WW: Chapter 6 : Eurasian Social Hierarchies

Ways of the World : Chapter 6 

Eurasian Social Hierarchies

Little social mobility in both China and India
Inequalities characterized daily social life
Religons and cultural traditions defined these social inequalities as natural.


The social system in China:
China was one of the few societies in the ancient world that shaped their actions by the state. 


The officials were on top, and were highly educated at an imperial academy where they were trained as scholars, immersed in literature and followed Confucius teachings. Private schools allowed lower class people into the examination system but most of them were too poor to afford the education required to even pass the exams to move up rankings. So while this system claimed to be open to everyone it favored the wealthy. Officials came from wealthy families -- who were usually the land owners.


Peasants were the majority of the population in China. Some owned enough land to support their families and do relatively alright -- but others could barely survive. They were very vulnerable to loosing the little they did have do to natural disasters and state authorities who demanded tax payments.


The social system in India: 


The caste system - caste derives from the world casta :: race or purity of blood

At the top were the Brahmins, who served as teachers or priests. After them were the Ksatriya's who served as warrior and rulers. They were followed by the Vaisaya class, the commoners who cultivated land. These three top classes were all considered "twice born", and considered descendants of the pure born aryan classes. Below these were the Sudras, native people  placed in very subordinate positions. They were considered as servants of their social betters.


Even below them were the "untouchables" who weren't even considered a part of the Vedas. Their responsibilities were polluted labor, such as dealing with death and (cremations, executions, skinning of animals, etc)


In India it was near impossible to get out of a lowly social status in this life. Hindu notions of rebirth were reflected within the caste system. Someone born into a lower class meant they had bad karma in a previous life, likewise being born into a good class meant good karma from a previous life. Prior actions determined status.  The only way one could move up in social ranking was by faithful performance of one's caste duties in their current life. These teachings only contributed to the social inequalities. India's social system gave priority to those of religious status (the Brahmins) where as China put political officials on top. 


Patriarchies:
The chinese women was always under that of the male figures in her life. Even from her day of birth she was placed below the bed to show her place as "lowly and weak". The best way for a women to get any power was by birthing sons -- the rule of mother in law was actually one of significant authority (at least over the life of her son's wife)


Daoism offered new images of femininity -- encouraging more passive feminine virtues. Dao was referred to as "mother" many women sought out Daoist sects to be priests or nuns rather than the more patriarch family life. 



In Athens & Sparta:
Though Athens has inspired Western democracy -- it's view on women was very restrictive. Even great greek thinkers provided ideas that justified women as subordinate to men. Aristotle said, " a women is, as it were, an infertile male. She is female in the fact on account of a kind of inadequacy"


I can't help but see that is as reflected in more modern views. While women have come a long way in America, it seems that we are still ultimately considered inferior. 


The inadequecy that Aristotle refers to is that women are unable to produce sperm, which were considered to contain the soul of a new human being. Because of this the women's role in reproduction was a passive one. Women were often seen as being associated with instinct and passion that lacked rationality -- such as a child or an animal might act, and were therefore unable to take part in publci life. "It is best for all tame animals to be ruled by human beings," states Aristotle, "For this is how they are kept alive. In the same way, the raltionship between the male and female is by nature such that the male is higher, the female lower, that the  male rules and the female is ruled,"


A good Greek women were expected to remain inside the home, and were not allowed to be educated. 


In Sparta, the role of a man was to be a warrior, and the role of a man was to produce sons to grow up and become these warriors. Because of this militaristic system, women were offered much more freedoms than in Athens. In order to strengthen their bodies for child birth they were greatly encouraged to take place in sporting events. Spartan women married men around their age, and took care of the affairs of the household while her husband was off in war. Because of this, they had much more authority in the family then in Athens. 


Sparta was more restrictive on one more thing -- which was sexuality. They prohibited homosexuality, while most other cultures at the time found homoerotic relationships to be fairly common.


Efforts of men and women were given the same amount of respect in Sparta. Death in childbirth was considered as honorable as death in battle since both acts contributing to the defense of Sparta. Despite Athens being so well known for it's democracy and philosophy they give little to their women, while Sparta, so often condemned for it's militarism provided a much better life to the women in their society.