Chapter 4

The explosion in culture and religion in Eurasia are among the most impact full series of ideological expansions in human history. While each religion or Philosophical school of thought is different, the conditions that precipitated their creation are often similar.

Following the collapse of the Zhou dynasty, China split into many warring feudal kingdoms. In this era much war and unrest created an age of mass disorder and instability for the people of China.  As a result, Legalism, the philosophical school of thought was born because of the need to bring order to the chaos of everyday life. It emphasized a strong centralized government, a relatively unopposed leader with an emphasis on severe punishment of any crimes. When thinking about Legalism a parallel can be drawn to the modern idea of “Marshall law” where police are heavily empowered to clean up the streets, and enforce a strict set of codes.

Another school of thought in China was that of Confucianism. In stark contrast to the “law and order” enforcement of Legalism, Confucianism emphasized upstanding morals of a stratified caste system. The son was loyal to the father, the father to his governor the governor to his king and so on, creating a system where the leaders were held accountable to those they lead. Which really structures the question: who is responsible for ensuring the success of a state, the people or the those in charge?

A question of relevance and importance varies with each of the religions that make up the traditional “East.” Judaism is among the oldest, yet still relevant religions in the world. The Jewish holy book, the Torah, is itself the basis for the two other largest monotheistic religions in the world. However, Judaism itself is a likely offshoot of an Assyrian fire cult, that gained popularity in Judea/Palestine during the Assyrian empire. Judaism, interestingly enough, could be seen as a middle ground between the aforementioned Chinese schools of thought and a full religion, as Judaism has many “Confucian” like scholars throughout its history.   It incorporates the Babylonian legal ideas of “Hammurabi's code”, more commonly referenced by its most famous line, an “eye for an eye”, a punishment system not far removed from the Legalism of China. However, Judaism has a strict moral code as well. These morals later influenced much of the thinking behind C.S.T (Catholic Social Teaching). Ideas like the ruler of a kingdom, is responsible for his subjects common good, and if he does not provide stability they have a right to change leaders or migrate. While the thought is not Confucian, it does touch upon some of the same ideas, that leaders are responsible to their subjects.

Other religions around the East,  like Buddhism and Islam, all have made major impacts as well. Each further complicating the questions posed, however, they too were formed from a collision of cultures, and war. The two themes,  have seemed central to the foundation to these schools of thought. Not only did a conflict have to be raging, but it seems that a collision/infusion of another culture also lent a hand in the creation of the religions. From the Assyrian and Babylonian influence on Judaism, to the clear parallels between the titles that Roman Caesars bore, and those that have been anointed on Jesus Christ. The influence of multiple cultures is massively important to the foundation of religion.