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Ancient India vs. Ancient China

Ancient India vs. Ancient China. India Geography North China South Asian Plain of Indus Huang He (Yellow River). Periodic flooding=renewal of fertile soil Humid subtropical climate=difficulty storing food Himalaya Mts.=shielded from winter cold and invasions

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Ancient India vs. Ancient China

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  1. Ancient India vs. Ancient China

  2. India Geography North ChinaSouth Asian Plain of Indus Huang He (Yellow River) • Periodic flooding=renewal of fertile soil • Humid subtropical climate=difficulty storing food • Himalaya Mts.=shielded from winter cold and invasions • Monsoons and snowmelt=abundant water supply and maritime trade (later) • Passes in northwest=contact with Middle East • Floods carry loess=renewal of soil fertility • Much mountainous and semidesert land=settlement only along rivers • Violent flooding=dike building for control • Mountain, desert, and jungle barriers=cultural isolation=unique/homogeneous culture • Climate split between arid, cool north and wet, warm south

  3. India Political Patterns China • Centralized gov’t evident in prominence of logically planned cities with public buildings and services • Small feudal kingdoms later unified by Zhou Dynasty • Expansion from ShangZhouQin • Highly centralized autocracy and unification later under the Qin Dynasty • Dynastic Cycle and idea of Mandate of Heaven

  4. Mandate of Heaven

  5. India Social/Economic China • Trade with Mesopotamia, South India, and Afghanistan • Uncertainty about how society was organized; small republics, rule by priests, or early form of caste system(Minimal evidence=little definite knowledge) • Undecipherable writing • Elaborately planned cities, standardized weights and measures, architectural design • Unlike other civilizations, it produced no palaces, temples, elaborate graves, kings, or warrior class • King, aristocratic ruling class, and bureaucracy made up of warrior families • Peasant farmers and slaves • Artisan/craft workers • Merchants • Patriarchal • Impressive cultural continuity into modern times

  6. India Religious China • Importance of fertility=worship of mother goddess • Clay tablet images of gods=prototypes of Hindu deities? • Clay animal figures=great respect for livestock such as cows? • King worshipped as mediator between people and gods=ruler was “son of heaven” • Early written language with oracle bones as early documents • Early worship of dead royalty set pattern for ancestor veneration • Confucianism=secular belief in ethical conduct and social harmony • Taoism=philosophy focusing on living in harmony with laws of nature

  7. Interactions/technology • Decline of Indus valley due to change in geographic patterns shifted people east • Aryans migrate from Central Asia into northwest India (modern day Pakistan) bringing language and cultural traditions including the Vedas, caste system, and beliefs that would become Hinduism • China is isolated due to geography=lack of outside contact=self-sufficiency, unique culture, ethnocentrism (middle kingdom) • Gradually populations move to warmer, wetter climates that can sustain bigger populations on rice • Crossbow, horses and the chariot from Central Asia will become essential to military victories • Bronze used in weapons and religious vessels

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