Chapter 4 Eurasian Cultural Traditions

Terms

Legalism

Confucianism

Filial Piety

Daoism and the Dao

The Vedas and the Upanishads

Brahma

Karma

Caste and the caste system

Nirvana

Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Bhagavad Gita

Siddhartha Gautama

Theravada/Mahayana

Zoroastrianism

Judaism and “Yahweh”

Old Testament

Greek philosophy (Greek “thinking”)

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

Jesus

Saint Paul

Questions

1. a. What were Legalism, Confucianism, and Daoism a response to, or what problem(s) were

they looking to find solution(s) to? (i.e., what were the origins of these schools of thought?)

b. What were their specific influences, or effects on at least two of the following in China:

society, culture, politics, art (including literature)?

2. Based on what we have learned in the previous Chapter and read in this one:

a. What is unique or distinct about Judaism?

b. What do you think were the multiple origins or influences on Jewish religious thought?

(HINT: look back at the conquest of the region by different groups and think about the

effects on the Israelites/Hebrews and Judaism itself)

c. What were the subsequent effects of this religion?

3. How did the core beliefs outlined in the Sanskrit scriptures of Hinduism contribute to the

development Indian society?

4. How, or in what ways, did the religious traditions of South Asia change over the centuries?

Make sure you consider both Hinduism and Buddhism.

5. Identify some of the core ideas in Greek philosophy and science.

6. Compare and contrast the lives and teachings of Jesus and Buddha? Include how their

religions evolved after their deaths.