When a minority religion such as Judaism or Islam becomes ‘absorbed’ by Chinese or Indian culture the end result is usually a loss of tradition for the Jew or Islamic. In the beginning, small changes are made to adapt to the main society. Things such as traditional clothing or small religious tokens may be changed to fit within the absorbing society’s religious traditions but the main beliefs regarding food, prayer and family will remain the same. Within time, however, they begin to adapt more and more into the mainstream religion.
They start to set aside certain restrictions on food, an example being the Jews in China changing their dietary beliefs due to the lack of availability of food suited to their religious rules. Intermarrying is inevitable and this also contributes to the absorption of the minority religion into the mainstream. The absorption of a culture or religion by a larger or more dominant one has been documented throughout history. It damages both societies to a degree although the lesser religion is more adversely affected. … acculturation gradually turned into assimilation, as the Jews finally lost their synagogue, their knowledge and ritual practice of Judaism, and the communal institutions that made them a distinct community. ”(Schwartz, 1999, p. 105) This is not good for either society because it does not allow them to maintain their history and culture as pure. It becomes a hybrid of their original religion or society and even when they attempt to recover their religious and social identities, some of what was lost is unable to be rediscovered and may be lost forever to later generations.
There were hierarchical social systems in most traditional Asian cultures. These are commonly known as caste systems. They define the individual groupings of people within a population or culture. Most caste systems were divided both politically and by work or trade. The higher the caste, the better the job or political position one would achieve. The caste order was according to the caste or social level that one was born into and would remain in throughout their lifetime.
People did not change caste levels or move into a higher position in society, regardless of intelligence, work ethic or even marriage. There were few advantages to the hierarchy social system if one was born into a lower caste. A person was expected to work, live and marry within their defined social group and it was very rare for anyone to do otherwise. In the event that a lower caste person married a higher caste person, it did not elevate the social status of the lower caste person.
One of the few advantages of the caste system was the knowledge and customs of each caste were individual. With the exception of not being able to move out of their social level, the castes were free to pursue their own religion, traditions and rules. The disadvantages were numerous for the lower classes and even affected the higher castes in some areas. For example, a person could be a magnificent craftsman but never rise above the social status into which he was born. Likewise, a member of a high social caste could not become a craftsman.
Castes were communities within communities and people stayed within their boundaries. The role of family in East Asian society was the basis for most of the social system. Family was everything and to dishonor ones family was unforgivable. Regardless of the social status of ones family, the family honor had to be upheld. Eastern families were concerned with the community as a whole rather that the individual. The welfare and food of the community was everyone’s business not just each person. The family was responsible for the social well being of everyone.
Each member of the family represented it as a whole; what one member of the family did affected everyone. The family’s main role in society was to ensure the community or population was bettered by its contributions as a whole. This was the main difference between the western family and the eastern family in society. The east considered the family to be one unit while the west saw each family member as an individual part. What a western family member did or did not do could not affect the entire family in most cases.
This was not true within the eastern family where one person’s actions affected the entire family unit. Western families could judge the actions of the individual without accepting responsibility for it. A western individual could aspire to individual wealth and power. Eastern families did not believe in the individuals rights. If there was wealth or power to be had, it was to be had by all and individual recognition or pride was not considered to be honorable. The eastern family is still considered an important part of life while the western focuses on more individual accomplishments.
The Indus Valley Civilization, which existed roughly from 3300-1700 BC, was a very advanced civilization for those times. They were not warriors although weapons found would indicate that they would fight if necessary. They were amazing craftsmen and agriculturists who traded their goods over land and by sea. They built irrigation ditches and had a mostly equal society with everyone enjoying the same advantages of their technology. Over time, the climate changed to a drier, cooler climate. This caused large parts of the Ghaggar River to disappear.
This was a main port of trade and one possible reason for the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization. Without the trade industry they had created, they were unable to support the large population that inhabited the valley. The Aryans were hunters and gathers as opposed to the Indus Valley natives. They were a more war like people and moved from area to another. The decline the population of the Indus Valley made it an easy target for the Aryans and they assimilated the Indus people who had not moved on when the river began to dry up.
The Aryans did not have the technology for irrigation or the craftsmanship of the Indus but they did have the leadership and the force to overtake the valley and make use of what they could. Eventually the Indus civilization ceased to exist and the advances and beauty they had created were lost. This Aryan domination created a new people known as the Indus-Aryan people. They continued with the Aryan ways and moved into other areas. Classical India’s major achievements have been in several areas. A strong religious base is one.
The Hindus have remained strong and consistent throughout the history of India. India also had one of the first cities, the Indus Valley Civilization, which showed them to be highly advanced in irrigation, craftsmanship and trade. The traders spread the Indian culture through Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. India also had a decimal system of mathematics as early as 200 BC. Political problems did not reduce the number of achievements but it did take them in a different direction. India was not a democracy for most of its history and once it became democratic, the Indian people saw the value of it.
This was not something they had considered to be important up to that point. They have preserved their culture and continue to make achievements to improve the country and the lives of its people. Their music, art and religion have survived hundreds of years and that is also a major achievement. They have shown that a culture can be preserved even as it moves forward with the times. They have become more conscious of defending their way of life but are still looking for a way to help their people out of the poverty that is so widespread in their country. This shows that they continue to achieve despite the political issues that may plague them.
References
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