WW- Chapter 6 ( group project/readings)

Chapter 6: Eurasian Social Hierarchies (500 B.C.E- 500 C.E.)


Society and the State in Classical China
*An Elite of Officials
The most “elite of all classes” and only the wealthy could send their son to educate them in the bureaucracy. Teaching was required to pass tests, and was open to everyone, but not everyone could afford for their son to educated in this area. “124 BCE Wu Di started an academy where men would get educated” (Strayer, Page 156).It was considered the “first civil service in the world” ( Strayer, Page 156). The men that gained a position in the bureaucracy, dressed to the part, they wore fancy clothes, headdresses all to the ranking for their position, and rode around in carriages.
*The Landlord Class
Chinese families who owned land and could tax on it, mostly farmers. Some would sell their land to gain respect by the government. Others would have to take a loan from the government and wouldn’t have as much land.
* Peasants
Most of the Chinese were peasants and had a larger family. Many families could sell items to get money and food others could not even survive. This meant that some just begged for food and money just to get through the day. Some people were peasants due to nature disasters: flooding which ruined farming land. “ Yellow Turban Rebellion was knows as the peasant uproar because the Yellow River flooded and caused a massive amount of peasants. Also, the peasants had to wear yellow ribbon around their heads so people would know what social class they were in” ( Strayer, Page 159). Even though they didn’t have much money, they did have respect for working hard when things needed to be done.
* Merchants
Had to respect from anyone, especially the bureaucracy, and anyone who was a Merchant could not hold a position in the “state office”. “Merchants were greedy, and materialistic, not hard working, sold others work as their own” ( Strayer, page 160). Some were wealthy, but were banned from wearing anything respectable, example silk clothing, something that held beauty.

Class and Caste in India
“India had a social class and it was classed the caste system, and it came from Portuguese word casta with means “ race” or “ purity of blood” ( strayer, page 160.)

*Caste de Varna
Was a group of light-skinned (Aryans) and darker hued ( native) people. They grew into a social community, and race did not play a major role in the social classes that divided the people. They were divided into four Varans(classes). See chart on page 162. Brahamin were head, priests and teachers. Ksatriya were the feet, warriors, rulers. Vaisya thighs, farmers, merchants, artisans, .Sudra Feet, labor. The groups were formed from the body of god Purusha.

* Caste as Jati
Based on Jati jobs, created caste- baste society. They has special rules for each other, they could only eat and marry someone who was also a Jati. They believed in karma, dharma, and rebirth. Rebirth was the most spiritual. It was hard to grow because they restricted the territory that the people could have (villages).

Slavery in the Classical Era: The Case of the Roman Empire

* Slavery and Civilization
Slaves have no rights, and slaves were very popular by 1750 BCE (Hammurabi’s law). Classical Greece: slave emancipation, and children whose parents were slaves were not slaves but were considered free in the Aztec Empire. Slavery wasn’t as popular in China, mostly the peasants were slaves, or if someone needed money that family might sell their child to slavery. In India the society depended on slavery.

* The Making of a Slave Society: The Case of Rome
One- third of the society in Athens was slavery. They believe that some people were just born slaves. The common people owned atleast one or two slaves and the wealthy owned hundreds of slave. Some people were born into slavery, but others abandoned children, people told slaves over seas for trade. Slaves could not marry and had no legal rights. They did every job that the master asked. If a slave killed his master, all the slaves would be killed. Slaves could not get out of line.

Quiz questions:

List and describe the four major social classes in China.

What was the slavery Rebellion?

How did Athens treat their women compared to Sparta?

WW- Chapters 1-3

I have always had a hard time with History classes, especially when talking about how we first came about. This is because I was raised and still believe that the Bible is the only History book that we need to look at when talking about how humans first appeared on Earth.  I don’t believe that we were made from a “chimpanzee” and from Africa.  Our bodies are too complex to just “happen”. I believe that we were created in the image of God, and were from Israel, not Africa.

While reading Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Strayer points out that “Paleolithic societies were small, consisting of bands of twenty-five or fifty people, in which all relationships were intensely personal and thought of normally in terms of kinship”(Strayer, Page 20).  As I was reading that I instantly thought about family. They were a family and everyone had a special part, no one could be left out. Respect is key, which goes for both men and woman, they were considered almost equal, not like it is today. A “family” is easier to move from one destination to another, than it is to move a town or small village. If I was reading Ways of the World without any spiritual input or thought, I would be amazed that even people back then were concerned about the spiritual well being of themselves and others.  I took an Art History class last Fall, and many of the information I learned then, is listed in the first chapter. Shamans were spiritual leaders that were looked upon to help guide the group to the “spiritual realm”, and having spiritual ceremonies were important to the people.

Growing up in Northwest Ohio and just moving out to California last June, I have been raised around corn fields and would consider myself a country girl, I will admit, I do miss it now that I live in the city.  Agriculture has come a long way since it has started, and not just in America but all over the world. While reading Ways of the World, I always find myself comparing things to the United States, when really its just a small portion of the “world”. Now with agriculture people had to settle down more, which is logical, a group can’t be on the move when they are waiting for corn to grow. I even believe today that we need to grow most of our food, and not eat so much processed food. I believe that technology had helped the world in certain ways, but one thing that is has not helped is the way the people eat.

Now that small villages were being formed, there was now “civilization”.  Unlike earlier in the book, there is now separation of class and gender. “Upper classes everywhere enjoyed great wealth in the land or salaries, were able to avoid physical labor, had the finest of everything, and occupied the top positions in political, military and religious beliefs” (Strayer, Page 64).  This kind of sounds like how society is now, I guess not much had changed. Writing played a major role in civilization. At first it was only for the wealthy and the spiritual because back then it was “prestige to those who possessed it” (Strayer, Page 72).  Writing produced many advantages, learning to read and write, being able to document law, religious and for land. Which also meant, that banks could appear and people would have to "pay taxes and start a calendar"(Strayer,Page 72); produce a time line just like Strayer says. Writing was a development that changed the world forever, and for the better.  

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