(This series is adapted from Lao Ba's "Must Know The History of Asia" published in 2017)
Chapter III, Section VII (General Section 16)
As we said in the previous lecture, during the Western Zhou Dynasty, after the Aryans gradually conquered the Ganges Valley, they gave birth to Brahmanism and introduced a caste system, which divided people into four classes. The all-round barrier between the various levels. At the same time, the Aryans who conquered the South Asian subcontinent had completely separated from the original tribal society and established one country after another.
By around 600 BC, corresponding to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period in China, the Vedic era, which had lasted for more than a thousand years in Indian history, ended and entered the era of nations. The era of the nations is very similar to that of our Chinese Spring and Autumn Warring States. In the vast areas of today's India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the Aryans have established countless states. Sixteen of the more powerful countries alone are distributed mainly in the plains of the Ganges and Indus rivers. These countries are fighting each other endlessly for hegemony. Big countries fight wars, small countries suffer, and the common people are of course the most bitter.
Not only did the Indians fight their own wars, but the outside world also continued to invade India. For example, the Persian Empire once invaded India and conquered the area west of the Indus River. Darius I, King of Persia, demanded an annual tribute to the inhabitants of the Indus Valley for gold.
The war is already a headache, and at the same time, there is caste system oppression within the Indian people. The vast majority of the civilian population suffered greatly. In particular, the fourth level of Shudra, as well as the lowest level of untouchables, are oppressed and discriminated against, and there is no daylight. Although the Brahmins say that you just have to be obedient and do your job well, you will be reincarnated as a good man in the next life. But I can't live in this lifetime, so what is the use of the beautiful promise of the next life?
In this case, many people began to reflect and began to question these claims of Brahmanism. Is the so-called "sacrificial omnipotence" and "Brahman supremacy" of Brahmanism the truth or nonsense? It was a time of great power. Generally speaking, when the nations are united, it is easy to produce a hundred schools of thought, and the same is true of India.
In particular, there are frequent wars between countries. In a peaceful society, you have to completely solidify the class, and when you get to the battlefield, no one cares whether you are a Brahmin or a pariah, and if you cut it down with a knife, you will still be able to kill the enemy with merit, that is, who has great strength and who is strong in martial arts. Therefore, after the wars and turmoil of the nations, there were many people from low births who served as generals of the army and even won the throne. Originally a Shudra, he turned out to be a king or a general, what to do? If you want him to maintain the lowly status of Shudra, you have to deprive him of his position, but who listens to you? You want him to be promoted to The Kshatriya, but don't you mean that castes can never be changed? This further impacted the caste system. Brahmanism continued to patch up this theory, but the plan could not keep up with the changes, and it was still stretched.
In addition, as the second class of Kshatriya, that is, the kings and generals, they sometimes resented the Brahmins' high position at the top. There will also be a struggle between secular power and religious power.
Many others have begun to question that the caste system, which divides people into multiple classes, is inherently wrong. Everyone is human, so why can a Brahmin approach the gods, and Sudra is not even allowed to participate in religious activities? We want to break this inhibition! As long as they are religious, everyone can become a monk! As long as the faith is firm and all beings are equal, the four major castes do not distinguish between high and low, noble and low! This kind of thinking is called "Shaman thought" and was the main force in the struggle against Brahmanical orthodoxy during the period of nations.
Many philosophers have emerged in Shamen Thought, the most famous one being the famous Shakyamuni Shakyamuni, the "Buddha" in Buddhism.
Shakyamuni was born around 565 BC, in the late Spring and Autumn Period, along the border between present-day India and Nepal. His real name was Siddhartha, and his father was a tribal chief of the Shakya tribe, called "King Jing rice".
According to Buddhist legend, Siddhartha was born with one finger to the sky and one finger to the earth, saying that "the heavens and the world, the only one", this is of course purely mythical.
The real Siddhartha did not have these miracles, but he was brilliant and had a compassionate heart. He was born in a family of magnates, dressed in fine clothes, and later married and had children, and lived a happy life.
However, witnessing the starvation and poverty of the people, and witnessing the destruction of the low-caste Shudra, Siddhartha was always sad. How can people be spared the pain of life, old age, illness and death, and how can all people be equal? Siddhartha pondered.
Finally, at the age of 29, he resolutely abandoned his wife and children, shaved his head, visited famous scholars, and traveled to study and practice. Because of his talent and perseverance, many scholars, after communicating with him, appreciated him very much and hoped that Siddhartha would stay and practice together. But Siddhartha thought that these people could not meet his own requirements and could not answer his doubts, so he continued to explore.
At that time, there was a popular "ascetic monk" in India, that is, not eating or sleeping, hanging thorn vines, sleeping nail boards, or poking themselves with a knife, hoping to rely on this masochistic method to explore the joys and sorrows of the world. After all, Siddhartha was young and did not get answers from scholars, and he caught up with this fashion, tossing himself to such an extent that the other ascetics admired him so much that they even suspected that he was going to die. But even as he tortured himself to death, Siddhartha still couldn't find the answer he wanted.
Then one day, Siddhartha was hungry for many days and fainted by the river in order to practice asceticism. A kind shepherd girl on the side gave him some goat milk to drink. After drinking, Siddhartha's stomach was full and felt much more comfortable. However, the few ascetics who were starving with him were very angry when they saw him, and felt that this boy was actually hungry, coveting enjoyment, and turning his back on the sacred ascetic cause, so he scolded him. After this scolding, Siddhartha suddenly figured out a truth: it is foolish to blindly mutilate his own body, and a healthy body can better help the public. So he stopped practicing self-harm.
Later, Siddhartha ate and drank enough to contemplate the true meaning of life under a Bodhi tree. After thinking about it for a long time, he finally understood a set of theories about life, believing that this would liberate him from human suffering. With this theory in mind, Siddhartha founded Buddhism.
Siddhartha's theory consists mainly of four points.
First, life is inherently painful.
Second, man suffers mainly because of desire. Because of desires, you will do some behaviors, and these actions will have various consequences. At the same time, what you do in this life will affect your fate in the next life; And your fate in this life is all because of what you did in your previous life. The so-called good has good rewards, and evil has evil rewards.
Third, if that's the case, how do we get rid of suffering? There is only the elimination of desire. Without desire, there is no suffering.
Fourth, how do you destroy desire? It is necessary to go through monasticism.
Shakyamuni also formulated the "Five Precepts": do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not speak in vain, and do not drink alcohol. Monks (monks) and nuns (nuns) had to shave their heads, wear monkly robes, and be completely detached from family life, in addition to observing some special precepts for monks.
After that, Siddhartha went on missions and recruited believers. His disciples called him Shakyamuni, which means the sage of the Shakya clan. Buddhism advocates equality for all people, regardless of whether they are noble or inferior, sympathize with the suffering, preach that good and evil have rewards, that in this life there is bitterness in looking at past lives, and in future lives the fruits are seen in this life. At the same time, Buddhism advocates no desire and no desire, and eliminates defilements. In that chaotic era, many people became followers of Shakyamuni, including all four castes. After everyone joined the religion, they were kind to others, had no desires or desires, as if the real pain and trouble had decreased.
Shakyamuni preached for 45 years and died on February 15, 485 BC. Buddhism continued to spread across Asia after Shakyamuni's death and now has hundreds of millions of adherents.
We talked about India in these two lectures, so what are the stories in other parts of Asia? And listen to the next breakdown.
A Brief History of Asia (14) The Great Eurasian Collision – The Greek-Persian War
A Brief History of Asia (13) Cyrus the Great and the First Persian Empire
A Brief History of Audio Asia (12) The Replacement of Assyria and Neo-Babylon
A Brief History of Audio Asia (11) The Birth of Confucianism and Taoism
A Brief History of Asia (15) Brahmanism and the Caste System
A Brief History of Audio Asia (10) The Chinese Civilization of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period
A Brief History of Audio Asia (9) South Asia, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia during the Xia and Shang Dynasties
A Brief History of Audio Asia (8) The Jewish Exodus