Introduction to Humanities: China

1. CHINA
CREATED BY BRIAN SALAS
MIDWESTERNCAREERCOLLEGE
JULY 2019

6. Confucianism
■ Filial piety – respect your
elders
■ Do not bring shame to
your family
■ Emperor as the father of
the state

7. Buddhism
■ Started in Northern India
■ Today centered in China,
Japan, SoutheastAsia
■ 500 million to 1 billion
believers
■ Considered both a religion
and a philosophy

8. BuddhismToday

9. Siddhartha Gautama
■ An Indian prince sheltered
inside the royal palace
during his youth
■ Slipped out one night to
experience the city and
encountered the four signs:
– A sick person
– An elderly person
– A corpse
– A monk

10. Siddhartha Gautama
■ Realized that life was
impermanent and he had
to find meaning
■ Meditated under a Bodhi
tree and attained
enlightenment
– A perfect state of
realization beyond
explanation

11. Four NobleTruths
■ 1. Existence is suffering
■ 2. Suffering is due to attachment to worldly things
■ 3. End suffering by ending attachments
■ 4. Follow the teaching of the Eightfold Path to achieve nirvana

12. BuddhistView of Death
■ After death the body is reincarnated
■ Karma – “action,” “doing” – anything one does or says
– If one’s karma is poor, they will be reborn at a lower level
– If one’s karma is good, they will be reborn at a higher level

13. Levels of Rebirth
■ Heavenly Beings (deva)
■ Warrior Beings (asura)
■ Humans
■ Animals
■ Hungry Ghosts
■ Hells

14. Enlightenment
■ Goal in life is to attain enlightenment and break free from the
cycle of death and rebirth
■ Buddha – anyone able to achieve enlightenment
■ Bodhisattva – an enlightened being that stays behind to help
others become enlightened

15. ■ How is Buddhism similar to other world religions? How does it
differ?

16. China

17. Mongols
■ Small steppe land group
from modern Mongolia
■ Known for their expert
horsemanship,
endurance, ferocity in
battle, and superior
military tactics
■ Highly mobile society

18. Genghis Kahn (1162-1227)
■ Unified the tribal groups of
Central Asia
– Able to organize these
great warriors into an
army
■ Used brutal tactics to strike
fear into his enemies and
acquire allies
– Cities had to surrender
or be destroyed
■ Created the basis for the
2nd largest empire in history

19. Mongol Conquests

20. Kublai Kahn
■ Grandson of Genghis
Kahn
■ Extended the empire by
conquering China
■ Marco Polo – visited from
Italy and recorded his
travels

21. Kublai Kahn
■ “He [Kublai Kahn] is of a good stature, neither tall nor short,
but of a middle height. He has a becoming amount of flesh,
and is very shapely in all his limbs. His complexion is white and
red, the eyes black and fine, the nose well formed and well set
on…the Great Khan…is, I tell you, the wisest and most
accomplished man, the greatest Captain, the best to govern
men and rule an Empire, as well as the most valiant, that ever
has existed among all theTribes ofTartars.”

23. Forbidden City
■ Palace complex built for the emperor when the capital moved to Beijing
■ 980 buildings, 8700 rooms, covers 7,800,000 sq. ft.
■ Symbolism
– Built on a rectangular base to represent earth
– Halls laid out in groups of three to represent heaven
■ 1420-1912 – home to the emperor and his court

24. Forbidden City

25. Mandate of Heaven
■ The emperor ruled because they were chosen by a higher
power
■ If an emperor was overthrown, they had lost favor with heaven
and were replaced with someone more worthy
■ Did not have to be of royal blood to rule
■ Gave the emperor power, but also a responsibility to the people

26. Civil Service Examination
■ Test to fill thousands of governmental
jobs
■ Confucian idea of advancement
through merit
■ Open to any literate male citizen
■ Covered poetry, administration,
government, and the Confucian classics
■ System lasted for 1300 years

27. Civil Service Examination