ancien China and ancient Palestine religion vs philosophy

Ancient China and Palestine were geographically far apart. Despite their geographical differences, they shared similar beliefs. An example is, both civilizations base their laws on the basic concept of ethics. They even share the same concept of a gender hierchy, both having a patriarchal society. However, just as their distance divides them, so do other major ideas. It is difficult to compare China and Palestine solely their religious beliefs because China can be debated as not having a religion.

China and Palestine shared many similarities. A major similarity between both civilizations was the unique situation that these principles evolved in; both Palestine and China had times of unrest. In China, the height of its philosophy was during the warring states, when people tried to explain why this chaos occurred and what could be done to change it. In Palestine, they were also undergoing a serious time of unrest as there were many inter-Mesopotamian conflicts between the many city-states. Also, both civilizations had a gender hierarchy, where the citizens were considered the free commoner men; both civilizations had slaves and prisoners of war. Considering that they were patriarchal society, it is understood why women were degraded; as women were not ‘needed’ in the society. Palestinian women began wearing veils, this was taken from the Persians through cultural diffusion. This was an act to show that women were subservient to men. In China, women later began binding their feetJ; although only the higher class women did it, the poorer women were needed in the field. However, these are minor similarities between both civilizations. The major similarities are their ethical principles. Both focused on the individual; the Chinese focused on the individuals actions with others while the Palestinians focused on the individuals actions as obedience to god. Both emphasised the importance of respect, especially to elders and to parents. Another minor similarity is the rule of god. Although the Chinese weren’t as religious, they still believed in the mandate of heaven. The mandate of heaven was believed to give permission to the ruler to rule by god. Palestinians also ruled by god.

While China and Palestine share similar ideas, they are also different. One difference is that China was a much larger state with a greater population, where Palestine was a smaller state with a small population. China was settled while Palestine was a nomadic society. This may have affected the way of thinking of the people more than we give credit for. The major difference in the religious thinking of both the Chinese and the Palestinians is the fact that the Chinese did not have a prominent religion. They practiced ancestor veneration, where Palestine was monotheistic, strongly religious, and they had many religious texts such as the Ten Commandments and the torah. In China everything revolved around the individual’s relationship with each other, and it was mainly a politically thinking society which believed that human relationships with one another were more important than laws. Where in Palestine, everything revolved around god’s will, and revolved around religious beliefs; here the laws were followed to the word. The Jews borrowed Hammurabi’s code and modified it. Hammurabi’s code is one of the strictest laws as they are based on the idea of an eye for an eye. In Palestine, when you did wrong, you were punished, when you did right, you were rewarded. In China on the other hand, there was no reward or punishment for they relied on virtue as the driving force for all good, and ignoring virtue led to evil. However, all this compiles and creates social classes. In Palestine, the social hierarchy was important, where in China it was discouraged [the hierarchy]. The irony however, is that in China, the social division was greatly distinct, where in Palestine it wasn’t as great.

There were many similarities and many differences between the philosophical and religious ideals of China and Palestine. The greatest is the mere fact that China did not have a religion and Palestine was all about its religion. However, that does not mean that the two civilizations are not similar. In fact, the same reason that makes them so different also makes them so similar. China may not have been religious, or Palestine philosophical, but the base of both (religion and philosophy) were based on the same ideas, those of a patriarchal society, women were degraded, and they were based on the individual’s relationships and ethics and morals. China and Palestine are a geographically far apart, however, their way of thinking is not as different as it might appear.