HUM 001A Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Jasper, Ineffability, Tao Te Ching
Document Summary
Periodization by dynasties: different set of key dates. Sima qian: wrote records of the grand historian, more voluminous writings than herodotus or thucydides, castrated for having offended emperor, dynasties and declensions (moral decline) Prehistory: river cultures morphing to urban cultures. Complex govt systems necessitate literacy, writing, and vast bureaucratic documentation. Pictographic: ease in being understood // even in lang, logographic (chinese) differences. Can rep multiple languages simultaneously: allows for clarity + connotation, difficult to learn and to memorize due to the sheer number of characters involoved, alphabetic (laitn/ english) Can be easily transferred: ritual honoring of ancestors, oldest form of religion, most notable in china and africa, we wouldn"t be here without ancestors. Zhou: western zhou, loved by k"ung fu tzu, when kings were just/ idealized by him, eastern zhou. Time when he was living// time of decay. Constant intrigue// upheavel// discontent: spring and autumn annals period, warring states period.
