Ancient India And China 's Caste System Essay

Social classifications and expectations between classical china and classical India were very similar to each other. Both classical China and classical India had what is called a caste system. A caste system is when a citizen is organized into a special group that determined everything from their job, to their political rights, to their religious beliefs, and who they would marry.

The Caste system has aroused much controversy than any other feature of India’s society. Every day, Dalits are butchered, assaulted, abused, raped, lynched, shot or openly mutilated without considering any consequences of the offenders. The deaths of pregnant women who are not able to pay the bribes at government hospitals, some boys with eyes raised completely out for falling in love with a girl of a superior caste, and horrid stories of employees boiled to death because of spewing out arguments with the boss are continuously reported in mainstream newspapers. After years of democracy, the social structure stands to practice the caste system disregarding abolishment laws. Every international or national effort to abolish caste differentiation and segregation has been proven ineffective. The caste system of India is a deeply inculcated social problem requiring immense commitment domestically and internationally in understanding what has stopped the measures to get rid of this ancient system and what measures are needed to complete elimination of the system.

Though they had some different qualities, Classical China and India were very similar. The complexities of both India and China’s social hierarchy systems were very different. However their religious views and ideas were similar, and they both began to decline but were able to recover and maintain stability.

3. Evidence – (China) These people were elite members of society. To become involved in politics or to be any leader, a person had to take a test of intelligence, based off Confucian teachings and beliefs. (India) In society, Brahmins (priests) were held in the highest regard. Whatever caste a person was born into, that is where the person stayed, and that’s what determined the person’s importance.

Like Han China, Classical India used their social structure system as a method of political

When Indian caste system became stable it suddenly became rigid, and people stayed where they were born. Although hierarchy was rigid in both classical societies, they developed stable social classes that produced various kinds of people: the most important being the farmers.

Ancient China and ancient India are both important and interesting ancient civilizations. They are alike and unlike in many ways. Some significant ways in which ancient India and China are similar and different are religion, art, economics, politics, and social structure.

Hindus were divided by their social status, called the caste system. This made Hindus fall under one of the varnas such as Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra and the Untouchables (Strayer, 150-168). Priests and teachers were classified as Brahmins, warriors and kings were Kshatriya, merchants and landowners were known as Vaishya, peasants and serfs were classified as Shudras, and those that didn’t have a place on the caste system were defined as the untouchables because they had no social status. Hindus were unable to change their position in the caste system, until after reincarnation (Strayer, 150-168). There are scriptures such as the sacred text, The Vedas, and it leads to the fact that Brahmins empowered and dominated the top of the caste system and played specific roles in the religious lives of the people even from the start of India’s influence. Hindus became adjusted with these scared texts and grew used to it. They learned to follow religious values and traditions to have a better after life.

The priest “performs vedic rituals and acts as a counselor,” the warrior noble “has the role of protecting society,” and the merchant “includes landowners, moneylenders, and sometimes artisans (Molloy 91). The males within these three upper caste systems are considered twice born. This is where gender plays a role within the caste system as well. The peasant “does manual labor and is expected to serve the higher castes,” while the untouchable is the lowest caste system and is expected to do the lowest work, such as “cleaning toilets, sweeping streets, collecting animal carcasses, and tanning animal hides” (Molloy 91). Thus, it is evident that these two lower caste systems

The caste system has been extremely stable in India for over two thousand years. It is only since the more modern, independent state of India was formed that the system has come under any scrutiny at all. It is presently outlawed, but many of the practices, attitudes and traditions remain ingrained in Hindu society (University of Wyoming, 1997).

As in China, another dominant developing classical civilization, India, (300 B.C.-A.D. 500) focused greatly on philosophy and religious progress. Implanted within Indian divine belief systems, social status dictated all. The caste system, provided order and stability in India. Based out of Hinduism, the caste system clearly determined social status between five different divisions. The top of the caste were Brahmins (priests), followed by the Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaisyas (merchants), underneath merchants were Shudras (peasants and laborers), and the lowest rank were Pariahs (untouchables). Hinduism and Buddhism, the two dominating religions in India share many of the same concepts, as well as some distinct differences. These two religions

Both classical India and China were classified as patriarchal societies. Though for the most part this is true, women within the household had more power than they were accounted with. Women within the household had more say in matters than was written in theory. Both societies however stressed the importance of respect in the direction of one’s father/leader. Another similarity is the large peasant class of each civilization. For the Chinese, these were the mean people and for India these were the untouchables. These classes were both considered the lowest of the low in respect to the social castes. This class may simply exist for the mere fact of making those in other cases appreciate their ranking more, relieving the government of potential uprisings. The mean people understood that they could test their way up and if they could not they accepted their inferiority. The untouchables were born with the understanding that this caste is where they were placed due to the actions of a previous life and this is where they were to belong for this lifetime. It all comes down to religion and its structure. A final similarity is the societal structure brought to each civilization is a result of the civilization’s adopted belief system or religion. In China’s case this is Confucianism and in India’s case this is Hinduism. This is exemplified by the bureaucracy in China due to the structure of Confucianism and the

Firstly, the caste system reflects the inequality of Indian society. Although religion in India is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices, majority of Indian population follow Hinduism. Therefore, the dominance of Hinduism beliefs is common in India. There is a belief in caste system, as Brood said, “a system of hierarchical social organization”1. Hindu society is divided into four main classes; the priestly class, the warrior and administrator class, the producer class who is farmers and merchants and the servant class. The remaining group of people who is “outcastes” is called “untouchables” or dalit. Brodd recognizes “dalits continue to suffer terrible oppression, especially in rural communities in India”. I still could not imagine how terrible this bottom class suffers until reading Max Bearak article. All sufferings of Rohith Vemula, from the hardships of growing up poor, interactions with society in caste to scholarship revoke and suicide, happened tragically because he was born in a dalit family. This is the

The social structures of Ancient India and Ancient China shared more similarities than differences. While both civilizations had unique culture elements such as language and religion, the social structures that influenced the way their governments and societies ran were very similar.

The classical era (600 BCE - 600 CE) was a time where societies in India and China developed in complexity to improve overall advancements. As the societies grew in wealth and territory, religion, and political systems became intertwined with social hierarchies. Both Han China and Classical India had patriarchal societies. The reinforcement of the caste system through Hinduism in early Indian civilization created rigid social structures that disallowed for any social mobility. Although Han China exhibited limited social movement, due to the principles of Confucianism in which a person’s rank was distinguished by merit, social mobility was viable.