Empires of China and India,350 BC to AD 600 - Phillipsburg School ...

The Growth of Civilizations 

•1. Classical Greece - 2100 BC – 150 BC 

•2. Rome and Early Christianity – 750 BC – AD 500 

•3. The Americas – 1000 BC – AD 1500 

•4. Empires of China and India – 350 BC – AD 600

Empires of China and India 

350 BC to AD 600 

•1. The Growth of China 

•2. Chinese Society and Culture 

•3. Indian Dynasties 

•4. Indian Society and Culture 

• 300 – 200 BC, strong empires unified much of China and 

India 

•Under these empires, China and India became prosperous 

•Led to classical periods in their histories, during which China 

and India developed many of the characteristics that would 

define their modern times

350 BC – AD600 

1. The Growth of China 

•Qin and the Han 

350 BC to AD 600

The Qin Dynasty 


•300’s BC, the Warring States Period – 

•era in which the Qin state began to dominate the other states of 

China


Qin [Ch’in] Dynasty 

• Established China’s first empire 

 

• Shi Huangdi (First Emperor) 

•Legalist rule 

•A powerful and efficient 

government was key to 

maintaining order 

•Bureaucratic administration 

•Centralized control 

•Military expansion 

•Book burnings targeted 

Confucianists 

•Buried protestors alive! 

• Built large section of the Great 

Wall

Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta 

Army 


•Discovered in 1974 - the immense army of the dead 

•A Paranoid Emperor in hope of gaining immortality had artisans create a 

life-size army with chariots, horses, and more than 7,000 soldiers to guard 

him in the afterlife

Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta 

Army 


•Army placed in pits around the emperor’s tomb


Individual “Tombs”


Terra Cotta Soldiers & Cavalrymen 

•Although harsh, Qin policies under Huangdi unified and strengthened China. 

•He undertook massive building projects, including an improved irrigation 

system, an expanded network of roads and canals, and a defensive wall.

Cavalry 


•Despite improvements in trade and transportation, peasants had 

to pay heavy taxes and some were forced to work on them

Individual Soldiers 

350 BC – AD600


Details of an Individual Soldier


Great Wall, Shanhai Pass 

•To strengthen security and protect his empire from outside 

threats, Shanhai had workers join the separate defensive walls 

creating the Great Wall of China


The Great Wall with Towers 

•Hundreds of thousands of peasants were forced to work on 

the wall and many people died from the harsh labor.

The Han Dynasty 


•When Shi Huangdi died in 210 BC, the Qin Dynasty crumbled in 

rebellion. Liu Bang, a peasant leader, founded the Han dynasty, one 

of the greatest dynasties in Chinese history

Han Dynasty 


•“People of the Han” original Chinese 

•Paper invented [105 B.C.E.] 

•Silk Road trade develops; improves life for many 

•Buddhism introduced into China 

•Expanded into Central Asia

Liu Bang Tomb 


• His jade suit has 2498 pieces! He ruled with the mandate of 

heaven (approval of the gods) 

• He re-instituted Confucianism and at the same time kept 

some Legalist policies to maintain firm control over his 

empire

Emperor Wudi 


•One of the Greatest 

Han emperors 

•Started public schools. 

•Colonized Manchuria, 

Korea, & Vietnam. 

•Civil service systempass 

an exam in the 

Confucian classics 

bureaucrats 

•Confucian scholargentry 

•Revival of Chinese 

landscape painting.


Emperor Wudi and Expansion 

•Martial Emperor - 

expand his empire 

through warfare 

•Xiongnu-nomads who 

lived in the grasslands 

of n. China

The Han Decline 

•In 184, a Daoist sect called the Yellow Turbans rebelled 

and through the empire into chaos 

•Period of Disunion - 350 years of warfare 


2. Chinese Society and Culture 

Trade Routes of the Ancient World 


• The Silk Road network of trade routes that stretched from China 

4,000 miles across the heart of Asia to the Mediterranean Sea

Ruins of Jiaohe, Turphan 

depression. 

•Han dynasty outpost in Central Asia 



Chang’an: The Han Capital

Han Artifacts 


Imperial 

Seal 

Han Ceramic House 

•The Han period was a Classical age in China 

history. 

•During this age, art flourished and science and 

technology improved life.


Ceramics, Later Han Period 

•The Spread of Buddhism to China, led to an increase in Buddhist 

art and statues

Acupuncture 


•Inserting fine needles 

into the skin at specific 

points to cure disease 

and relieve pain

3. Indian Dynasties 

The Maurya Empire 


•321 BCE – 185 BCE 

•The first Indian Empire 

•The seizing of the throne of the kingdom of Magadha


Chandragupta: 321 BCE-298 

•First Mauryan emperor 

•Unified northern India. 

• Defeated the Persian 

general Seleucus. 

• Divided his empire into 

provinces, then districts 

for tax assessments and 

law enforcement. 

• He feared 

assassination [like 

Saddam Hussein] food 

tasters, slept in 

different rooms, etc. 

• 301 BCE gave up his 

throne & became a Jain.

Kautilya 


• Chandragupta’s advisor. 

• Brahmin caste. 

• Wrote The Treatise on Material Gain or 

the Arthashastra .- statescraft 

• A guide for the king and his ministers: 

‣ Supports royal power. 

‣ The great evil in society is anarchy. 

‣ Therefore, a single authority is 

needed to employ force when 

necessary!


Ashoka (304 – 232 BCE) 

• Religious conversion after the 

gruesome battle of Kalinga in 262 

BCE. 

• Dedicated his life to Buddhism. 

• Built extensive roads. 

• Conflict how to balance 

Kautilya’s methods of keeping power 

and Buddha’s demands to become a 

selfless person? 

•Considered to be one of India’s 

greatest rulers

Asoka’s Empire 


Asoka’s law code 


• Edicts scattered in 

more than 30 places 

in India, Nepal, 

Pakistan, & Afghanistan. 

• Written mostly in 

Sanskrit, but one was in 

Greek and Aramaic. 

• 10 rock edicts. 

• Each pillar [stupa] is 40’-50’ 

high. 

• Buddhist principles dominate 

his laws.


One of Asoka’s Stupas


Women Under an Asoka tree

Turmoil & a power Vacuum: 

•The Maurya Empire 

is divided into many 

kingdoms. 

•Kushan – invaders 

from Central Asia 

•Tamils-far south; 

carried active sea 

trade with 

Southeast Asia 

220 BCE – 320 CE 



Gupta Empire: 320 CE – 647 CE 

•India remained divided into small kingdoms for about 400 

years. 

•Then around Ad 320, the Gupta took over northern India.

Gupta Rulers 


• Chandra Gupta I 

r. 320 – 335 CE 

“Great King of Kings” 

founder 

• Chandra Gupta II 

r. 375 - 415 CE 

Profitable trade with 

the Mediterranean 

world! 

• Hindu revival. 

• White Huns invade – 450 CE

Chandra Gupta 11 


4. Indian Society and Culture 

Fa-Hsien: Life in Gupta India 

• Chinese Buddhist monk traveled 

along the Silk Road and visited 

India in the 5c. 

• He was following the path of the 

Buddha. 

• He reported the people to be 

happy, relatively free of 

government oppression, and 

inclined towards courtesy and 

charity. Other references in the 

journal, however, indicate that the 

caste system was rapidly assuming 

its basic features, including 

"untouchability," the social 

isolation of a lowest class that is 

doomed to menial labor. 



International Trade Routes 

during the Guptas


Extensive Trade: 

spices 

gold & ivory

Kalidasa 


• The greatest of Indian poets. 

• His most famous play was Shakuntala. 

• During the reign of Chandra Gupta II.

Gupta Art 


•Greatly influenced Southeast Asian 

art & architecture.

500 healing 

plants identified 

Plastic 

Surgery 

1000 diseases 

classified 

Printed 

medicinal guides 

Medicine 

Kalidasapoet 

and 

playright 

Gupta 


Achievements 

Literature 

Sakuntala 

C-sections 

performed 

Inoculations 

Gupta 

India 

Solar 

Calendar 

Decimal 

System 

Concept 

of Zero 

Mathematics 

PI = 3.1416 

Hindu-Arabic-Indian 

scholars created the 

numerals we use today 

Astronomy 

The earth 

is round 

Aryabhata


The Decline of the Guptas 

• Invasion of the White Huns in the 4c signaled 

the end of the Gupta Golden Age, even though 

at first, the Guptas defeated them. 

• After the decline of the Gupta empire, north 

India broke into a number of separate Hindu 

kingdoms and was not really unified again until 

the coming of the Muslims in the 7c

Bhartrhari 


• 5c India court poet and philosopher. 

•Knowledge is man's 

crowning mark, 

A treasure secretly buried, 

The source of luxury, fame, 

and bliss, 

A guru most venerable, 

A friend on foreign 

journeys, 

The pinnacle of divinity. 

Knowledge is valued by kings 

beyond wealth--- 

When he lacks it, a man is a 

brute. 

What does this poem suggest about 

the importance of knowledge? How 

does Mr. Schenk feel about 

knowledge?

Empires of China and India,350 BC to AD 600 - Phillipsburg School ...

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