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."