AHIS190 Assessment 2 – Research essay
Name: Abbey Lakajev, Student ID: 44828306
Topic 2: does the treatment of the dead provide a useful reflection of the lives of the living?
The way that the people of ancient China treated their deceased, from the Xia Dynasty (2070–1600 BC) to the Jin Dynasty (265 - 420), provides an excellent insight into the lives of the living. Through the analysis of various archaeological evidence gathered on Ancient Chinese burial rituals and techniques, we are able to form an idea of the way in which many different people of varied social status viewed death: and the afterlife: and the value that they, and others, placed on their human lives. We are also able to observe the changing of attitudes and beliefs over this
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Burial was always extravagant and thoroughly planned, and, like most funerary rituals, was directly connected to the religious beliefs of the individual. The Xia dynasty, which marked a change from the originally primitive society to a slave society, would often see wealthy and politically important individuals having anywhere from several to hundreds of slaves buried in their tombs with them. This is also seen during the Shang (16th-11th century B.C.), and the Western Zhou (11th century-770 B.C.) Dynasties. It was believed that by sacrificing these servants and putting them in their tombs, the deceased would be taking them into the afterlife for their own protection, entertainment and comfort. The Ancient Chinese believed that life after death was extremely similar to the world of the living. In order to enjoy themselves and be content in the afterlife, the powerful, rich, imperial and politically important people of society would, depending on the dynasty period that they were alive during, recreate all of the comforts of their current life in order for their next one to be comfortable and enjoyable . It was not until the Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) that sacrificial human servants had been replaced with representative figurines. These were small handmade human substitutes, such as the terracotta warriors, seen in the tomb of ‘the first emperor’ from the …show more content…
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This latter point is exceedingly salient, and the prominent featuring of Egyptian gods throughout Tutankhamun’s tomb denotes the considerable cultural significance of religion and the way in which it essentially governed much of ancient Egyptian society. Correspondingly, such artefacts as the Shabti dolls further emphasize the importance of the afterlife, as the minuscule dolls are intended to represent servants for the pharaoh in life after death. This illustrates that the pharaoh was regarded as a hugely esteemed figure and shows the focus that was placed upon ensuring that the afterlife was a comfortable and hospitable environment for the ruler.
Today in Maycomb County, there was a trail against a local African American man named “Tom Robinson.” He was accused for raping and beating up a white girl named “Mayella.” His lawyer is “Atticus Finch” is facing off against “Mr. Gilmer” the district attorney. Judge Taylor, appears to be sleeping through out the trial, yet pays attention and tends to chew his cigar. The supposed crime occurred in Mayella’s home, when Tom Robinson went to fix something and then he raped her.
The Anthropoid Coffin of Iret-hor-irou is an Ancient Egyptian work of art that dates back from 4th century BCE (380-343 BCE or 30th Dynasty. This coffin’s original location was in Egypt, however the artist is unknown. This coffin is life-size (24x78x19.5in) and is composed of cedar with traces of polychrome. The purpose of this artifact is for burial, thus it is funerary.
Initially, the only source of knowledge left after the burning of books were the scholars and now even they were gone. As his paranoia of people being smarter than him increased, he ordered 400+ of them to be buried alive. This was such an inhuman action that even his own son ridiculed him for it. Lastly, this essay will highlight another, and probably the most important and significant action of the Qin Dynasty,
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2. Albert M. Craig, William A. Graham, Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, Frank M. Turner. “China‘s First Empire”. The Heritage of World Civilizations. 1: 1152 (2007, 2005, 2002) Pearson Education, Inc. New
Mankind’s history of burial practices and funeral customs are as old as civilization itself. There is no specific way to planning a funeral. Every civilization and culture has provided for their dead in different ways. Religion and personal beliefs play an important role in the burial practices and funeral customs of a given culture or civilization. Furthermore, each civilization and cultured ever studied have three things in common: some type of funeral rites, rituals, and ceremonies; A sacred place for the dead; and memorialization of the dead. As far back as the time of Christ, burials have been noted to take place. In time burial and funeral customs have become very distinct, interesting and
In around 200 B.C. Ancient Rome and Han Dynasty China were located approximately 4,701 miles apart, yet had much more in common than people originally thought. As Jeffrey L. Richey states in ‘Teaching Early China and Ancient Rome Comparatively’, “The encounters of both China and Rome with foreign faiths were crucial in shaping the subsequent religious history of their successor cultures and epochs.” The different religions and changing of faiths impacted the way Rome and China cared for people, dead or alive. Ancient Rome and Han Dynasty China had many similarities and differences in how the two regions treated death, whether it would be the causes, the memorial services, or what both believed the afterlife to be, despite their different cultures.
Deep inside the hill in central China, lies an entomb emperor who has not been disturbed for thousands of years. The tomb holds China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi who was born on 259BC and died on 210BC. In the middle of the Chinese Province of Shaanxi lies a mysterious and large pyramid located 35 kilometres North East of Xi’an. The pyramid is known as the Mausoleum of the First Emperor. What lies in the depths of the tomb may answer some of Ancient China’s mysteries.
In this paper, we will discuss the different death rituals performed in different cultures. We view death rituals from Native Americans, Africans, those of the Chinese decent, and endocannibalism from the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea. Death is universal to all people in every culture. Responses to how one deals with death and dying differ greatly. Death rituals are usually based on beliefs. This can come from religion, history, language, and art.
At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people.
In conclusion, I have described the afterlife and the death rituals in Ancient China by describing some of their practices as well as what they believed in. I characterized the afterlife and the beliefs of Ancient China by explaining and describing the different concepts and perceptions that tie in with my topic. I also described that in Ancient China they do use the use of terror management theory by knowing that they are going to die because they know that they are promised an afterlife (C. Davis, personal communication, October, 2016). As ethical responsibly goes, it is the chore to follow and continue the correct path, which ties in with the people of Ancient China being promised an afterlife as well (C. Davis, personal communication, September,
Every individual experiences the act of death, and most persons experience the death of someone they know of. Whether family, kin, or someone infamous, the living deal with the process of dying. Anthropology seeks to understand the universal process of death ritual and how different cultures deal with death differently. An anthropologist can extract social values of a given culture, past or present, from how death ceremony is practiced. Such values could be regarding political hierarchy or an individual’s status in a society, and about a culture’s spiritual or religious faith. By exploring death ceremony in ancient Egypt, contemporary Hindu death practice in India, and current North American funerary rites, it can be illustrated that
We have covered the general accounts of human nature found in Confucianism and Taoism in light of the historical backdrop of the Period of Warring States. Use your responses to the following general questions below as an opportunity to refer either to the Smith text and accompanying assigned scriptures(s), Smith video(s) on China, Confucianism, and Taoism, or any additional material covered in class. Look ahead to the next question on the chun tzu in order to plan on avoiding repetition of answers verbatim within each essay if there are areas of potential overlap.
When it comes to discussing the manners and customs that dominated in China in the past century, numerous topics appear. Thanks to the numerous written testimonies, we can almost reconstruct the life and experiences of people in ancient China. Of course, many of the practices described are not only interesting, but surprising. In this paper I am going to take a closer look at the status of women in ancient Chinese family.