2. • Because of the coldness during the
Ice Age, most people continued on
their journey southward because
EURASIA
they were looking for a warmer
climate. When they reached Eurasia,
the people focused on hunting
reindeer and horses. They achieved
killing their target by using spear
throwers, stone tools, and bow and
arrows. These people actually left
behind a record of their lifestyle.
They left behind cave paintings,
which in the book is shown by a
picture and I found the artwork very
beautiful and interesting! They used
the colors red, brown, black, and
yellow to paint their remarkable
pictures. These people were not
limited to one area, mostly because
of the climate, but they were found
in many regions. The book says that
this “Suggests a network of human
communication and cultural diffusion
over a wide area” (Strayer, pg. 17).
3. • Early on, within the egalitarian
societies, no formal “rulers” The First
were present. It is believed
that the people were free of Human Societies
tyranny and oppression.
Because everyone was
basically equal, everyone
possessed around the same
types of skills. What I found
most interesting is that the
women were considered the
source of income because
they were the primary food
gatherers. This can also be
displayed by a percentage fact
from a study claiming that
70% of their diet consisted of
plants while only 30%
consisted of the mean that
the men hunted.
4. Religion
• It is said that the religious beliefs
and practices have been hard to
confirm because there is not
enough evidence. The one thing
that there is evidence for is the
fact that there was a rich
ceremonial life. This has been
proven by the rock art that was
found deep inside caves and
were also far from the living
area. This also suggests that
there was a “ceremonial space”
because it was completely
separate from normal living
areas. The discovery of the
Venus figurines push people to
believe that that Paleolithic
culture felt strongly about
women because of this Great
Goddess figure. Their belief of
female fertility goes as follows…
birth, menstruation, pregnancy,
new birth, and death.
5. • The legalist answer to end the
chaos was simply to make laws
and rules that the people were
forced to abide by. Basically if the
rules were followed, the people
would be rewarded. If the rules
were broken, punishment would
be enforced. Han Feizi stated that,
“If rewards are high, then what
the ruler wants will be quickly
effected; if punishments are
heavy, what he does not want will
be swiftly prevented” (Strayer, pg.
128). The legalist people were
extremely pessimistic and viewed
people as “stupid and
shortsighted.” They felt that only
the state could make any type of
decision. Although this method
provided inspiration, it was quickly
discredited.
6. • Confucius, who was born to an
aristocratic family in northern China, Confucius
believed that he knew what the
solution was for China’s problem of
chaos and disorder. Instead of
creating laws and rules like the
legalists suggested, the idea of moral
example of superiors was the newly
announced answer. Under the
Confucius belief, human society is in
no way equal. “ The father was
superior to the son; the husband to
the wife; the older brother to the
younger brother; and, of course, the
ruler to the subject” (Strayer, pg.
129). Confucius believed the only
way this method would work is if the
superior person or party behaved
with sincerity and kindness because
in return the inferior person or party
would be more driven to respond in
the same way.
7. • A new religion came about A New
during the time that the
Persian Empire had great Religion…
power. The Persian prophet
is named Zarathustra, or
Zoroaster to the Greeks. His
teaching placed much
energy towards the idea of
free will of humankind and
how an individual needs to
be able to choose between
good and evil. The greatest
downfall for this religion was
not only Alexander the
Great’s invasion, but the
arrival of the Islam’s. Sadly,
for these people, their faith
disappeared from its place of
origin and did not spread or
continue to any other place.
8. • When the Han dynasty came to
authority, they chose their officials Emperor
based on performance. This
system of performance shortly
turned into what became the
Wu Di
world’s first professional civil
service. To help this process,
Emperor Wu Di created an
academy where people who
wanted to become officials were
“trained as scholars and immersed
in Chinese classical texts dealing
with history, literature, art, and
mathematics, with an emphasis
on Confucian teachings” (Strayer,
pg. 156). Around 30,000 students
enrolled! Those who were wealthy
were greatly favored, to say the
least. Another aid in receiving the
job was to have someone family
related in the imperial court. This
job became ideal because those
who received the honor became
extremely privileged.
9. • It is recognized that China’s human
population has mainly consisted of those Peasants
who were on the poorer side, also known
as peasants. There are a wide variety of
types of peasants. Some are able to
provide for their family with just enough
to get by, while others were in a deep
struggle just to survive. Life was hard for
this class of people because they were
required to provide one month of labor
every year to the state, which they
received no pay for. Also, young men
were to give two years of service to the
military. The result of this brutal work
and treatment ended in peasant
rebellions. The most famous one being
the Yellow Turban Rebellion where the
peasants wore yellow scarves around
their head. Although this rebellion was
suppressed, it made an impact in the
long run. The Yellow Turban Rebellion
contributed to the weakening of the state
and a devastated economy, which in turn
helped over throw the dynasty some
time later.
