Bhagavad Gita: Compare and Contrast

The reflections on the caste duties and detachment are a combination of the on the moral and ethical teachings of Zarathrustra and Confucius.  Zarathrustra focused on moderation while Confucius focused on becoming a "junz" or a superior man.  The teachings in the Bhagavad Gita combine the two and state that a soul must have moderation so they do not get distracted and that they must fulfill their duty in the caste system.  

1..2...3...Numbers! Yay!

The "Arabic" numbers that Indians came up with are super important.  The numerals are simple and easy to write, so they make math easier to do.  The book compares math with Roman numerals and the Arabic numerals.  The Arabic numerals make it much easier to read and comprehend.  The number zero was also deemed very important in the book and it obviously is important because it's still there.  The symbol for zero allows for place values to exist.  The place values make it easier to write larger numbers.  Basically, the numerals are important because it's like shorthand notation that makes life easier. 

Map of Zhou to Han Dynasties

Prevent the Han from Collapsing

If I could travel back in time to the Han empire, I would go back to the Former Han period during the first century B.C.E.  I would when the social and economic tensions were rising.  At this time period there were distinct differences between the rich and the poor.  The poor were really bitter and the rich were enjoying themselves.  Part of the reason why there were social distinctions was because of the land distribution.  Since land was unevenly distributed and many families had to give themselves to slavery in order to pay debts, I would attack that problem.  The first thing I would do is get an army and get all the rich people to listen to me and scare them if they do not. Then I would congregate all the poor people and make sure they know I'm going to help them by giving them some land.  After that, I will redistribute the land for each family.  I would take all of the land of the large estates and evenly give each family of farmers the same amount of land. Then I would also make sure that each family has some sort of insurance. There is no way each family would be able to produce the same amount of food or enough because of a number of factors against them.  The insurance is to protect families from the effects of these factors like famines and droughts since those seemed to be a major problem.  In order for the insurance to work, I would tax the families based on income.  The taxes would be based off of each families' income, like rich people or families with better harvests pay more and poor people or families with not as adequate harvests pay less.  That way money can accumulate for the insurance and poor families are not required to pay as much as a rich family.  It does sound pretty unfair as the rich would be paying more but it is a somewhat communistic idea as everyone is supposed to be looking out for each other with this insurance plan.  In order to execute this plan, I would make sure everyone in the empire knows what will happen and explain the insurance plan. Once everyone understands, I would give it a solid six months for all the land distribution to be completed.  Then I would hire military soldiers to keep everyone in check.  But if people didn't listen to me, they would probably suffer from consequences like losing their land.  

Daoism: What do I think?

I think that Daoism is about having enough indulgences and desires that you can enjoy them but they do not control you. 

Confucianism: What is it?

Is Confucianism a religion?  Well, to answer that, one needs to define religion.  One definition given by dictionary.com is "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs." Basically, religion is trying to explain why the Earth exists, why things happen, and why humans exist. It gives people a "moral code" to live by.  Based on that definition, I do not think Confucianism is a religion because it is not trying to explain the world and other things.  It does not have "devotional and ritual observances."  Confucianism is basically a belief system. The book basically states things that a man has says and what he believes.  It is pretty close to a code of conduct.  It tells people how they should live and what they should do and what is right.

The reading supports the idea that people are born naturally bad.  One example is in book, chapter four, "I daily examine myself on three points:--whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful;--whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have been not sincere;--whether I may have not mastered and practised the instructions of my teacher."  In this quote, the speaker is explaining that they judge themselves based on these three criteria.  They check themselves for being faithful to people, sincere and whether or not they listened to their teacher.  The first two are qualities that everyone wants people to have.  The last one, "mastered and practised the instructions of my teacher" sounds like being obedient. Since the speaker is trying to make sure that they are faithful, sincere and obedient, it shows that they know they are prone to ignoring those three qualities.  Since they know they are prone to forgetting about being faithful, sincere and obedient, it proves people are more likely to be bad.

Another example is in book one, chapter six, "The Master said, "A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders.  He should be earnest and truthful.  He should overflow in love to all, and cultivate the friendship of the good.  When he has time and opportunity, after the performance of these things, he should employ them in polite studies."" The Master is talking about how a youth should behave. Just to point this out, young people are more mischievous than older people and they are stereo-typically portrayed as bad, but that can be disregarded.  Ignoring, "a youth", this quote is about how person should be "filial" and "respectful to his elders", he should also be earnest and truthful.  A person should also be loving and polite.  This is basically a laundry list of qualities a person should possess.  This is telling a person how they should behave and if people were thought to be born good, they would not need to be told to behave like this.  Since the Master must tell people they should behave a certain way, it supports that people are born bad.  Another part of this quote that stands out is "cultivate the friendship of the good."  A person should make friends with good people and good intentions is basically what I am getting out of that statement.  This makes me think that the Master thinks people are more likely to befriend bad people or make friends for bad reasons rather than good.  This quote shows that he believes that people have the tendency to do bad things.

A final example is also in book one, chapter eight, line two, "Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles." This quote is really short , but it also supports the idea that people are born bad.  As mentioned before, if people are born good, they do not need to be told to be good or behave properly.  Here, faithfulness and sincerity are told to be important principles that a person must follow.  A person born good would not need to be told that these are important principles.  Another point is that nowadays, most laws are made because someone, somewhere decided to do something and it caused a problem.  In order to avoid this problem, a law was made.  Like in some states, people cannot chew gum in certain areas.  Well, since this is a law, even if it is a ridiculous law, it clearly must have caused some problem.  Likewise, unfaithful and insincere people are the reason why Confucius has decided that these principles need to be instilled in people.  In other words, since there are unfaithful and insincere people, this statement was made because people need to be told to be faithful and sincere.

Overall, this book's reading supports the idea that people are born bad by instructing people how they should behave and what their ideals and principles should be.

Map of Persia (Failure)

Zarathustra on Good and Evil Question

Zarathustra made assumptions that humans would make the bad choices as he is telling everyone that they should make the right choices.  Throughout the hymn, he refers back to doing good deeds and all the good choices that Ahura Mazda made while his twin made all the bad choices. There is a description of how the good followers would be rewarded and how the evil would have the worst experience. He also tells people that they have the choice to do whatever they desire. However, he emphasizes how the bad will suffer and how the good will not.  At then end, it says "Long punishment for the evil-doer, and bliss for the follower of Truth", which serves as a reminder that the follower of goodness won't be punished while the evil-doer will.  Overall, I think Zarathustra assumes that people will be more likely to make the bad choices and just need to be told that they need to be good.  After they are told to be good, they just need to be reminded to remain good and not fall towards the dark side.  The hymn really serves as a reminder for people that they should be morally good so they can be rewarded. 

Copy of Peer Response!

Ashwini(Mesopotamia)- Your head project is really neat and pretty! I really like how the pictures are connected.  I also like how your key includes little thumbnail like pictures of each theme.  I think your project could have a more detailed key as it is a little confusing to figure out what each image was supposed to show.  Another way it could have been improved is using different colors to color code each theme, like instead of just using red. That way the key could have provided more information.   But that's really because your project is really great overall!  One similarity that struck me about your society and my society is the patriarchal figures.  In China, men dominated over women just like in Mesopotamia.   A different that struck me about our societies is that Mesopotamia has a more structured religion which is what the temple image seems to show.  In China, there was no structured religion.  One question I have for you is why did you decide to connect that thoughts inside the head to the outside? I thought that was really different and unique.

Hammad(Latin America)- Your head project looks super cool and the drawings are awesome!  Your drawings are really done well because they look uniform.  The organization of your head and the outside is also done really well.  It's easy to figure out things out.  One way this could be improved is by using color!  Another way is could be improved is by shrinking the key because it's really big.  One similarity that struck me is that your society had a king and my society has an emperor.  Both of these leaders had people do stuff for them.  One difference that struck me is that your society has giant heads.  China doesn’t have that form of art.  One question that I have for you: Why did you draw all of it?

Anu(India)- Your head project is really colorful.  The pictures that were chosen were really creative and I thought that was done well.  Another aspect of your poster that was done well is your key because it explained your images.  One thing you could improve on is the size and neatness of the key.  Another thing that could be improved is how your pictures are pasted on because there seems to be more space on the left that could have been used.  One similarity that struck me about your society and mine is that they both have servile people at the bottom.  A difference that struck me about your society and mine is that your society has a religion.  China does not have a uniform religion and your society does.  One question I have for you: Why did you get all your pictures from online? 

History Head

My region is China.  For the first theme, I have a picture of a river to show that the Chinese settled around rivers like the Yellow and Yangzi.  Inside the head I have a picture of an iron sword to show that the Chinese developed iron metallurgy and became more technologically advanced because of it. For the second theme, I have an image of an oracle bone to show the fortune-telling tradition that was apart of their belief system.  These oracle bones affected the person's external life as they were to predict a person's future.  The image inside of the head is of a scene from Disney's movie, Mulan.  The scene includes Mushu and two spirits of Mulan's ancestors.  This shows the Chinese belief that ancestors were super important to their lives.  The deceased ancestors and the living family members were to live together because the deceased also had an affect in the world.  For the third theme, there is a crown on the outside to show royalty.  The emperors of China were thought to be connected to heaven at one point.  Obviously since they had emperors, they had a monarchy for their political structure.  On the inside of the head, there is a picture of a dragon bowing.  The act of bowing is to show that a normal person respects the emperor because of the Mandate of Heaven. For the fourth theme, there is a picture of a rice field on the outside to show that rice was an agricultural production in China.  On the inside there is a picture of slave shackles.  The shackles are to show that slaves were apart of China's labor system, and that a person would think that a slave does a lot of work.  For the final theme, there is a picture of Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  Gaston is a really big, strong man, who is full of himself.  China had a patriarchal society, and basically men were important and dominated which is what Gaston shows.  The final picture inside the head is of another scene from Mulan.  Shang isn't actually bowing down to Mulan, but that's what it looks like and it works for the idea it's supposed to portray.  In ancient China, the men earned their rights and honor through the female descent of their family, so women had some importance.  

Test Reflection

For the first AP World test I have ever taken, I thought it was much easier than I expected.  I thought the test was going to be much harder but that doesn't mean I thought it was completely easy.  There were at least ten to fifteen questions I knew I couldn't answer.  The questions I knew I wasn't able to answer were somewhat specific to certain civilizations and areas.  Now that I have seen one test, I think I'll study more next time.  For this test, I skimmed through the notes I had taken, and I wish I spent a little more time going over specific groups of people and regions.  I also wish I had taken notes on where certain animals were domesticated.  I have a fear of birds and disregard most information about them.  I wish I didn't because now I feel super ridiculous, but at least I learned from my mistake.  For the next test, I think I'll review my notes more and take into account of time periods and anything else that is specific.  Overall, the test was nothing like what I had expected.