Digital Scrapbook Entry #5 India

Current event: http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/06/affirmative-action

Past event:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit

" Indian Scheduled Classes - Then and Now"

         In the context of traditional Hindu society Dalit status has been historically associated with occupations regarded as ritually impure such as any involving leather work, butchering, removal of rubbish, dead animals, and human waste. Dalits worked as manual laborers cleaning streets, latrines, and sewers. Engaging in these activities was considered to be polluting to the individual and this pollution was considered contagious. As a result, Dalits were commonly segregated and banned from full participation in Hindu social life. For example, they could not enter a temple or a school, and were required to stay outside the village. Complicated rules were often observed to prevent accidental contact between Dalits and other castes.  So in olden times Dalits often remained excluded from local religious and other life.

         India’s experiment with affirmative action is the world’s oldest. Known locally as “reservation” policy it is an elaborate quota system for public jobs and places in publicly funded colleges.  For example the Indian Institutes of Technology and in most elected assemblies have a quota system. The quotas are filled by members of designated disadvantaged groups called scheduled classes. Instead of trying to find out whether this practice helps the scheduled classes politicians focus on extending it to new blocks of voters. By the late 1980s after a commission of inquiry extended the quotas to lowly but non-“scheduled” Hindu castes, known collectively as the OBCs for “Other Backward Classes”, some 27% of the population. Only 2% of all jobs in India are affected by these quotas since most jobs are casual in India as opposed to formal.  Discrimination against Dalits still exists in rural areas in everyday matters such as access to eating places, schools, temples and water sources but it has largely disappeared in urban areas and in the public Hindu. In rural India, however, caste origins are more readily apparent and Dalits often remain excluded from local religious life, though there is some evidence to suggest that the severity of discrimination against Dalits and other scheduled classes is fast diminishing.

        There are many more opportunities for the scheduled classes today, than before. But the caste system is not disappearing in India. Affirmative action has the opposite effect from causing the caste system to disappear since by identifying oneself with and emphasizing that one is a member of a scheduled class one can obtain government jobs and entrance to better schools. The effect of is to lower standards in order to guarantee that jobs will go to schedule classes in order to fulfill quotas. This lowers the quality of the work force or student body. It also creates resentment among the classes which are denied jobs or school entrances in favor of the scheduled classes. As a result instead of eliminating the caste system current government policies in India tend to expand and in entrench the caste system.

Citations:

• http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60892000/jpg/_60892492_dalit_scavenger_afp.jpg
• http://www.unwomensouthasia.org/assets/Dalit-Women-in-Varanasi-.jpg

Current Event Article:

Indian Resevation 

Jun 29th 2013, 3:56 BY A.R. | DELHI : economist

Link: http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/06/affirmative-action

Ancient Article:

Dalits
Wikipedia

Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit

Trade between U.S and China 1 minute Video.

Thoughts and Reflection: Women in Ancient China

Women In Ancient China 

      Within Taoism, women as yin were considered more or less equal to men who were yang.  Women were able to seek spiritual fulfillment outside their family duties. Some women joined convents, others gathered with men to discuss philosophy and religion, and a few become Taoist priests.  Buddhism also granted women areas of empowerment. Women went on pilgrimages to Buddhist temples, retreated to nunneries, sometimes gave public lectures, and led temples groups. 

According  to the Confucian structure of society, women at every level were to occupy a position lower than men. Most Confucians accepted the inferiority  of women to men as natural and proper. 

Confucian teaching called the NeoConfucianism made the position of women even worse. NeoConfucian beliefs led to foot binding, insistence that women not remarry, and the selling of unwanted daughters.  

State of the Union Address: Han Dynasty

Rose McCully
Ms. Mitchell
History
11/31/14

                                                       State of the Union Address

                I’m here to announce the creation of a peaceful, unified and prosperous China.

          The Mandate of heaven should only be given to those who would rule the best.  The Mandate of Heaven does not require noble birth to be bestowed since I am a man from a peasant background.  I Liu Bang have been given the Mandate of heaven, because Qin had lost the trust and faith of the people due to the harshness of their legalistic rule. Many of the legalistic laws were an alternative to morality, a more reliable means of ensuring a disciplined and cohesive society. Many of my people became convinced that the brutality of the Qin was unacceptable and decided that it was time to revolt against the Qin. The fact that Qin ruler was overthrown can be taken by itself as an indication that the ruler had lost the Mandate of Heaven.

         I am establishing my own dynasty called the Han Dynasty and I’m naming it after the Han River. In this this dynasty new changes and beginnings will arise. I will reestablish some of the vassal kingdoms and feudal states in regions distant from the capital which is Chang-an. Peasant discontent will be appeased by lessening demands for taxes and forced labor. And I also recognize that an educated bureaucracy is necessary for governing so vast an empire. I will make sure that the ban of Confucian classics and other Zhou literature will be lifted.  I will be open for a revival of the intellectual life that had been suppressed under the Qin.  The dynasty that was full of legalist principles will now be tempered by a Confucian claim on the ethical basis of the government. Only

talented men will be chosen for government service through an examination system based on the Confucian classics, and they will be promoted by merit.  The examinations will be open to all Chinese except merchants.

          I’m going to establish a Pax Sinica all over China to maintain peace and prosperity to this country.  The creation of irrigation and water conservation will be made possible; improvements in the making of farming tool will contribute greatly to an increase in agricultural production which will help the boost of the Han economy.  I have contacted people from the West through the Silk Road which will enable my people to trade goods with them. The world of arts, science and literature will rise in popularity and new inventions will be made in this dynasty for our future generations. The teachings of Confucius will emphasize a lot about respect, especially to parents and elders. The teachings and beliefs of Confucius which Qin overlooked will help me improve my dynasty with a system of ruling the land by morals and ethics.

Chinese Philosophy Activity

Confucius: Was an influential  Chinese philosopher,  teacher and political figure known for his popular aphorisms and for his models of social interaction.

Confucianism, a religion of optimistic humanism, has had a monumental impact upon the life, social structure, and political philosophy of China. The founding of the religion goes back to one man, known as Confucius, born 500 years before Christ. Confucianism deals primarily with moral conduct and ethical living and is often categorized as an ethical system, rather than a religion. It emphasizes the earthly, not the heavenly.













Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or simply the Buddha, was a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.


Buddhism: Respect for others properties and all life 

 Han Fei, also known as Han Feizi, was a Chinese philosopher who, along with Li Si, Gongsun Yang, Shen Dao and Shen Buhai, developed the doctrine of Legalism.

Legalism: All power to legal ruler.
















Laozi was a philosopher and poet of ancient China. He is best known as the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching and the founder of philosophical Taoism, but he is also revered as a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions.

Daoism: Keeping your life simple with nature.












What is the difference between religion and philosophy?  

   Religion is a belief, it has set of code of conduct, principle, ethics, and morals to follow in ones life. Philosophy on the other hand speaks about realization of the supreme truth. It deals with the topic of life after death. It speaks about the existence of the should and life after death. Philosophy establishes the divine nature of man. It teaches the absolute truth that each soul is potentially divine.

Digital Scrapbook Entry#4: Egypt

Current event: http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-general/modern-version-ancient-egyptian-practice-mummification-now-available-001354
http://science.howstuffworks.com/mummy5.htm
Past event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_burial_customs

"Comparing Ancient Egyptian With Modern Mummification Techniques"

Modern ways of mummification replace the fluids in the body with something that won't decay.  The idea is to preserve the body so that thousands of years from now it will look exactly like the way it did when the person died . One modern process claims to be similar to Egyptian techniques and takes 120 days. First organs are removed and cleansed then the body is submerged for 70 days in a tank of preservation solution made up of chemicals. The organs are then reinserted and the body is preserved in a plastic resin. It is covered with lanolin and wax followed by layers of cotton gauze and a fiber glass finish. The body is then encased in steel or bronze casket. The coffin is then put into a tomb with other mummies.  Another modern technique replaces the fluids and tissues with wax and plastics.


The main process of mummification during ancient times was preserving the body by dehydrating it using natron, a natural material found in Wadi Natron.  Natron is like a combination of baking soda and salt. The body is drained of any liquids but the skin, hair and muscles are preserved. The most classic and common method of mummification dates back to the 18th Dynasty. The fist step was to remove the liquids so that the body would not decay. The next step was to remove the internal organs, the lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines, and place them in the canopic jars with lids shaped like head of the protective gods. Then the body was washed with wine and stuffed with bags of natron. The dehydration process took 40 days and removing the organs took about 30 days.  The body was then covered with dressing which provided physical protection.  Wealthier mummies had a burial mask of their head.


The main goal of all types of mummification is to preserve the body so it won't decay. The Egyptian way of mummification was the opposite of modern mummification, because during ancient times the body was dehydrated and nothing replaced the lost fluids.  While in modern day mummification the body is dehydrated but the lost fluids are replaced by preservative fluids, wax or plastic resin. The result of ancient mummification techniques were  not very realistic.  The mummies were unrecognizable. Modern mummification produces a more realistic figure.  The chemicals used today really help the mummy look like the dead person. Modern embalmers have many more chemical and techniques than the Egyptians available for making a realistic representation of the body.

Citations:

• http://www.sciencebuddies.org/Files/3598/5/HumBio_img014.jpg
• http://i-cias.com/e.o/slides/mummy01.jpg

Current Event Article:

 Modern version of ancient Egyptian practice of mummification 
18 February, 2014 - 01:13 aprilholloway
Link: http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-general/modern-version-ancient-egyptian-practice-mummification-now-available-001354


Ancient Article:

Archeology: The Milk Revolution 
Wikipedia

Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_burial_customs

Thoughts and Reflections: "The Indifference of Confucius"

   

       Confucianism is indifferent to what went on before and what will come after. Christianity worries about what came before us, which is god, and what comes after us, heaven and hell. Confucianism worries about the now and the relationship of family, society, friends and government. Confucianism is a social practice which does not contain some of the elements of other religions, like Christianity and Islam. It is primarily an ethical system to which rituals have been added which are important at times during one's lifetime. In Confucianism you don't really pray and their is no god who will solve all your problems.  Instead you have solve to solve your problems yourself as part of society.  

China Map Activity

• What effect does the physical feature  of china have on its early development?

 China’s lands are bordered on the east by the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. Deserts edge the northern and western lands. To the north is the Gobi Desert and to the west lies the Taklimakan Desert. The Pamir, Tian Shan, and Himalaya mountain ranges form a tight curve on the western border.Unlike the regions of the Nile and Fertile Crescent, where civilizations interacted with each other, China was geographically isolated. The huge mountain chains, vast deserts, and large expanses of water made the spread of ideas and goods to China difficult. As a result, Chinese civilization developed along very distinct lines.

Thoughts and Reflections: Mother Cow

Mother Cow

              Since tractors are rare in India oxen are used to plow and pull carts and cows are needed to breed the oxen . Cows also provide milk and farmers consider cows as pets.  Cow dung has lots of different functions.  If you mix dung with water it turns into a paste which can be used as a floor in a house.  Dung are also used for cooking and as a fertilizer for plants. Cows turn waste products on farms and in cities into dung.  Cow hides from dead cows are used to make leather.  They people who make the leather sell the meat from the dead cows to Muslims and Christians. The author feels like the real economic reason why cows are sacred is because when there is a famine the cows need to be kept alive.  If the cows are eaten during a famine there won't be any cows left after the famine ends.  If they eat the cows now to keep from starving they but starve later because there won't be any cows left.  In America there are huge mechanized dairy farms where each cow provides a lot of milk.  India there are a lot of small farms with only one or two cows where each cow only provides a little milk.  American farms require a lot of energy while Indian farms use very little.  India is more environmentally friendly because they use natural resources to maintain their farms and use no chemicals.  America uses a lot of artificial hormones and chemicals for farming. Indians use their cows more efficiently than because they use almost no artificial fertilizer and energy. Eating meat is not an efficient way to make food.  In India they eat very little meat.  

Citations: http://adaggyblog.wordpress.com/

               http://andreas.com/india.html

Map of India and Indus Valley

Thoughts and Reflections: Caste System

               

Caste

       The caste system in India is a class structure where you caste is determined by birth.  You have the same occupation as your parents.  However if you can't earn a living in the profession of your caste you might have to earn a living in a profession of some other lower caste. You can only change your caste when you are born into your next life.  India is a huge country where the caste system gives everybody responsibilities and brings order to a chaotic environment. The caste system lets everybody feel like they're  part of a team. Supposedly people should accept their position in caste system which would make everybody work hard, be happy and live in peace. The caste system got to India because India was conquered many times by other civilizations over 3,000 years and each conqueror would impose his own class over the newly conquered people.  Today the lower castes are given privileges or preferences by the government for education and government jobs. This makes people in the lower castes  want to be part of the caste system  in order to have an education and get government jobs. Many of the Brahmans who don't get the jobs then go overseas to find better opportunities.

Digital Scrapbook Entry #3- Mesopotamia

Current event: http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/retaliation.htm
Past event: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/hamcode.asp

Retaliation in the Hamurabbi and Sharia Code

Retaliation, sometimes called "an eye for an eye", makes up a large part of Sharia Laws. In Sharia Law the injured party can usually forgo retaliation. In situations were retaliation is not possible or workable Sharia Law frequently proscribes very harsh punishments.  For example a thief might have his hand cut off for stealing something small if he can't make a payment satisfactory to the owner. One problem with retaliation is that the punishment is often irreversible. As an example if a suspected killer is executed and it turns out later he wasn't the killer then it's to late and an innocent man is dead. Sharia Law often makes compensation as alternative to retaliation. But if you are a poor person you are out of luck. Except for the death penalty almost all of western law has moved away from retaliation as a form of justice.

By writing down what will happen in different situations Hammurabi's Code tries to prevent injuries from escalating out of control. Before Hammurabi's code family members of the injured party often retaliated with greater harm than the original injury.  For example retaliating to a slap with a knife. This would go back and fourth until great damage was done.  Hammurabi's Code would try to prevent such disputes for escalating . The code specifies a number of penalties for different crimes, making the punishment predictable in an effort to reduce crime and keep the punishment appropriate to the seriousness of the crime.  However for many crimes death was the penalty.  Much of the code had to with the contracts, trade and dealing with slaves. The fact that Hammurabi's code was written down made it possible for the government to settle disputes instead of the two parties and to predict how the government would handle different situations as they arose.  

Hammurabi's code is mostly remembered because it was the first formulation of laws which written down.   Before the laws were written down they were subject to change at the whim of the ruler. An "an eye for an eye" is the most famous of Hammurabi's laws.  Nowadays in most societies instead using the "an eye for an eye", the damaged party can do the following.  One is be given money  appropriate for the damage suffered.  Second is to ignore the damage and do nothing.  The third is to forgive the the other party. In some Muslims societies under Sharia Law "an eye for an eye" is still being practiced in some situations. In 2005, a Iranian court ordered a man's eye to be removed for throwing acid on another man and blinding him in both eyes. Hammurabi's "an eye for an eye" tried to limit escalating retribution but Sharia Law often seems to have forgotten this principle and calls for a hand to be cut off.  It also calls for women to be stoned to death for what it says are capital crimes, such as adultery, but which are not crimes at all in most Western countries.

Citations:

• http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs6/i/2005/051/a/1/An_Eye_for_an_Eye____by_POLangevin.jpg
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Code-de-Hammurabi-1.jpg
• http://img2.imagesbn.com/p/2940013123205_p0_v1_s260x420.JPG

Current Event Article:

 The law of retaliation in the Quran and early Islam
James M. Arlandson
Link:http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/retaliation.htm


Ancient Article:

Code of Hammurabi, c. 1780 BCE

 July 31, 2013-
By: Claude Hermann Walter Johns
Link:http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/hamcode.asp

My Egyptian Sarcophagus

                  

          My sarcophagus is important because it will help me through afterlife as it is scripted with hieroglyphics, amulets, and good luck charm. The infinity symbol is an abstract concept describing something without any limit. The eyes of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power and good health. Ankh is the symbol of eternal life. The scarab beetle is a good luck symbol of rebirth. The door is important because it's the only way spirits could re-enter the sarcophagus. Nobody wants to die. Everybody would like to live forever. If you can believe in afterlife, then you can believe that you can live forever. 

My thumbnails.

My name in Hieroglyphics.

                                                                      My Sarcophagus.

Thoughts and Reflections: A light that did not fail.

• Why was Mesopotamia so ethnically diverse?

Mesopotamia is ethnically diverse because the first people that set up an empire in Mesopotamia were the Assyrians, and it was Alexander the great who brought Greek cultures into the region. As a result , the cultures of Mesopotamia are defined by the long line of diverse people who have ruled this land between rivers.  Mesopotamia had many conquerors, who contributed to its culture.

• What were the the basic feature and enduring cultural values of ancient Mesopotamia civilization?

Equality of individuals before the laws of gods and men implies , furthermore , a measure of personal dignity and security. This encouragement ages in turn a sense of personal property. In Egypt , where ten Pharaoh was god and an solute master of all he surveyed , the individual technically could call nothing his own. Mesopotamia it was the natural things for ruler to pay the current price for anything he wished to acquire.

• Why did the ancient mesopotamians build their cities over and over in the same place?

The reasons are simple. The first settler would choose a site which had a good water supply and whose location was convenient for agricultural and commercial needs. The initial advantages of an environment remained attractive after the 1st town had been destroyed by fire, flood and war. But the main reason is that it was a desire to follow, wherever possible, the outlines of the  old buildings, particularly temples, in order to earn the protection of the gods and spirits that the precious town had propitiated.

Citations: http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/m/images/mesapot_sargon_khorsab_lg.jpg

Digital Scrapbook Entry #2- Agriculture

Current event: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence
Past event: http://www.nature.com/news/archaeology-the-milk-revolution-1.13471

"Animal Secondary Revolution Effect On Lactose Intolerance"

Lactose intolerance varies a great deal among populations around the world. In adults 15% of white American and Northern Europeans, 47% in Mexican Americans, 60% in Black South Africans, 25% in China and Japan, 90% in Mestizos of Peru are lactose intolerant. Milk is widely available almost everywhere today but lactose intolerance today can be partially explained by the historical availability of availability of milk products among different populations in ancient times.  People who can drink raw milk without getting sick are called lactose persistent.

Recently archaeologists discovered some early pottery in Poland which was used to make cheese. Straw  was used to poke holes in the pottery to separate fatty milk solids from the liquid whey. They couldn't drink milk because they were lactose intolerant, instead they ate cheese. 7000 years ago they started being lactose persistent which gave people with access to milk an evolutionary advantage. That adaptation opened up a new source of nutrition that could have sustained communities when harvests failed. If there's milk widely available for several hundred  generation then gradually all the people around the continent will become lactose persistent. So in the past lactose persistent evolved along with a ready supply of milk.

The ability to digest lactose into adulthood would have been useful to humans after the invention of animal husbandry and the domestication of animal species that could provide a consistent source of milk. Hunter and gatherer populations before the agrarian era were almost all lactose intolerant as are modern hunter-gathers. Romans recorded that people from Northern Europe were lactose persistent, while  the people from Southern Europe were lactose intolerant.  This is still true today. In east Asia people were farmers and didn't domesticate cows for milk whereas in Mongolia they were pastoralist and so they became lactose persistent. In the border of china near Mongolia people are lactose persistent.

Citations:

• http://www.nature.com/news/archaeology-the-milk-revolution-1.13471
• http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324481204578175372509354246

Current Event Article:

Lactase Persistent 
Wikepedia
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence


Ancient Article:

Archeology: The Milk Revolution 
- July 31, 2013-
By: Andrew Curry
Link:http://www.nature.com/news/archaeology-the-milk-revolution-1.13471

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence

Thoughts and Reflections: Irrigation

             
       When irragation was invented, it helped a lot of farmers to raise more food which led to high productivity and trades. It also allows population to increase. building irrigation was hard back then because there was no power, so people then used hand tools to build great irrigation canals. I think people back then were amazing, creative and smart because building irrigation canals is not easy without any power.

Thoughts and Reflectons: Pig Lovers and Pig Haters.

Four Explanations as to why pork is not eaten in the Middle East?

• Pigs were originally sacred. The reason for not eating them was that many were originally divine.
• Another reason is that the pig is literally a dirty animal because it wallows in its own urine and eats their own poop.
• Maimonides a renaissance said that food had intended the ban on pork as a public health measure.
• Pigs are difficult to move. Pig has a further disadvantage for nomadic pastoralists, because you don't get anything extra from the pigs like milk, wool, or other stuff for farming.

What is the real reason pork is not eaten in the Middle East?

• Before 2,000 B.C people ate pork. But it was increasingly expensive, that only rich people ca afford it. It was much better to raise some other than pigs, that better suited for the Middle East.   A good way to make teen stop raising pig was through god telling them to stop eating pig.

How's is this an environmental issues?

• Pig used a lot of natural resources that are source in the Middle East. Pigs tasted good  but it was too expensive to feed them and keep them cool.

   

Citation link : http://www.khandro.net/animal_swine.htm

                      

Digital Scrapbook Entry #1 Hunter and Gatherers

             Are Hunter- Gatherers Inherently Warlike?       

"Today"

          The Sentinelese are among the last hunter-gatherers who still resist contact with the outside world.  Only very occasionally have they been lured down to the beach of their tiny island home by gifts of coconuts and only once or twice have they taken gifts without sending a shower of arrows in return. Today several archaeologist and anthropologist argue that violence and warfare are much more common in hunter-gatherers society than in more recent eras. From the Kung in the Kalahari to Inuit in the Arctic and Aborigines in Australia two-thirds of modern hunter-gatherers are in state of almost constant tribal warfare and nearly 90% go to war at least once  a year. A lot of the wars are not very deadly but still a lot of people die because of so many wars and also homicide. 

The Sentinelese People 

Showering Arrows 

"Yesterday"

           Since there are no written records , we don't know for sure whether hunter-gatherer were war like or not. In most foraging societies says anthropologists Douglas Fry lethal warlike aggression was infrequent. In the archaeological record violence didn't take regular group on group characteristics until relatively recently when people settled down in ever larger and more complex and hierarchical societies. Previously most killings were motivated by sexual jealousy, revenge for previous murder, insults or other interpersonal quarrels. Collective between group violence was the exception, not the rule. To Fry, the weight of evidence suggests that the original human were, if not exactly peaceful, then not warlike either.

Primitive Man and Woman

Foraging Societies

                                                  

  "Yesterday and Today"

  
I feel like the environment changed about 10,000 years ago.  Before 10,000 years ago hunter-gatherer had a lot more unoccupied open spaces to move to if they needed more land. About 10,000 years ago the population grew large enough that the number of places they could go to that weren't already occupied started disappearing.  Neighbors started fighting wars about land. The invention about bows and arrows about about 10,000 years ago allowed a great increase in the population  growth because they could shoot small fast animals from far away. In addition bows and arrows made it easier to fight wars.

Hunter Gatherers from the past.

Modern Hunter Gatherers.

Current Event Article:

Noble or Savage
-December 19, 2007-
Link: http://www.economist.com/node/10278703


Ancient Article:

Human may not be so warlike after all
- July 6, 2013-
By Brandon Keim
Link:http://www.wired.com/2013/07/to-war-is-human-perhaps-not/