1. 10/13/2015
When you hear the word family, what do you think of? What does the concept mean in the United States?

2. Ancient Indian Life and Culture

3. Cultural Achievements
Panchantantra or “Five Books” - stories
Fables from Gupta period
= Stories with morals that taught traits such as adaptability, shrewdness, and determination
Panchatantra has been translated into more languages more than any other book
Except the Bible!

4. Economy Most people barely got by Lived off of the land
Rulers claimed ¼ of each harvest for taxes
Trading picked up and Indian goods were found in the Far East, Asia, Africa, and Europe

5. Society 200 B.C. and A.D. 200 - Hindu Laws of Manu Polygyny: Suttee:
Girls were required to obey their fathers
Women obeyed their husbands and then their sons
Women couldn’t own property or study any writing
Polygyny:
Men could have more than one wife – became widespread
Suttee:
Women committed suicide by throwing themselves on top of husband’s burning body at death
Sometimes required in upper castes

6. Art and Architecture
Only art to survive-mural paintings found in caves
They depict daily life and religious practices
Hindu temples - built with square walls that surrounded a statue of a god
Buddhist Stupas:
Dome-shaped shrines that contained artifacts or objects associated with Buddha inside

7. Education Higher castes Lower castes Nalanda – Buddhist University
Studied the Vedas, astronomy, mathematics, warfare, and government
Lower castes
Only studied crafts and trades (to be workers)
Nalanda – Buddhist University
Center of higher learning in India
Studied Vedas, Hindu philosophy, logic, grammar, and medicine
Thousands of students attended for free

8. Mathematics and Astronomy
Understood abstract and negative numbers
Gave way to algebra
The digits 1 through 9 were probably invented by Indian mathematicians
Understand concepts of zero and infinity
Understood the rotation of the earth
Accurately predicted eclipses of the sun and moon

9. Medicine Understood importance of the spinal cord
Invented bone setting and plastic surgery
Major invention – Inoculation:
Practice of infecting a person with mild form of disease so they do not get sick with serious form
They were able to inoculate against smallpox which was brought to Europe until 1700s
A.D. 400s - Indian rulers built free hospitals
Practices cleanliness in surgery and disinfected wounds

10. Ancient CHINA!!

11. Geographic and cultural Influences

12. China Proper The heart of China
Three great rivers flow through this area:
Huang, Chang, and Xi

13. Rivers of China Huang River Chang River Xi River
Flows 2,900 miles and has fertile soil it deposits during flooding seasons
Early farmers built dikes higher and higher to guard water, but the water and soil kept building. Water couldn’t flow back so it sat until it evaporated
Today it sits 12 feet higher than surrounding land
Chang River
Flows 3,434 miles and large ocean ships can travel 600 miles up it
Xi River
Flows 1,200 miles and also used for ships

14. China’s Isolation
Because of Mtn ranges, China was pretty well isolated from rest of civilizations
They developed all on their own and looked down upon any foreigners as barbarians
They thought they were superior than anybody else and invaders would eventually lose their identity over time into China’s growing population

15. The Shang Dynasty

16. Legends of Ancient china – DON’T WRITE!
Supposedly a figure named Yu came and drained the floodwaters to establish China
Yu put in the Xia as leaders
The Xia made advances in agriculture and irrigation but were eventually swept out by the Shang between 1750 B.C. and 1500 B.C.

17. Government and Culture
Shang Kingdom spread across 40,000 square miles
They established a bureaucracy:
A government with different levels and tasks
A king ruled over all the land with an army of chariots and bronze weapons
This organization allowed gaining of territory and spreading of culture

18. Economy and Handicrafts
They grew wheat and rice
They also raised pigs and chickens to eat, horses for labor, and silkworms for product
Artisans worked in bone, ivory, jade, and ceramics
They developed a way for pottery to be glazed so it would have a shiny finish and be more durable

19. Astronomy and the Calendar
They had two calendars, one for the sun and one for the moon
They used the one for the moon more
Skilled priest-astronomers added days here and there to make a full 365 day year
The popularity of the King depended on how well the harvest ran with the calendar so priests- astronomers were really important

20. Religion
The religion that developed combined animism with ancestor worship
What is animism?
The belief that spirits inhabit everything
People believed in an all powerful and kind dragon that lived in seas and rivers and could go into the clouds, this became the symbol for Chinese rulers
They also worshipped gods of the wind, sun, clouds, and moon
They held a religious festival every spring and fall for harvests

21. There was one god whose name was Shangdi
He controlled human destiny and forces of nature
Rulers used Shangdi’s control over destiny to justify their decisions
Priests
Tried to predict future events, interpret messages from gods and ancestors
Oracle Bones
The shoulder bones of cattle or tortoise shells
Priests heated bones and interpreted cracks that would appear

22. Language and Writing
The early Chinese spoke many different dialects of the same language
They developed a written language for all the different dialects
It was a mix of pictographs and ideographs
Drawings of objects and sound signs
Each character was memorized and writing was in lines from top to the bottom of pages from the right
Writing became an art called calligraphy

23. Fall of the Shang Dynasty
During 1100 B.C.s, Shang’s battled surrounding areas
In 1050 B.C. people from the north joined forces and called themselves the Zhou and overthrew the dynasty
The Zhou justified the revolt by saying the Shang were corrupt and unfit to rule
Common excuse in Chinese history