Ashoka as a Teacher of equality according to the Ashokavadana

In what ways and for what reason might this story form the Ashokavadana have appealed to various groups of early Buddhists? 

The appeal of this story from the Ashokavadana might have appealed to various groups of early Buddhists because of the lack of regard for social classes; it preached the idea of equality. This would attract any of the lower-class people who were in not so good shape. If equality was forced on everyone, the poor would not have to worry about their being in the lowest class. Also very important is Ashoka himself prostrated himself for Buddha and giving utmost respect to the monks. This made people really believe in it because someone such as the king, who is at the top of the social classes, went out of his own way to preach it.

Ancient China Map

The Chinese & Indian Dynasties

Both China and India were in Bureaucracies at the same time; while the Mauryan and Gupta dynasties were ruling in India, The Qin and Han dynasties were ruling in China. If you are to speak of success while comparing these two, you will find that the Chinese were more "up there" in terms of success. Both dynasties from China, in comparison to India's were noticeably more centralized. Centralized government in China lead to better political organization, while India only had their power distributed between allies. Another very important thing that the Chinese had that the Indian didn't was standardization, (measurements, language, etc.). A large part of the ancient Indian dynasties was spending the majority of tax money on soldiers, even during peace; while the Chinese spent their tax money on their essentials.

Mencius vs. Xun Zi

What does Mencius believe about human nature?

-Mencius believes that human nature is fundamentally good, he had a very optimistic view on humanity. He believed that all men cared about others, and a part of them which cannot bear to see the sufferings of others. Sympathy towards those who are in more need than you are is a trait that Mencius thought was within all.

What does Xun Zi believe about human nature?

Xun Zi, unlike Mencius, believed that human nature was fundamentally bad, and that "good" is a human product. He has a cynical view on the human nature as a whole, he feels that everyone is "born with a love of profit". He did however, think that they could be fixed, that they were pieces of wood which "must be steamed and forced before it is made straight", he figured that they could only be fixed with tough discipline and punishment.

Who do you line up with?
Xun Zi

Why?
Not that i necessarily have cynical views about the human race as a whole, but i do feel that naturally we are not all good, most of us are not. And i do believe in his idea of punishment and disciple, although obviously not as strongly, i do believe its a good way to get a point across; like when teaching your child to differ between good/bad, you might wanna give them the corner or a dunce cap (does anyone even still do this?). But anyways, I had to go with Xun Zi because i felt that the optimism about the nature of humans was too great in Mencius, something I don't really seem to have. 

C-O-N-F-U-C-I-U-S.

           I do not believe that Confucianism is a religion, I think it is more of a philosophy. Those who argue may bring up the fact that Confucius brings up heaven in his philosophies, and that he does indeed, but usually in the context of the kings (sons of heaven). The other religions at the time all had godly figures in which they were all looked over by.

           I think that Confucius believed that people were not born good or evil, but were born neutral, and could chose their path. He said that "He who aims to be a man of complete virtue in his food does not seek to gratify his appetite", showing that people aim towards being good or bad. Also he noted that he "could follow what my heart desired", showing that people had the ability to chose their course in life. And lastly he says that if "their elders have any troublesome affairs, the young take the toll of them" showing how the young can be shaped by the elders, even if they are bad.

Persian Empires Map

Zarathustra on Good and Evil

What assumptions does Zarathustra make about human nature and the capacity of human being to make morally good choices out of their own free will?


The assumptions that Zarathustra makes about human nature is that all humans have the choice to be either good or evil and he assumes that all humans would make good choices.

History Head comments

Como estas, Senior Amit! I really liked your broad selection of pictures, i thought that showing actual pictures with the addition of some Mesoamerican art was helpful in understanding the then-and-now. I also like how your pictures are large and clear. However, I'd just like a point a few things out: I liked the pictures inside your history head, they were great in fact, but they didn't fit in the head exactly, you probably already knew that though...Anyways, I also noticed how the picture you have in the top right corner of your poster is slanted (I'm assuming that this is the timeline as the picture is not so great), and it seems you ran out of room with your other pictures being so large. And lastly I believe the cutting out of your pictures could have been slightly more precise and that the white borders you have on there make it look a tad less clean than it could be. I noticed that you have a picture of a Mesoamerican pyramid on your poster, and that was similar to the Egyptians in the way that they also made pyramids even though they look a little different. Something different between the two societies we did our projects on was the climates: In Egypt, the places away from the Nile were very dry while in Mesoamerica there was much more green. And Finally, I'd like to know why you chose a printed version of the timeline as opposed to drawing it out.

-Ronak

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Hey Nick!

I liked a bunch of things about your poster, one of the things that really stood out for me was the fact that the pictures inside your history head actually fit! (Mine didn't... >:[), and also I like the variety in your pictures, and your key was very defined and clear. However, something I'd like to point out is your timeline; it is indeed a timeline, but I feel that there would be more than a beginning and an end (from what I can see in this amazing Ipad camera quality, anyways). The civilizations in both Mesopotamia and Egypt had polytheistic religions; and they were different in the sense that the writing of the Mesopotamians was based on strokes and symbols Egypts was based on pictures. Oh right...and my question is about the picture labeled 3 and what it represents. 

-Ronak

Picture from History Head project

First AP test+essay of the year!

Today we finished out first test + in-class essay combo of the year in AP world history. I'll be honest though I think I have no idea whether I did better on the test or the essay, all I know is that I'm not sure what I should be expecting from the results. To be completely truthful I don't believe I was prepared for either fully, I had somewhat of an idea of what was going down, but it was the first time I was doing either in AP world history. The next time we take a test and have our essay, I definitely feel that I'll be able to do better because I now sort of have a better feel for it, but I would definitely put more time into some details and relationships and thinking deeper as I read.