Chapter 3

India, China, and the Americas(ca. 2700–700 B.C.E.)

Ancient India

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Indus Valley civilization(ca.2700-1500 b.c.e.)

The Vedic Era (ca. 1500-322 b.c.e.)

Caste system • Priests and scholars• Rulers and warriors• Artisans and merchants• Unskilled workers• The “Untouchables”

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Dancing girl, Mohenjo-daro, Indus Valley, ca. 2300-1750 b.c.e. bronze 4.5”

Indus Valley civilization

(ca.2700-1500 b.c.e.)

Bearded Man, Mohenjo Daro, Indus Valley, c. 2000 B.C.E. Limestone, 7" high. National

Museum, New Delhi. Scala/Art Resource, NY

1500 B.C.E. - Ayrans (light-skinned people) enslaved dark-skinned populations of Sind.

The Vedic Era (ca. 1500-322 b.c.e.)

Ancient India

In India, religion is grounded in pantheism the belief in an all-pervading divine spirit.Hindu pantheism

The Vedic gods The Upanishads

• Brahman • Atman • Nirvana • Karma

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SHIVA

The joining of Atman (self) and Brahman results in Narvana.The Law of Karma

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VISHNU

Moksha: “release or liberation”

United forever with the divine Infinite bliss and awareness

Reincarnation

Goal of Hinduism

Krishna

Rama

Avatars of Vishnu

Sacred Texts

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Rig Veda: Hinduism’s oldest text- nearly 4000 years.

Bhagavad Gita: Hinduism’s most popular sacred text

Lakshmi

Saraswati

Goddesses

Bhagavad-Gita, Mahabharata

Arjuna, warrior-heroKrishna, the incarnation of the god Vishnu and a divine manifestation of Brahman.

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Banaras - Hindu’s Holy City

Pilgrims come from all over to bathe in the Ganges.

Countless Hindus come to Banaras to die.

It has 1500 temples, most of them devoted to Shiva.

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The Shang dynasty (ca. 1776–1027 B.C.E.)

Warrior tribe, urban culture and calligraphic script

The Western Zhou dynasty (1027–771 B.C.E.)

world’s first administration system

Ancient China

Bronze - Ceremonial vessel with a cover, late Shang dynasty, China, ca. 1000 B.C.E. Bronze, height 20-1/16 in

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Zhou Dynasty

Ritual disk , Zhou dynasty, 5 th to 3rd century b.c.e., jade,

The jade disks placed on the body of the diseased, may have served in cosmic talismans that ensured protection form evil and decay.

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The occupants of the “dragon throne” who represented China’s earliest kings were the Shang dynasty.

Silk TradeThe earliest Neolithic Chinese peoples worked to produce silk.

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Ancient China

China’s royal tombs were filled with treasures, most of which took the form of carved jade and worked bronze objects. Standing figure, late Shang

dynasty, ca. 1300-1100 B.C.E., from Pit 2 at Sanxingdui,

Guanghan, Sichuan Province. Bronze, height 8 ft. 7 in.

Ancient ChinaSpirits, gods, and the natural order

Important emphasis on “balance”

The Book of Changes (China’s oldest known text )

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Ancestor worship predominant

The most powerful personified spirits in the ancient Chinese world view were those of departed ancestors.

Mask, Shang dynasty ca. 1500 – 1600 b.c.e.Bronze, life size 17

Daoism or 道教 (dào jiào)major religion indigenous to the country. “The Way” (Dao) which is the ultimate truth to the universe.

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Daoists Priests in Xian, China perform a

sacrificial ritual to the kitchen god.

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Laozi is the famed Chinese philosopher and founder of

Daoism.

Daoist nuns look out a window of Beichan Temple in Qinghai

Province, China. The temple was build in the Northern Wei period

(386-534).

Inscribed Oracle bone,ca. 1500- 1000 b.c.e. Chinese characters were inscribed in columns from top to bottom.

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Shang diviners heated inscribed bones to produce cracks the priest might then read to forecast the future.

Yin and the YangYin/Yang, “the foundation of the entire universe,” interprets all nature as the dynamic product of two interacting cosmic forces, or modes of energy.

Giant Humming bird, Nasca Culture, south west Peru, ca. 200 b.c.e – 200 b.c., wingspan 900 ft. This geoglyph was created by scraping away the weathered surface of the

desert and removing stones. The giant hummingbird is one of 18 bird images pictured on the Peruvian plain. 22

The largest of the Caral pyramids, a site of religious rituals, near Lima, Peru ca. 2627 b.c.e.

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Colossal Heads, Mexico1200 b.c.e., Meso-America was the site of one of the largest and most advanced cultures. “Olmecs” (“rubber people”) by the Aztecs

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THE TWO MOST POPULAR GODS

SHIVA VISHNU

ReincarnationSamsara is the wheel of rebirth which means the soul

is reborn from one life form to another.

People may be reincarnated at a higher or lower level of existence depending on their karma from their

present life.

People may be reborn as plants or animals or they may be elevated to a higher caste as a human.

Death is not final for Hindus as they expect to be reborn many times.

Karma & DharmaKarma: “action” or “deeds”

Every action produces a Justified effect based on its moral worthiness.

Karma determines all the particular circumstances and Situations of one’s life.

Dharma: ethical duty based on the divine order of reality. The word is the closest

equivalent to “religion.”

Goddesses

Lakshmi Saraswati

KrishnaRama

Avatars of Vishnu

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Shang Dynasty

Ceremonial vessel with a cover, late Shang dynasty, China, ca. 1000

B.C.E. Bronze, height 20-1/16 in

Bronze