The cultures shifted from a primarily agrarian economic base to one that used metal as a means to craft practical and ritual objects. In addition to the ritual cauldrons that were emblematic of the Xia dynasty, other uses of advanced metallurgical techniques include the manufacturing of "jue," vessels used to hold a grain alcohol beverage commonly translated as "wine," (Class unit: 12). In fact, bronze objects were cast en masse during the Xia and Shang dynasties (Class unit: 12). Warfare over metals, especially tin and copper, transformed the balance of power in the region (Class unit: 12). Commoners were frequently conscripted for military service during the Shang dynasty ("The Evolution of Complex Societies in China,": 446). Bronze casting allowed Shang rulers to have access to advanced weaponry. Their bronze weapons, their centralized leadership, and their control over a large number of peasant soldiers enabled the Shang to become the….

Soon after, the Banker died as well, and the entire family fortune and responsibility fell on the Son.
With the passage of her husband, Mother was now no longer the head of the household, but she was confident nothing would change, after all her son loved her. When she came back from a vacation trip after a hot summer, she went into her room only to find that all of her possessions were missing. In a panic she ran to her Son's room and found him sitting on his desk.

Where are my things my beautiful son, where did you move them to?," she cried.

Why to grandmother's room of course," he diffidently stated.

What? To that dirty little shack, you cannot expect your mother to live their?!," she screamed.

Her son looked up at her and blinked his eyes. "Why are you so angry, I am treating you no better and no worse….

Women Live in Ancient China
China is one of the world's oldest nations, being more than 4000 years old it shows no signs of decline. China has a rich history. It was ruled by several men and by various dynasties. Each ruler set standards for how the Chinese civilization was to be governed and every emperor and dynasty makes the history of China only more interesting.

The ancient Chinese society was predominantly male oriented. Women were considered to be unequal and inferior to men. Most women lived an oppressed life. Even women who belonged to rich and noble families could not always escape from the oppression; however, to an extent their lives were easier than the majority of the other females. (Waley)

The role of women in ancient China was defined by Confucius who was a philosopher, teacher and politician. He believed that women should spend most of their lives serving the men….

We also know that they engaged in robust trade, both domestic and foreign and even over the Hindu Kush and into the Persian Gulf areas. Between 1800-1700 BC, though, most of the cities were abandoned, perhaps from environmental reasons (deforestation, etc.) and perhaps from invasion from Central Asia (Bentley, et.al., pp. 49-50).
By 3000 BCE, Ancient China had developed larger regional states and political/social units called dynasties. Each succeding dynasty took over more and more territory, which allowed for a similar development in Chinese culture. Chinese political orgaqnizations were complex, and based on both the family and socio-cultural unit. Because of the abundance of population working in agriculture, though, they also turned to technological innovations that increased their own power, but also tended to shield them from outside influences. Some of these inventions include: iron casting, the compass, gunpowder, geological mining techniques, mechanical clocks, row farming in agriculture, silk farming….

The Sumerians of Mesopotamia were also the first to use iron, They recovered the metal from meteorites and used it for spear tips and ornaments. Later smelting techniques developed in the area to purify the iron, and these spread to Europe via trade routes. By the Middle Ages, large foundries existed for smelting and forging iron into the many things it was used for. Basic trade rules and organization also passed from the Sumerians to Europe; methods of keeping accounts and even early guilds and merchant groups were part of Sumer, and passed est with trade (Airmet).

orks Cited

Airmet. "The History of Iron orking." Accessed 26 July 2009. http://www.airmetmetalworks.com/iron-working-history.html

Hooker, Richard. "Ancient China: The Shang." Accessed 26 July 2009. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ANCCHINA/SHANG.htm

O'Connor, J.J. And E.F. Robertson. "Egyptian Numerals." Accessed 26 July 2009. http://www.gap-system.org/~history/HistTopics/Egyptian_numerals.html.

Fundamental and inherently subjective (and thus at least partially false) systems of though cannot be avoided, and in Western thought this basic system consists of these ultimately false binary oppositions. This makes an understanding of a science that could incorporate objective and subjective elements a logical contradiction to Western minds.

Sivin concedes that Chinese science is not exactly the same as Western science (though this is arguably not really true in the present era), but he doesn't really put this in terms of a concession. Advances in Chinese astronomy and mathematics were made at approximately the same time they were being made in Europe, he contends, but due to a long and unbroken working understanding of how the observable world and universe worked -- even if it was more flawed than Ptolemy had achieved -- these advances did not cause or warrant the type of Scientific Revolution experienced in the West.

Other….

The holistic theory of health, "Therefore... looks for the signs of disharmony in the external and internal environment of a person in order to understand, treat and prevent illness and disease." (Traditional Chinese Medicine: NHS)
It is also important to note that the Chinese medical theory is closely linked to their ways of thinking or philosophy. This includes the theory of complementary opposites such Yin-yang, the Five Elements, the human body Meridian system and others. (Traditional Chinese medicine) the following quotation clearly shows the way in which Chinese medicine attempts cures and better health by looking at the overall situation of the individual. This is a very different approach to the conventional estern method focusing only on the central area of illness or concern.

Traditional Chinese medicine has a "macro" or holistic view of disease. For example, one modern interpretation is that well-balanced human bodies can resist most everyday bacteria and….

(Kumar, 2004)
Colors were essential as a means of expression in art as well.

Explanation of laughter

Laughter is rarely allowed in public, a cordial smile being always preferable. This limitation is yet again a proof of the influence Buddhism had on the aesthetic values of the world. (Clasquin, 2001)

Conclusion

Buddhist religion, as one of the oldest in the world, represents the expression of the constant quest for the meaning of life and the overcoming of suffering.

The philosophical system it set in place, the artistic standards it established, along with the moral percepts it promoted, Buddhism is an important influence on the aesthetic values of modern civilizations.

eferences

Clasquin, M. (2001) eal Buddhas don't laugh: attitudes towards humor and laughter in ancient India and China. [electronic version] Social Identities, vol. 7, no. 1. University of South Africa. etrieved, March 28, 2007, at http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Buddhas_Dont_Laugh.pdf

Indianchild. (2000) Buddhism in India, ancient Buddhism in India, India and Buddhism. etrieved….

Ancient Text ith Modern Text
Because written literature is capable of being transmitted from the person who wrote it across generations, it acquires the status of communal wisdom simply by being recorded. Yet there are limitations to the applicability of such stories, and to a certain degree wisdom consists in knowing that there are limitations to the theoretical knowledge one can acquire in this way, or human error can misinterpret the text. I would like to look at the way in which three texts -- one ancient (by Rumi) and two modern (by Siije and Soyinka) -- offer wisdom at the same time that they suggest limits to our own knowledge, and limits to the applicability of any such wisdom.

The poems of Rumi, by virtue of their age, seem almost to define the way by which wisdom can be transmitted in literature, but also can acknowledge its own limits. One particular….

power of China from the Shang Dynasty to the estern Han. There are eight references used for this paper.
China has seen a number of changes in terms of history and power over the years. It is interesting to examine the changing nature of the association as well as explore the relationship between history and political authority from the Shang Dynasty to the estern Han.

Political Power

China's history has been documented in a number of ancient writings.

Centuries of migration, amalgamation, and development brought about a distinctive system of writing, philosophy, art, and political organization that came to be recognized as Chinese civilization (Shinn, 1991)."

The fact that this civilization has continued over 4,000 years provides it with a unique position in world history.

Until the twentieth century, members of the ruling scholar-official class were responsible for documenting the history of China, which was "meant to provide the ruler with precedents to guide or….

hen the old Manchu dynasty failed to come up with ways to thwart the invading foreigners, a new nationalism was born in China. The old pastimes and rituals (p. 214) had allowed China to become soft. This awakening nationalism - partly a rejection of "foot binding, servant-girl bondage, prostitution, gambling," and opium smoking - was stoked not just by the colonial aggression, but by a spreading literacy (educational institutions were being built, the telegraph, newspapers, magazines and railway travel) and emerging awareness of their endangered culture. The last Manchu Emperor was put out of office on February 12, 1912, and hence a political system that had endured for 2,133 years, was out of commission.
Fairbank takes great pains to cover myriad events in China that led the country from ancient dynasties to new ideas and new leadership. The new order - the Kuomintang political party - came into power in….

Both Spartan men and women exercised together in the nude, and both were "encouraged to improve their intellectual skills" ("omen in Ancient Greece"). Being a woman in Sparta certainly ensured a greater sense of gender equality -- but that does not necessarily mean Sparta was the preferred residence of women in Greece. After all, Sparta did without a lot of the creature comforts that other city-states like Athens took for granted as essential to civilization. There is a reason the phrase "Spartan living" has come to be synonymous with the bare necessities.
As for variance in the social structure of the various states, democracy prevailed in Athens for a time (but so did tyranny and corruption as well). Thebes also had its monarchy and later on its heroic warrior citizens. Sparta had two kings who ruled simultaneously. But its social structure was also more slave-based than anywhere else. In fact,….

The State has also established a string of both general and specific policies for improving and developing special education and set aside special funds for this purpose. Consequently, just like regular education, special education has also developed rapidly. Although local governments are encouraged to provide compulsory education to children with and without disabilities, the enacted policies do not necessitate that education be provided to all students.
Despite the fact that students with disabilities were earlier educated in special schools, China has adopted new channels of special education including the integration of disabled children into general education classes. Currently, the number of disabled children enrolled in schools has continued to experience a big increase since 1987. Although many articles in the laws formulated by the Chinese government call for the overall education of handicapped children, special education for children with autism or severe disabilities is not directly mentioned in these policies….

This paradigm shift can best be understood by looking at a Chinese tradition dating back centuries. However, to understand modern China, we must also understand the basis for Chinese culture -- Confucianism. It was Confucianism, though, that dominated ancient Chinese history as a socio-religious philosophy. The trend towards philosophical underpinnings, too, was part of Ancient China's view of law, order, and state control. Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system based on the teachings of Confucius. It is a system that focuses on social, moral, political, and philosophical through, and stresses the important of education and the actualization of the individual. In combination, individuals then are able to govern the state by morality and virtue, rather than extreme coercion or violence (Sprunger). Unlike many religions, Confucianism expects to be part of the political/legal process and governance is part of the expectations of service by the populace. A basic sense….

Chinese History
Zhou (or Chou) dynasty, arising to power after defeating the Shang Dynasty in China in the mid-1000's C, was the first dynasty to move the people groups which lived in the area currently known as modern china toward a common civilization.

Under the Shang, the Chinese people were no more than a collection of family tribes scattered throughout the region. At the beginning of the Chou dynastry, the region still felt little cohesive cultural unity. It wasn't until the 6th and 7th centuries C that archeological designations begin to appear that signify the people were collecting under a common identity. The early forms of collectivism appeared in the form of tribal heads marrying daughters of neighboring tribes. At this time, the term Hsia appeared, and was used as a designation for the people of the region who had the common experiences of living under a number of dynasties. The term….