WW: Chapter 5: Eurasian Cultural Traditions

Ways of the World :: Chapter 5

Eurasian Cultural Traditions

China: 
Legalists had a pessimistic out look on man kind, according to Han Feizi, "if rewards are high, then what the ruler wants will be quickly effected; if punishments are heavy, what he does not want will be swiftly prevented." They believed that people were dim-witted and unable to see things long term. Farmers and soldiers were the only two groups that preformed functions essential to society. Artisans, merchants, aristocrats, scholars, etc were all deemed useless. Legalism was quickly discredited and replaced with Confucianism.


Confucius wanted to become a political figure and believed he could solve China's disorder problems. However, he instead became a philosopher and a teacher, inspiring Chinese culture even after his death. His teachings and ideas were put together into Confucianism. "Moral example of superiors" was key to social harmony. Human relationships were unequal -- Father superior to son; husband to the wife, older brother to youngest; and ruler to subject. Superiors acted well, and the inferiors would be motivated to act as well.


"The relationship between superiors and inferiors is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend when the wind blows across it." -- Confucius


Confucius believed education was key to moral betterment. Broad liberal arts education applied to practical problems. Confucianism became official ideology of China, become the center of the education system. Family became model for political life, like a smaller version of the state. The teaching of history was also prevalent. Confucianism did not deny the presence of spiritual beings, however, it was more focused on worldy and practical issues. Confucius stated, "that because we do not fully understand this life, we cannot possibly know anything about the life beyond."


Daoist thinking was somewhat opposite of Confucianist thinking. Rather than placing emphasis on importance of education and morality, Daoists urged people to be spontaneous, individualistic and natural. Confucianism focused on human relationship, and Daoists on nature and it's immensity. Dao = notion that refers to the way of nature and what governs all natural phenomena. According to the Daodejing, the dao, "moves around and around but does not on this account suffer. All life comes from it. It wraps everything with its love as in a garment, and yet it claims no honor, for it does not demand to be lord. I do not know its name and so I call it the Dao, the Way, and I rejoice in it's power,"


limited government, and abandonment of education (reminds me of the 60's & free love )


Many people saw it as a compliment to Confucianism ideas. Reflective of Yin and Yang, unity of opposites.


India:
Indian culture embraced the divine
Hindiusm was shaped over time rather than founded by one person. Sacred texts known as the vedas, were collections of poems and hymns made my the priests called Brahmans  for religious practices.


The final quest of humankind was union with the Brahman.


Buddhism was a simplified and more accessible version of Hinduism. It rejected the religious authorities of the brahmins, deeming their rituals as irrelevant to the dealing of self suffering as they do not directly accomplish nirvana.


Buddhism also found the unequal hindu caste system to be unfair. Their religion of one of self effort. Buddhism gave many Indian's a sense of freedom and independence. Buddhism was an easily accessible language as it was taught in many different languages. Buddha was originally depicted as a wise teacher (not someone divine) It was a more psychological approach to religion following practices rather than beliefs.


Hinduism text "the laws of Manu" declared women as always under men
Buddhist nuns allowed freedom
Buddhism appealed more so lower caste groups & women


Buddhism died out as it's own religious practice, becoming part of an updated version of Hinduism.
New Hinduism was more accessible  (perhaps a response to Buddhism's popularity) and affired that ordinary people could in fact make spiritual progress.


Monotheism was a cultural innovation at the time. Common theme of one deity against the forces of evil started with Zoroastrian belief system. Those who sided with evil received eternal punishment (sound familiar) Jews were very influenced by these beliefs of God vs. an evil counterpart. Other Judaism beliefs derived from Zoroastrian belief systems, i.e last judgment, belief in defeat of evil, arrival of the savior and the remaking of the world.


Concepts of heaven and hell prominent in it's successors; Judaism Christianity and Islam.


Judaism born of Hebrews, Jewish God Yahweh was a powerful & Jealous deity who wanted the Hebrews full loyalty. Jews were often tempted to worship neighboring goddesses, but in the end Yahweh triumphed.


In return for complete devoution, Yahweh would consider Jews the chosen people. Mesopotamia and Greek Gods were associated with nature while Yahweh was set far above the world he had created.


Greek gods were unpredictable, quarreling and lustful Gods that were a lot more human than Yahweh. However, because of this the Greeks were much more willing to abandon their mythological framework in pursue of science and philosophy. Science was for the most part separated from religion.


There was much confidence in human reason, and wisdom and virtues triumphed wealth and power.


Jesus of Nazareth and Buddha shared many similarities. Both were teachers that were transformed by followers into Gods. Neither of them expected to be the start of religions, and both of them started their path with a vision of sorts.

DGP: Chapter 3: Art

DGP: Chapter 3

Representing the Human Form

Art as historical evidence can explain a variety of things about a culture; technological, ecological, aesthetics, & culture


Understanding artistic skill may be difficult because of the lack of a cultural context. Ideas must be understood in order for the artists purpose to be fully understood. Whether we 'like' or 'dislike' a work of art is irrelevant, in order for it to be used as historical evidence we need information on the culture.  One of the common subjects for art throughout human history is the human form.


How do these cultures depict the human form? What do these depictions tell us about the values of these cultures? 


I turned to the evidence pages prior to reading the background information, as the book suggested. I tried to be observant of the style, and use this to determine what each culture may consider to be aesthetically pleasing, starting with Egypt.


The Egyptian's seem to favor the profile of the human face. The art is very stylized, and detailed, especially when it comes to depicting jewelry, hair and headpieces and nature. The people have very long fingers, and slender bodies. The eyes are big, dark and almond shaped. In the jewelry and backgrounds there are often reoccurring shapes and patterns.  In ancient Greece, the bodies have a bit more shape to them than the Egyptians. The eyes are smaller, and it seems that they prefer very strong, angular noses. In their sculptures the human form is very accurately portrayed, and there is much attention to detail and texture. In India, the women are pictured as very voluptuous, and again the eyes and ears seem to be a bit exaggerated. There is great detail put into the attire as well.


Background Notes::

• In ancient Egypt, statue of a deceased person in tomb was a home for his ka, the spirit or immortal alter ego
• Egyptian artists attempted to portray scenes or figures not as they appeared to the eye, but as they actually were, what we might call a depiction of their essence. aspective rather than perspective, basing size of figures on their importance in the social hierarchy (similar to Plato's philosophy on art)
• Greek statues erected in memory of individuals -- they started very stylistically, somewhat akin to the Egyptians and then over the years became more accurate representations of the human figure
• Plato viewed the world as a microcosm of the universe, a universe that was itself a living creature. Soul is immortal, as is the perfect form of the universe and all that exists within it.
• Plato thought the chief purpose of art was to represent eternal forms as understood by the soul, not to imitate fleeting external appearances. 
• Purpose of sculpture in Indian religion is to give concrete shape to an invisible spirit within the body. Indian sculpture does not aim to record the appearance or structure of the body, but instead to express the awareness of life within the body, of the breath that sustains and moves the body.
• Sculptures achieve this, not by looking at other bodies as models, but by feeling the breath and pulse of life within their own bodies and by meditating or contemplating.
• Buddhist teachings built on these ideas
• In Mayan culture large scale art was produced to record actions and deeds of rulers
• Writing and art depicted gruesome blood letting rituals
• Much of Nigerian art came from royal courts, and professional artists
• The portraits from Ile-Ife are extremely individualized
• Obalufon sculptures were idealized like Egyptian art was except they were also still slightly individualized like the Ile-Ife art
• Artists in Benin more concerned with providing information about life and events, using detailed clothing and symbols rather than facial features as identification.
• Benin figures appear shown from the front, usually standing
• Heads often enlarged -- Yoruba people of Ile-Ife and the Edo people regarded head as the site of a person's nature and life force; & the purpose of representing the body was to make these living principles within the body visible.

DGP: Chapter 2: Writing

 DGP: Chapter 2 

Writing & Power:

Defining World-Views

Writing gave people a way to bind people together through shared cosmology and history. writing seemed to possess a greater power than oral traditions. Written communication was a form of conveying messages as well as expression. Forms of communication (such as cave paintings) are as old as human kind itself. Writing is divided into two systems :: ideographic and phonetic. 


Ideographic writing is symbolic, using pictures to represent objects or thoughts. Takes lots of memorization but can be understood by a wide number of people.


Phonetic writing uses signs that represent sounds that are then put together to create a variety of words.


Whoever mastered the skills of writing wielded great power and respect. Many societies only taught royalty or high class citizens how to read and write. "This was because those in power quickly realized that those who could write possessed the capacity to shape the thoughts of those who could not."


Excerpts from Atra-hasis: 
Notes:Three senior gods (Anu of heaven, Enlil of earth & Enki of water beneath the earth) 
Junior gods revolted, birth goddess decides to create workers to serve the gods
"Let the birth-goddess create offspring,
and let man bear the toil of the gods,"


Themes: Men as servants to Gods.

Excerpts from Book 10 of the Rig Veda:

Excerpts from the First Book of Moses, called Genesis

Notes:God separated the light from the darkness called it "night"

"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth."  27.]and God created man in His image, the image of God.

28.]God blessed them and Gd sadi to them, "Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth,"

"Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die," [Or rather, lose your immortality]

Themes: Knowledge causes corruption. Men is the superior being to animals. God is superior over man. 

Excerpts from Yijeng, Commentary on the Appended Judgments

Notes: "Heaven is high, the earth is low; In correspondence with this difference between low and high, inferior and superior places are established."

Reflection: I didn't understand most of this, perhaps the translation was awkward or I needed some further background information on what the hexagrams were exactly.  Common themes from the prior two are shared, such as the high and lows. However, Yijing seems to be more of a explanation for the world's workings rather than a creation story.

From Popol Vuh, "The Book of the People,"

Notes: This is the first account. There was only sky and sea. 

"Thus let it be done!" Let the emptiness be filled!

Animals were made, but could not speak the names of their creators -- thus it was decided that because these creatures could not praise and worship their creators, they would be condemned to be eaten. It was then decided that a man would be created. Earth & mud made human flesh.  However, it failed. They tried again with wood. This did not work well either.  These people were destroyed in a flood and their descendants became monkeys. The few people who survived did praise the gods and became true human beings.

Reflection: Reoccurring theme of sky and sea as a unit, coming before life forms, in an incredible calm. Creation compared to a cloud of dust.

Why did God decide to create humans? What was their purpose? What materials were used? 

God creates humans for a variety of reasons. In some cosmology, it is to serve to Gods, or to worship them. In the case of Genesis it is because God is creating all things good and he creates men in his image. It seems that a reoccurring theme is for people to come from the earth, or else natural substances such as mud, clay or wood. 

DGP: Chapter 1: Water

DGP: CH1: The Need for Water in Ancient Societies 

• civilization comes from the word "civis" meaning "resident of a city, or citizen,"
• what defines a civilization is the presence of cities = defined as a place where more than five thousand people live
• the implication of a city is that the presence of culture, technological advances & government

How did the need for a steady supply of water affect the technological, economical, political and legal development of ancient societies? 


The need for water often becomes a need for technological advances, depending on various factors such as natural resources. Without a steady supply of water, a civilization is simply unable to survive. Depending on available resources and the amount of labour required to distribute water, government is able to come up with the necessary methods


Thus, it is no surprise that the earliest ancient civilizations were erected around naturally existing water resources. Mesopotamia developed around the Tigris and Euphrates river, Egypt around the Nile, China around the Yellow River and Rome around the Tiber. Because each city depended heavily on their main source of water, the main priority was maintaining and exploiting the rivers to their maximum benefit. Labor and technology necessities surrounding the rivers depended heavily on a factor as unpredictable as nature itself. To Egypt's benefit, the Nile had a fairly predictable flooding cycle, and Egyptians had a much easier time with irrigation because of it. Their calendar was based on the rising and falling cycles of the river. Using basic basin irrigation, crops could be watered with ease. They also had waterways and water lifting machine for long term irrigation. Using technology and recorded observation the Egyptians were able to reap the full benefits of the nile One of the pictures (source 10) depicts the Pharaoh constructing an irrigation system, this is obviously a direct correlation to the Egyptians' belief that the king is of equal status to that of the God. The stability of the Nile contributed greatly to the Pharaoh's credibility and status.


Not all civilizations had such good luck with irrigation as the Egyptians. The Tigres and Euphrates rivers were a bit more unpredictable, and the fast flowing water carried heavy amounts of soil in it.  This was good for creating rich soil, however, it also meant irrigation ditches had to be cleaned out on a regular basis. Different parts of Mesopotamia used different forms of irrigation. Basin and perennial irrigation was used as well as water channels. Since Mesopotamia saw much more rainfall than Egypt they were less dependent of their rivers, however, the Tigris and Euphrates were key factors in the civilizations success and survival.




The violent and unpredictable nature of China's Yellow River was a much more difficult  power to harness. Dramatic changes in the river were often the cause of conflict in Chinese civilization. Enemies would often use the waterway as a weapon -- flooding the land of rivals by destroying dikes. Like the violence of the river, China too saw much violent based around their water supply.


Rome had the most extensive irrigation system of all, building aqueducts to bring water from freshwater lakes and springs into cities. There were over 300 miles of aqueducts and the building of a system so expansive surely elevated the employment rate in Rome. Engineers had to carefully map out the systems and laborers had to make these plans a reality.


People throughout history have always been attracted to power and some will go incredible lengths just to obtain it. It is no surprise that waterways have been used as one method of obtaining power throughout history. Source 9 is a clear example of this, and tried to deceive King Chhin to use time, money and resources on the making of a canal, this way they would not feel the need to start expanding and possibly attack Han.


In general however, the developing of irrigation systems seemed to be above all a benefit to the growth of early civilizations. The care and maintaining of them required technological advances and kept jobs flowing, Waterways were a source of transportation to other lands, making trade easier and helping to boost the economy. The water as a natural entity often inspired folklore and religion -- an important binding part of each civilization. Water dispersion was monitored by laws, keeping the government intact. Above all, the need for water in early societies created the need for so much more, and these needs paved way for further progression