Asia

B

3

Roots of Chinese Civilization

A river basin also nurtured early Chinese civilization. From 3000 to 1600 bc, the plain of the Huang He (Yellow River) sustained large farming communities whose people raised silkworms and spun silk thread and cloth. They traded these products across the camel trails of Central Asia. Although an advanced society developed, the Chinese did not keep written records until the Shang dynasty of the 16th century bc. The Shang ruled over a number of local kings who controlled walled city-states that cooperated to repulse raiding northern nomads. The nomads then dislodged other tribes, setting off a chain of migrations, including that of the Aryans into India between 1500 and 1200 bc.

The Zhou dynasty, which displaced the Shang in the 11th century bc, continued the feudal tradition. Political, economic, and social life in China advanced during the Eastern Zhou period (770-256 bc). Chinese territory more than doubled to include parts of present-day northeast China as well as the Yangtze River Basin, which had the highest population concentration in the world at the time. The Zhou used iron weapons, expanded irrigation, and built roads and canals to improve communication and commerce. People who trained for civil service, called Mandarins, began assuming positions once held by hereditary officials. This was also the classical age of Chinese philosophy, with Confucianism, Daoism (Taoism), and Legalism all emerging during the Zhou dynasty.

C

Major Ancient States

The early civilizations grew and interacted in the 11 centuries from 500 bc to ad 600. Eager to expand their territories, rulers such as Alexander the Great facilitated cultural exchange. Aggressive Manchurian nomads caused other tribes to flee, bringing masses of people into contact with civilized states. By ad 500 the major world religions and philosophies, with the exception of Islam, had spread far from their places of origin.

C

1

Persia and Greece

In the 6th century bc Cyrus the Great unified people of Iranian descent and created the kingdom of Persia, eventually conquering and ruling territory from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River. The third Persian king, Darius I, centralized the empire’s government and supported Zoroastrianism, a religion whose belief of good and evil and of heaven and hell may have influenced other religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

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C

2

Alexander the Great

By 330 bc Persia had been conquered by Alexander the Great, a Macedonian king whose successful military campaigns extended his empire from modern Greece to India. When he died suddenly of fever in 323 bc, his empire broke apart into three kingdoms. Despite Alexander’s death, his goal of uniting eastern and western cultures was furthered by his generals, who extended Greek culture into the three kingdoms (see Hellenistic Age).

The Seleucids ruled the Asian kingdom, which broke into several states. One of these, called Bactria, straddled the east-west and north-south trade routes. Chinese silk and Indian cotton traveled across these routes to Greece and Rome in exchange for glass, manufactured items, and gold. Elements of Greek culture passed through Bactria before spreading across Asia. Even after nomadic Kushan tribes from Central Asia conquered Bactria, Greek influences prevailed because the new rulers absorbed Hellenistic culture, or Hellenism (a term derived from the Greek word Hellas, which means “Greece”). Through the 1st century ad Greek was the international language of business and diplomacy. By this time, Hellenized Romans were entrenched in western Asia, where the Byzantine Empire developed in the 4th century.

Much of southwestern and Central Asia, however, was first dominated by Parthia and later by the Persian Sassanids. Beginning in about 250 bc, the Arsacid dynasty of Parthia gained control of this large region. Due to the region’s central location, the Arsacids dominated transcontinental trade. Persian Sassanids conquered Parthia in ad 224, spreading Persian culture widely. Their styles of women’s costumes and cosmetics were copied throughout Asia, and Persian architecture, art, and religion spread both east and west.

C

3

Indian Expansion

North India was also conquered by Persians, invaded by Alexander the Great, and ruled by Greek kings and Central Asian invaders. As a result, Indian culture both influenced and was influenced by the foreign cultures of its rulers. Both Hinduism and Buddhism may have influenced Greek philosophers, and in northwest India a Greco-Buddhist style of sculpture was popular in the 2nd century ad (see Indian Art and Architecture: Buddhist Sculpture). Central Asian Kushans conquered north India in the 1st century ad, adopted Indian culture, and converted to Buddhism, encouraging its growth in the Central Asian city-states and in China.

Although foreigners dominated north India for long periods, two native dynasties gained imperial status. The Mauryan Empire emerged as a powerful force at the end of the 4th century bc. Its greatest ruler, Asoka, sent Buddhist missionaries throughout India and Asia. With the downfall of the Maurya in 184 bc, the region fragmented and parts of it fell to foreign invaders. Buddhism became a persecuted religion as Brahman priests spread Hinduism throughout India.

Another native Indian empire emerged in ad 320 when the Gupta dynasty consolidated the Ganges Valley. Although invaders crushed the empire in the 5th century, Indian art, architecture, and civilization reached a pinnacle during the Gupta period.

Small native kingdoms ruled central and south India. The Tamil peoples of the south began colonizing Southeast Asia in the early centuries ad. From these colonies emerged the kingdom of Champa (now part of central Vietnam) and Funan (present-day Cambodia). These Southeast Asian kingdoms had cultures that contained elements of Indian civilization. Lesser states emerged in present-day Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

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