Changes

[[World History Lecture One|1]]-[[World History Lecture Two|2]]-[[World History Lecture Three|3]]-[[World History Lecture Four|4]]-[[World History Lecture Five|5]]-[[World History Lecture Six|6]]-[[World History Lecture Seven|7]]-[[World History Lecture Eight|8]]-[[World History Lecture Nine|9]]-[[World History Lecture Ten|10]]-[[World History Lecture Eleven|11]]-[[World History Lecture Twelve|12]]-[[World History Lecture Thirteen|13]]-[[World History Lecture Fourteen|14]]

[[World History Lecture One|1]]-[[World History Lecture Two|2]]-[[World History Lecture Three|3]]-[[World History Lecture Four|4]]-[[World History Lecture Five|5]]-[[World History Lecture Six|6]]-[[World History Lecture Seven|7]]-[[World History Lecture Eight|8]]-[[World History Lecture Nine|9]]-[[World History Lecture Ten|10]]-[[World History Lecture Eleven|11]]-[[World History Lecture Twelve|12]]-[[World History Lecture Thirteen|13]]-[[World History Lecture Fourteen|14]]

We take a break this week from Western Civilization and instead turn to the great ancient empires in the East:  India and China.  This requires learning about several new religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.  Then we conclude by returning to the Middle East and discussing the rise of Christianity.   

We take a break this week from Western Civilization and instead turn to the great ancient empires in the East:  India and China.  This requires learning about several new belief systems, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.  Then we conclude by returning to the Middle East and discussing the rise of Christianity.   

Let's ask ourselves at the outset:  why learn about any religion other than Christianity?  Some Christians might conclude that, having found their faith, there is no reason to study non-Christian religions.  When you find something good, then it is not advantageous to divert your time and energy to something less good.

Let's ask ourselves at the outset:  why learn about any religion other than Christianity?  Some Christians might conclude that, having found their faith, there is no reason to study non-Christian religions.  When you find something good, then it is not advantageous to divert your time and energy to something less good.

== India ==

== India ==

Little information survives concerning the history of ancient India.  There was immigration into the region around 3000 B.C., or perhaps in the 2000s B.C., by people who called themselves "nobles" or "Aryans", a term we explained in the prior lecture.  These immigrants spoke an Indo-European language that formed the basis for Sanskrit, which is the standard ancient language of India just as Latin later became the standard ancient language of Europe.  Yet while Latin is a dead language today, Sanskrit is still an official language in India.  The scriptures of Hinduism are written in Sanskrit.  The most sacred of these scripts form the [[Vedas]] and [[Upanishads]], which are considered to have the most authority, importance, and antiquity.

Little information survives concerning the history of ancient India.  There was migration into the region in the second millennium B.C. (between 1000 and 2000 B.C.), by people who called themselves "nobles" or "Aryans", a term we explained in the prior lecture.  These immigrants spoke an Indo-European language that formed the basis for Sanskrit, which is the standard ancient language of India just as Latin later became the standard ancient language of Europe.  Yet while Latin is a dead language today, Sanskrit is still an official language in India.  The scriptures of Hinduism are written in Sanskrit.  The most sacred of these scripts form the [[Vedas]] and [[Upanishads]], which are considered to have the most authority, importance, and antiquity.

[[Image:India rel01.jpg|400px|right]]

[[Image:India rel01.jpg|400px|right]]

2.  Both religions preach non-violence towards all forms of life.

2.  Both religions preach non-violence towards all forms of life.

3.  Both religions believe in karma in binding people to this world, and believe in a cycle of births and deaths (reincarnation).

3.  Both religions believe in karma.

4.  Both religions believe in multiple hells and heavens.

4.  Both religions believe in multiple hells and heavens.

{| class="wikitable"

{| class="wikitable"

|-

|-

|'''Religion'''

|'''Belief systems'''

|'''Followers'''

|'''Followers'''

|'''Comment'''

|'''Comment'''

|threat of death if conversion to another religion

|threat of death if conversion to another religion

|-

|-

|Anti-religious

|Nonreligious

|1.1 billion

|1.1 billion

|followers censor school prayer and promote evolution

|followers censor school prayer and promote evolution

=== China's Contributions ===

=== China's Contributions ===

What inventions do we owe to ancient China?  A great deal: paper, the compass, the umbrella, the fan, spaghetti, acupuncture, bamboo cultivation, harvesting silk, and perhaps the first planetarium.  Later, in A.D. 850, China invented gunpowder, which also popularized fireworks.

What inventions do we owe to ancient China?  A great deal: paper, the compass, the umbrella, the fan, spaghetti, acupuncture, bamboo cultivation, harvesting silk, and perhaps the first planetarium.  China invented fireworks and then, in A.D. 850, China invented gunpowder too.

English philosopher Francis Bacon said this about three Chinese inventions:  "Printing, gunpowder and the compass: These three have changed the whole face and state of things throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries."<ref>http://www.bjreview.com.cn/forum/txt/2008-08/26/content_146756_2.htm</ref>  Sometimes historians refer to the "Four Great Inventions":  paper-making, printing, compass and gunpowder, and claim that China deserves credit for all four.

English philosopher Francis Bacon said this about three Chinese inventions:  "Printing, gunpowder and the compass: These three have changed the whole face and state of things throughout the world; the first in literature, the second in warfare, the third in navigation; whence have followed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater power and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries."<ref>http://www.bjreview.com.cn/forum/txt/2008-08/26/content_146756_2.htm</ref>  Sometimes historians refer to the "Four Great Inventions":  paper-making, printing, compass and gunpowder, and claim that China deserves credit for all four.