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Title: HIS%20105%20Chapter%202


1
HIS 105Chapter 2
  • Four Great Revolutions in Thought and Religion

2
Changes in Thought and Religion
800-300 B.C.E.
  • Some things in common
  • Occurred near river valley civilizations
  • Born out of crisis
  • These major changes dont happen often
  • Had great influence on culture and culture helped
    to spread ideas
  • These changes have endured over time

3
  • During 8th century B.C.E., Zhou Dynasty
    disintegrated
  • Chaos followed
  • Invasions
  • Rising merchant class changing old order
  • Old etiquette and old rituals changing
  • A search for new principles began

4
  • 5th and 6th centuries B.C.E. gave Chinese society
    new thinkers Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, and
    Laozi
  • Their teachings were important then and they are
    still important today

5
Confucius
  • Also known as Kung Fuzi
  • Born in 551 B.C.E.
  • Educated in writing, music, and rituals
  • Believed to be of lower nobility
  • His father died when Confucius was very young and
    his mother fell on hard times
  • Worked in accounting and teaching

6
  • He was opinionated and outspoken
  • Traveled from state to state with followers
    looking for a ruler who would put his ideas into
    practice
  • Most saw his ideas as impractical
  • His ideas or sayings are called his Analects
  • He believed in moderation, propriety, optimism,
    good sense, and wisdom

7
  • He was ethical and saw himself as a transmitter
    of tradition
  • He saw a proper order to society, relationships,
    and government
  • Confucius felt superior men were made, not born,
    and they should be the ones to govern
  • Others should show respect, obedience, and
    support to their superiors
  • Loyalty and obedience held society together

8
  • Felt that if everyone fulfilled his/her duties,
    then harmony would prevail
  • The well-being of society depends on the morality
    of its members
  • Confucianism was not adopted as the official
    philosophy of China until the second century
    B.C.E. during the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.E. 9
    C.E.)

9
Mencius (Meng Ko)
(370 290 B.C.E.)
  • Believed that humans are inclined to be good
  • The role of education is to uncover and cultivate
    that innate goodness
  • Stressed that government needed the consent of
    the people to rule
  • Said people had the right to rise up and
    overthrow an oppressor or unjust government

10
Xunzi (300 237 B.C.E.)
  • Believed heaven was indifferent to whether China
    was ruled by a tyrant or a wise man
  • Believed human nature was bad or at least,
    desires and emotions, if unchecked, could lead to
    conflict
  • Emphasized education and etiquette as a restraint
    on behavior
  • Said strong, authoritarian government was needed
    to control humans

11
Laozi (Lao Tsu)
  • Had little use for government
  • Recommended a retreat from society as a way to
    solve suffering
  • Contemplation of nature can help humans find the
    Dao, the way, the mysterious
  • Recommended a return to simplicity become a
    babe, an uncarved block
  • Learn to be without learning

12
  • Felt knowledge was bad because it created
    distinctions
  • Learn to be without desires beyond the simple
    needs of nature
  • The basis of the political philosophy of Daoism
    is not doing
  • This means something between doing nothing and
    being but not acting

13
  • Rule without action
  • The way never acts, yet nothing is left undone
  • Emphasis on withdrawal from the world, communion
    with nature, and meditation

14
  • Xia
  • Shang
  • Zhou
  • Qin ( 256-206 B.C.E.) (Shi Huangdi)
  • Han ( 206 B.C.E. 220 C.E.)

15
Qin
  • In 4th and 3rd centuries B.C.E., the Qin Dynasty
    grew more and more powerful, and Shi Huangdi, a
    warlord of the 3rd century B.C.E., united China
    under Qin rule

16
Shi Huangdi
  • Created a centralized state
  • Had grandiose public works projects
  • Experimented with bronze and ironworking
  • Improved tools and weapons
  • Freed peasants from bondage and allowed them to
    own land
  • Gained peasants loyalty

17
  • Peasants then joined the army to fight for Shi
    Huangdi
  • Followed the writings of the Legalists

18
Legalists
  • Founded by Shang Yang, a Qin ruler of the 4th
    century B.C.E.
  • Said power of Chinas rulers was absolute
  • Wanted to find true peace for China
  • That required a unified country and a strong
    state
  • Favored conscription and saw war as a way to
    extend a countrys power

19
  • Believed human nature was selfish and punishments
    should be severe and impartial
  • That which weakens the state should be punished
  • Laws should contain incentives for loyalty,
    bravery, obedience, diligence, and frugality
  • Saw merchants as parasites

20
  • Liked farmers
  • Legalism was the philosophy adopted by the Qin
    which finally destroyed the Zhou in 256 B.C.E.
    and unified China in 221 B.C.E.

21
Hinduism
  • Arose from Aryan society
  • Aryans had a social hierarchy that would evolve
    into the rigid Indian caste system
  • Brahmans, who educated princes and were advisors
    at court, also compiled and interpreted the Vedic
    texts
  • These Vedic texts provided the religion which
    shaped the lives of everyday people

22
  • In this new religion, Brahmans were at the top
  • There was a caste system with warriors, priests,
    and commoners
  • Later merchants, artisans, and peasants were
    added
  • The classes were called Varnas

23
  • Each varna was subdivided into occupational
    groups or caste
  • Holy men who did not labor were at the top
  • Those who worked hard and cleaned up the filth of
    society were at the bottom
  • Boundaries between castes were rigid
  • In each caste life was laid out

24
  • Ones caste and its accompanying duties became
    known as ones Dharma
  • The idea of reincarnation determined ones caste
  • A persons life was full of merits and demerits,
    and these became known as ones Karma

25
  • The idea of reincarnation kept people under
    control
  • Caste system stressed the importance of ones
    obligations and loyalties

26
Buddhism
  • Founded by Siddhartha Gautama (566-486 B.C.E.)
  • Became known as the Buddha or the enlightened
    one
  • Stressed meditation
  • By meditating, he saw his past lives and learned
    how to stop the suffering of life

27
  • He then pledged to help others release themselves
    from it
  • The Buddha then spent the rest of his life
    teaching others the middle path between
    indulgence and asceticism

28
  • 4 Noble Truths
  • All life is full of suffering
  • The source of suffering is desire
  • If you get rid of desire, you will no longer
    suffer
  • The path to this is eightfold right
    understanding, thought, speech, action,
    livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and
    concentration
  • You will then achieve Nirvana

29
  • He emphasized compassion for all beings
  • He gained a large following
  • His followers became monks and spread his message
  • Buddhism provided an alternative to the religion
    of the Brahmans
  • Buddha retained the ideas of karma and
    reincarnation but rejected the Vedas

30
Mahavira and the Jain Tradition
  • Jains were an Indian religious community who
    sought to extricate themselves from the material
    world and the endless cycle of birth, death, and
    rebirth
  • They sought to eliminate evil thoughts and
    actions
  • They tried to have compassion for all sentient
    beings, hence vegetarianism

31
Hebrews
  • Had belief in one God Monotheism
  • Their monotheistic faith later influenced
    Christianity and Islam
  • It is thought that Moses led the Hebrews to
    Palestine looking for a homeland as promised by
    Yahweh between 1900 and 1600 B.C.E.

32
  • They were encouraged to give up the worship of
    other gods and follow Yahweh and his laws
  • If they did, they would be protected
  • These Jews felt they were then Gods Chosen
    People

33
  • Beliefs
  • One God
  • An overall divine plan
  • A divinely organized morality as spelled out in
    the Torah (the Christian Old Testament)
  • Through this written book, Jews were able to hold
    onto their identity through all subsequent
    takeovers and dispersals

34
Greek Philosophy
  • Greeks asked questions about their lives and the
    universe without invoking God
  • This began an intellectual revolution using
    rational thinking to answer their questions
  • Their way of looking at humans and their world
    was encapsulated in their philosophies

35
  • Many rationally questioned their world
  • Thales believed water was our primary substance
  • Anaximander believed humans originated in water
    and evolved into their present state
  • Heraclitus said all is in motion nothing ever
    really exists
  • Parmenides Zeno said reality is fixed change
    is an illusion of the senses

36
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
  • Three great Greek philosophers who were concerned
    with ethical, political, and religious issues
  • Socrates (470-399 B.C.E.)
  • Committed to searching for truth
  • Wanted moral self-enlightenment
  • Know thyself
  • Through discussion and questioning got others to
    defend their views

37
  • Had many followers and many detractors who didnt
    like to have their views questioned
  • He was condemned to death in 399 B.C.E. for
    corrupting the morals of youth because he was
    skeptical of religion
  • Felt we should use self-examination to get to the
    truth
  • Had a chance to go into exile but chose death
    because it was Athenian law and drank hemlock

38
  • Plato (429-347 B.C.E.)
  • Student of Socrates
  • Like Socrates, believed in the polis and its laws
  • Prolific writer
  • Founded the Academy in 386 B.C.E. in Athens
  • Taught others through dialogue and discussion
  • Grew up during Peloponnesian War
  • Experienced democracy and imperialism

39
  • Felt humans were a pale image of what they could
    be
  • Felt justice consists of each person doing what
    he/she is best suited for
  • Taught Aristotle

40
  • Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.)
  • pupil of Plato
  • Founded Lyceum where students gathered, ordered,
    and analyzed all human knowledge
  • Stressed the importance of moderation in human
    behavior and promoted virtue
  • Said every object has some purpose in the
    universe
  • Was the tutor of Alexander the Great

41
  • Even though philosophers looked for truths of the
    universe, the rest of Greek citizens looked to
    their gods, who were styled after humans, for
    enlightenment polytheism
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