HST 1000-08: Week Six: Due October 5th

DUE OCTOBER 5: READ Chapter 5 & BLOG ON the readings for this week
Chapter Five: Society and Inequality in Eurasia/ North Africa

SOCIETY AND THE STATE IN CHINA

Political power and immense social prestige of Chinese state officials, all of them male
As the Han Dynasty established its authority in China around 200 BCE, its rulers required each province to send men of promise to the capital, where they were examined and chosen for the official positions on the basis of their performance

AN ELITE OF OFFICIALS

Over time, this stream of selecting administrators revolved into the worlds first professional civil service
Private schools in the provinces funneled still more aspiring candidates into this examination system
In theory open to all men, this system in practice favored those whose families were wealthy enough to provide the years of education required to pass even the lower level exams
The examination system provided a modest measure of social mobility in an otherwise quite hierarchical society
Those who made it into the bureaucracy entered a realm oh high privilege and great prestige

THE LANDLORD CLASS

Most officials came from wealthy families, and in China wealth meant land
This accumulation of land in seizable estates was a persistent theme in Chinese history, and one that was frequently, though not very successful, opposed by state authorities
The fate of individual families rose and fell as the wheel of fortune raised them to great prominence or plunged them into poverty and disgrace
The term scholar-gentry reflected their twin sources of privilege

PEASANTS

The vast majority of its population consisted of peasants, living in small households representing two or three generations
Such conditions provoked periodic peasant rebellions
Yellow Turban Rebellion
Repeatedly in Chinese history, such peasant movements often expressed in religious terms, registered the sharp class antagonisms of Chinese society that led to the collapse of more than one ruling dynasty

MERCHANTS

Peasants were the solid productive backbone of the country, and their hard work and endurance in the face of difficulties were worthy of praise
Merchants were viewed as unproductive, making a shameful profit from selling the work of others
Seen as a social threat

CLASS AND CASTE IN INDIA

In both civilizations, birth determined social status for most people; little social mobility was available for the vast majority; sharp distinctions and great inequalities characterized social life; and religious or cultural traditions defined these inequalities as natural, eternal, and ordained by the Gods

CASTE AS VARNA

The caste evolved from a racially defined encounter between light skinned aryan invaders and the darker hued native peoples
The idea that society was forever divided into four ranked classes, or varnas, was deeply embedded in Indian thinking.
At the top were priests, followed by warriors and rulers, next was commoners, far below these was the servants

CASTE AS JATI

The many thousands of jatis became the primary cell of India's unique caste-based society
Marriage and eating together were permitted only within an individuals own jati
With its many desperate, distinct, and hierarchically ranked social groups, Indian society was quite different from that of China
Being born into a particular caste was generally regarded as reflecting the good or bad deeds of a previous life
As caste restrictions tightened, it became increasingly difficult for individuals to raise their social status during their lifetimes
India’s social system thus differed from that of China in several ways. It gave priority to religious status and ritual purity, whereas china elevated political officials to the highest of elite positions

THE FUNCTIONS OF CASTE

Provided a substitute for the state as an integrative mechanism for Indian civilization
It offered a distinct and socially recognized place for almost everyone
Caste represented a means of accommodating the many migrating or invading peoples who entered the subcontinent
Allowed people to find a place within a larger Indian civilization while retaining something of their unique identity

SLAVERY: THE CASE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

A social institution with deep roots in human history
The class inequalities of early civilizations, which were based on great differences in privately owned property, also made it impossible to imagine people owning other people

SLAVERY AND CIVILIZATION

Slavery generally meant ownership by a master, eh and possibility of being sold, working without pay, and the status of an outsider at the bottom of the social hierarchy
In sometimes and places, a fair number of slaves might be emancipated in their own lifetimes, through the generosity of religious convictions of their owners, or to avoid caring for them in old age, or by allowing slaves to purchase their freedom with their own funds
Varied considerably in the labor they were required to do
People could fall into slavery as criminals, debtors, or prisoners of war

THE MAKING OF ROMAN SLAVERY

RESISTANCE AND REBELLION

COMPARING PATRIARCHIES

Women's subordination in all civilizations has been so widespread and pervasive that historians have been slow to recognize that gender systems has a history, changing over time
Restrictions on women were far sharper in urban based civilizations

A CHANGING PATRIARCHY: THE CASE OF CHINA

Yang viewed as masculine and related to heaven, rulers, strength, rationality, and light
Yin, the lower feminine principle, was associated with the earth, subjects, weakness, emotion, and darkness
Men go out, women stay in
Three obediences - women's subordination to her father, then husband, and finally her son

CONTRASTING PATRIARCHIES: ATHENS AND SPARTA

Athens has been celebrated as a major expression of democracy and rationalism, its treatment toward women was far more restrictive than that of the highly militaristic and much less democratic Sparta

HST 1000-08