BBC Confucianism Podcast

Confucianism 

Confucianism, a philosophy that originated in China during the Era of Warring States, was created by Kung Fu Tzu. He came from a class of scholars who based their teachings on their ideas; he and his disciples traveled around China spreading his ideas, which were not extraordinary at the time due to it being one of many ideas created by scholars. Confucius emphasized human interaction and a human society, and he claimed that he was a reformist of ideas from the Zhou Dynasty. Contrary to the supernatural beliefs of the previous dynasty, Confucius believed in a philosophy about people and how one treats another. His central ideas were to respect the social hierarchy, rituals, and parents. His ideas were a reiteration of what people knew, but since the political and social system had broken down during the Era of Warring States, he wanted China to return to its original state. He believed the key to good government was education, which was against the idea of sheer efficiency of that time. Once China became unified, the solution of keeping the empire unified was for the elite to be brought up by a standard education, which was the idea of Confucianism. Confucianism became more popular than the many other philosophical ideas of the time because of the work of Confucius's disciples. A strong bureaucracy, which was run by Confucians, sprung up because of Confucius's educational ideas that formed the examination system.

Major Religions of the Ancient World

Judaism

The history of Judaism begins during the Bronze age in the Middle East; it was a monotheistic religion, so the Jewish people worshiped God and Abraham. They worshiped in the Temple during early times, but later, rabbis encouraged Jews to observe ethical laws and cycle of prayer at home and at synagogues, which decreased the importance of the Temple. During the rule of the Romans, the Jews rebelled against them, but were brutally put down. The Temple was destroyed, marking the end of Temple worship in Judaism. A second revolt left many dead, enslaved, and banned from Jerusalem. Jews were persecuted and sent to exile in Babylon, which marked the beginning of Diaspora (living away from Israel). Despite Roman oppression, Judaism expanded and scholars created the first written collection of rabbi teachings, later compiling into the Talmud. The second and better version of the Talmud was finalized in 400 CE, around the time when Jews were granted Roman citizenship, but forbidden to marry Christians. However, later in 439 CE, Romans banned synagogue building and prohibited Jews from holding offices.

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism, originating in Persia, is one of the oldest monotheistic religions and later, affected Judaism. 549 BCE, The Archaemenian Persians created the Persian Empire and made Zoroastrianism the official religion of the empire. The kings ruled justly in accordance to Zoroastrian law of truth and righteousness. Cyrus, the first Archaemenian Persian king, was religiously tolerant toward exiled Jews, which would eventually lead to Zoroastrianism impacting Judaism. When Greek leader Alexander the Great defeated and conquered the Persian Empire, Zoroastrianism felt a huge blow. Its priests and texts were destroyed, but the core of the religion, recorded in the Gathas, survived. After Alexander's empire split, the Seleucids ruled Iran, and Zoroastrianism became autonomous. The Parthians overthrew the Seleucids and recollected Zoroastian texts. Using Zoroastrian as propoganda, the Sasanians usurped the Parthian throne. Under the Sasanians, one Zoroastrian church was created under the control of Persia. The Gathas texts were preserved, use of images in worship was banned, fire temples were promoted, and religious tolerance was no longer practiced during this time. 

Christianity

Christianity, a strain of Judaism, began with the emergence of Jesus, a Jewish teacher in Israel. He distanced himself from the Jewish community and began preaching his beliefs on his own and eventually attracted enough followers for Jewish officials to see him as a threat. Christians believed that Jesus was God's son, which the Jews did not. After his persecution and death by the Jews, his twelve apostles further spread his teachings. Christianity would have not made a lasting impact if Paul did not help spread it. He was first in opposition to Christianity, but converted after he was temporarily blinded. His teachings were centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus; he built Christian churches throughout the Roman Empire. The Romans persecuted Christians no differently than the Jews. However, the persecution ended when Constantine became the Roman emperor and converted to Christianity after winning a battle to become emperor. Christianity then became the official religion of the Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire collapsed, Christianity split into a Western and Eastern strain: the Orthodox church the Roman Catholic church.

Buddhism

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama through his path to Enlightenment to end suffering in the world. He was a prince, but abandoned his royal status after seeing all the pain and suffering in life. He became a monk first, but realized asceticism did not offer a solution to suffering no more than luxury. He found the Middle Way and finally achieved Enlightenment, along with the creation of the Four Noble Truths. He devoted the rest of his life to teaching and spreading his beliefs. After the death of the Buddha, Buddhism diverted into two strains: Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. The Theravada strain follows the original beliefs of the Buddha of stressing the importance on the individual and dismissing the importance of gods and goddesses. Theravada Buddhism remains popular in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar. Mahayana Buddhism incorporated religion-like elements into Buddhism such as worshiping the Buddha as a god and setting up Buddhist shrines and temples. This strain became more popular than the Theravada strain and flourished in Tibet, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia.

Hinduism

The origin of Hinduism is not defined since it embraces the traditions of Vedic culture and Buddhism. Hinduism existed as early as the early BCEs but became strengthened in the Classical Age. Hinduism follows the Vedic concepts of karma and reincarnation. The idea of dharma is central to Hinduism. There are thousands of Hindu gods since most of them are reincarnations of the Buddha. The rise of the Gupta empire in 300 CE gave rise to the great gods Vishnu and Shiva. From the Gupta empire and on, Buddhism faded out of India and its beliefs merged with Hinduism, which became popular in India.  

Buddhism and Its Spread Along the Silk Road Summary

Birth of Buddha and the Development of Buddhism in India and Central Asia

The Buddha was originally a wealthy prince who lived by his family name of Gotama in northern India. Early in his life, however, he abandoned the luxuries of royal life and left home to found enlightenment. After seeing people suffer and die, he came up with the idea of the Four Noble Truths and found enlightenment. He devoted his life to spreading his teachings. When he died, he was a famous figure in India; his body was divided among eight clans and each build a memorial stupa for his body. His followers formed councils, a major one being in Pataliputra of the Mauryan Empire. The Mauryan King, Ashoka, converted to Buddhism after seeing a particularly bloody battle. He rigorously worked to spread Buddhism in his empire. He engraved edicts of the Buddha's teachings, celebrated the stupa rituals, and imprinted the Sarnath lion on India's curreny and flag. His support of Buddhism led monks into Hellenized regions of Jushan and Bactrian in the west. The Kushans controlled trade between India, China, Parthia, and the Roman Empire, which made it an ideal location for the spread of Buddhism. Under the Kushan king, the Graeco-Buddhist art form was created and affected the arts in Central Asia. Buddhism further penetrated the Parthians and Sassanians. When Bactria and Kushan became Buddhist centers, they expanded into Hadda, Bamiyan, and Kondukistan, which formed one of the greatest Buddhist monastery community in Central Asia. By 600 CE, kingdoms of the Tarim Basin were completely Buddhist, and Sanskrit had become the religious language. 

Buddhism in the Steppes and China

Buddhism penetrated the Xiongnu, a confederacy of nomads in the steppes of China. Their worship was evident in their offering of a Buddhist statue after losing to the Hans. Buddhism had a strong effect on the lives of nomads; once they adopted Buddhism, they were no longer barbaric or aggressive as before. This weakened the military strength and independence of the nomads, and they eventually assimilated with civilized empires. An example of these events happened to the Tobhatch Turkish nomads. They had adopted Buddhism faith early in history, and over time, their capital moved closer to the Turkics until the nomads and the Turkic people assimilated. The Mongols during their control of the Silk Road preferred Buddhism over Islam. Buddhism reached China when the Silk Road trade began. After that, Buddhism spread, catalyzed by Han emperor Mingdi's dream and curiosity about the Buddhism. After that, the belief in the Buddha, Buddhist scriptures, and Buddhist monks were brought to China. Buddhism reached its height during the Sui and Tang dynasties. 

Decline of Buddhism and Buddhist Art

After reaching its height in the Sui and Tang dynasties in China, it began to decline, starting from a series of persecution of Buddhists The collapse of the Tang Dynasty allowed Arabs to invade and convert their lands to Islam. They destroyed Buddhist statues, paintings, temples, and stupas, ending Buddhism in Central Asia. Though Buddhism declined along the Silk Road, its impact on art was profound. The contact of Hellenized art and Buddhism created a new art form. Before Buddhism reached Hellenized Gandhara, there were no statues or pictures of the Buddha. Greeks who used their classical art knowledge shaped Indian art and formed the Greek-featured Buddha. The rise of Buddhism allowed monasteries and stupas to be built. Cave painting was also a unique feature in Buddhist architecture. The cave art tells about the lives and cultures of the ancient people. 

Questions

1. What was the impact of Buddhist beliefs on nomads in the steppes?

Buddhism weakened the nomads' toughness and soldierly qualities, which made them lose their nomadic identity and allowed them to become assimilated into civilized empires.

2. What was Kumarajiva's role in spreading Buddhism in China?

Kumarajiva organized the first translation bureau, and he and his partners translated Buddhist scriptures into Chinese.

3. How did Buddhist art change in the 200sCE?

Greeks created the first images of the Buddha by combining their classical art sense and Indian styled art. The Buddha was dressed in a toga and sat in a yoga pose, which represents both Greek and Indian culture. 

4. What caused Buddhism along the Silk Road to decline?

The collapse of the Tang dynasty in China allowed Islamic invaders to conquer Buddhist lands and convert them to Islam. 

Tour of Classic Rome Review

Rome under Emperor Constantine was divided in two by the Tiber River. Rome had seven major hills; the Temple of Jupiter was on the Capitoline Hill and served as the main temple and center of religious cults of Rome. The Palatine Hill, another major hill, was where the ruler lived in his palaces. Past the Circus Maximus, an enormous chariot racing stadium, lay the wondrous Imperial Palace, where the emperor and his family lived as the central government. The Circus held many chariot races, animal hunts, parades, and religious processions. The emperor was a big supported of the games in the Circus and could go in his Imperial Box to watch them. In the city there was the Aqua Claudia, which was a large aqueduct that supported the large Roman population by carrying water to the city through gravity. Other sites include the Septizodium, the Arch of Constantine, the Meta Sudans, and the Baths of Trajan, which was a great public bath. These structures show the Roman's phenomenal engineering skills. The Baths of Trajan was several bathing building enclosed in a garden-like courtyard and a wall.



The Colosseum, a famous building in ancient Rome, was an oval amphitheater where civilians could watch gladiatorial combats, creative executions of criminals, and hunts of wild animals. The front seats were reserved for the emperor and his family, high officials, and priests. Behind them were the senators, wealthy businessmen, and free, land-owning citizens. The very top seats were for women, slaves, and foreigners who were considered unimportant and low class. The Temple of Venus and Rome was actually two temples back to back, one part for worshiping Venus and the other part for the goddess Roma. Venus faces the Colosseum while the Roma faces the forum. The Basilica of Maxentius was a big civil building used for courts. The Roman Forum had a big, open public space used for public events like parades and speeches. The buildings around the open space were courthouses and temples. On the Forum plaza, there were monuments revering great men and leaders of Roman history.  The Pantheon, a building with eight columns at its front like a temple, surprisingly had a rotunda ceiling. The columns were enormous and must have required so much stone and manpower to build. The Pantheon was used to celebrate and worship the Roman emperors; it had statues of Julius Caesar and Augustus.

Alexander the Great

Summary of "Alexander the not so Great: History through Persian eyes", written by Ali Ansari

Alexander the Great is known as one of the greatest military geniuses in history because he conquered the Persian Empire and established his own empire that would become the largest in ancient history. Greeks view his conquest as a good thing, bringing civilized culture to the "barbaric East". However, many people do not see the other side of Alexander the Great through another perspective: he burned Persian city Persepolis to the ground and destroyed temples and priests of the Persian religion Zoroastrianism.

Though Alexander the Great conquered the Persians out of revenge for their past ruler Xerxes's invasion of Greece, the Persian Empire was the greatest the world had yet seen and obtaining it was the holy grail of prizes. In fact, the Greeks greatly admired Persian kings for their ability to strike both terror and admiration in the hearts of men throughout such a vast empire. 

The Persians and the Greeks were interconnected in many ways: some Greeks fled to Persia and lived better than they did in Greece, while Persians aided victory to the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War. Persian prince Cyrus the Younger developed a good relationship with the Greeks and recruited ten thousand Greek mercenaries who graciously praised Cyrus for being truly worthy of ruling a successful empire. 

Then came Alexander the Great, whom the Persians viewed as reckless youth. Alexander tried to embrace Persian way of life and immediately regretted his destruction of Persepolis. Like many future conquerors, Alexander the Great became seduced and attracted to the wonders of Persia.


1. What is the basic Western perception of Alexander the Great?  
Westerners see Alexander the Great as the mighty conqueror of Persia and one of the greatest military geniuses in history.
2. Why did he destroy Persepolis?           
He burned Persepolis in revenge for Persian ruler Xerxes burning down Greek city Acropolis.
3. What is the "Greek version" of Alexander's conquest of Persia? 
Greeks viewed Alexander's invasion as the first of many Western crusades to civilize the barbaric East.
4. What was Persia's actual standing in the world like?       
Persia was pretty civilized already because it was the greatest empire the world had seen, extending from Central Asia to Libya. It was a rich prize to anyone who wanted to conquer it.
5. How did the Persians gain advantage in the Peloponnesian War?
Persian rulers achieved their goals by turning the Greek city states against each other, ultimately causing the Peloponnesian War between the Athenians and the Spartans. Persia aided the Spartans by supplying them naval equipment.
6. How do the Persians portray Alexander? 
Persians view Alexander the Great as a destroy and a reckless youth.