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Early Society in Mainland East/South Asia (Chapter 4 (Foundations of…

- - - - Social stratification, based on sizes of houses and decorations
      - Mohenjo-daro (pop. 35,000-40,000) Harappa (slightly smaller population)
        
        Common Features: Walls, fortified citadels, large granaries, marketplaces, temples, buildings, houses, streets (Grid formation)
    - - No evidence of a royal or imperial authority
      - Harappan cities were political centers of their own regions
    - - The Harappan Society centered around the Indus River, a silt-enriched river that flowed from the mountains.
      - Deforestation, loss of topsoil, earthquakes and flooding could have lead to societal decline.
    - - Traditions of art and metallurgy shown through statues, figurines, and illustrations
      - Valued goddesses of fertility
      - Influenced later Indian culture
    - - Marketplaces and specialized labor and trade
      - Cultivation of cotton and poultry
  - - - Migrations to the West and South recognized three social groups: military ruling elite, group of priests, and a large class of common people.
      - Caste System/Varna:
        Brahmins - priests
        Kshatriyas - warriors or aristocrats
        Vaishyas - cultivators, artisans, merchants
        Shudras - landless peasants, serfs
        “Untouchables”
        
        Jati system of subcastes as society/economy became more complex
      - Strongly patriarchal social order
    - - Chiefdom led by Rajas
      - Conflicts - between Aryans and indigenous peoples (dosas), between Aryans and Dravidians,
      - Tribal connections turned into political structures
    - - Cultivated barley and millet (small quantities)
      - Domesticated horses, used them for transportation
    - - Common roots of European, Asian, and Indian languages --> influence of single Indo-European society (from modern day Ukraine and Russia)
      - The Vedas
    - - Economy was dependent on sheep, goats, horses, cattle
      - War chariots developed with spoked wheels
      - Refined iron metallurgy technology
  - - - Said that women were supposed to be subject to their husbands, sons, and fathers
      - Defined a woman's duty to bear children and keep the home wholesome
- - - - Used slaves as sacrificial victims
      - Capital city was important social center
    - - Authority relied on network of walled towns, local rulers were loyal to the Shang kings
      - Capital city moved 6 times
        
        Ao: near modern Zhengzhou - massive city wall
        
        Yin: near modern Anyang - royal palaces
      - Large armies
    - - Yellow River: deposits fertile soil, occasionally floods
    - - Royal palaces, lavish and modest tombs
        
        Tomb of Lady Fu Hao
      - Elaborate architecture at capital cities Ao and Yin
    - - Bronze metallurgy
      - State monopoly
      - Development of horse-drawn chariots/other vehicles
  - - - No law codes, society was ruled by decree
      - Villages opposed to Shang Dynasty
    - - Decentralized administration and authority to subordinates
      - "Mandate of heaven" - ruler was known as the "son of heaven" who enforced these doctrines
    - - Poor land for cultivation/extensive herding
      - Yangzi River/Valley - rice cultivation/irrigation system
    - - Doctrines in "Mandate of Heaven"
      - Reflections of Confucius: Book of Changes (divination manual)
        Book of History
        Book of Etiquette (Book of Rites)
        Book of Songs
      - Oracle bones - communication with spirits
      - Early Chinese writing - pictographs
    - - Iron metallurgy - creation of cheap weaponry
  - - - Ruling class
        
        -advantaged with luxurious lifestyles and palaces
        
        -Supported by agricultural surplus and tax revenues
        
        -Defended by bronze metallurgy monopoly
        
        -Hereditary
      - Artisans/craftsmen class
      - Trade/merchant class
      - Semi-servile peasants (large class)
      - Slaves
    - - Devotion to ancestry and family
      - Father - ritual head of family
      - Prominence of past female leaders faded in Shang/Zhou dynasties
      - Spirit world connected to physical world - ritual sacrifices