Changes

Little information survives concerning the history of ancient India.  There was a massive immigration into the country around 3000 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 which formed the basis for Sanskrit, which is the standard ancient language of India just as Latin is 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 a massive immigration into the country around 3000 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 which formed the basis for Sanskrit, which is the standard ancient language of India just as Latin is 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|500px|right]]

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

=== Ancient India ===

=== Ancient India ===

== China ==

== China ==

[[Image:China rel01.jpg|right]]

[[Image:China rel01.jpg|500px|right]]

China, like India, is significant because it has so many people.  But there the similarities end.  There is no Hinduism in China.  There is very little ethnic diversity in China, in contrast to India and many Western countries today.  Christianity has struggled to convert the country, and only about one out of nine Chinese are Christian.  And even that small number is due almost completely to courageous efforts in the face of much persecution of religion by the communist government that rules China.

China, like India, is significant because it has so many people.  But there the similarities end.  There is no Hinduism in China.  There is very little ethnic diversity in China, in contrast to India and many Western countries today.  Christianity has struggled to convert the country, and only about one out of nine Chinese are Christian.  And even that small number is due almost completely to courageous efforts in the face of much persecution of religion by the communist government that rules China.