REVISED Chapter 5: Society and Inequality in Eurasia/North Africa

Chinese Society: Only men can move into positions of political power. The wealthy elite made up most of those who went on to hold great positions of power. Wu Di established an academy in 124 B.C.E where young men of promise could be trained in history, literature, art, and mathematics with an emphasis on confucian teachings before they were sent to the capital for examinations. The examination system provided a bit of limited mobility that the was not otherwise offered by the hierarchal structure of Chinese society. Men from common families could attend school if they were sponsored, perhaps by landowners, to bring honor to their village and enter the circle of elite officials. The examination system was a key factor unique to chinese society. Those who entered bureaucracy traveled in carriages, wore robes and headdresses, and given seals appropriate to their rank as doing so was considered of the greatest honor. In China, wealth meant land. in 210 B.C.E. most small-scale peasants and farmers owned their own land but by the first century B.C.E. population growth and taxation made it necessary for many to sell their land. This accumulation of land usually meant avoiding taxes with denied the state revenue and increasing taxation on already poor peasants. Landowners could sometimes employ their own militaries to fend off tax collectors and officials. Wang Mang began the redistribution of land to poor peasants in 8 C.E. as he believed farmers to be the backbone of society. It however proved very difficult to enforce and opposition from landowners, nomadic invaders, poor harvests, floods, and famines led to his assassination in 23 C.E. Large Landowning families continued to be a central feature of Chinese civilization. The vast majority of Chinese Society was made up of peasants. Many could barely survive. state authorities demanded taxes, free labor, and military service from young men. THese conditions led to periodic peasant rebellions like the Yellow Turban Rebellion toward the end of 2 C.E. Those involved in the rebellion found new faith in Daoism which was much more appealing than Confucianism. Daoism was very much based in nature and supernatural healing as opposed to Confucianism which was largely based on everyone filling in their roles. Peasants in China were exploited and oppressed but also honored and celebrated in the official ideology of the state. They were the solid productive backbone of the country that made wealth possible. Merchants, however, were seen as lazy and unproductive, making a profit from other people's work. They were stereotyped as greedy and materialistic people. Because of these beliefs their were many restraints on merchants in an effort to control them. In the Han Dynasty merchants were not allowed to wear silk, carry arms, or ride horses. they were also not allowed to take art in the examination system or hold public office. Despite clear discrimination, merchants generally became wealthy and had backdoor deals with politicians.
Indian Society: Similarly to Chinese Society, birth determined social status for most people. INdian society however, is very unique in its long-standing establishment of the caste system. By 500 B.C.E. there were four classes: Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and Sudras. The first three listed were considered aryan born and of the purest prestige. Brahmins were priests, Kshatriya were warriors, Vaisya were commoners who cultivated land and Sudras were native people who were considered servants to their superior varnas.  They were not allowed to hear the Vedas or  values of hinduism nor take part in superior religious rituals. These four bodies supposedly formed from the body of the god Purusha and therefore was eternal and changeless. These castes were determined by the gods and your caste was determined by your work in a past life. You moved up to a higher caste when you fulfilled the work of our caste whole-heartedly and then died. Once you died if it was determined that you did your worldly work well and were accepting of your caste you moved up the social ladder and were born into a higher caste. If you did poorly you were born into the same class or lower.  A fifth category of varna was added to the bottom of the list, the untouchables who were considered most unclean because of their work with dead bodies and skinning dead animals. Jati were the occupations one was able to have in a certain caste with more detailed and extensive hierarchies in each caste. Each varna had specific and strict guidelines for how those born into it should live their life. "It is better to do one's own duty badly than another's well." Untouchables were forbidden to use the same wells of higher castes and those of lower varnas were required to lay at their superior's feet whenever one came about. Sometimes those in specific jatis could slowly climb the social ladder b adopting the customs of a higher class and buying land or learning about some forgotten ancestor that was in a higher varna. It was one of the only instances of social fluidity in Indian society. The caste system was very much localized and therefore did not have a central government of the Indian state. The honeycomb type of societal structure allowed a place for people of many different traditions and backgrounds. Assimilation meant retaining identity which was not the case in Chinese society.