1200-1250
The revolution of domestication beginning around 11,500 years ago, involved both plants and animals.
- 4000 B.C.E., focused on the raising of livestock
- People learned to use milk, blood, wool, hides, and meat of their animals to occupy lands that could not support agricultural societies.
- Inner Eurasia and sub-Saharan Africa, in the Arabian and Saharan deserts.
- Pastoralism emerged only in the Afro-Eurasian world.
-Pastoral peoples organized themselves in kinship-based groups or clans that claimed a common ancestry, usually through the male line.
Arabs, Berbers, Turks, and Mongols
- all of these of nomadic region
- Islam, derived a largely nomadic people
Mongol Empire
- came out from Mongolia in the 13th century.
- Mongols numbering about 700,000 people.
Temujin (1162-1227)
- Chinggis Khan (universal ruler)
- army was immense and large
- conquered many nations
- "I have accomplished a great work, " he declared, "uniting the whole world in one empire."
Mongols conquered:
China- 1209-1279
-took 70 years
Persia
- first invasion was led by Chinggis Khan 1219-1221
- second invasion was led by his grandson Hulegu 1251-1258
Russia
-1237-1240
- the conquest was massive. City after city fell to the Mongols. The conquest was greater than China and Persia put together.
- Put Russians into slavery.
The Plague: A Eurasian Pandemic
- plague or pestilence
- Black Death
-The disease was carried by rodents and transmitted by fleas to humans, the plague erupted in 1331 in northeastern China and by 1347 had reached Western Europe.
- one-thirds and two-thirds of the population died within a few years.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Chapter 9: China and the World
Reemergence of a Unified China
-Han Dynasty collapsed in 220 C.E.
-the rise of locally aristocratic to influence China
-discreditied Confucianism and embraced Buddhism and Daoism
-Movement of Chinese people, accompanied by their intensive agriculture, set in motion a vast environmental transformation, marked by the destruction of the old growth forests that once covered much of the country and the retreat of elephants that inhabited those lands
A "Golden Age" of Chinese Achievement
-Sui dynasty (589-618)
-Canal System- reaching 1,200 miles in length.
these canals linked northern and southern China economically and contributed much to the prosperity following.
-The conquest of Korea exhausted the state's resources, isolated people, and prompted the overthrow of the dynasty.
-Tang Dynasty (618-907)
-Song Dynasty (960-1279)
-renewed unity
-both established patterns of Chinese life that went through the 20th century, despite the 50 year period of disunity between the two dynasties.
- "Golden Age" of arts and literature, setting standards of excellence in poetry, landscape painting, and ceramics.
Song Dynasty- scholarship gave rise to Neo-Confucianism, an effort to revive Confucian thinking while putting into some of the insights of Buddhism and Daoism.
-Built state structure
personnel
finance
rites
army
justice
public works
-Tang Dynasty best ordered state in the world
Women in the Song Dynasty:
-Elite women in the Song Dynasty participated in social life with greater freedom than in the classical times.
-Women were viewed as a distraction to men's pursuit of a contemplative and introspective life.
-Tribute System
set of practices that required non-Chinese authorities to acknowledge Chinese superiority and their own subordinate place in a Chinese-centered world order.
China and Buddhism
- China received from India was the religion Buddhism
- large scale cultural burrowing in Chinese history.
- Buddhism entered into China through the Silk Road trading network during the first and second centuries.
- The secluded and monastic views of Buddhism was a dishonor to Chinese family values, and its concern for individual salvation or enlightenment appeared selfish and contradicting the social orientation of Confucian thinking.
- Later after the collapse of the Han dynasty, Buddhism was incorporated into China and well received by many.
-Han Dynasty collapsed in 220 C.E.
-the rise of locally aristocratic to influence China
-discreditied Confucianism and embraced Buddhism and Daoism
-Movement of Chinese people, accompanied by their intensive agriculture, set in motion a vast environmental transformation, marked by the destruction of the old growth forests that once covered much of the country and the retreat of elephants that inhabited those lands
A "Golden Age" of Chinese Achievement
-Sui dynasty (589-618)
-Canal System- reaching 1,200 miles in length.
these canals linked northern and southern China economically and contributed much to the prosperity following.
-The conquest of Korea exhausted the state's resources, isolated people, and prompted the overthrow of the dynasty.
-Tang Dynasty (618-907)
-Song Dynasty (960-1279)
-renewed unity
-both established patterns of Chinese life that went through the 20th century, despite the 50 year period of disunity between the two dynasties.
- "Golden Age" of arts and literature, setting standards of excellence in poetry, landscape painting, and ceramics.
Song Dynasty- scholarship gave rise to Neo-Confucianism, an effort to revive Confucian thinking while putting into some of the insights of Buddhism and Daoism.
-Built state structure
personnel
finance
rites
army
justice
public works
-Tang Dynasty best ordered state in the world
Women in the Song Dynasty:
-Elite women in the Song Dynasty participated in social life with greater freedom than in the classical times.
-Women were viewed as a distraction to men's pursuit of a contemplative and introspective life.
-Tribute System
set of practices that required non-Chinese authorities to acknowledge Chinese superiority and their own subordinate place in a Chinese-centered world order.
China and Buddhism
- China received from India was the religion Buddhism
- large scale cultural burrowing in Chinese history.
- Buddhism entered into China through the Silk Road trading network during the first and second centuries.
- The secluded and monastic views of Buddhism was a dishonor to Chinese family values, and its concern for individual salvation or enlightenment appeared selfish and contradicting the social orientation of Confucian thinking.
- Later after the collapse of the Han dynasty, Buddhism was incorporated into China and well received by many.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Chapter 6: Vikings and Polynesians
-William Fitzhugh said that the historical record has badly distorted our view of early Scandinavians.
In past 20 years archaeological evidence fleshes out and in some cases contradicts the historical record.
-Vikings and Polynesians have been relegated to the role of barbarians, either as brutal despoilers in the case of the Vikings or as noble savages in the case of Polynesians.
Some Vikings did make it to America around the year 1000, nearly five centuries before Columbus's celebrated voyage of 1492.
-Viking Era- 750 to 1050
Before their great expansion, the vikings lived in southern Scandinavia.
- there language was called Norse.
- worshipped old Germanic gods like Odin, Thor, and Frey.
- lived on individual farms or in small hamlets.
- regionals lords called Jarls ruled through local landed elite.
- relied on ships for communication and trade since they lived around the North Sea.
Polynesian People of the Pacific
- Polynesia began to attract attention in 1947
- Vikings studies, sparking a new era of research based upon innovative approaches.
-Until then, little was known of the polynesian past, for the Polynesians neither possessed writing themselves nor encountered literate people who could record their history until Europeans reached the Pacific in the sixteenth century.
-Polynesians had lost the ability to conduct voyages and following long isolation on widely scattered islands, had only vague memories left of their origins.
-Lapita People were horticulturalists who set plants out in temporary clearings created by slash and burn methods.
- They already grew taro, yams, and brad fruit. Domesticated animals like pigs, chickens, and dogs.
-Brought their Lapita ancestors to Tonga and Samoa from islands further west.
In past 20 years archaeological evidence fleshes out and in some cases contradicts the historical record.
-Vikings and Polynesians have been relegated to the role of barbarians, either as brutal despoilers in the case of the Vikings or as noble savages in the case of Polynesians.
Some Vikings did make it to America around the year 1000, nearly five centuries before Columbus's celebrated voyage of 1492.
-Viking Era- 750 to 1050
Before their great expansion, the vikings lived in southern Scandinavia.
- there language was called Norse.
- worshipped old Germanic gods like Odin, Thor, and Frey.
- lived on individual farms or in small hamlets.
- regionals lords called Jarls ruled through local landed elite.
- relied on ships for communication and trade since they lived around the North Sea.
Polynesian People of the Pacific
- Polynesia began to attract attention in 1947
- Vikings studies, sparking a new era of research based upon innovative approaches.
-Until then, little was known of the polynesian past, for the Polynesians neither possessed writing themselves nor encountered literate people who could record their history until Europeans reached the Pacific in the sixteenth century.
-Polynesians had lost the ability to conduct voyages and following long isolation on widely scattered islands, had only vague memories left of their origins.
-Lapita People were horticulturalists who set plants out in temporary clearings created by slash and burn methods.
- They already grew taro, yams, and brad fruit. Domesticated animals like pigs, chickens, and dogs.
-Brought their Lapita ancestors to Tonga and Samoa from islands further west.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Chapter 7: Classical Era Variations
Beginning of the Common Era, the total world population was 250 million people.
- 80 % of the world's population lived in Eurasia, Africa 11%, and America 5 to 7%
-The uneveness of the population in the world was the reason why historians focused more on Eurasia than Africa or the Americas.
- The absence of most animals that were capable of domestication meant no pastoral socieites in the Americas, and no draft animals to plow and carry heavy loads long distances.
- Africa lacked sheep, goat, chicken, goats, horses, and camels, but these animals were close to them in Eurasia so once domesticated, it would be widely available to the Africas.
Meroe:
Nubian civilization
- traded and fought with Egypt
- Meroe was governed by an all-powerful and sacred monarch
-Rulers were buried accoeding to ancient traditions, along with a number of human sacrificial victims.
- It was surrounded by a population who practiced herding, farming, and paid periodic tribute to the ruler.
Axum:
- It lay the Horn of Africa, what is now Eritrea and northern Ethiopia.
- It economic foundation was based on agriculture production that used a plow-based farming system, unlike most of the rest of Africa, which used hoes or a digging stick.
- Their agriculture production mainly consisted of wheat, barley, millet, and teff.
- Many merchants sought after the products of Africa's interior, animal hides, rhinoceros, horn, ivory, obsidian, tortoiseshells, slaves.
- Taxes on this trade provided a major source of revenue for the Axumite state.
- Axum was the capital city.
Bantu Africa:
- 400 distinct languages, known collectively as Bantu.
These people had various advantages:
- Numerical- as agriculture generated a more productive economy, enabling larger numbers to live in a smaller area than was possible with a gathering and hunting way of life.
- Disease- farmers brought parasitic and infectious diseases, which foraging people had little immunity.
- Iron- useful for tools and weapons
Relgion for them focused more on nature and ancestoral spirits than on a High or Creator God, who was viwed as remote and largely uninvolved in ordinary life.
- the power of dead ancestors can be accessed through rituals of sacrfice, especially that of cattle
- Belief in witches were widespread.
Mayans:
A Mesoamerican civilization
- 2000 B.C.E.
-classical phase of Maya civilization, between 250 and 900 C.E. that their most notable cultural achievements emerged.
- Priests developed mathematical system
- Observed the night skies to plot the cycles of planets, to predict eclipses of the sun and moon, to constrcut calendars, and calculate accurately the length of the solar year.
-Writing Sysetem- phonetic and pictographic
historical events, masses of astronimical date, and religious and mythological texts.
Andes:
-Incas
Coastal region of Peru generated one of the first civilizations known as Norte Chico.
-Chavin de Huantar- high in the Andes.
-small town of 2000-3000 people
- 80 % of the world's population lived in Eurasia, Africa 11%, and America 5 to 7%
-The uneveness of the population in the world was the reason why historians focused more on Eurasia than Africa or the Americas.
- The absence of most animals that were capable of domestication meant no pastoral socieites in the Americas, and no draft animals to plow and carry heavy loads long distances.
- Africa lacked sheep, goat, chicken, goats, horses, and camels, but these animals were close to them in Eurasia so once domesticated, it would be widely available to the Africas.
Meroe:
Nubian civilization
- traded and fought with Egypt
- Meroe was governed by an all-powerful and sacred monarch
-Rulers were buried accoeding to ancient traditions, along with a number of human sacrificial victims.
- It was surrounded by a population who practiced herding, farming, and paid periodic tribute to the ruler.
Axum:
- It lay the Horn of Africa, what is now Eritrea and northern Ethiopia.
- It economic foundation was based on agriculture production that used a plow-based farming system, unlike most of the rest of Africa, which used hoes or a digging stick.
- Their agriculture production mainly consisted of wheat, barley, millet, and teff.
- Many merchants sought after the products of Africa's interior, animal hides, rhinoceros, horn, ivory, obsidian, tortoiseshells, slaves.
- Taxes on this trade provided a major source of revenue for the Axumite state.
- Axum was the capital city.
Bantu Africa:
- 400 distinct languages, known collectively as Bantu.
These people had various advantages:
- Numerical- as agriculture generated a more productive economy, enabling larger numbers to live in a smaller area than was possible with a gathering and hunting way of life.
- Disease- farmers brought parasitic and infectious diseases, which foraging people had little immunity.
- Iron- useful for tools and weapons
Relgion for them focused more on nature and ancestoral spirits than on a High or Creator God, who was viwed as remote and largely uninvolved in ordinary life.
- the power of dead ancestors can be accessed through rituals of sacrfice, especially that of cattle
- Belief in witches were widespread.
Mayans:
A Mesoamerican civilization
- 2000 B.C.E.
-classical phase of Maya civilization, between 250 and 900 C.E. that their most notable cultural achievements emerged.
- Priests developed mathematical system
- Observed the night skies to plot the cycles of planets, to predict eclipses of the sun and moon, to constrcut calendars, and calculate accurately the length of the solar year.
-Writing Sysetem- phonetic and pictographic
historical events, masses of astronimical date, and religious and mythological texts.
Andes:
-Incas
Coastal region of Peru generated one of the first civilizations known as Norte Chico.
-Chavin de Huantar- high in the Andes.
-small town of 2000-3000 people
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Chapter 11 The Worlds of Islam
In the U.S. Islam has made a presence:
1,200 mosques and 8 million muslims, 2 million african americans
600-1600
21st century: 1.2 billion muslims in the world accounting 22% of the world's population
Allah: Arab Pantheon God
Arabs found lesser Gods, including the three daughters of Allah
Identified Allah to Yahweh, the Jewish High God, and called themselves as "children of Abraham
Muhammed Ibn Abdullah (570-632 C.E.)
Born in Mecca
Orphaned early in life and adopted by an uncle.
Troubled by the religious corruption in Mecca
Muhammed's revelations started in 610 C.E. and continued the next 22 years
Recorded in the Quran, the sacred scriptures of Islam
Monotheistic religion making Allah the only all-powerful God.
The Quran submission to Allah was the primary obligation for believers and means of achieving a place in paradise after death.
The Quran demanded social justice and laid out a plan for its implementation.
-solidarity
-equality
-concern for the poor
5 Pillars of Islam
1. There is no god but Allah and Muhammed is the messenger of god.
2. Prayer- 5 times a day and facing down toward Mecca
3. To give their wealth to maintain the community and help the needy
4. Month of fasting- no food, drink, or sexual relations from the first light of dawn to sundown during Ramadan, the ninth lunar month of the Islamic calendar.
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca- hajj or pilgrimage.
6. Struggle or "jihad" Against greed and selfishness, a spiritual striving toward a God-conscious life.
Slaves and prisoners of war were among the early converts, in Persia.
Converts can also avoid the jizya, a tax impose on non-Muslims.
Men and Women of Islam
The Quran viewed women as inferior and subordinate.
Earlier in Arab practice women were given control over their own property.
Marriage was a contract between consenting parties, thus making marriage by capture illegitimate.
Women were to enjoy sexual satisfaction and could sue for divorce if they had not sexual relations for more than four months.
Divorce was possible for both parties
The practice of taking multiple husbands was prohibited, while polygyny( taking multiple wives) was permitted.
Men were limited to four wives and required to treat each equally.
Men were able to have sexual relations with slave women if its consented and if any children are birthed out that, they are automatically free, as was the mother once her owner died.
Men were strongly encouraged to marry orphans, widows, and slaves.
1,200 mosques and 8 million muslims, 2 million african americans
600-1600
21st century: 1.2 billion muslims in the world accounting 22% of the world's population
Allah: Arab Pantheon God
Arabs found lesser Gods, including the three daughters of Allah
Identified Allah to Yahweh, the Jewish High God, and called themselves as "children of Abraham
Muhammed Ibn Abdullah (570-632 C.E.)
Born in Mecca
Orphaned early in life and adopted by an uncle.
Troubled by the religious corruption in Mecca
Muhammed's revelations started in 610 C.E. and continued the next 22 years
Recorded in the Quran, the sacred scriptures of Islam
Monotheistic religion making Allah the only all-powerful God.
The Quran submission to Allah was the primary obligation for believers and means of achieving a place in paradise after death.
The Quran demanded social justice and laid out a plan for its implementation.
-solidarity
-equality
-concern for the poor
5 Pillars of Islam
1. There is no god but Allah and Muhammed is the messenger of god.
2. Prayer- 5 times a day and facing down toward Mecca
3. To give their wealth to maintain the community and help the needy
4. Month of fasting- no food, drink, or sexual relations from the first light of dawn to sundown during Ramadan, the ninth lunar month of the Islamic calendar.
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca- hajj or pilgrimage.
6. Struggle or "jihad" Against greed and selfishness, a spiritual striving toward a God-conscious life.
Slaves and prisoners of war were among the early converts, in Persia.
Converts can also avoid the jizya, a tax impose on non-Muslims.
Men and Women of Islam
The Quran viewed women as inferior and subordinate.
Earlier in Arab practice women were given control over their own property.
Marriage was a contract between consenting parties, thus making marriage by capture illegitimate.
Women were to enjoy sexual satisfaction and could sue for divorce if they had not sexual relations for more than four months.
Divorce was possible for both parties
The practice of taking multiple husbands was prohibited, while polygyny( taking multiple wives) was permitted.
Men were limited to four wives and required to treat each equally.
Men were able to have sexual relations with slave women if its consented and if any children are birthed out that, they are automatically free, as was the mother once her owner died.
Men were strongly encouraged to marry orphans, widows, and slaves.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Chapter 6
Mahatma Ghandi sought to raise the status of the "untouchables," referring them to the Harijan, or 'children of God."
China- For more than 2,000 years ago, officials or bureaucrats represented the cultural and social elite of the Chinese civilization.
Confucius thought that officials that were selected to hold a position should be selected by the basis of merit and personal morality rather than birth and wealth
Emperor Wu Di sent promising officials to be trained as scholars and schooled in the Chinese classical texts concerning history, literature, art, and mathematics, with an emphasis on Confucian teachings.
Most officials cam from wealthy families, and in China wealth meant land.
Yellow turban Rebellion- peasant uprising. yellow scarves the peasants wore around their heads. 360,000 armed followers. Looked forward to the "golden age" of complete equality, social harmony, and common ownership of property.
In the eyes of scholar-gentry, they were the solid productive backbone of the country and their hard work and endurance in the face of difficulties were worthy of praise.
- It can be the said of our day with men and women that work hard in our fields picking vegetables and fruits. These are the people are looked down on in society. These are the people that work hard long hours and get paid less. These are the people that should be worthy of praise and honor because without them who knows who would go out in those and break their back so we can have fruits and vegetables in our local grocery store and super markets.
Merchants were viewed in Chinese society as unproductive, making a shameful profit from selling the work of others. They were looked at as greedy, money hungry, and materialistic people. They were also seen as a social threat.
Early in the Han Dynasty, merchants were forbidden to wear silk clothing, ride horses, hold public office, or carry arms.
Caste System- comes from the Portuguese word "casta" which means "race" or "purity of blood"
Four classes of Varna
Everyone was born into and remained within one of these classes for life.
1. Brahmins- priests. did rituals and sacrifices.
2. Ksatriya- warriors and rulers. protecting and governing society
3. Vaisya- commoners who cultivated the land.
these three class were known as the "twice born" for they not only had a physical birth but also formal initiation into their respective varnas and status as people of Aryan descent.
4. Sudras- servants of their social betters
According to Varna theory, this caste system was created by the god purusha and there this system is eternal and changeless.
Jaitis- sub castes
Aristotle came up with the notion that people were "slaves by nature" and should be enslaved for their own good and for that of the larger society.
By the time of Christ, the Roman Empire had some 2 to 3 million slaves, representing 33 to 40 percent of the population.
The superior principle of yang was viewed as masculine an related to heaven, rulers, strength, rationality, and light. Yin was viewed as the lower feminine principle. It was associated with the earth, subjects, weakness, emotion, and darkness. Female inferiority was permanent and embedded in the workings of the universe.
"Men go out, women stay in"
Three obediences.
Obedient to father first, then to her husband, and finally to her son.
Aristotle said "women is, as it were, an infertile male. She lacked sperm and thats where the "form" or the "soul" of a new human being. Her reproductive process is passive, providing a receptacle for the vital male contribution.
"Male rules, and female is ruled."
China- For more than 2,000 years ago, officials or bureaucrats represented the cultural and social elite of the Chinese civilization.
Confucius thought that officials that were selected to hold a position should be selected by the basis of merit and personal morality rather than birth and wealth
Emperor Wu Di sent promising officials to be trained as scholars and schooled in the Chinese classical texts concerning history, literature, art, and mathematics, with an emphasis on Confucian teachings.
Most officials cam from wealthy families, and in China wealth meant land.
Yellow turban Rebellion- peasant uprising. yellow scarves the peasants wore around their heads. 360,000 armed followers. Looked forward to the "golden age" of complete equality, social harmony, and common ownership of property.
In the eyes of scholar-gentry, they were the solid productive backbone of the country and their hard work and endurance in the face of difficulties were worthy of praise.
- It can be the said of our day with men and women that work hard in our fields picking vegetables and fruits. These are the people are looked down on in society. These are the people that work hard long hours and get paid less. These are the people that should be worthy of praise and honor because without them who knows who would go out in those and break their back so we can have fruits and vegetables in our local grocery store and super markets.
Merchants were viewed in Chinese society as unproductive, making a shameful profit from selling the work of others. They were looked at as greedy, money hungry, and materialistic people. They were also seen as a social threat.
Early in the Han Dynasty, merchants were forbidden to wear silk clothing, ride horses, hold public office, or carry arms.
Caste System- comes from the Portuguese word "casta" which means "race" or "purity of blood"
Four classes of Varna
Everyone was born into and remained within one of these classes for life.
1. Brahmins- priests. did rituals and sacrifices.
2. Ksatriya- warriors and rulers. protecting and governing society
3. Vaisya- commoners who cultivated the land.
these three class were known as the "twice born" for they not only had a physical birth but also formal initiation into their respective varnas and status as people of Aryan descent.
4. Sudras- servants of their social betters
According to Varna theory, this caste system was created by the god purusha and there this system is eternal and changeless.
Jaitis- sub castes
Aristotle came up with the notion that people were "slaves by nature" and should be enslaved for their own good and for that of the larger society.
By the time of Christ, the Roman Empire had some 2 to 3 million slaves, representing 33 to 40 percent of the population.
The superior principle of yang was viewed as masculine an related to heaven, rulers, strength, rationality, and light. Yin was viewed as the lower feminine principle. It was associated with the earth, subjects, weakness, emotion, and darkness. Female inferiority was permanent and embedded in the workings of the universe.
"Men go out, women stay in"
Three obediences.
Obedient to father first, then to her husband, and finally to her son.
Aristotle said "women is, as it were, an infertile male. She lacked sperm and thats where the "form" or the "soul" of a new human being. Her reproductive process is passive, providing a receptacle for the vital male contribution.
"Male rules, and female is ruled."
Monday, October 24, 2011
Chapter 5
-China, India, the Middle East, and Greece's emerged cultural tradition have blended in various forms into the 21st century, and have shaped the values and perceptions most people who have lived on the planet the past 2,500 years.
China- Confucianism
India- Hinduism (Upanishads), Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha)- Buddhism
Middle East- Zoroastrianism, Persian prophet Zarathustra
Judasim
Greece- humanistic approach. Aristotle, Socrates, Plato
China Search for Order
-One answer to the problem was "Legalism"
rules, laws, and a system of rewards and punishments
Legalist entertained a more pessimistic view of human nature. People are stupid and shortsighted. The state ad rulers had to intervene on the behalf of their life because they couldn't handle maintaining their own way of life.
Confucius thought he had found the answer to China's social disorder.
Not laws and punishments, but the moral example of superiors was the Confucian key to a restored social harmony.
This type of teaching was implemented when people would take official positions in the government.
Daoist Answer:
-Withdrawal from the world into the nature and encouraged random, spontaneous, individualistic behavior.
simple living, limited government, abandonment of education, self sufficient communities, and efforts of self improvement.
Buddhism: Siddhartha Guatama
"I teach but one thing," said the Buddha, "suffering and the end of suffering."
Follow the eightfold path and you can reach enlightenment and nirvana. A state where individual identity is eradicated along with greed, hatred, and delusion. Then suffering has ended, the enlightened person can experience an overwhelming sense of serenity and peace. He would have compassion and love for all beings.
Zoroastrianism:
Ahura Mazda- a single unique God, a source of all truth, goodness, and light.
Engaged in cosmic struggles of good and evil.
Judaism:
One God named Yahweh
Greek Philosophy:
China- Confucianism
India- Hinduism (Upanishads), Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha)- Buddhism
Middle East- Zoroastrianism, Persian prophet Zarathustra
Judasim
Greece- humanistic approach. Aristotle, Socrates, Plato
China Search for Order
-One answer to the problem was "Legalism"
rules, laws, and a system of rewards and punishments
Legalist entertained a more pessimistic view of human nature. People are stupid and shortsighted. The state ad rulers had to intervene on the behalf of their life because they couldn't handle maintaining their own way of life.
Confucius thought he had found the answer to China's social disorder.
Not laws and punishments, but the moral example of superiors was the Confucian key to a restored social harmony.
This type of teaching was implemented when people would take official positions in the government.
Daoist Answer:
-Withdrawal from the world into the nature and encouraged random, spontaneous, individualistic behavior.
simple living, limited government, abandonment of education, self sufficient communities, and efforts of self improvement.
Buddhism: Siddhartha Guatama
"I teach but one thing," said the Buddha, "suffering and the end of suffering."
Follow the eightfold path and you can reach enlightenment and nirvana. A state where individual identity is eradicated along with greed, hatred, and delusion. Then suffering has ended, the enlightened person can experience an overwhelming sense of serenity and peace. He would have compassion and love for all beings.
Zoroastrianism:
Ahura Mazda- a single unique God, a source of all truth, goodness, and light.
Engaged in cosmic struggles of good and evil.
Judaism:
One God named Yahweh
Greek Philosophy:
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