1. Society and Inequality in the Eastern Hemisphere to 600 CE
Exploring social structures in second wave civilizations
Considering what made social structures different
Exploring the nature of patriarchy and its variations in second wave civilizations

2. Social structures are always challenged by those who are served worst by them
Even in today’s world, despite the abolition of slavery, the women’s movement, and democratization, inequalities in rights and social status persist.
Many of these inequalities find their origin in Second Wave Empires that we are currently studying. In Chapter 4 we looked at philosophic similarities and differences. Here, in Chapter 5, we will do the same for social structure, inequalities, and patriarchy
You may find that reactions to social stratification, inequality, and the suppression of women have created tensions since the Second Wave civilizations time, creating familiar arguments and solutions then and now.

3. Society and State in China
1.Chinese society was shaped by state actions more than others
a. social prestige and political power went with state office and jobs
b. officials were political, social, and cultural elite
2.The Elite Officials
a. world’s first trained professional bureaucracy
b. in 124 BCE Emperor Wudi established the first school to train officials. By 200 CE this academy had 30,000 students each year

4. Society and the State in China
c. Written exams were used to select officials for almost all positions in the Empire of China
d. this system lasted until 1911
3. Who were these guys?
a. favored the wealthy sons of landlords and nobles
b. family connections, closeness to the capital city were important
c. But, it was possible for common folks to rise through education

5. Society and State in China
d. as time went on later dynasties created more developed and larger bureaucracies
e. these bureaucrats or scholar-bureaucrats held much power and social standing
The Landlord Class(different from the bureaucracy in most eras)
Although China had had mostly peasant land owners, by the early Han large landholders had become the norm, with peasants becoming tenant farmers (renting land from the landlord)

6. Society and State In China
The state opposed the creation of large landed estate through most of Chinese history, sometimes successfully and some time not.
Why? Well, large landowners often evaded taxes reducing the money available to the empire’s government. As well, large land owners could often hire and keep armed men as independent military forces challenging the authority of the Empire.
Landowner prestige (power and status) was based on wealth and as we move into the Han by membership in the bureaucracy as a “scholar-gentryman”.

7. Society and the State in China
Reforms made by Wang Mang (who overthrew the Early Han in 8CE) abolished large estates, but with end of his dynasty a short time later, this problem developed again.
Throughout history civilizations have had to answer the question of distribution of resources, primarily land. Obviously, China found no real answer to this problem.

8. Chinese Peasants During Han Dynasty

9. Peasants: State and Society in China
In Chinese history (as in most histories until modern times) the vast majority of the peoples have been peasants.
Some peasants are relatively prosperous
Others just barely survive
Tenants farmers (renters of farm land) were very numerous in the Han dynasty. It is believed that 2/3rds of their crops had to be given to the landowner as rent. That’s a lot of hay!!!

10. The Yellow Turban Rebellion

11. Peasants: Society and State in China
There was always the threat of peasant unrest. Occasionally the peasants would rebel against the dynasty itself.
This happened in 184CE when a large number of peasants, who were being flooded out of their farms and who were dying of epidemic disease, devastated the economy and most likely contributed to the overthrow of the Later Han Dynasty.
The Yellow Turban Rebellion was most likely a result of religious feeling, most probably an expression of Daoist interpretations. The Yellow Turban was the expression of solidarity.

12. Merchants: Society and State in China
The Chinese elite classes disliked merchants for several reasons:
a. stereotyped them as greedy and lazy, taking their profit from the work of others
b. merchants were seen as a threat to the social order by taking money from all other classes; it was believed this would make everyone other than merchants poor.
c. in most instances these beliefs were most probably motivated by jealousy. Needed merchants but didn’t want to.

13. Merchants: Society and State in China
In order to control merchants and their wealth and social status the government imposed conditions on the merchant class
a. sumptuary laws (laws making it illegal for merchants to dress in certain ways, most likely as if they were landlords or scholars)
b. merchants were often not allowed to hold office in the government
c. merchants could not deal in salt, iron, or alcohol since the government controlled these to its profit
d. often merchants were forced to lend money to the government

14. Merchants: Society and State in China
However, merchants were seldom affected for long by these regulations
Merchants were a “necessary evil” in Chinese society
Some became respectable by purchasing large estates and/or educating their sons to become members of the scholar-gentry- bureaucrats
Because of their wealth and influence many officials and elites were willing to overlook what they were for what they had

15. Class and Caste In India (South Asia)
What is “caste”? In India caste is also known as “varna”. Caste is derived from a Portuguese word for race or purity of blood
Evolution of caste:
a. may have evolved from the interactions of Aryan invaders (light- skinned) with indigenous Indian peoples (darker-skinned)
b. may have come from social and economic differences between these groups or others
c. the second would appear to have been more important then the first

16. Simple Caste System Pyramid

17. History and Theory of Caste
By 500BCE it was clearly established that people fell into 4 great classes or varnas (castes) with your position in society determined by birth.
Three segments of caste were supposedly “pure Aryan” also known as the twice born.
The fourth caste were most likely indigenous peoples conquered by the Aryan invaders. These folks were usually in subordinate economic and social positions to begin with

18. History and Theory of Caste
Brahmin
To justify the caste(varna) system, this theory was presented:
The four castes were formed from the body of the god Purusha who was never changing. This meant caste was never changing or immutable as well. The truth is both caste and Indian society were ever changing.
Brahmins- highest caste, usually priests and government leaders
Ksatriyas-warrior caste, usually in charge of armies and military
Vaisyas- evolved into merchant class, important to both of the higher of the “twice born”
Ksatriya
Vaisya

19. History and Theory of Caste in Indian
Sudras
Sudras- the fourth caste developed into the class of peasant farmers and most likely gained some status from the change. Primarily this was most likely due to the development of a fifth class of persons:
The Untouchables- this was a catchall caste for people who did work considered by Indian society as, perhaps necessary, but not at all suitable such as handling the dead, cleaning streets, manureing fields, working in sewers, and the like. Also called “out-castes” or outcasts
(Sidenote: although caste has been legally eliminated in India since 1950, many of the characteristics of the caste system remain in place.)
Untouchables or outcastes

20. Castes in more detail
The importance of caste in Indian life cannot be exaggerated. Each caste was divided into hundreds or thousands of smaller groups. In each of these (known as jati) social distinction was based on occupation. Jati were essentially guilds (groups of people who do the same work).
The 4 varna castes and the many jati came together to form the classical caste system
The thousands of jati became the primary nucleus of social life

21. Jati Each of the 4 main castes were subdivided into many jati
Jati clearly defined your social position. For instance:
a. one could only eat with or marry someone from the same jati
b. each jati had particular duties, rules, obligations, and rituals
c. mingling with other jati destroyed ritual purity and polluted the jati
d. social isolation(ostracism) for violating rules of jati
e. only an entire jati could raise its social standing. Individuals could not

22. Jati and Hindu belief systems
This ideal of inherent inequality was supported by the religious beliefs of the majority of people in India.
The concepts of karma(fate), dharma(duty), and samsara(rebirth) allowed people to believe that birth into a caste was determined by your karma in a previous life. If you failed in your dharma(duty) you could be reborn into a lower caste or jati. If you succeeded in your dharma and had good karma you would be reborn into a higher caste or jati.

23. We might ask: Why did people do this?
People have done many things in the history of human kind and the best answer is that things happen because the majority of the people at that time believe them to be the best option for them. We may not agree, but no doubt people in the future will say that about us as well.
Functions of the Caste System: usefulness
a. very local and focused on loyalties to a limited area and group
b. made large governments unnecessary and hard to build
c. the caste system substituted for the state

24. Functions of Caste in India
c. Caste provided support (to a degree) for widows, orphans, and those who were needy within the jati, of course
d. caste was also a way to assimilate aliens(emigrants) and invaders into Indian society. (Very successful at this)
e. made it easier for the powerful to exploit the weak, the wealthy to exploit the poor.
f. women in each jati were subordinate to the men within that jati, but of higher social rank than all persons in jati below them.

25. Slavery in Second Wave Empires
Why did slavery become important? Several theories are extant.
A. Domestication of animals provided a template for human slavery
B. War, patriarchy, and private property ideas may have encouraged slavery
C. Large-scale warfare (10,000s of warriors at a time) contributed to the growth of slavery
D. Patriarchal concepts of “ownership of women” may have been a factor
Any of these, all of these, or none of these may be correct.

26. Slavery and Civilization
Slavery was a long established tradition in human civilizations by 1750 BCE as demonstrated in the Code of Hammurabi
Slavery meant: a “social death”; lack of all rights as well as a lack of an independent personality
Almost all civilizations had some form of slavery which varied in practice considerably from place to place and from time to time.
In Classic Greece and Rome: slave emancipation was common. Aztec slaves children were considered to be free. The type of work slaves did varied greatly; many Roman slaves were “professionals” such as teachers, dramatists, architects, etc. Others had less glamorous jobs such as working in the mines, being worked to death on agricultural estates. It is important to remember that as many women as men were slaves.

27. The Where
In China although slavery was legal it was less common than in other areas of second wave empires.
Perhaps 1 percent of the population at any time would be slaves. Primarily convicts or children sold into slavery by desperate parents.
The unity of China for much of its history may also be a cause of less slavery. The less fighting there is in this era, the fewer slaves there are.

28. The Where
India: generally in India criminals, debtors, war captives made up most of the slaves.
Slavery was largely domestic-that is- the slaves worked for a family in service in their residence or estate.
Religion and Indian law in many areas gave some protection to slaves and against making slaves
Society was not economically dependent on slavery.
The presence of the varna system may have reduced the need for slavery in Indian society

29. The Curious Case of Greece and Rome
Mediterranean/Western civilizations (ancient Greece, Hellenic Kingdoms, the Rome Republic and Empire) were built on the backs of slave labor
In Athens up to 1/3 of the population was in slavery
Aristotle: some people are “slaves by nature” giving a stamp of approval to the enslavement of “barbarian” peoples for the crime of not being Greek.
Rome would continue this tradition. Since Rome fought all the time, there were plenty opportunities to obtain slaves.

30. THE CC GR
Around 1CE the population of the Roman Empire was around million persons of whom at least 15% were slaves. In Italy, heart of the Empire, up to 40% of the people were slaves.
The wealthiest Romans owned as many as several thousand slaves.
Even modest earners could afford two or three slaves. Slaves were much cheaper than paying wages to a worker. So from an economic point of view this made sense.

31. How to Become a Slave in Rome
Go to war with the Romans-this will work for sure
Get captured by pirates on the Mediterranean-ditto
Get captured for the European slave trade for Africa, and Asia
Have babies when you are a slave
Abandon infants you don’t want-those who are chosen to survive by passersby will most likely be slaves

32. Slavery in Roman Society
Not associated with race or ethnicity. Romans were equal opportunity slavers.
Little social commentary or criticism of slavery has ever been found from this time period in Rome.
Christians accepted slavery without much trouble
Slave did everything except serve in the military.
Slaves had no legal rights (Much prized among Roman citizens). Could not legally marry. If a slave murdered his owner all the murdered man’s slaves would be executed. However, manumission was very common. This is a process of freeing the slaves. Many ex-slaves or their sons became Roman citizens.

33. Resistance and Rebellion in Rome
Many war prisoners committed mass suicide to avoid slavery
Slaves would also work slowly, steal, sabotage, do poor work. These so called “weapons of the weak” while not effective at ending slavery could make it less valuable to the owner.
Many ran away even though it was hard to get away with
Sometimes owners were murdered as well and this could result in the deaths of all the slaves owned by the murdered owner

34. Slave Rebellions There were numerous rebellions in Rome by slaves
These rebellions WERE NOT about ending slavery, but about the rebel slaves receiving their freedom
Most famous was the Spartacus Rebellion in 73BCE, the largest slave rebellion until the 1790’s in the western world.

35. Patriarchy across Second Wave Empires
All ancient civilizations practiced patriarchy to some degree. Generally, the longer a society existed successfully in the past, the deeper and more concrete patriarchy became. This was also true of times of peace. In war and early on archetypes are not as set as later on.

36. The Role of Women in Patriarchies
Despite their inferior status, women were still active members of the societies they belonged to.
Central in family raising
Occasionally achieved prominence outside of the household
But they did so within an established framework
Urban civilizations tended to be more intensely patriarchal than agricultural or pastoral societies outside empires. Example: the barbarian Germans who lived on the edges of the Roman Empire had much less male domination over women by men. Why?

37. Patriarchy in China Patriarchy changed over time in China:
In the Han, Chinese elites became more patriarchal with the linkages to Confucianism growing ever stronger.
Man’s sphere is public; woman’s is private
Confucian thinking about pairing opposites as a means for order applied to women unequally
The “Three Obediences”: Woman is subordinate to father, then husband, then son.
Upper class women much more restricted. Class matters in patriarchy

38. China Continued
However, women could occasionally become publicly visible. This is the case with the writer BAN ZHAO c.100CE who wrote and spoke about the duties women own men as well as how Chinese society reinforced these with birth rituals (Read: Document 5.1 to get a taste of this woman’s perspective)
Some exceptions to female subordination: a few women gained political power such as the Empress Wu c.700CE. Several led peasant rebellions.
Some men praised women as valuable counselors

39. China Continued Honors were given to the mothers of sons
The dowry paid by the bride’s family was considered to belong to the wife not the husband
Women were valued for their skill in silk and linen production
Wives always had higher status than concubines
A concubine is a woman who is used to have a son with when the wife could not have a son or children. The child would have full status but the concubine would not.
Peasant women worked along side men in the fields. Their help was needed to get in the crops. This made them more valuable to their husbands than upper class wives to their husbands

40. China: Patriarchy after the Han Dynasty
Cultural influence of nomadic peoples on China’s periphery whose customs were much less patriarchal
Dynastic changes: Tang dynasty-elite women regarded as capable of handling legal and business affairs, inheriting property, and riding horses. The Reign of Empress Wu can be seen as verifying this.
Strengthening of Buddhism and Daoism in China after 200CE also could have some effect on the role of women in Chinese society.

41. Comparison: Athenian and Spartan Patriarchies
Athens and Sparta held substantially different views about women.
Athens generally became more restrictive over the period of the “Golden Age of Greece” c BCE
Women were completely excluded from public life
Women were represented by a guardian in law and not even named in proceedings in court (this means women had no status as adults or even persons)
Aristotle: believed women were naturally “inadequate” when compared to men.

42. Athens and Sparta: a Dichotomy
Women were restricted to the home
Married in mid teens to men years older
Role in life: running the household and bearing sons
Land normally passed through male not female heirs
Women could negotiate small contracts but nothing significant
One notable exception from this period: Aspasia, the lover of Pericles(democratic ruler of Athens BCE), who had a salon and conducted learned discussions. Rumor was that she was a hetaera although this is not a fact. Only one exceptional woman has come to us through history from this age in Athens. There must have been more

43. Sparta and The Role of Women
Because Sparta was a military state and because Sparta kept a permanent slave population (helots) who outnumbered them by 10 to 1 this was a very different place than Athens
Sparta was militaristic
Spartan men were raised to be in the military-seen as warriors above all
This gave women more opportunity for freedom in Sparta

44. Sparta
The main female task was reproduction which is the same in all ancient civilizations
Women were not isolated or secluded; encouraged to take part in sporting events (very uncommon); married men of their own age at around 18 with a period when divorce was possible
Because Spartan men were often away at war, Spartan women assumed a greater share of household responsibilities and perhaps in society as well

45. Greek Attitudes towards Diversity
Greek cultural motifs defy modern sensibilities. That is, we often do not have the context to understand exactly what was going on. This is the case with our understanding of Greek approval of homosexuality. While it was encouraged in some polises, others discouraged it. What we do know is that we know little to nothing about why. This means we cannot make any historical judgments about these societies in this matter. When we view history through a gender lens (as women) or perhaps as someone outside the mainstream of cultures it takes on a completely different hue.