Question

How are religion and culture connected? Consider the rise and fall of great civilizations in South and East Asia like the Indus River Valley civilization, the Deccan and Tamil kingdoms, the Maurya and Gupta empires, and the Shang, Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties of ancient China. What do all of these civilizations have in common? How did geographic factors help shape each civilization, and each developed distinct elements of culture, including religious and philosophical belief systems? Select one civilization from the ones that you have studied in your course and analyze the connections between religion and culture as well as how these contributed to the growth or decline of the civilization.

Answer 1

1. Before Buddhism spread in China, there were indigenous Confucianism and Taoism in that land. However, Confucianism could not be regarded as a religion in its true sense, and the influence of Taoism was rather limited.

2. They are all ether part of India or China or they all fell and came back with a new name. For example, China broke 4-5 time and India broke 2-3 every time with a different name/like the Guptas Empires or the Tamal Kings.

3.The way people interact with each other, and the types of relationship they form, depends greatly on the dominant cultural belief systems. Many Asian religious and philosophical traditions originated in India and China and spread across Asia through cultural diffusion and the migration of peoples.