1. Ancient India vs. Ancient China

2. 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 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

4. 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

5. Mandate of Heaven

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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