Religion Influence Religion

China during the classical period, a span of time stretching from 1000 B.C.E.-500 C.E., was ruled by many families, each having their own dynasty. The very first dynasty of this period was the Zhou, coming into power after overthrowing the Shang. The last Shang emperor, Di Xin, had essentially abandoned matters of the state in favor of hedonistic activities, using tax money to fund them and therefore becoming very unpopular. This caused the Zhou uprising which led to the establishment of the Mandate of Heaven, a concept that not only allowed the Zhou to gain and maintain cultural power of the Chinese people, but led to widespread notions in Chinese society of the validity of autocracy and a need for extremely centralized government that would

during the Zhou Dynasty, China was experiencing a great deal of political turmoil. A major part of this era was called the Period of the Warring States. It was a time when there were numerous wars that occurred due to the conflict that existed between seven states. (Watkins, 2013) These warring states were the Han, Wu, Zhao, Chu, Qi, Yan and Jin. According to Jerry H. Bentley and Herbert F. Ziegler of the book Traditions and Encounters, “This period forced some people to reflect on the nature of society, and the roles of humans beings within society.” The authors continued saying that it forced others to “identify principles that would restore political and social order.” (Bentley & Ziegler, 2011) The principles of Confucianism were established and followed in order to help the citizens of China to live and govern their communities more efficiently. Through Confucianism, Confucius helped legitimize China’s rule and bring about order in the mist of turmoil. The effects of Confucius’ principles are still seen and felt today in many aspects of modern day Chinese society. Veritably, there were points throughout Chinese history where Confucianism affected almost every aspect of life in China. Confucius has impacted the development of Chinese thought and culture in various ways from education to politics, to familial relationships.

Through history, religion has shaped civilizations in several aspects. In ancient Indian and Egyptian civilizations it was very strong shaping force in political structures, but both the religious beliefs and the resulting political system were different, just like pharaohs were different from rajas.

The first ever knowing emperor of china was Shi Huangdi, His named applied to the country, while in Zhou’s dynasty he created the feudal system Shi abolished it was no more. Shi was a strong emperor and he expanded the country of Vietnam, during his reign he built the Great wall and a lot of different things that china is revolved around. During the Shi dynasty there where strict laws. If you didn’t go to school you were killed.

The Zhou Dynasty, which overthrew the Shang Dynasty, adopted much of Shang culture, which did not bring sweeping change. However, the Zhou rule brought new ideas to Chinese civilization. These new ideas included the “Mandate of Heaven” idea, coined money, feudalism, roads and canals, and more. One of the flaws in this dynasty which is most likely the cause of downfall is the feudalism system and that the Zhou Dynasty controlling the lands that stretched far beyond the Huang He in the north to the Chang Kiang in the south. Feudalism is a system in which nobles, are granted the use of land that legally belong to the king in return for owing them loyalty and military service, and protection to the people who live on their estates. In 771 B.C., when the nomads form the north and west stacked the Zhou capital and murdered the Zhou monarch, the royal members who escaped were not able to control the noble families, which led to bloodshed and violence. This changed China forever. Their method of control was the single handed cause of the love, harmony, and respect for authority being replaced with chaos, arrogance and defiance. In conclusion, the Zhou dynasties method of control could very possibly be the reason of china’s

Various religions and philosophies were popular and influential in different times in China’s history. During the time of the Qin Dynasty, the first of the two main dynasties in Classical China, a philosophy known as Legalism was very popular. Legalism emphasized the importance of government and laws over anything else for obtaining order and success. This helped strengthen the Qin’s central government and create a degree of equality due to the fairness created by the laws. While Legalism was the most popular philosophy during the Qin Dynasty, other belief systems, such as the philosophy of Confucianism, existed in China. In the Han Dynasty, the second of the two main dynasties in Classical China, Confucianism was the major belief system from which much of life was based on (Wu, Han Dynasty Social Structure). The major

Religion has been a major factor for the growth and development of societies since the establishment of even the very first ancient civilizations. Though each of the ancient societies—the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Indians, and the Mesopotamians—had different spiritual beliefs, they each shared the common belief that the presence of religion within a civilization would have positive results upon the entire civilization.

These two very successful dynasties also relied heavily on their religion to keep the people together, and to also regulate the social classes. During this time period Neo-Confucianism was the main supported religion. Neo-Confucianism of course adapted from

In ancient China, government is very different then most countries. Instead of presidents they have dynasty’s. A dynasty is a line of hereditary rulers of a country. The shang dynasty was responsible for the starting blocks of of chinese culture and civilization. The steadiness of the country during the Shang Dynasty led up to many cultural advances such as industrialized bronze casting, the calendar, religious rituals, and writing. The first king was Tang. He began to work for the people of

Chinese Dynasties: 1. Shang: Also called Yin, dynasty that was China's earliest historically verifiable state 1766 B.C. to 1122 B.C. A. Reason's for Rise: Unlike the early accounts of history by the Chinese, there is archaeological evidence of the Shang, who built their cities in northern China around the eastern parts of the Yellow River. For this reason they are called the Yellow River civilization. They were a bronze age people; bronze-working seems to have entered China around 2000 BC (about one thousand years after its invention in Mesopotamia). B. Territorial Location & size at height of power (map): The Shang ruled the area from the North China Plain northward into present-day Shantung Province and westward to the tip of Honan

Ancient China was always able to flourish as a powerful economic and imperialistic country. Behind this great amount of early success were great dynasties that played great roles in China’s history. China has always been highly influenced by its great ancient dynasties. These dynasties were able to establish monetary systems, road and canal systems for trade, and also build great elaborate historic structures that still stand today. They also influenced different philosophies such as Taoism and Confucianism. In the long history of China, many great dynasties appear that have helped a lot to the development of the whole country. Among them, there are

The abundance of religion throughout history has left a profound impact. From the religions of the Mediterranean, such as Christianity and Islam, to the religions of the east, such as Buddhism, their spread has affected many governments and their leaders. The exchange between religion and governments have made governments grapple with new ideas and cultures.

Religion has always had a special role in history, shaping culture, language, wars, and even geographic borders. Polytheistic worship shaped the ancient West--Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, and Rome--and Christianity took over in the European Middle Ages, but the change was more of an evolution than a revolution.

Religion has been a powerful force in human history. Mankind has longed and searched for the answers to its purpose, the reason for being and the possibility of life after physical death. They reasoned that an afterlife would be a place of accounting and reckoning for the life they lived on earth. Religious belief systems seemed to give the answers as to how to prepare for the afterlife. Religion became the means of giving answers to those basic yet deep-seated questions of both life and death. Religion provided a format of rules and laws for conduct and treatment toward others based on the desires and wishes of a god or gods that people envisioned, imagined or invented. Religious belief systems have been a powerful force for good and bad...good in the sense that it provided a measure of individual behavior and order in society for the wellbeing of the whole, but bad in the sense that men of ambition who craved power and control over others would often use religion as a tool of manipulation and fear. A casual glance of history tells us that complete civilizations have been built, grown and maintained around elaborate religious systems, ancient Egypt being a prime example.

Rhoads Murphey describes the history of China history is on the succession of dynasties that ruled it over a period of time until around 1912 when Republic of china was formed before rising to the current People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949. In China, a dynasty was made up of Kings or emperors that came from the same family. They ruled in succession where a king could be inherited by his son or his immediate relatives. Although china’s history is majorly regarded on the basis of dynastic ruling, other small kingdoms were established that ruled different part of china. For example, in 200AD, the fall of great Han dynasty triggered formation of smaller kingdoms all over the china which were later united by a short lived Sui Dynasty that reigned between 580 and 618 AD.