Period 1- East Asia

Legalism

• Very assertive, harsh
• This dynasty is a large graveyard because  a ton of people died on the wall and they were just used as another brick
• If you misbehave, you are used as another brick

Tang dynasty

• Tang and song dynasty use Confucianism
  • Family structure, peace and order
  • All about peace and
  • Came from people that did not like legalism and wanted more order
• Confucianism is a lot order than this though

Daoism

• Sounds a lot like Buddhism
• About your journey, meditation
• Magicians and sorcerers
• Not able to rule, you can't have any order or structure with it

Religion/Ideology

1. Confucius

• He always wanted to be in a government structure
  • Didn't  work because he was not born into the right family
  • Meant more to be a warrior than to be a learned person
  • After his death, his teachings were written in the **antalects-**he talks about order
  • Makes sense because the current society is chaos
• Order
  • Ancestors
  • Live on a different plane of existence and can watch down on us
  • Father
  • Wife
  • Women are subservient of men, patriarchal
  • Children
• Ancestor veneration-when the family worships their ancestor
  • A Lot of other societies used to use this
• Filial Piety-those who are above you in society can do no wrong, they will never do anything wrong
  • You must obey those who are above
• Focus on morals- not a everyone is equal society
  • So everyone knows their path and role
• Education- there are some things that you need to know to be a learned person
  • Moral obligations, etc.
  • This is the only way society will work
• Boys and males are the most important because the patriarchal system
  • Men are stronger, better, protectors
  • Women have their place but the place is worse than me
• Government system should look like a family
  • Ancestors
  • Provincial ruler- kind of like governors
  • Village ruler
  • Family
  • Respect goes up
• Everyone words together to make society better
  • If everyone does as their role, they sould
• Patriarchy-value of family is same as ruler to subject. Ruler=father and subjects= children
• Meritocracy- Education is the key, not the kids of governors. People that are smart and really want the job and learn for it get it, the elite is not a hereditary role
  • Ruler is inherited position, but the people under him are not
• Lesser people, people in lower society should stick to their set job and obey their superiors
• Ruler gets to inherit his position- but regulated by the ancestor
  • Mandate of heaven- the rule on which the ancestors stop giving one persons
  • This sparks the change of a dynasty, a natural disaster, invasions, makes the people revolt and his power is gone.
  • This happened from sui to song, and song to tang, people and ancestors stopped allowing one ruler continue their rule
• Confucian temples
  • House spirit tablets dedicated to confucius himself, he is one of the main ancestors that people are to worship
  • Confucius’ disciples, others would be eminent Confucian scholars from later times
  • Rites at the temple were helo by and for government
  • Everyone was required to attend the worship at the temple for his birthday
• Well wishes for confucian exam participants were left in the temple for who you wanted to win
• Only 1% of people passed the exam, some had enough money
• Test topics
  • Calligraphy and writing
  • Formal essay
  • Classic literature
  • Math
  • Legal matters
  • Government matter
  • Poetry
  • Clear and coherent speaking
• Exams could last for days and if you were cheating you could die
• Were taken very seriously

1. Daoism

• Confucius is said to roam within society, but Laozi (founder) wanders beyond
• Aka taoism
  • You can be unbalanced through anything but you can go back to balance through nature
• You should withdraw and live in societies with only people who want to find the way- Dao
• appeal - spiritualism- they are a part of something bigger through meditation- meditation was
• Invented a lot of things like gunpowder, fireworks, acupuncture, practiced massage therapy
• The yin and yang is not about good and bad, good and bad is an invented
  • It really represents the balance in nature
• Vs confucianism- “do nothing” confusicsts have a very very set place in society but daoists have nothing to do and relax
• All about following your own journey

Impact on society

• Science
  • Gunpowder impacted society like nothing else because it has an impact until now
• Medicine
  • Acupuncture- if you have pain in your body you have unbalance in your body
• Art
  • Poetry, art of nature and the landscape

1. Cultural changes

• Mahayana branch of Buddhism became a syncretic version of the religion but now it is its own thing
  • Became the main religion where buddhism spread
  • They stopped worshiping the skinny ascetic buddha and started worshiping a bigger one because they didn't  have much  food and they didn't want to worship a God that looked just like them
• Buddhism was easily tailored to Daoism and confucianism with ancestor veneration and things like that they have in common
• Daoism- prompts change Is threatened by buddhism to stay relevant (now offers salvation) Daoist rituals aim to join living soul with ancestors; uses sacrifices and elixirs for loving forever
  • Much like HInduism was prompted to change
  • This is how gunpowder and fireworks came about because these mixing potions that they made
• Buddhism- brought in by nomads, did not appeal to native Chinese people until AFTER the Han dynasty in which peasants look for a more spiritual answer to my problems
• There is more than one Buddha! The word just means enlightened teacher so there are many who become a Buddha

Branches of Buddhism and schools of thought compared

Theravada Buddhism

• Original form that started in India through the direct teachings of Siddartha
• Spread to Sri Lanka
• Spread to Southeast Asia from India through the invasion of the sultanate of Delhi
• Asceticism is prominent
  • Monks live in monasteries and receives their food and things from donations or from begging
  • No jobs or money was allowed
• Focused on meditation and reading from the Buddhist texts
• No Gods
• When you follow 4  truths and 8 fold path and achieve Nirvana you pop out of existence

Mahayana Buddhism

• Spread to China then Korea and Japan
• Less ascetic, more focused on the middle way, so no extremes
• Appealed to merchants, wealthy people, poor people, women
  • To escape from patriarchy
• Bodhisattvas- people who decided to not become enlightened when they achieve Nirvana to become teachers

Chan/Zen Buddhism

• Came from Mahayana
• Spread by monks and merchants to China Korea and Japan
  • Zen is in Japan
• Achieve salvation through meditation and studying
  • Attracts wealthy confucianists because if they are rich they have been educated

Pure Land Buddhism

• Came from Mahayana
• Personal salvation through the Amitabha Buddha
  • No learning required
• When you die you go to the pure lands- a waiting room where your good and bad deeds get decided
• Appeals to the poor in China, Korea, and Japan
  • Poor is attracted because they don't know how to read and study and they don't have to here

Tibetan/Tantrayana Buddhism

• Spread north to Tibet, West China, and Mongolia
• Asceticism is promoted
• Monks in monasteries
• Emphasis on Lama- teacher and student relationship learning the **tantra-**religious book to attain Nirvana
• Also included Bodhisattvas

1. Growth of Buddhism in China

• Comes in stages across this Silk roads
• Appealing
  • Discontent with Confucianism- they don't really get it and there's no real incentive other than survival
  • Buddhism offers salvation- it is comforting when the country you live in a place where there is only war and chaos
• Appeals to elitie- Chan/Zen Buddhism
  • Scholars' enlightenment through meditation and study appeals to the poor. And rich who fail things  (failing this is highly looked down upon)
• The rich can attain salvation through gift to monasteries
  • Accrue **merit-**positive actions resulting in spiritual
  • Support of public works
  • Donation of land or property
  • Commissioning artworks
• Gods, heaven, hell are ideas here
• Empress Wu Zetian (tang)
  • Promotes Buddhism- state religion that leads to unity
  • Was the chief concubine of an emperor, and when he died, she was having an affair and killed her child so that she could have the throne and not the child
  • She is remembered for spreading buddhism
• Buddhist cave shrines near Henan province in China
  • HUGE statues carved
  • People sometimes take pilgrimages here
  • These are the things rich people back then sponsored
  • These caves were the end of the Silk roads and this is why we see foreign influence
  • Built long before buddhism came to this are
  • This is another example of trade and religion re enforcing them
• Buddhism temples and shrine had spread across the country
• Buddhism had a lot of state supports
• Then and now lay people made donations to monks and temples to secure earthly and spiritual rewards
• Kung Fu
  • Became a type of meditation
  • Spiritual practice
  • Kind of like hinduism doing meditian as a expelling of energy
• Daoism- flashes of light, kind of like gunpowder and the
• Buddhism dealt mainly with the afterlife and effect of good and bad deeds, addressing life’s misfortunes, it also promised enlightenments

1. Buddhism impact on China

• Disruption of confucian family ideals
  • Boys and girls can leave their family and join monasteries threat to filial piety, their ancestor veneration
  • Monks and nuns do not have kids, and ancestors do not support this
  • Women can become nuns and this threatens patriarchy
• Disruption confucian state
  • Wealthy give land to monasteries=less taxes
  • Food production decreases as less people leave the farm and become monks