Late Roman and Medieval

Michael Scott

Late Roman & Medieval Humanities

4/19/2012

Essay 4, Topic 6

India & China

India and China are amazing places. Both are filled with great religious beliefs, fantastic architecture, and great literature/music. India's country is filled with Hinduism, while China is influenced with Buddhism. One great Indian architecture structure is the Kandrariya Mahadeo temple, and one great Chinese architecture structure is the Nanchan Monastery. The way that chinese architecture is made is amazing. Some literature from India is the Mahabharata and the Ramayan, also their system of music is interesting. Chinese literature reflected a lot of other cultures, and their music was really instrumental like.
India is heavily influenced with Hinduism. The textbook Humanistic Tradition 2 says that “ Hinduism teaches that all individual aspects of being belong to the same divine substance: the impersonal, all-pervading Absolute Spirit known as Brahman” (pg 146). They believe in multiple gods. Most likely the gods, to Hindu's, are reincarnation of Brahman. They also believe that avatars or incarnations of Brahman can come in many different forms and with many different names. Some forms can be as a certain animal. Hindus practice the religion by going to the shrine of the god and praying, also bringing little gifts such as food or flowers. China's religion is influence by Buddhism. As the Tang Era came around “Buddhist monasteries flourished and Buddhist secs proliferated” (Humanistic Tradition 2 pg 155). This era was considered the gold age for Chinese Buddhism. The one that Buddhists follow is obviously Buddha. The chinese buddhists created certain sects that corilated with certain practices and teachings that Buddha taught. A certain one can be meditation. Most famous sect would be the Pure Land sect. The textbook says that “in the Mahayana tradition, this sect emphasixed faith”(pg 154). It was a way of achieving rebirth at the sect. It was said that just saying Buddha's name a couple times would be enough for it to be good of the salvation. India and China have some great architectures.
India has amazing structures. A certain structure is the Kandariya Mahadeo temple. It is located in Khajuraho India. The temple is “but one of twenty-five remaining Hindu temple-shrines that rise like cosmic mountains out of the disty plains of central north india.”(Humanistic Tradition 2 pg 149). Kandariya Mahadeo temple was giving during the eleventh century to Shiva. Shiva is one of the gods. The temples in India aren't a place to really worship in. They're basically a place for Hindu's can just relax in private and have individual time with the gods.
China has great architecture structures. The way that they are made are pretty interesting. Chinese architects make the structures “hug the earth” by basically making them horizontal. They put heavy symbolism into their structures as well. Their symbolism is:
“for instance, four doors represented the seasons, eight windows signified the inds, and twelve halls stood for the months of the year. House doors faces the “good” southerly direction of the summer sun, and rear walls were closed to the cold north, homeland of the barbarian hordes that threatened China throughout its history”(Humanistic Tradition 2).
One structure they built well was the Nanchan Monastery which was located in Shanxi Province. The architects made it out of woodand designed it certain ways so it can last a long time.
Literature of India is pretty interesting. They have two epics which is about early hinduism. The two epics are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. They were written in sanskrit which is a certin language of India. Other literatures would be the Puranas which is “a collection of eighteen religious books that preserve the myths and legends of the Hindu gods”(HUmanistic Tradition 2). China's literature were about the thoughts of confucian and daoist. They were pretty religious about the teachings of confucius and others so they made their writings about them.
Chian and India have a lot of things that are similar. Their countries have great architectures that were made in excellent ways. They have literature that goes with their culture and religion. Lastly, their religion really show the way that they care for life and want things to go a certain way. I think that their structures are amazing. Especially the way that the chinese buddhist made their earlier structures. I really liked it.