Worldly things are a manifestation of the dao. Everything that exists is connected to/an extension of the dao, including yourself. Your way of being reflects the way of being of reality. 6) In Chinese, the word "de" is made up of the characters for person and heart. It focuses on concepts such as strength of character and the spiritual power granted to those who possess it. 7) The second half of the Daodejing (the de) focuses on rulers and the state, and the duty that rulers have to use their de. 8) Laozi doesn't think that ruling is inherently unethical- it's just unethical if you do it wrong. You should remember the limits given to you by natural law (the dao). If you obey the dao and those natural limits, society will function smoothly- no extra interference needed. CONFUCIUS: 1) Lived in the state of Lu in the Shandong province. He held high office at one point, but his critique of the society around him made him... unpopular. To combat poor governing, he offered his services to nearby advisors and regional rulers, but he eventually became disgusted with them and left his place as a government official in Lu. For 10 years, ge wandered around trying to find somewhere else where he could be a government official, but, between government corruption and his own enemies, he couldn't. He returned to Lu and spent the remainder of his life writing and teaching those who would listen. 2) Confucius tried to revitalize society by focusing on morally perfecting oneself. 3) Confucianism centers around the concept of the ren (meaning "man" or "humanity"). It's kind of nebulous concept rather than one definable word. Ren means moral perfection, moral awareness, human potential, and the power of love as a force for human goodness. 4) Humans are born with the ability to be morally perfect, and a well-ordered society is the key to reaching that moral perfection. 5) Confucius's ideas are preserved in the Analects of Confucius. They are written in a common and plain way, most often through stories and parables. At first you might not think much of it, but it's there- just on a more subtle level than us dumb Americans usually have to operate on. 6) One reaches ren through li. "Li" has been translated many different ways, first as "righteousness", (James Legge, 19th century), then as "ritual". The term "li" encapsulates a kind of ceremonial conduct that is the behavioral expression of the moral quality of ren. By self-governing through ritual practices, you can transform yourself and acquire ren. Confucian people rely on society and the traditions of the past to tell them how to perform li. In Confucian tradition, the past and society are a good thing. Morality is established by society and by China's common ancestors. Nobody really cares about being their authentic self unless it is mandated by society or ancestry. You are born with potential, which is fulfilled by adhering to the moral framework of society. 7) rituals and traditional are what bind society together. Li prescribes, structures, and maintains a social order, governing both the family and the state as a way to uphold the man's power over the family, and the state's power over the man. 8) Confucius also propagated the idea of the Three Bonds: official to monarch, son to father, and wife to husband. 9) "Junzi" = the term for someone who fulfills both li and ren. Before Confucius, this term was used solely by royalty, but Confucius posited that anyone who wanted to achieve moral perfection had the potential to become a junzi. (Translated as "gentleman" during the Victorian Era.) The junzi conducts themselves in accordance to li and the social order it implies (as such, Confucian women only got the option of being daughters, mothers, or wives) 10) Confucius is responsible for a great chunk of the moral foundation of Chinese civilization. However, it is the Chinese people themselves that kept him alive- over the centuries, they continued to compile his works, and wrote critically about his ideas. Today, the tomb of Confucius is a shrine where lectures, religious ceremonies, and festivals take place (began during the Han Dynasty, and it's still happening today!).

The Fours Ways in Which Populations Disperse

LESS COMPLEX: 1) A people settle in a previously uninhabited territory (early on; for example, humans migrating from Africa into Europe, Asia, Australia, etc.) 2) farming dispersal- the invention of farming resulted in larger populations, which results in the need for expansion 3) natural global warming dispersal- earth gets out of the ice age, northern areas become livable, humans disperse again (into Siberia, across the Bering Strait to create the first Native American population (Eskimo-Aleut)) MORE COMPLEX: 4) elite dominance dispersal- humans became advanced enough for war; traveled to other regions and conquered them. The Altaic languages, for example, originated. in Central Asia, but were carried to the east and west this way. This is also the same way in which Lao and Thai replaced the former regional language, Khmer. Also also, colonialism did this with English. Good for communication, bad for anyone who wasn't a colonizer.

arc of fire

a term referring to the "line" of Asiatic volcanoes that "outlines" the Pacific Ocean 1. American side has... A. the Cascades B. The Sierras C. The Andes

caused by the collision between India and Eurasia's tectonic plates A. India was once a part of east Africa; it broke off and drifted northeast. B. In fact, the Himalayas were created by this collision- the Himalayas used to be a low coast right by the water!

caused by the collision between India and Eurasia's tectonic plates A. India was once a part of east Africa; it broke off and drifted northeast. B. In fact, the Himalayas were created by this collision- Tibet/north India used to be a low coast right by the water!

Luan

refers to any and all periods of Chinese history without a State

Etymology of "civilization"

Comes from the Latin "civitas", meaning city

"2"

Concept of "2" V V V V Old German Sanskrit Greek Latin "twai" "dva" "duo" "duo" V English "two"

China + markers of civilization

Because China developed a common written language so early on, literacy and possession of a written language were consider the "mark of civilization" by Chinese people

Buddhism, China, and India

China and India were linked together by their shared religion of Buddhism, though the 'ideal example' of Buddhism was very different in both countries. In India, Buddhist King Ashoka was the prime example. In China, Qin Shihuang was.

The Dharma of Women

1) Indian society is patriarchal, and divided into public and domestic spheres. The domestic sphere is the female sphere, referred to as being "behind the curtain", or in *parda*. 2) The higher the caste, the more extreme the separation between genders. While modern India does allow women the ability to merge into the public sphere and into traditional "men's work", cultural and social divisions are still very much in order. 3) Women keep the house in order, men keep the women in order. The role of the woman is to bring wealth into the home. 4) The divide between the emotional and social roles of men and women first occurred during the formation of the state. The patriarchal extended family became the unit upon which civilization was organized. In order to establish a more stable society, extended families aimed to be joined together through marriage- specifically, by marrying their daughters off to other families. Among the elite, daughters were often married to men based on which man would best elevate the family's status. It became common practice for the King to marry multiple wives in order to gain political alliance/allyship with multiple kingdoms. Brides became bartering tools in exchange for political peace, which created a female purity complex in which women are required to be virgins at the time of their marriage. Women were married off earlier and earlier so that their virginity could not be questioned. Typically, women have a first marriage at around 6-8 for solidification, then a second marriage at the onset of puberty, where the woman goes to live with her husband and his family. While Indian legislation technically criminalizes underage marriages (before the age of 16), social custom means that nobody really cares what the age of marriage is, and this legislation is frequently broken with little to no consequences. Because role in the household is ranked by sex and age, the girl who marries into her family accepts her role as the lowest in the household. She must submit to everyone in the household who is senior to her, which is... everyone. 5) Indian women are prized when they are submissive. Indian goddesses are prized when they are powerful. What's up with that? 6) Marriage is both "fearful and romanticized"- unlike in the West, Indian women are encouraged to fall in love *after* the wedding, not before. Her wedding initiates her *suhag*, a state in which she is married, but no longer a virgin (this is also why Indian women wear a sindur). 7) Because of the way life is structured for women in India (power structures, psychical circumstances, etc.), they are subject to predation from other members of their husband's family. So, instead of telling them not to do that, they fix it by having the woman wear a veil in their presence, and not interact with them if at all possible. When the men enter, the women are expected to leave. The men of the family convey messages to her through the children.

Confucius (Kongfuzi, Kongzi)

1) Lived in the 5th century B.C.E 2) Literally so influential that Chinese civilization as a whole began developing (at least partially) around his ideas. This link between Confucian ideas and Chinese culture is known as wen. 3) Along with implying an advanced civilization (Confucianism = religion + records), wen also informally pushed for the creation of social institutions. To preserve harmony and order, the State was created. The state worked to advance, protect, and maintain Chinese civilization.

Indian History

1) Back in the day, they mostly focused on transcribing/interpreting religious texts- very little is known about the history of India as a state , and what is known is usually known through Hindu/Buddhist books such as the Vedas, Brahmanas, and Upanishads. These books were written in Sanskrit, indicating contact with Aryan people no earlier than the bronze age. 2) We know that King Ashoka spread Buddhism throughout India, and other Buddhist texts claim that the Buddha both lived and died in India, but there are no historical records/proof of this. 3) This got a little bit better when some crazy dude named Charles Masson (allegedly- also allegedly from Kentucky, but actually English) deserted his position (an English soldier in India) and just began *hoofing it* around India in 1827. Wrote *Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan, the Panjab and Kalat*. Knew that Alexander the Great had traveled to Northwest India, so he went, too, recording information about the geography and people, and picking up artifacts (many of them coins depicting ancient Greek gods and figures, strong evidence for Alexander's occupation of India). 4) In 1838, Masson discovered the remains of an ancient Indian civilization on the Indus River near Sutlej, Punjab. (*Ancient*- it flourished at the same time as Sumer and Egypt.)

The Caste System

1) Basically, it exists, but everyone in India's like "no it doesn't don't look over here." It is improper to talk about caste in public or to ask about a person's caste. Many Hindu organizations renounce the caste system (on paper, of course). Some people claim that the new constitution/laws have abolished it, or even that it doesn't exist. But people guess each other's castes. Castes play a large role in politics, and matrimonial advertisements almost always state or imply the caste of the applicant they are looking for. Caste is an overarching form of social identity, therefore imposed even on those who are not Hindu. The Dalites (formerly known as "the untouchables"), require government assistance. The Indian government recognizes "Scheduled Castes"/"Other backwards Castes", historically oppressed caste groups that now have legally defined rights and protections. (And now, rich people are literally committing "caste fraud". Go figure.) 2) The concept of the caste system began in the Vedas, and ended up defining the "moral order" of Indian society. The Myth of the Cosmic Sacrifice (found in the Rig-Veda) details the creation of the universe- the cosmic being Purusha is sacrificed by the Hindu gods in order to create the universe. The gods sacrifice him by dismembering him, and different parts of his body become different castes. His mouth becomes the Brahmans (priests), his arms the Kshatriyas (warriors/kings), his thighs the Vaishya (the "common people"), and his feet the Shudras ("servants"). This sacrifice also produced the beasts of the air (birds), forests (wild animals), and villages (domesticated animals), as well as scared chants and mathematical formulas. This "four option" classification system is known as the varna system, although it is important to note that these four groups themselves are not castes- all castes fall under one of these four categories. The caste system is an established, natural order that has existed since the onset of the universe- the word for this concept is 'dharma'. The ancient texts that outline these principles are referred to as the Dharmashastras. When referring to one's jati-dharma, we are referring to one's natural caste. 3) The word 'caste' is translated into Hindu as 'jati', meaning birth, kind, and/or species. When talking about castes, we are talking about animals as well as humans. 4) Hindu texts establish that, while the caste system is the true, moral thing to live by, one can transcend the caste system through Krishna's love. 5) There's no escaping your caste. It doesn't change, you don't socialize out of it or marry outside it, your children will be born into it, and, no matter what you accomplish, you will die as that caste. 6) Occupations and castes are heavily associated with each other. Occupation is inherited like caste. The castes of various occupations are based on the 'purity' or impurity' of the task being performed, and it is traditionally considered the sole right of someone with x occupation to be the only person in one's immediate social circle to perform that task. While people in India today can move between occupations, they are typically considred to have an 'affinity' for work matching thier own castes. 7) According to a recent (2011), widespread study of rural Indian villages (68% of the overall population within India) found that each village had a 'dominant' caste that controlled the majority/entirety of the village. This 'dominant' caste was not chosen based on its place in the hierarchy, but rather its prevalence throughout the village. The most common caste is the dominant caste. Because the largest group of people has the control in each village, villages can link up with each other in order to exchange labor/trade. The landowner within each village is usually the person who hires these lower castes (which "brings them over") and supports them with payment in exchange for the services of all the lower castes. The landowner referred to as the jajman (patron), and the economic system as a whole (interaction between landowner + castes) is the jajmani system.

The Center of Linguistic Diversity in East/Southeast Asia

1) Center in Canton/Guangzhou, China 2) Epicenter of language diversity

Southern Asian Language Families

1) Chinese 2) Austroasiatic 3) Tai-Kadai 4) Miao-Yao 5) Tibeto-Burman

Eastern Zhou Dynasty

1) Created when the capital of the Zhou Dynasty was moved from Chang'an to Luoyang 2) Marks the decline of the Zhou Dynasty- in the Western Zhou Dynasty, loyalty between the king and the rulers of the secondary states/ritual actions were enough to keep people in line. But, as secondary states began to grow more powerful than the king, they began operating autonomously of the State. They formed alliances with each other and absorbed weaker states. This period lasted from 722-481 B.C.E., and was known as the Spring-and-Autumn Period. 3) After this came the Warring States Period, which lasted from 403-221 B.C.E. At this point, states had allied and absorbed to the point where there were only 6, all gigantic and all at a stalemate with one another. 4) Politically, it wasn't the best time. But technology really advanced during this period. With the advent of iron, people were able to make plows strong enough to be used by oxen, which allowed for more work in less time. Canals and irrigation works were revamped, allowing for farming in new areas. The first Chinese class system also developed (Warriors/administrators at the top, then peasants/primary producers, then artisans/secondary producers, and, at the bottom, merchants). This class structure still exists to this day. Administrators were mostly valued due to their literacy and their knowledge of history and ritual practices.

"Clean" v. "Unclean"

1) Despite their actual, psychical state, someone's caste is what makes them permanently and intrinsically "clean" or "unclean". The more "pure" you are, the less you pollute. 2) "Clean" castes are the highest three varnas. The Brahmans are the most pure. Shudra groups are considered unclean, and anyone outside the caste system is impure to the extent that they are a danger to those above them (anyone else). 3) These ideas of purity and pollution are based on occupation, because the caste system is based on occupation. It's all about what you produce and how you produce it. Brahmans are the cleanest because they are involved with the sacred texts and Brahmanic rituals. Their activity (allegedly) benefits society. 4) Untouchable castes also benefit society, but the unclean conditions of their work (cleaning the streets, dealing with the dead) make them unclean. 5) Because interacting with a lower caste can "pollute" you, people usually only interact with others within their own castes. Because pollution is psychically transferred through water, caste pollution is "transferred" as well- each caste has its own designated wells. In order to prevent passing pollution through food, people of unequal castes do not eat together. The whole village must attend weddings and funerals together, but each caste is served in different places, with different types of food at different times. Servants of higher-caste families must not come from too low of a status. Restaurants only employ Brahman cooks, because anyone can accept food from a Brahman. Food fried in ghee is 'safer' (pakka food) and can be eaten by multiple castes, which is why it is the common food at weddings and funerals. Boiled rice is 'unsafe'- it can only be eaten with equals (kachcha food). 6) People in the lower categories aren't really putting up with this in the modern era. They don't need your charity.

Religion + Neolithic North China

1) Earliest evidence dates back to 1600 B.C.E 2) The Chinese people communicated with their ancestors by asking them questions inscribed on oracle bones. When heated, the bones developed cracks. The directions of these cracks were then used to interpret the will of their ancestors.

World's earliest states/characteristics of states:

1) Egypt 2) Mesopotamia 3) India 4) China 1) prominent farming communities 2) some form of political structure (usually a monarchy or oligarchy) 3) class specialization/stratification- warriors, priests, nobles, peasants, and specialist craftsmen such as carpenters, architects, ministers, philosophers, astrologers, astronomers, mathematicians, engineers, artists, etc. 4) formation of towns and major cities 5) religion becomes a tool of the state Because the state is based on politics and war forces, it's easy for them to be built and to fall apart. Civilizations, however, are formed from long-standing cultures/cultural traditions. They can outlast states or maintain several states at the same time. Civilization can survive through times when no state exists at all.

Proto-Indo-European Languages

1) English 2) Sanskrit A. despite being an incredibly well used language, it's as old as hell. Died out in the first millennium B.C.E. B. By the time the Buddha was born in the sixth century B.C.E, it was already considered archaic (Buddha "helped" with this b/c he only preached in "standard" languages, so those were the languages that Buddhist texts were written in.) C. Thankfully, sacred Hindu texts (the Vedas) were written in Sanskrit, so the language continues to live on to this day 3) Greek 4) Latin 5) German Spoken as a common group around 5,000 years ago

Early Asia

1) First H. erectus fossils discovered in Asia in 1891 in Java. Dubbed the "Java Man". H. erectus migrated out of Africa and into China during warm periods (north is relatively warmer). 3) Peking Man discovered in Zhoukoudian, China; moved north about 550,000 to 300,000 years ago (younger than the Java Man). But everyone was suspicious of him b/c the Piltdown Man, an early man found in England, had just been revealed as a hoax. 4) In caves in Zhoukoudian, they have found the remains of at least 40 individuals, plus stone tools. Lived in the area from 460,000 years ago to about 230,000 years ago, which is a *long* time. A. all Homo erectus B. had a cranial capacity of about 1054 cc (the modern human, Homo sapiens, has a cranial capacity of about 1450 cc). Most recently found skull shows a cranial capacity of 1140 cc at about 200,00 years ago- they were growing! As a result, tools became finer and more complex over time. C. Thicker, flat-top skulls, protruding brows D. Possessed slightly curved back teeth now found in modern Chinese populations. We now know that all humans have one common ancient African ancestor, but, back then, people took this as evidence that there were three separate "races" of people- The "Mongoloid Race", descended from the Peking Man into modern-day Chinese peoples, as well as the Caucasoid (white) and Negroid (African) races. Observable psychical characteristics were used to put people into one of these three categories (which is problematic given racist associations, racial variation, white passing, etc.) E. Fun fact- Chinese people actually take the idea of the "Mongoloid Race" as a point of pride, which makes establishing new scientific findings about H. sapiens... difficult. "We all evolved from the Peking Man, and we're all Chinese" does help with political unity, though.

Korean and Japanese Language

1) Fun fact- written Japanese and Korean were originally Chinese; they adopted thier systems of written language from China during the formation of thier respective state systems. However, due to the multisyllabic nature of both Japanese and Korean, this became... difficult. They also didn't have tones, and had verb forms that changed based on the various functions of the verb (inflectional), which Chinese did not have. But there was literally nobody else with a writing system around, so struggling to adapt Chinese it was. 2) Because the Chinese script was adapted for Japan during a period where only royals could read/write, Japanese script was developed to be elaboratly beautiful rather than purely functional. Even though this is still true today, it doesn't seem to be causing a problem- Japan is one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world, and boasts a 99% literacy rate (higher than the US!). 3) How did Japan adapt Chinese writing? Like this: A. Obviously, you have to read Chinese stuff to have the basis to adapt Chinese into another language. Therefore, Chinese ideas and loanwords merged with the Japanese lexicon and culture. Japan even turns to China for new words to this day! Additionally, the characters used in Japanese writing are referred to as 'kanji', from the Chinese "hanji" (meaning "Han characters"). B. After this, both Korea and Japan invented a syllabic system with which to write (Koreans refer to this as "kanatara", while the Japanese refer to it simply as "kana".) In Japan, each kana stands for a single consonant and vowel combination. There are two types of kanas- plain kana (hiragana) and partial kana (katakana). Both sets have characters for each of the 49 syllables of the Japanese language (based in similar-sounding Chinese characters, of course). Kanji are used for words like verb roots/nouns, hiragana used for inflections (the equivalent of morphemes like "ing" and "ed" in English) and to spell out gramatical morphemes like "of", "the", etc. Katakana is used for loan words/foreign words. 4) Korea also had trouble adapting Chinese script to its own needs. In the 15th century, the Korean king King Sejong invented a new, more "Korean" script. He set up something called the Bureau of Standard Sounds, employing scholars to create a phonetically-based script. In the 15th century, these scholars *did* have the basis for a phonetic script (India). In the end, they created a 24-character alphabet. While efficient and clever, the wealthy saw it as something of a bastardization of Chinese. They used it only for extremely practical clerical functions, and it took a while to enter into the mainstream as a "multiple use" language. During the 2000's, the Korean written language was renamed (from 'onmun', meaning "vernacular writing" to 'Hangul', meaning "great script") in order to raise its status. It is now used as the exclusive method of writing in North Korea, and widely used in the south.

The Human Timeline

1) Homo Sapiens originated 143,000 years ago in East Africa, eventually migrating to the north and east and merging with late Homo erectus populations (presence of Neandertal genes in modern Europeans suggests interbreeding). 2) All modern humans (Homo sapiens) are descended from a population in East Africa that replaced Homo erectus. Therefore, we know that modern humans had to have both existed with and outlasted H. erectus. 3) Mitochondrial DNA allows for us to see what populations have what percentage of this ancient human DNA. Turns out, we're all pretty recent descendants, and that psychical features used to distinguish 'race' only make up about .01% of the human genome. The concept of "race" has very little scientific significance. 4) Homo sapiens migrated from Africa to China (through India) relatively recently- about 100,000 to 60,000 years ago. (They may have encountered homo erectus, which then died out to be replaced with the modern human.) H. sapiens traveled to Australia no earlier than 50,000 years ago, and to Europe no earlier than 30,000 years ago. Distinguishing "racial" features evolved no earlier than 50,000 years ago (first "racial" distinction being the transition from African to Chinese).

History of the Proto-Indo-European Languages

1) In 1784, Englishman William James moved began learning Sanskrit. (as a white, Christian man, despite the fact that this language was sacred to a religion he didn't practice and a culture he wasn't a part of, but whatever.) The first westerner to connect Sanskrit with Greek/Latin, due to similarities in root words, grammar, etc. 2) At first, Europeans thought that languages such as France, German, and English we so similar because they all borrowed from each other. This made sense- they were in close proximity. But when seeing that Sanskrit also had similarities to German, French, and English, this hypothesis was disproved. Instead, all of these languages had come from a common sources- a set of languages referred to as the "Proto-Indo-European" Languages.

The Han Dynasty

1) In China, periods of social chaos are defined by eras where the power of the state itself is weak, and the power of its individual regions is strong. 2) Emerged during the Han Dynasty. Because the overthrow of the Qin Dynasty was partially caused by regional loyalties, the Han Dynasty attempted to limit the power of regional kingdoms. Because of this, they continued to use the meritocracy system adopted by the Chinese during the Qin Dynasty. Because regional power could be given and taken away so easily, most regions looked to the emperor, who held power steadily, in times of crisis. 3) The good thing about this was that it was kinda the Chinese version of the American dream. Pig farmers and slaves were able to better their positions in society and become part of the new aristocracy.. Of course, this ambition also made it possible for them to become more powerful than the emperor, so the emperor began the tradition of maintaining a private secretarial staff in order to stay informed. Over the years, this private secretariat slowly expanded into a central, executive branch of the Chinese government. Many of those employed in this branch were scholars, who were able to revive Confucian studies and establish Confucianism as a key element of future governments.

Subaks

1) In individual villages, agriculture was collectively managed by the farmers in associations known as subaks. 2) Subaks were responsible both for agricultural decisions and for directing worship.

Monsoons

1) In the summer, temperatures in North China/North India begin to rise, which causes water to evaporate and these regions to become dry. Nearby seawater also begins to evaporate, which causes rainclouds. Because land heats faster than ocean, this warm summer air rises. Due to the change in pressure that this creates, nearby rainclouds are "pulled in". This causes monsoon winds to blow inland, which cause the inland air to rise. This leaves behind the rainclouds' water droplets, which creates rain. The area where this occurs is referred to as "Monsoon Asia" 2) Even though they can f**ck you up, monsoons are celebrated b/c they make the climate cooler (when it's raining- not at any other time) and provide water for crops. *Heavily* dependent on monsoon rains for watering.

Sino-Tibetan Language Family

1) Includes the Tibeto-Burman and Chinese language families 2) over 100 languages 3) Difficult to study due to poor documentation (most civilizations of languages within this family were/are small tribal groups) 4) Chinese words are typically made up of only one syllable, and rarely modified with prefixes or suffixes. Sino-Tibetan shares this trait, but to a less extreme extent. 5) Tibeto-Burman word order = subject-object-verb Chinese word order = subject-verb-object. 6) Both Tibeto-Burman and Chinese are tonal languages. All languages need a *bunch* of words to convey ideas, but only come with so many sounds. One way to solve this (as with English) is to put together more sounds. But, with Chinese and Tibeto-Burman, they "conserved sounds" by adding different intonations to each "base sound". However, they still have a lot of words with different meanings but similar pronunciations (homophones). 7) the Sino-Tibetan language family was the first language family to come up with the idea of 'tone', which was then spread throughout Asia due to China's influence

the Ruins of Yin

1) Located in the Yellow River Valley in Anyang; pretty much left alone due to superstition until the 20th century 2) Found strips of dried bamboo that were used to chronicle the lineage of the Shang Dynasty kings (this chronicling of the Shang lineage is known as the "Bamboo Annals") 3) Discovered by Wang Yirong; first excavated in 1928. Split up into 17 different sites surrounding the city of Anyang. Includes a palace complex and royal cemetery, bronze foundries, workshops, and homes. All 11 remaining bodies of the emperors of the Shang Dynasty were buried here in royal tombs. 4) The royal tombs consisted of large burial pits with ramps that gradually sloped upwards to reach the surface. At the bottom of each pit, a wooden chamber was built to house a wooden coffin. Kings were often buried with beheaded sacrificial victims and sacrificed dogs (used to 'protect' the entrance to the tomb). Means of protection also included chariots with sacrificed horses and charioteers. 5) In 1976, a never-before discovered grave was found. Fu Hao, the favorite consort of Anyang royal Wu Ding from the 13th century B.C.E., was buried here. In her tomb, they found 440 bronze ceremonial vessels, mirrors, bells, weapons, 590 pieces of jade, 560 objects made of bone, 7,000 cowry shells (currency), 16 humans, and 6 dogs. 6) In 1936, archaeologists recovered a block of 17,096 inscribed tortoise plastrons. These plastrons turned out to be an archive of Wu Ding's reign.

Chinese emperors + power

1) Managed to keep their rule over such a big area by stamping out competition (usually through beheading). The myth was that if the emperor *acted* like a cool dude (followed Confucian social ethics), he was a cool dude, so, at that point, he could just do whatever he wanted as long as he governed the people well. 2) All referred to as "the Son of Heaven"- the Mandate of Heaven 3) De, the concept that every emperor has/is granted mystical power 4) Wu- emperors maintained their power force and military order. (Politics is dirty. Peace can only be won through violence. Violence is punishment for the inherent wickedness of men.) 5) Having an emperor is a political and cultural tradition- in modern days, most Chinese people are ok with being governed by a strong central authority, and having that authority speak as China's moral compass 6) Communism and Confucian morality have a strong overlap. Communism allows for Confucian morals to remain while giving modern rulers the ability to openly destroy enemies of the state and suppress dissident views.

Religious distribution happens because of...

1) Missionaries- A. Practice of modern Christianity B. Buddhism was brought from its heartland to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century B.C.E. 2) Conquering of a region by a foreign power- A. Contributed to the spread of Islam in the 7th century B. Contributed to the spread of Christianity during the colonial era 3) Political population transfers- the re-division of borders in 1974 resulted in high concentrations of Muslim people in Pakistan and Bangladesh 4) Ancient rulers- A. Ashoka Maurya converted to Buddhism in the 3rd century B.C.E B. The Gupta Empire revived Brahmanism in the 3rd century C.E. 5) Willing conversion- oppressed castes try to escape the caste system.

Africa ---> Asia

1) Modern humans traveled from Africa, through Southern Asia, and into Southeast Asia about 6,000 years ago. They split into two branches- those who went even farther south and crossed Wallace's Line into Australia, while those who didn't remained in what we now know as China. 2) These people began cultivating millet at 6000 B.C.E. (North China), cultivating rice at about 5000 B.C.E through South China, Burma, and India. 3) The first written text in Asia was written 10,000 years ago in China in the 15th century B.C.E. Paleolinguists believe that several different Asian languages had been developed by this point.

Altaic Languages

1) Mongolian 2) Manchurian 3) Turkish 4) Tartar 5) Korean

Monsoon Asia

1) Monsoon Asia is not all of Asia, but covers: A. India B. mainland Southeast Asia C. lower-eastern China, Korea, and Manchuria D. southern Japan 2) natural habitat for rice. Areas in Monsoon Asia with weaker wet seasons also grow wheat, millet, and sorghum. A. Generally, west is wheat, east is rice B. South is rice, north is millet/wheat

the British Colonial Period ( :( )

1) On December 31st, 1600, Queen Elizabeth I created the East India Company, a group made up of 215 English merchants created in order to form a monopoly on trade in the East. Later, English representative Sire Thomas Roe came before Emperor Jahangir, propositioning him to let the East India Company become the only source for trade with India in exchange for rare goods from Europe. Jahangir said yes, and the East India Company began building factories across India, which was the push they needed to become a trade monopoly. Eventually, the company became so powerful that it became a political entity, with forts in Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, which ended up governing the surrounding areas. After 2 major battles in 1757 and 1764, the East India Company defeated the Indian royalty (at the time, Munghal Emperor Shah Alam II) and was given the right to rule and collect revanue (a grant known as the Diwani of Bengal). 2) For the next century, India was governed by the East India Company under a mix of native and British laws. They pushed unfair taxes upon the Indian people, and, in 1857, a rebellion referred to as the "First War of Independence" broke out, and the east India Company was defeated. However, because of this, the British crown decided to take direct control over India instead. In 1885, the National Indian Congress was formed in order to help reclaim the autonomy of the Indian people. Under the leadership of various figures such as Mahatma Ghandi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the British, exhausted by WW2, finally granted India independence on August 15, 1947.

Proto-Sino-Tibetan Language Family

1) Originated from the foothills of the Himalayas (Sichuan and Yunan). When the last glacation (relative?) receded at around 4000 B.C.E., they were able to move onto the Yangzi, Brahmaputra, Irrawadi, and Mekong Rivers. One group followed the Brahmaputra into the Tibetan Plateau and became the Tibeto-Burmans. Another followed the Irrawada into Burma, and a third followed the Huanghe to become Chinese speakers A. there were non-Chinese people in the region before this. These people may have been the Miao. Most of the Chinese population (the Han population, 92%) descended from a mix of Chinese migrants and indigenous peoples. Therefore, each population may have affected the other's language(s). The SVO word order in Chinese may have been borrowed from Miao, while the Miao may have borrowed tones from the Chinese.

A Woman's Life Cycle:

1) Parda- collectively refers to the practice of secluding women ("behind the curtain"). This has led to the conservative Muslim tradition of women literally "wearing the curtain" when entering into the public sphere (burqa). Similarly, Hindu women use saris to cover themselves. Living in parda means staying in the house, the domestic sphere. The women's quarters (the zenana) are centered in the middle of the house, while the men's (the mardana) "loop around" the outward-facing parts of the house. Guests are allowed to go as far as the men's quarters. 2) Stridharma- a woman's dharma is her husband. "Stridharma" means 'the dharma of women', which encompasses a devotion/servitude towards her husband, and her duty of giving him children. (In exchange, the man is supposed to offer protection, but with such an unequal power system it's really easy to just... not do that.) The Hindu word for "husband" is also the Hindu word for "lord." At marriage, a woman becomes a *pativrata*, meaning one who has "taken a vow to her lord". Women even worship their husbands by eating the leftovers from their plates as a form of *prasad* (Hindu ritual). She fasts to ensure her husband's low life. 3) Childhood is pretty much the only good time of your life if you're a girl- you don't have to cover up because puberty hasn't hit yet, and you have to do far fewer, if any, household tasks than you would as an adult female. 4) Typically, women are married to men far away from their own towns and villages. The personality of the man himself is often ignored- the women's happiness means less than the prestige of the family she is being married into. 5) In India, women do not inherit their share of the family's wealth when someone dies- they are given their wealth at marriage, which is then transferred to their husband and the husband's family. The term for this is 'dowry', which is negotiated on before marriage and commonly consists of cash payments, elaborate gifts such as Gifts refrigerations, motor scooters, automobiles, television, and college tuition), clothing, and jewelry.

Sahuds/sanyasis

1) People who seek liberation from moksha (the cycle of brith/rebirth). They take vows of reunification (sanyas) to be freed from this cycle. These vows may be taken at any age, but are usually taken during the end of theirr lives. 2) Sahuds live off of gifts given to them by Hindu individuals and temples. Offering them money (a religious gift known as daan) is good karma.

The founding of China as a centralized state

1) Qin Shihuang, aka the First Emperor 2) In 1974, near Xi'an, members of a Chinese agricultural commune began to dig a well. Instead of finding water, they dug down to find a life-sized terra cotta warrior. Strangely, this was not unusual- farmers and agricultural workers prior had found terra cotta warriors before (1917, father and son duo, left it alone bc demons). However, the 1974 people weren't really that into demons, and began excavating in 1976, finding more than 10,000 warriors. Archaeologists estimate there are around 5,000 more buried. 2) They got a whole army down there. Leaders of the emperor's army, armed with crossbows. Spearmen, archers, infantry, cavalry, and *each face* is unique! (Ever played a dress up game? You know how they have different head shapes, noses, eyebrow shapes, etc. that you can combine to make them look like you? The people who designed these soldiers made clay molds of different eyebrows, noses, heads, etc. that they could then mix and match to create all the different soldiers!) 3) During the 3rd century B.C.E., China was at the tail end of the Warring States period. At this time, the state of Qin was the largest and most powerful out of the six surviving Chinese states. However, the people of Zhou learned from this warring period, and put limits on the powers of their royal rulers by electing a bureau of appointed officials. They kept the king in check, while still depending on him for their ruling power. 4) Therefore, the ruler of Qin set out to become more powerful by conquering other kingdoms. He dubbed himself Qin Shihuang ("Qin" after his state, "Shi" meaning first, and "Huang" meaning "sovereign"). He became so powerful and influential that "Qin" eventually became the term for China itself. 5) he only ruled for a decade but, during that time, he managed to restructure the whole of China while it was in social and political chaos. China was restructured by 221 B.C.E. His short reign was characterized by brutal and anti-intellectual legalism (don't get me wrong- he was incredible, but he also sucked). He viewed human nature as inherently cruel and savage, kept in line only by strict laws and brutal punishments- this conflicted with the Confucian idea that human beings are inherently good. A. To reduce the power of locale lineages and prevent them from becoming too powerful, he divided China into 36 separate districts. Each district was ruled not by royalty, but by those who were seen as 'worthy' by the emperor- they could be easily removed from power if necessary. B. He removed all existing elites from power by moving them to the capitol, and required these families to divide their property when their male children came of age, to ensure that wealth did not accumulate with one person. C. Weapons were melted down and used to create statues, inscribed with Qin's laws and distributed throughout the state. (All the laws were hella severe bc people were animals during the Warring States period, and somebody needed to keep them in line.) D. Qin began systematically registering the entire population, encouraging families to adopt surnames so that they could be more easily identified in both the present and the future. E. By this point, written Chinese had expanded into many different forms, and could not be 'universally' read the way it can be now. To fix this, Qin had Chinese script "regularized", which is the reason why Chinese people *can* all read the same script regardless of what language they speak. F. Tried to destroy Confucianism- burned Confucian texts, and any scholars that disagreed were burned with them. However, his attempt to crush Confucianism didn't work. Over time, it became the dominant cultural tradition in China, and it's been running strong for over 2,000 years. G. To aid in trade, he regularized measurements, built more than 5,000 miles of roads, tore down walls that divided states, and began construction on the Great Wall of China

Archaeology and Language Families

1) Questions to ask: A. WHERE was the mother tongue of the language family? B. WHEN were the different languages of this same language family spoken? C. WHY and HOW did these "branch" languages move/appear? D. WHERE are these languages now? E. WHAT caused the people speaking these languages to disperse (if applicable)? 2) Archaeological records can be helpful in studying the culture of a specific people in order to find answers to these questions.

South Asian Scripts

1) South Asia scripts divide into two catagories- phonetic, and _____. While phonetic is easier to learn, it's difficult to master, because only have 26 letters for the thousands of sounds we can make, so it can takes you a while to learn which exact sound to make in which context. 2) In Burma, speech is "consonant-based". You write a consonant, then add onto it to indicate the vowel. There is one character for every syllable. This way of writing and speaking originally came from India. When a vowel begins a word, there is a specific symbol used to indicate it. A. The earliest known Indian script was commissioned by King Ashoka in 250 B.C.E. to outline the boundaries of the Indian empire and proclaim the national religion as Buddhism. Because of this, this specific script is now called Ashokan Brahmi. It is an ancestor of Devenagari Sanskrit, now known as Gupta Brahmi, which was used in the Gupta Empire from 319-550 C.E. B. So, to figure out how to translate Ashokan Brahmi, they had to figure out how to translate Gutpa Brahmi first. An English dude named James Princep was the first (westerner?) to do this. C. Nobody's really sure where the Brahmi "mother language" originated. Some people think that it may have come from the (untranslated) scripts found in the Indus Valley, but it looks like Middle Eastern script, especially in regards to how they write their consonants and vowels. D. Originally, Middle Eastern Script didn't feature vowels at all, so, when they were added, they were sort of "tacked on", which is also what they do in Burmese. E. All major Southeast Asia scripts have descended from Brahmi. These different scripts also had to write in slightly different ways so as to not damage the things they were writing on. Still, they all do the "consonants with vowels attached" thing.

Gods of Hinduism + Buddhism

1) The Mahabharata (Hindu sacred text) developed both the 18 major Punaras (sacred laws; Hindu 10 Commandments) and the importance of Shiva and Vishnu. VISHNU: A. 10+ reincarnations, two of which are *other* important gods Rama and Krishna. B. Both Rama and Krisha had consorts and wives, who were turned into religious figures of their own during the medieval period. These goddesses are referred to as the maha devis. 2) One connects with their major god or goddess through emotional devotion (bhakti), and through puja (worship). 3) There's really, only, like 2 gods. Almost every deity is a reincarnation or an aspect of either Devi/Shakti (female) or Vishnu (male). Rami, Krishna, and Buddha are all incarnations of Vishnu. This plays into the Hindu/Buddhist idea that all things are part of a single, universal energy.

Eras of Indian History:

1) The Vedic Age 2) the Mauryan-Gupta Empire 3) the Medieval Period 4) the Indo-Islamic Period 5) the British-Colonial Period 6) the Period of Independence

The Mauryan Empire

1) The Western world first discovered India during this period due to the invasion of Alexander the Great. Because this was also an event witnessed by the West, historians put this as the first solid date in Indian history, at around 326 B.C.E. The city of Taxila introduced Alexander to the customs and cultures of India. 2) The northern states were finally (relatively) conquered and unified by Chandragupta Maurya in 323 B.C.E. At this point, the Indian government was the second-largest it had ever been (larger only under British rule). 3) During this period, a Sanskrit religious text on gaining and holding political power emerged. It "made Machiavelli look like Mother Teresa". Yikes. Referred to as the Arthashastra, it advocated for military might, guile, cunning, and forms of deceit such as surveillance and even political assassination. ("Impress people with your brilliance by predicting that someone is going to die, then have him killed.") While the strategy of the Arthashastra was built around the idea that politics is corrupt, it was also corrupt in and of itself- it advised the king to seem indifferent to power and wealth. 4) During this period came the famous King Ashoka, who inherited the empire through his grandfather. Through bloody wars, he expanded the Indian empire southward. However, he is said to have given up violence after converting to Buddhism, developing a new moral code called the rajadhamma, which emphasized tolerance and compassion. He made societal improvements like the creation of infrastructure in order to improve the daily lives of his subjects. He built a road connecting the main cities of the empire (the Grand Trunk Road, which still exists to this day), planting trees and mango groves, and building ponds/resting places for travelers. He also propagated Buddhism across the empire, building more than 84,000 stupas, and constructed more than 33 pillars/rock monuments at the borders of the empire/important places within the empire to memorialize his (and, therefore, India's) values. Ashoka wrote these the inscriptions on these monuments himself, as evidence by the unique voice of the texts. Each of these monuments also had a wheel known as the 'wheel of dhamma' built into them, in order to carry the teachings of Buddhism across the land. Frequently, lions were also carved into these monuments- because of this, they are now the symbol of the Republic of India.

The Zhou Dynasty

1) The Zhou people were initially a weaker, tribal people that made peace with the Shang Dynasty. Eventually, the Shang Dynasty grew weak, allowing the Zhou people to take over and establish the Zhou Dynasty (they didn't kill everybody, though- some members of Shang nobility were able to join the new royal court). This takeover became indisputable in 1045 B.C.E. when the Zhou established a new capitol of the Chinese state at Chang'an. 2) Invented the Mandate of Heaven (Tianming)- because heaven both as a place and an eternal dynasty was considered to be on the side of good and righteousness, the Zhou people claimed that heaven had withdrawn its support from the Shang Dynasty and placed it upon the Zhou. Now the old ways are wicked and the ways of the new Zhou people are the way to go. Things that the last Shang Emperor Di Xin did became stigmatized as evil (some of them were pretty f$cked up, to be fair). Rulers were not supposed to prioritize personal pleasure over ruling the state. Women were not supposed to demand the attention of a man. Extravagance and open sexual pleasure were frowned upon, and so was torture. (Methods of torture during this time period were being funded through higher taxation, which led to political unrest and, eventually, the overthrowing of the Shang Dynasty.) 3) Because being an emperor was now so closely associated with religious virtue, each emperor became known as the "Son of Heaven". Emperors were representatives of heaven and communicated with heaven about the earthly world. 4) "Threefold Kneeling and Ninefold Prostration"- a method of royal worship. During the summer and winter solstices, the king would provide a feast to heaven. In the spring, he would make a sacrifice upon the Altar of Agriculture and plow the first furrow of the year in order to ensure a good growing season (the furrow thing is still done to this day by the emperor of Japan and the king of Thailand). 5) Things are going well? That's the Mandate of Heaven, babey. The legitimacy of a government is tested by its morals, which still remains the popular view in East Asia. The Mandate of Heaven remained a popular idea all the way up until the Qing Dynasty. 6) Reigned from 1040-256 B.C.E.; the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history. During from 1040 to around 800 B.C.E., the Zhou Dynasty was referred to as the Western Zhou due to the fact that the capitol was in Chang'an. 7) In order for the king to give others the right to govern territories in his name, rituals had to be enacted. At the capitol, an altar to the God of Soil was established at the west side of the palace gate, and an altar to the king's ancestors at the right (the Son of Heaven's altar). Whoever the king wanted to transfer power to would take a clump of earth from the Son of Heaven's altar and use it to build an altar to the God of Soil in his own hometown. he then built a shrine for his own ancestors to the right side of the gate to his hometown. There weren't, like, laws or anything that said you had to be chill once the king gave you his power- it was an honor thing, and you were expected to do right by him because you promised to do right by him in front of your ancestors and god and everybody. 8) As a result, ancestor worship became political, and only nobility (the ruling class) were allowed to worship their ancestors. There were elaborate rules for each family, outlining the allowed complexity of rituals and amount of family members/which family members you were allowed to worship, which were determined by your rank in the dynasty. Commoners, for example, could not worship beyond 3 generations, could not offer meat, and could only worship once each season.

Communicating with Heaven

1) The emperor was said to have a unique ability to communicate with the heavens and, therefore, with his own royal ancestors, who used their de to bless him as well as the State at large 2) This concept (of an emperor with heavenly powers) was turned into the idealized role of Shangdi ("the Heavenly Emperor"). However, this concept never turned into a God/Jesus-like figure like it did in the West because when each emperor died, it was believed that they would travel to Heaven to rule beside their ancestors. Therefore, leaving artifacts in their tombs was a way to ensure that they would have what they needed to rule in the afterlife. They would also continue receiving gifts from their descendants. 3) The kings of the Shang Dynasty communicated with heaven via oracle bones, which were heated using a metal rod. Most were practical questions, concerned with the governing of the State. However, during this point, the ability to remember one's ancestors was severely limited to anyone but nobility. Peasant families did not have the monetary ability to buy many goods for their deceased family members, and did not have the status to obtain the fancier bronze goods used by the wealthy. Little is known about the lineages or daily goods of non-nobility. 4) Resource distribution is reflected in sacrificial rituals: Kings sacrificed several kinds of meat to several of their ancestors each month; lords, officials, and officers sacrificed less meat to less ancestors every month, and commoners sacrificed vegetables to their fathers once every season.

loan words

1) The most well-known word across languages, along with "automobile" 2) This is because language is used as a tool to describe new inventions and ideas; so the language of the society that invented the thing invents the word 3) Words from different languages that are used to describe a concept are called "loan words". For example, European Christianity gained many of its religious terms from Latin. 4) When Hinduism and Buddhism spread into Southeast Asia, Sanskrit words came, too 6) Japan absorbed a *lot* of Chinese, both in word/script, and in Confucian/Buddhist ideas 7) The English word "tea" comes from the Chinese word for tea, "chai"

The Chinese language problem

1) The region of the greatest language diversity in China is *not* the area with the oldest Chinese civilizations. What's up with that? 2) What's up with that is that all Chinese dialects came from the North Chinese plains in the second millennium B.C.E. However, this epicenter was "pulled" in two different directions by two different forces- the expansion of the Chinese peoples, and the imposition of the Mandarin dialect in order to achieve uniformity throughout China. Ergo, one dialect over a large area. (In China, Mandarin is a "royal"/higher-class language, referred to as guanhua, or "the language of the officials") In fact, that area is so large that Mandarin has developed its own dialects. 3) According to the Chinese (the authority? the people? I have no idea), "Chinese" is one language, and all variations are referred to as fangyan, or "regional speech". Even during periods of disunity, the Chinese prefer to think of all of their different regional languages as one unified "Chinese" language.

Austroasiatic Language Family

1) The term for the family of languages which spread from the first-ever population explosion in Asia. Mostly in Southeast Asia, but spread ad far as South China- the old name for the Yangzi River was 'Jiang', a phrase of Austroasiatic descent. This language family also had words relating to rice agriculture (which began in China). Several cognates of 'jiang' are also used in Vietnam to mean 'river'. 2) about 150, including Vietnamese and Khmer

The Shang Dynasty

1) Unequal wealth, caused by the privatization of bronze. The Shang state sponsored copper and tin mining, but bronze mining was left up in the air, so it was eventually monopolized by the wealthy. Bronze, along with becoming a sign of status and wealth, was also used for making weapons and objects used for religious purposes. Because the wealthy had this monopoly, they were the only ones to use bronze stuff. The emperor played an enormous part in controlling bronze distribution in China. 2) An extremely productive time for art and culture 3) Civilizations in the Shang Dynasty were split into walled towns each controlled by different clans of nobility, referred to as yi 4) The hierarchy of civilizations within the state during the Shang Dynasty went as such: royal city --> yi --> unwalled towns of the peasant Chinese people. Shang rulers began expanding their domains and making China "nicer" by founding additional walled towns.

The Indo-Islamic Period

1) Western influences began combining with the dominant Indian culture, resulting in rich hybrid culture of Afghan, Turkish, Persian, and Mongolian- an Indo-Islamic culture. Arab traders established a pocket of Islamic culture on India's west coast. The Turks invaded and robbed India's temples and monasteries, killing the people inside them. Because of this, Buddhism, already growing weak, disappeared from India entirely, the surviving monks fleeing to Nepal or Sri Lanka. 2) By the 11th century, India had become a large and solidified presence in Asian trade. 3) In 1192, Mohammad Ghori came to Delhi, India, and established the first Sultanate. Though the Muslim peoples living in India did not impose their own ways of life onto the Indian people (go you guys), Islam appealed to many lower-caste Indians because of its fierce emphasis on equality. They also brought new forms of architecture, such as domes, mosques, and tombs. 4) This Sultanate was destroyed by the Munghals in 1526. The Munghals then expanded into India proper, creating a new capital in Dehli where they patronized Indian poetry, art, and architecture. 5) During this period, the Munghal king, King Akbar, was born. In 1556, at age 13, he inherited the Munghal Empire from his grandfather. By age 20, he had expanded the empire from Afghanistan to Bengal. His biography, the *Akbarnama*, was written by Abu'l Fazl, and illustrated by the court painters he had under his employ in order to better record historical events, everyday scenes from Hindu life, and culturally significant events from the Mahabharta, Ramayana, and Harivamsa. They also illustrated portraits of the king himself. The Akbarnama consisted of 12 volumes, with 1400 illustrations painted *in miniature* (look at how detailed these things are!). Akbar was also one of the four "Great Munghals", also including Jahangir, Shan Jahan, and Aurngzeb whose combined reign spanned from 1556-1707. Thier continued support of the arts led to the creation of the most culturally significant piece of architecture in India- the Taj Mahal (created by Shan Jahan for his favorite wife). 4) However, the legacy of the Munghals became weaker over time, and their last king Bahadur Shah Zafar died in exile in Burma in 1862.

The Vedic Age

1) Yaaay! We have a system of writing this time. The bad news? We have no psychical artifacts. 2) The four books of the Vedic Age: A. the Rig-Veda- earliest religious text, written in early Sanskrit, composed between 1500-1100 B.C.E. in the upper region of the Indus Valley Civilization. This text is the oldest known form of *any* Indo-European language. 3) The people of the Vedic Age were a tribal warrior people with a Proto-European language who used tools such as bronze and horses. They herded cattle and had a basic patriarchal system of organization under tribal chieftains called rajas. They worshipped (all male) gods Indra, Varuna, and Mitra. Like the Greeks, they first "moved in" when the original civilizations in the area were in decline, replacing the "local" religion with their own. They developed a true but greatly exaggerated epics (myths?) of their own rulers (the Mahabharata = the Indian Iliad (the abduction of Sita) and the Ramayana = the Indian Odyssey (except with mythical beings instead of just a dude)). 4) People like to think that the Vedas were composed during this age in India, but probably not. The most likely theories follow: A. because the Vedas do not mention anything about bricks (the primary method of building for Indus people), describe a nomadic instead of stationary lifestyle, and mention animals like horses and dogs instead of "native" animals such as bulls, rhinoceroses, elephants, tigers, snakes, crocodiles, etc. (Fun fact: horses don't even live in India. They can't handle it. To keep replacing all those dying horses, they would have had to have been imported.) Therefore, whoever wrote the Vedas were probably not the people who originally lived in the Indus Valley. They originated in the Caucasus Mountains, spread into Europe and India during the second millennium B.C.E. (creating the Indo-European language family). They then moved into the Ganges Valley, where the Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Upanishads were written. They eventually began absorbing the local peoples into their own culture, though zones of resistance ("zomia") where local peoples could stay out of reach of the dominant state made the process significantly more complex (even today, there are areas of central and east India where cultural absorption is actively being resisted). Later, the nearby civilization of Pataliputra would expand into the capital of the Mauryan Empire. 5) Between 1000-450 B.C.E., the Aryan people moved eastward, discovered the Ganges river, and began setting up small kingdoms that grew and were later featured in the Ramayana. 6) The social order during this period was divided into 3 distinct groups: A. Brahmans- priests and sacrificers B. Kshatriyas- warriors and rulers C. Vaishyas- everybody else (artisans, traders, farmers). These groups eventually became the caste system. 7) During this period, a separate civilization centering around spiritual practice began to develop. The most famous person to enter into this "renouncer" civilization was Gautama (the Buddha), who lived as a prince ruling over the kingdom of Sakya. He was well off, but once he encountered the suffering of the outside world, he joined a band of renouncers.

core vocabulary

1) a term used to refer to the oldest, most "stable" words in the common vocabulary 2) used by linguist to examine the relationships between languages

Grand Canal

1) built in China during the 6th century in order to connect South China with North China 2) intended to connect the Yangzi with the Huanghe as well as lead to the former capital in Xi'an (Chang'an) 3) After the Mongols invaded and created the new capital in Beijing (after an earthquake?), the canal was rerouted, but not forgotten. Currently, China is planning to use the Grand Canal to transfer water to the clean water-lacking North China.

Religious ideas of South Asia

1) centered in North India during the late Vedic Age 2) Kings gathered Brahmans, philosophers, and sages to their palaces in order to better understand Brahmanism- how effective was sacrificial ritualism? What was the true nature of the universe? What was man's place in the universe? 3) In trying to answer these questions, the Upanishads were created. A. Written between 700 and 200 B.C.E. B. Beyond the material world is the truer, non-material world. This true, non-material world is referred to as the Brahman. This concept is so vague and unknowable that it is only discussed in metaphors. C. Everything that comes into existence is a walking transitionary state. Everything's impermanent- you die, you decompose, and, eventually, you turn into something else, and you're not 'you' anymore. You're just passing around matter. D. The material world is impermanent, and therefore an illusion (referred to as maya). E. The bod dies; the atma remains. Again, we don't have a solid definition for what the atma is bc it's described through metaphors. It's kind of an energy/life force thing, though. F. Death belongs in the psychical world because of karma. In the Brahmanic sense, 'karma' means 'to act'. Our bodies are material, so we have an intrinsic need to do material things- eat, move, speak, listen, think. To exist, we must act and be able to act. But every action has its consequences. Good actions produce good results, and bad actions produce bad results. G. We have three bodies, all governed by karma. There is the psychical body, which allows us to use our five senses and interact with the world. There is the subtle body, which is the mind. The subtle body exists within the frame of desire. Your brain wants stuff, and you think of ways to get that stuff. There is the casual body, which is your atma. It is your life force, which warps and changes your psychical body as karma works on you throughout your lives. H. The psychical body gives the ability of action to the casual body. By performing actions, you build up karma in one way or another, and, when you reincarnate, you are given a different psychical body to perform more karmic actions with. This cycle is referred to as the samsara. I. In order to escape this cycle, you must escape the demands of the material world, so that your atma can finally be freed and be reabsorbed into the true reality. You must focus on the inward instead of the outward. Be in a "dreamless sleep". 4) People focused on achieving this state of dreamless sleep are called ascetics. They withdraw from society in order to 'tune out' the world. They meditate and practice ignoring their senses through flagellation, extreme heat/cold, fasting, holding their breath, etc. Becoming an ascetic, even today, is actually pretty common, but it's a full-time gig. 5) Both Hinduism and Buddhism share these worldviews. 6) There are two ways to be happy in these traditions, actually. A. The path of good work: you can stay "stuck" in the cycle of karma, but keep doing good stuff (observing rituals and one's dharma) so that you keep getting good rebirths. B. Become an ascetic and peace out through moksha (total annihilation and absorption into true reality).

Andesitic-type volcanoes

1) erupt at lower temperatures than basaltic-type volcanoes 2) tend to be more stable in both size and position 3) tend to "cluster" around hydrothermal vents 4) expels less material, become more "cone-shaped", "prettier" mountains EX: Mount Fuji in Japan

Proto-Indo-European Vocabulary and Reigon

1) had no words for tropical-climate things like elephant, tiger, banana, rice, ocean 2) had many words for domesticated animals, as well as "western" (western? ) trees such as beech, willow, and oak. They also had the words for grain (rather than rice), and wheel (they were either in the vicinity of the invention or *were* the people who invented it) 3) A warrior people who lived in the grasslands north of the Black and Caspian Seas 4) Began to move west into Europe, south into Turkey, and southeast into Iran and India at about 3000 B.C.E. From there, the ones who moved into India continued to move into North India at about 1700 B.C.E. At the time, North India was in civilization decline, allowing them to enter into North Indian societies and "replace" North India languages with their own Sanskrit, which eventually morphed into modern Indian languages such as Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, and Nepali.

The Song Dynasty

1) lasted from 960-1279 C.E. 2) At this point, the emperor's private secretariat had grown into a council of 5-9 people whose job was to supervise the administrative duties of the government. In order to find the educated people needed to perform this task, the world's first civil service system was created. It was a three-stage system of exams that anyone in China could study for and take in order to become part of this secretariat. The first exam was given every three months, and those who passed were most often given this degree at around age 24. For the second exam, you went to the capitol (fi you passed, you did so at around age 30), and, for the third, you went to the palace itself (sometimes, the third exam was even administered by the emperor!!!) (if you got your degree, you got it at around age 36). Every three years, about 600 men passed all of these exams and were granted the "Presented Scholar" (jinshi) Degree. This examination system was officially adopted as a feature of Chinese civilization in 605 by the Sui Dynasty, and continued to be used all the way up until 1905. 3) Because of this, a new class of elites emerged. Because most were scholars, this religion of this class was predominantly Confucianism. This class of elites was split into two different groups: 1. Shen (the offical gentry): magistrates who administered the laws on a country-wide level. The shen were not allowed to serve in thier home provinces, and could not serve in a neighboring country to anyone who was from the same province. This was intended to prevent favoritism. 2. Shi (the scholar gentry): learned men who did not have official positions in the government, but were important because they were members of local land-owning families. Magistrates needed the cooperation of shi in administering laws, because they were the link to the common people, and were a way to make sure that the law was actually getting administered. If they didn't like a magistrate, they could also make it a lot harder for that magistrate to get anything done. This class existed throughout three dynasties (Song, Ming, and Qing, from 960 C.E. to 1911). 4) This class showed off their privileged status through how they dressed. They wore black gowns with blue borders, presented their ranks on their clothing, and were the only ones allowed to wear fox, sable, or lynx. The buttons on their hats also indicated rank (silver = lower level gentry, gold = higher level gentry. Anyone who wore a hat with a gold button, a gold flower ornament, a ruby, and a pearls = a highest-ranking official). Gentry officials could not be corporally punished, and payed lower taxes than commoners. They could not be required to engage in manual labor. Commoners could not testify against gentry in lawsuits. 5) To be a member of the senshi class, one had to pass at least the first level of examinations.

Temple worship and bhakti

1) occurred classically between 700 and 1200 C.E. This movement was begun during the Gupta Empire in competition with Buddhist monarchs. Got the most intense in South India around the time of the first Muslim invasions, and the Indian people were introduced to the extravagant building of mosques. 2) Begun by Indian kings, attempting to proclaim their authority to rule by building monument-temples instead of sacrificing 3) *Garbhagriha*- the inner sanctum of a temple; said to be where the god/goddess of the temple resides. An image of the god/goddess is bathed, dressed, fed, and taken for walks daily as a show of honor and respect. 4) *Darshan*- the act of seeing and being seen by a deity. 5) Food, flowers, coconuts, bananas, incense, and camphor are frequently giving as gifts. Specific deities have specific preferences. Shiva and Ganesh like milk, Shiva likes bhang, Krishna likes butter. After the deity has partaken, you partake as well- this is called *prasad*.If you partake in prasad, a bit of the deity's nature is passed to you. 6) *Bhakti*. Seeing the deity. Being in their psychical presence. Giving them gifts. Sharing prasad. All of this is bhakti, the love and adoration of a deity. To show bhakti, poets began writing hymns for individual deities to be sung during worship. Separate Indian languages (Tamil and Sanskrit) were combined into one, creating a new language specifically for this purpose. In South India, temple worship became closesly associated with bhakti, typically with the devotees of Shiva and Vishnu. Bhakti began in South India, took on a romantic connotation, and spread throughout all of India. 7) The ideal emotional encounter with a deity is being possessed by them or going into an altered state of consciousness/perception. To try to achieve this, worshippers often perform ecstatic dances to music and hymns. 8) Sambandar A. An 11th century Bhakti saint B. Said to have been nursed by the wife of Shiva; dedicated himself to writing hymns about Shiva 9) Chaitanya- A. lived from 1486-1533; bhakti poet from Bengal B. celebrated gopis (cowherd women who left their husbands to cavort with Krishna. Their love for god was so passionate that even marriage couldn't contain it!)

Sacred Texts in Asia

1) only two truly unique scared texts have been written; all others are just adaptations of these two 2) In China, translating Sanskrit... was hard. For a variety of reasons which we do not care about that deeply. 3) One of the few who actually decided to take up the difficult job of working in the translation business was the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang. At this point in China's history, they were kinda falling apart. There were pretty much only military texts, and the Buddhist texts that *he* was studying were few, incomplete, and conflicting. In 630 C.E., he left for India to acquire the original Buddhist texts (although someone else had made and catalouged this journey before him, his record of his own journey actually proved incredibly useful for learning about seventh-century India, but I digress). He reached India, studied said texts, and learned Sanskrit. 4) Because Buddhist sacred texts used to be written on palm leaves, the Buddhist notion of dharma (a continuous decay that must constantly be repaired, a kind of "order of the universe" type deal) came into existence. Xuanzang brought a *bunch* of Buddha stuff back to his Chinese temple 15 years later in 1645 in order to give more order to it. 5) This began an era of "sutra copying". They translated and copied down the new stuff. Eventually, copying down religious texts became a point of pride maintained by a careful, detailed process. Then, emperors started commissioning Buddhist canon, so they needed to make them beautiful. 6) At one point, Xuanzang stopped at the Jade Gate (Dunhuang), a border between the east and the dangerous western Taklamakan. At the Jade Gate were sacred caves known as the "Caves of A Thousand Buddhas", where monks created Buddhist paintings and sculptures in order to amass religious protection. They were inhabited all the way from Xuanzang's time to the early 1900's. 7) Then, this guy Wang Yuanlu came in. As he was trying to revamp these caves, he came upon a sealed room filled with thousands of Buddhist manuscripts in dozens of different languages. Though he knew these scrolls were sacred writings of the Buddha and an integral part of history, he also valued restoring the caves, and sold some of them in order to fund this venture. 8) Cue Sir Aurel Stein. As a heads up, even Britain's ashamed of this guy. He and his assistant came to Dunhuang and stayed for weeks trying to weasel manuscripts out of Wang Yuanlu so they could take them back to England for "scholarly preservation". He ended up talking Wang Yuanlu out of almost 20,000 thousands texts, though thankfully it was on the basis of age and condition rather than importance. he took the Diamond Sutra, the oldest printed book in existance. It's in the British Museum now, go figure.

Rice

1) species for all Asian rice is Oryza sativa. Three subspecies (indica, japonica, and sinica), about a million individual types of rice 2) rice is so important to Asian cultures that strains are preserved in germ banks for future safekeeping 3) grows well in hot, wet environments (Monsoon Asia) because it's so good at circulating oxygen. It doesn't get waterlogged! Became a staple in Monsoon Asia b/c of this. 4) *extremely* sensitive to sunlight; sunlight's different everywhere throughout Asia, which is why so many different types emerged. B/c Java is so sunny, rice had to develop an entirely different subspecies (javinica) 5) We have evidence that people in places like Southeast Asia/Thailand used to be foragers, but don't know why/how Asia made the switch from foraging to rice cultivation. Millet began being cultivated around 6000 B.C.E. In the Zhejiang Province, rice began being cultivated around 5000 B.C.E. 6) types of rice cultivation: A. Swidden (slash-and-burn, jhum, taungya) 1. Rice fields 2. The hillside is burnt in order to clear the forest and allow rice crops to receive the proper amount of sunlight 3. many different species of rice in one plot 4. Civilizations that use this technique are civilizations with bad soil. Monsoon rains carry away nutrients, which is what necessitates slashing and burning- they get nutrients for the crops from the ashes of burned forest materials. However, these nutrients are used up very quickly, which results in less rice and/or continued deforestation (after the nutrients are used up, ya gotta move somewhere else, which means clearing more trees to make way for a new crop). B. Padi cultivation (wet-rice cultivation) 1. Use of terraces to "pour" water from the top of a hill down throughout the fields 2. commonly practiced in southern, upland environments. Regions like this predate China as a state. These pre-state settlements are a result of accumulation around fertile growing areas. 3. main method of rice cultivation in east and Southeast Asia. This method supports larger and denser populations than slashing and burning. 4. wet-rice cultivation = "The Four Stoops". One stoop for planting, one for transplanting, one for weeding, and one for harvest. Much more labor intensive than slashing and burning, but its complexity/attention to detail allows for more involved care and more fruitful results. In addition, growing rice this way never involves a drop in crop yield like slashing and burning does. You can stay in one place, develop a good system, and you're set for life.

the Sunda Shelf

1) the eastern "border" of Asia, made up of a ring of Asiatic islands (such as Borneo, the Philippines, and the Bali Islands). During glacial periods, the water recedes, and the Sunda Shelf transforms from a string of islands into one continuous land mass. During warm period, the sea level rises, and they turn into islands again. 2) created a biogeographical divide- mammals on the Asian side, marsupials on the "Australian" side 3) due to the fact that the Sunda Shelf never connected Asian islands to Australian territories, any settlers (Aboriginal people) had to have sailed there

Dalites ("The Untouchables")

1) the lowest social status in India; so low they aren't even considered a part of the Hindu caste system 2) Dalites are largely kept separate from the rest of the public; they are not allowed to bathe in communal bathing areas, and face heavy societal discrimination. Despite this discrimination, the Indian government *has* instituted legal protections for this class (with the caste system such an intrinsic part of Indian life, they decided to "work around it" rather than abolish it), such as the right to an education (seats in universities, scholarships, and loans), the opportunity for social advancement, and governmental representation. A list of historically oppressed castes and tribes is maintained by the government. While doing this has helped oppressed castes somewhat, the fact that they are oppressed in and of itself means that these protections don't always work (low status = bad education- how're they gonna get the grades to get into a university?). Poverty among Dalites is still high, and, of course, they face social discrimination. 3) Efforts are being made to improve the condition of the Dalites partially because they're a *huge* voting block, so both political parties in India want them on their side. They're also starting to be accepted into governmental roles (for show right now, of course, but being in for show is how you get in legitimately later on). 4) Because we as human beings can't let the poor have nice things, other castes began claiming that they were at a disadvantage as well, and another group called "Other Backwards Castes" was created.

An area with a greatest diversity of languages is also

1) the oldest area of a certain settlement 2) likely to be the origin of the speakers of a "mother" language This is because the oldest settlements are the most developed, and most likely to be able to ward off invaders, and be able to continue speaking/to modify and elaborate upon its own language

Basaltic-type volcanoes

1) vast 2) fast-moving 3) fast-growing 4) start on the ocean floor, grow upwards to the surface 5) extremely fertile soil + tropical climates allow for high population density and agriculturally-based economies EX: Mauna Loa and Kilauea in Hawaii

Rivers in Asia

A. all originate from sources in east and west India. All of the nine major rivers in Asia come from singular sources. B. 8 Asian rivers ---> Yangzi ---> Tibetan/Qinghai Mountains

Factors of Civilization

1. Development of systems of language and/or writing 2. Development of cities (the development of agriculture allows for bigger and denser populations; people can stay in one place instead of having to constantly be on the move) 3. Development of religion, myths 4. Development of culture, organizational structures 5. Development of division of labor 6. Development of economic classes/castes

The Liji (the Book of Rites)

An ancient Chinese racial classification system created in the Zhou Dynasty CATAGORIES: 1) Middle Kingdom (Zhong Guo) A. The Chinese B. Possessed a system of writing with which they could record their history/'communicate' with their ancestors C. Zhong Guo is cool- everybody else is uncivilized. Therefore, they were either eradicated or assimilated. (D. "Uncivilized" = unbound hair, tattoos, consumed of raw food, did not eat grain, wore pelts, lived nomadically.)

Thresholds of Asian Civ:

1. Humans evolve 2. Humans develop collective learning 3. Humans develop agriculture 4. Humans begin the industrial revolution

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

1. Life is full of suffering, and suffering is inescapable. Loss, sickness, and death manage to haunt us all. 2. Human desire is the cause of suffering. Can't be sad if you don't ever have any expectations! 3. There is a way to cease suffering. 4. The Eightfold Path is that way.

The Green Revolution

1. Westerners are a-holes. This is a verifiable fact. Therefore, they told the Asian people that technology and technology alone was the key to maintaining a quality rice crop. (The term for this was the Green Revolution.) All you need is irrigation, fertilizers/pesticides, and genetically engineered rice (yields high crops and resists common rice diseases/insects)! Great, now we can abandon these "primitive" ways of growing rice! 2. Turns out, intricate, pre-modern techniques are really important to growing rice. Modern rice research is all well and good, but these guys have a system, and they know what they're doing. By alternating between wet and dry phases within the terraces, fields become more productive. Having wet and dry phases means a circulation of nutrients, cultivation of helpful microorganisms, flushing of weeds, stabilization of soil temperature. It also allows for plants to directly absorb nutrients, instead of having to extract them from the soil. These paddies also attract animals, which can help to exterminate pests (ducks eating grasshoppers) and can be harvested for food. Traditional techniques also remove only the food-bearing part of the plant, which allows the rest to decompose and provide additional nutrients. 3. Crops rely on ancient, man-made irrigation systems that must be carefully maintained. People in this region developed "sectors" based on which gods the people working the paddies worshiped. These different temples/worship groups got together and collectively managed things like flow of water, planting times, burn control, harvest times, and set-aside times. Every point of water diversion had an altar/temple and deity associated with it. Temples held festivals on the same dates that irrigations weirs were opened/closed. Due to the collective religious need for water that came from upstream, temple congregations often associated with each other. 4) The highest religious official (high priest, Jero Gde), has the final say over water distribution. 5) To the Balinese, things like earth, water, and life are sacred. Because religion is linked to rice cultivation in Bali, you don't get to cultivate rice if you're not doing it in a way that is respectful to nature.

Today, Asia makes up __% of the world's population

80%

(A) Graben

A stretch of land where the Earth's crust is being stretched/pulled apart by the after-affects of a techtonic plate collision

Cognate

A term for when two words from different but related languages that have the same meaning, due to both being forms of one, common earlier form

China

A. due to the Great Collision, China has more mountainous terrain and less arable land than any of the world's largest nations B. contains the Huanghe and Yangzi Rivers Huanghe/Yellow River: 1. nicknamed "China's Sorrow" 2. called the yellow river because of its ochre-colored soil (loess). Because this soil blows in from Inner Asia, the bed of the river keeps rising. By building dikes to contain the river, the river itself has now become higher than the terrain surrounding it. Since ancient times, it has been considered the duty of the government to continue building dikes and keep the Huanghe from flooding its banks. 3. Sometimes it just... changes its course? Obviously, the devastation that that causes is enormous. Yangzi River: 1. easy to travel; commercially profitable 2. bigger and much more stable than the Huanghe. This allowed trade cities by said river to flourish (origin of Shanghai, China's largest and richest city) C. Divided into north and South China: North: 1. cold 2. wheat grows better than rice 3. rural South: 1. subtropical (abundant rainfall, green) 2. lots o' hills 3. grows tea and rice 4. seen as sensuous but dangerous

A. found mostly near Tibet/North India (Himalayas) B. The Himalayas suffer from frequent earthquakes/landslides C. The Tibetan Plateau also establishes a psychical "wall" between India and Siberia, protecting India from cold

A. found mostly on the Tibetan Plateau B. Because of this, the Himalayas suffer from frequent earthquakes and landslides C. The plateau also establishes a psychical border between India and Siberia, protecting India from the cold

Gobi Desert

A. north of the Tibetan Plateau B. characterized by arid grasslands, dry hills, and desert (obviously) C. extreme dryness = cannot farm; people in this region raise livestock instead

Taklamakan

A. west of the Gobi B. characterized by unstable, shifting sand. When China established the Silk Road, they went around the border of the Taklamakan, through various oases. And anybody who tried to make a profit by setting up shop in these oasis towns probably died.

Himalayan rivers

All formed from the snowmelt in the Himalayan Mountains. All three have sources at the foot of Mount Kailash. 1) Indus 2) Brahmaputra 3) Ganges A. empties into the Bay of Bengal B. considered a holy river, used for bathing. In Hindu tradition, this river is also the goddess Ganga Ma. She is worshipped two times a day (dawn and dusk) by the Hindu people. The current of the river carries away pollution into the bay, which is said to be Ganga Ma "taking care of" the Hindu people C. extremely polluted due to bathing,waste disposal, washing clothes, and even cremated/NON-cremated bodies. Cholera outbreaks linked to bathing festivals.

Social Problems (Gender/Marriage) in Indian Society

DOWRY DEATHS- Because the bride is traditionally supposed to be what brings the groom's family money, some families will hold the bride 'hostage' in exchange for a continuous flow of income. If the family runs out, the bride later dies, often in some form of "accident". While this happens with alarming frequency, prosecution is almost nonexistent. After her death, the husband is free to marry again and receive another dowry. SATI- Widows will sometimes kill themselves rather than choose to continue living without their husbands. While this is sanctioned by the Hindu religion and performed by a few castes, many gave up on it after it was outlawed by the British during the colonial period. You do not commit sati, you become *a* sati. The word 'sati' is Hindi for 'inner truth'. It is believed that the strength of a woman's vow to commit sati causes her body to ignite in flames when she stands at her husband's funeral pyre. Hindu temples are also built at the sites of satis, making it a strangely profitable exercise. At this point, a sati becomes a 'satimana', a mother sati/sati goddess. People come to worship her for how she fufilled her dharma and her vows as a wife (pativrata). Many people say that there are Hindu religious figures who embody the holy nature of sati, but most scholars think that sati is not written in Hinduism as a positive act in and of itself.

Areas of Asia:

EAST ASIA: "the Big Three" 1. China 2. Korea 3. Japan SOUTH ASIA: "the Post-Colonials" 1. India 2. Pakistan 3. Nepal 4. Bangladesh SOUTHEAST ASIA: "the Tropicals" 1. Cambodia 2. Laos 3. Indonesia 4. Malaysia CENTRAL ASIA: "the Stans" 1. Kyrgyzstan 2. Kazakstan 3. Uzbekistan Borders/regions are determined by many different factors! 1. Geography 2. Politics 3. Culture 4. Trade

Case study of castes

EX: the town of Aganbigha, in the state of Bihar (Northeastern India), 2001, was founded 200 years ago by a man named Ishwar, who was granted land by the maharaja. As per custom, he set up the classic jajmani system on a local level. When the cultivators he had hired wanted to expand their farms into the nearby marshes, they brought in members of another tribal group to help them in exchange for half of all the cultivated produce. Ishwar disliked that the "common people" had so much control over the land, and attempted to replace the original tribe that he'd hired with another tribe that was more accepting of the caste system. He also began committing caste fraud in order to claim all of the land rights for himself. In the 1960's, India began restructuring its farming systems within a more capitalist frame. Modern technology sped up the process and reduced the amount of resources needed to farm. However, because of this, land cultivators reduced to pairs of hands, and fell into a lower caste. Landowners began to have a monopoly on land (and therefore power). Now India's government is full of Bumihar people who don't want to give impoverished people back the land that was stolen from them. They propagate that campaigning for their rights is the same as 'sowing the seeds of hatred and discontent'. Right now, Swami Sahananda (Bumihar, but cool) is leading a movement for equal rights to land in India.

Asia and Language

More than 2,000 distinct languages are spoken across Asia. A. India alone has over 150 distinct languages (though Hindi is the dominant, followed by English, a "common ground" for southerners not wanting to speak a northern language). B. The Chinese government says that all Chinese people speak different "dialects" of Mandarin, though linguists consider many of theses "dialects" to be separate languages. Mandarin to other Chinese languages is like Greek/Latin to the Romance Languages. However, unlike the Romance Languages, speakers of different Chinese languages can still read other languages' texts. C. Lao and Thai are considered different dialects of the same language, but since they are the national languages of Laos and Thailand respectively, they have been culturally bumped up to "language" status

Southeast Asia + volcanic activity

Southeast Asia = the Asiatic islands, the Asiatic islands = a *lot* of volcanic activity. A. The most famous example of this is when an island near Java (Krakatau) began experiencing volcanic activity in 1883. 2/3 of the island was blown away, and no witnesses survived. The explosion was heard in a 1500 mile radius (Australia to South India), but the ash in the immediate area was so thick that it muffled the sound of the resulting oncoming tsunamis, which resulted in the deaths of more than 30,000 people. B. Lesser known but even more powerful eruption on Tambora in 1815 C. The island of Bali has its own chain of volcanic mountains, the highest of which is Mt. Agung, said to be presided over by a fire god. Mt. Batur, a young, active volcano found within a larger, inactive crater, is home to Lake Batur. This lake is said to be presided over by the Goddess of the Lake, Dewi Danu. Both of these deities were given authority over Bali by Shiva, the god of mainland Mt. Mahameru. Lake Batur is also said to be the sole water source for the people of Bali.

The Eightfold Path

The Eightfold Path was developed by the Buddha as something of a 'compromise' between ignorance/worldly pleasure seeking and self-punishment. *THE WISDOM STEPS:* 1. Right Understanding- by committing to following the Buddha, you will learn the true meaning of his teachings. 2. Right Thought- making an effort to cultivate spiritual purity and a wholesome state of mind. *THE MORALITY/"PROPER CONDUCT" STEPS:* 3. Right Speech- always use your words for good, moral ends. 4. 4. Right Action- do the right thing. Do not kill, steal, lie, commit sexual misconduct, or take intoxicants. 5. Right Livelihood- you should pursue a livelihood that does not come into conflict with these previous principles. *THE CONCENTRATION STEPS:* These steps are the more advanced stages, usually only undertaken by monks looking to reach nirvana. 6. Right effort- abandoning unwholesome states of mind entirely. One who is in this stage should create a mentality that leans towards abandoning their human desires. 7. Right Mindfulness- live a life where you are aware of the conditions of your own existence and your own thoughts, mood, temptations, desires, etc. Remember annata. 8. Right Concentration- practice formal meditation in order to achieve tranquility, insight, and ultimate awakening.

Ashramadharma

The Four Stages of Life (developed in the 1st century B.C.E) 1. BRAHMACHARYA- A. earliest stage of life; youth B. a period of studying/learning a craft, marked by celibacy and self-discipline C. if you're really into Ashramadharma, you can wear white robes during this stage, like they do in ashrams 2. GRIHASTYHA- A. the "worldly participation" stage B. marked by marriage and the formation of a family C. people at this stage engage in caste-appropriate work, seek wealth and esteem, and attempt to secure marriages for their own children 3. VANAPRASTHA- A. marked by becoming 'old' B. at this stage, one begins to transfer their affairs to their sons, and focuses on cultivating their spiritual selves 4. SANYASA- A. you're about to die B. someone who is a sanyasa will begin to walk along the Ganges River to get to Varanasi, where there is a cremation ground at Manikarnika Ghat, sacred to the goddess Shiva. It is a sacred place to die. C. Further up the Ganges River, there are other sacred towns where many ashrams are located. Sanyasas/reunicants come here to stay, as well as Westerners looking to learn meditation/yoga practices.