AP ESSAY

Essay
China and India had major roles in the history of the world, China with their different philosophies and India with it's major trade routes. India had Buddha and China had Confucianism.
Patriarchy played a major role in the Chinese culture; men were the top of all society women had little or no part in the government in classical China. Men kept all the power even in the family, if they died the women did not take power the eldest son took the house and all of the land. Women were like property to keep and sell for the pleasure of the Chinese men Indian women also did not have much power in the government like Chinese women. But they were treated fairly once married, because it was taught to them that the husband must treat his wife like gold and never beat her, but they were to worship their husbands like gods.
Buddhism did not have a great affect on China but it still did spread a little bit throughout China. Most of people in China were not Buddhist but some people that were on the edges of the Chinese border closer to the influence of India were Buddhist. India on the other hand was greatly influenced by Buddhism because that is where it originated. Buddha and the influence he carried made it so most all of India became Buddhist not very many people were not Buddhist at this time in India.
Confucianism was a religion that came from the man named Confucius, he believed that there was a divine order, but he never spoke very much about it. It was not as much a religion as it was a system of ethics for people to follow and obey. Many Chinese leaders used it for political virtue and social order. Daoism or Taoism began as a religion for the upper class because they wanted a more elaborate spirituality. It had to do with nature harmony and traditional Chinese beliefs. It has to do with inner peace harmony and flexibility, Taoism encouraged the exploration processes of nature.
Hinduism is also a phrase from the Sanskrit which more people were familiar with, it does not have any single founder. It is made from many other diverse traditions. It is the world's third largest religion. Hinduism's scripture is divided into two smaller parts, it is not a unified system of belief it is more of a religious phenomena that has to do with the Vedic traditions than with anything else. Vedas are texts that come from the sacred book of the Indian's, they are the oldest and most sacred of the scriptures of Hinduism. They are recited at Hindu prayers and religious functions. Most religions other than Hinduism do not accept the Vedas, like Buddhism and Judaism.
The caste system was a major part of India's culture, it keep's all of the Indian classes apart from each other so only the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. It was meant more for the upper class than the lower class. People were put in hereditary classes. It had social restrictions put on the people too so they kept the classes apart. There were also in the caste
The Yellow and Yangtze river was the important river for classical China, it was the life line for the major cities along the coast of China. If those rivers did not exist then China would not have flourished and they would not be technology advanced and the population of China would be relatively small.
The Ganges and Indus river flow straight through India giving the water needed to all of the major cities located on the edge of these rivers. It giver fertility and gives water to the villages allowing them to grow.
China's Himalayan mountains acted as a barrier keeping out most people that would try to venture out. If that did not stop them then the desert would get them, the desert in China is quite large and would make most travelers turn back so as they do not get to the major cities of China which were thousands of miles away from the mountains and deserts.
The Himalayan mountains did not keep India isolated from the rest of the world, it just kept them away from China so they get all of the travelers from the rest of the world and their culture mixes with other cultures in the world.
China and India have similarities but they also have differences, I will name but a few of them. China had a very structured caste system and did not want to change anything, to keep what they thought was an order of balance, but they did not physical have a caste system like the Indians. India on the other hand, their caste system was like a rule if you did not follow it then you were like an outsider to the people. China's Himalayan mountains kept outsiders away from all of their major cities keeping the Chinese culture strong and intact, but not being able to have some contact with the west. India's part of the Himalayan mountains only kept out the Chinese and all of the influence that they had. They were open to all kinds of cultures and they welcomed all of them. Buddhism was not a major part of Chinese culture because the influence from India could not spread all the way to China or at the very edge of it because of the Himalayan mountains and the desert that kept most travelers out. Buddhism was a major influence on India because that is where it began, and it spread very fast so much of India was Buddhist. Since there were people going in and out from there it could spread to different countries and spread there.


Josh Orcutt