ASIA 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Mahabharata, Indus Valley Civilisation, Homo Sapiens
Document Summary
Shift from emphasis on deity (di) to impersonal ruling force. Mandate of heaven legitimated zhou replacing the shang. The first chinese classics appear: book of documents, book of songs. Ritual solidified as a means of political control. It refers to a hierarchically layered government, in which the person at the top operates direct authority only over those directly below him. At the bottom are serfs, cultivator who are tied to the land. By definition, a feudal society is agrarian with wealth and power coming from control of the land (manors of the rich land- owners) Civil and military power are fused: the hand that holds the sword is the hand that runs the government. Sefs > vassals > nobility > royalty > nobility > vassals > serfs. Zhou rulers used ritual as means of political control. Watch for regional cultural influences, not national cultures. Civilization: a grouping of societies sharing a core set of cultural attributes, such as written traditions.
