Week 8: The Rise of Asian Civilizations 1500 BC
Ancient History Resources for Homeschool and Personal Study. This weeks topics: The Yin Dynasty, The Ruins of Yin, Indus Valley, the Pandava Family
Ancient History is studied through the collection of archeological evidence, written records and oral stories or myths. Just because evidence shows a particular belief or custom was common at a particular time does not mean that everyone in that civilization shared that belief. When you study the topics for this week, you can either go deep on one topic for the week and skip the others or you can do a new topic each day. This outline is just a suggested pace, you can go slower or faster as needed. This outline is intended to provide you with a place to start. You will still need to do your own research.
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| In the Mahabharata, when his wealth is gone, he gambles with his wife. |
Homeschool Topics for Week 8
China's Yin Dynasty
The Ruins of Yin
Indus Valley
The Pandava Family
Discussion Questions
China's Yin/Shang Dynasty
The creation myth for this civilization includes a woman named Jiandi who swallowed an egg dropped by a black bird and gave birth to Qi. The Shang people believed that their ancestors had influence over their lives. They believed that cracking a turtle shell or an ox skull could prophecy the future and they would write the prophecy on the bone itself. The government was organized so that people were assigned a position of authority. The positions included the "Many Dog officers", "Many horse officers", the "Many Artisans", the "Many Archers." The Chinese got chariots from the Indo-Europeans in about 1200 BC. The chariots were used in hunting and as command vehicles not for fighting. The primary opponent was barbarians who lived outside the government control.
The Ruins of Yin
The ruins of the city of Yin were discovered in 1899. In the ruins were found bones with the earliest form of Chinese characters. The site is famous for it's elaborate bronze pieces. It also shows man made controls of the river and beams to hold up buildings made of brick.The Tomb of Fu Hao
Fu Hao was a queen and military leader in the Yin civilization. The queen was buried with an enormous amount of items which were not looted before excavation. She was buried with slaves signifying that the civilization allowed human sacrifice. There was a structure built over the tomb for ancestor worship of Fu Hao.
Indus Valley
The people of the Indus Valley were sedentary. They used elephants as farm animals in agriculture which could uproot date palms under the guidance of their Indian masters. Around 1500 BC the people of the Indus Valley were conquered by invading Aryans. The Aryan invasion caused the collapse of the Bronze Age because the Aryans had iron weapons which gave them an advantage in battle. The Aryans put in place the caste system. After this point, most warfare was intertribal. The Mahabharata is an epic story relating the battles between various tribes.
The elephant was subdued in India at least 4000 years ago. A young elephant is captured from a wild herd. Over several years, an elephant learns to respond to simple commands. At age six, an elephant might graduate to more complex tasks such as piling logs or pushing them up or down hill. An elephant starts full-time work at age sixteen. Only the strongest elephants are used in warfare.
The Dravidian Tribe
The Dravidian people lived in the southern jungles. They worshiped a female goddess. The female goddess had a shrine in the center of the village. The male protector deity was placed at the edge of town in the form of a Hero Stone, called Natukal, to memorialize a deceased hero. The hero was believed to "protect" the city and sometimes was worshipped or at least prayed to for good luck. This worship of a hero was similar to Asian ancestor worship. The King of the village was the representative of God on Earth. Sometimes women, who took part in priestly functions, would be "possessed" with the spirit of a god or goddess and be able to assist with healings or foretelling of future events.
The Pandava Family
The Mahabharata is the epic story of the Pandava family. The Pandava brothers were the sons of King Pandu. The Pandava brothers were exiled by their uncle but they came back to play a fateful game of dice wherein one of the brothers lost all his wealth and his entire kingdom. This was the incentive to bring an army against their Kaurava cousins. The Pandava brothers won the war after many adventures. Because the war included some dastardly deeds, the Pandavas did penance after their victory by scaling the Himalayas.
Books (all links go to Goodreads)
Viku and the Elephant (Introduction to the story by the author)
Let's Explore the Ancient Chinese Part 1Activities
1. Think about the person whose job was "Many Dog Officer." What kind of tasks would they do in their job. For how many dogs would they be responsible?
2. View Asian art at Princeton Art Museum
3. Learn to use a bow and arrow
4. Design your own "Hero Stone" on paper. You don't have to believe in it's mystical properties to be inspired by your design to act courageously.
5. Cut up a piece of metallic bronze colored paper into a fancy object like a sword or a drinking vessel.
Image Credit: Chore Bagan Art Studio / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain