598 CHAPTER 20

TERMS & NAMESBuddhismSiddhartha GautamaFour Noble TruthsEightfold PathKhmerAngkor Wat

The culture of ancient SoutheastAsia was heavily influenced bytraders and travelers from China,India, and other countries.

The culture of modern SoutheastAsia still reflects the influence ofancient Indian and Chinesecultures.

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW

In the rain forests of

Southeast Asia, a young

French explorer has

made a startling discov-

ery. He stumbled onto

what appears to be one

of the largest and most

impressive archaeologi-

cal discoveries in his-

tory. “We hacked our

way through the dense

[rain forest],” said Henri

Mouhot. “Suddenly the

huge stone towers of

an ancient city, some of

them 200 feet high,

appeared before us.”

Experts believe this city

may have been built by

the Khmer people,

who ruled a vast

empire in the region

about 600 years ago.

Crossroads of CultureThe ancient city that Mouhot found was Angkor. It contains animpressive temple complex dating back to the time when theregion was one of the crossroads of the ancient world. A cross-roads is a place where people, goods, and ideas from many areascome together. In ancient times, travelers from India, China, andother countries came to Southeast Asian shores and made a last-ing impression on the region.

Place • Henri Mouhot has discovered the

extraordinary lost city of Angkor. �

THE RAIN FORESTS OF CAMBODIA, 1861

AncientCrossroadsAncientCrossroads

TAKING NOTES

Geography . . .

Indus River . . .

FactorsImpact of Geography/

Contributions ofCivilizations

Use your chart to take notes aboutSouthern Asia.

SOUTH ASIA

Southern Asia: Place and Times 599

Coastal tradersused monsoonwinds to sail theirships. They waitedfor favorable windsbefore sailing fromIndia to SoutheastAsia. When thewinds shifted, thetraders would sailback.

A. AnalyzingWhat effect didIndia have onSoutheast Asia?

ArabianSea

Bay ofBengal South

ChinaSea

I N D I A N O C E A N

Java

CelebesSumatra

Philippines

MalayPeninsula Borneo

A r a b i a nP e n i n s u l a

I N D I A

C H I N A

A F R I C A

60°E 70°E 80°E 90°E 100°E

30°N

20°N

Equator

0

0 500 1,000 kilometers

500 1,000 miles

Trade routes

N

Trade Routes in Ancient Southern Asia

GEOGRAPHYSKILLBUILDER:Interpreting a Map1. Movement • About

how many milesdoes the trade route from Borneo to India cover?

2. Movement • Whydo you think somany routes are by sea rather than land?

Early History Many important skills were developed in ancientSoutheast Asia, including making tools from bronze, growingyams and rice, and sailing. In the past, historians thought thatpeople from China or India brought these skills to the region. Butnow it seems clear that this knowledge was developed inSoutheast Asia. Bronze Age items found in Thailand have beendated as far back as 3000 B.C. That is before bronze work wasdone in China. Eight to nine thousand years ago, rice was grownin Thailand. Yams and other roots were grown in Indonesiabetween 15,000 and 10,000 B.C. This is one of the earliest exam-ples of agriculture ever found.

Trade and Travel Look at the map above. You can see that thecentral position of Southeast Asia made it a likely crossroads oftrade for the area. Southeast Asia is in the center of the sea trad-ing routes of the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Tradersfrom India began to visit Southeast Asia around A.D. 100.Southeast Asian goods reached both India and China. Fromthere, they traveled on to Southwest Asia and East Africa.

Southeast Asian trade goods included rice, tea, timber, andspices such as cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and pepper. Gold and othermetals were also traded. Many ideas were shared as well.Religious ideas and knowledge spread. Skills such as farming andmetalworking, as well as art forms and techniques, crossed to andfrom Southeast Asia.

Influence of India Southeast Asia had a thriving culture of itsown. However, it learned from and adopted customs from tradersand travelers of other countries. Around A.D. 100, traders, Hindupriests, and Buddhist monks began to bring Indian culture toSoutheast Asia, including art, architecture, and religion. Theseideas were gradually adopted in the region.

Buddhism in Southeast AsiaBuddhism came from the same religious roots as Hinduism. Itbegan in India around 500 B.C., although Hinduism and Islameventually became more important religions in India. The ideasof Buddhism, however, spread to East and Southeast Asia, whereit is still strong today. It is one of the major religions of the world.

The Signs of the Buddha The founder of Buddhism wasSiddhartha Gautama (sih•DAHRTH•uh GAW•tuh•muh). Hegrew up as a wealthy prince and a member of the warrior class.Gautama lived in luxury in a palace with his wife and son.

One day, while out driving, he saw an old man. On other days,he saw a sick man, a corpse, and a holy man. Gautama interpretedthese as signs to show him that life involves aging, sickness, anddeath. He believed that the holy man was a sign telling him toleave his family and seek the causes of human suffering.

For the next six years, Gautama was a wandering monk. Hepracticed self-denial and ate very little. However, he did not dis-

cover the cause of human suffering.One day, he decided to stop living alife of self-denial. He sat under a treeand began to meditate. Throughmeditation, Gautama gained enlight-enment, or religious awakening. Henow felt that he knew the reasons forhuman suffering and how to escapefrom it. News of his experiencespread. People began to call him theBuddha, or the Enlightened One.

Buddhist Teachings The Buddhahad once studied Hinduism. He wasinfluenced by the Hindu beliefs inkarma and reincarnation. Thesetaught that life is a continuing cycleof death and rebirth. However, he did

600 CHAPTER 20

Culture •According tolegend, theBuddha was sitting under abodhi tree whenhe receivedenlightenmentand the inspiration forhis religiousteachings. �

not like the part of Hindu philosophy that was based on theVedas, the ancient Aryan texts. In particular, he rejected the castesystem and the role of priests.

The basic teachings of Buddhism are the Four Noble Truths.The first truth is that life is full of pain. The second truth is thatsuffering comes from the desire for possessions. The third truthexplains that if people stop desiring these possessions, they willno longer suffer. The Buddha taught that the goal of life is to befree from desires and pain. Then one can progress to nirvana(neer•VAH•nuh), a state of happiness and peace.

The fourth truth says that people can escape suffering by fol-lowing the Middle Way. The Middle Way is a set of guidelinescalled the Eightfold Path. These eight guidelines are as follows:right understanding, right purpose, right speech, right conduct,right means of livelihood, right effort, right awareness, and rightmeditation.

The Spread of Buddhism After the Buddha’s death, his follow-ers spread the new faith throughout southern India, Sri Lanka,and Southeast Asia. Buddhism also spread to Tibet, central Asia,China, Korea, and Japan. Buddhists organized schools and spiri-tual communities where monks and nuns could live and work.

Southern Asia: Place and Times 601

B. MakingInferences Whatchallenges might a person face in trying to followthe Eightfold Path?

1. The Truth of SufferingAll existence is suffering.

2. The Truth of CauseIllusion and desire are the cause of suffering.

3. The Truth of ExtinctionSuffering should be eliminated.

4. The Truth of the PathEliminate suffering step by step.

1. knowing the truth

2. trying to resist evil

3. saying nothing to hurt others

4. respecting life, morality(what is right), and property

5. holding a job that doesnot injure others

6. trying to free one’smind of evil

7. controlling one’sfeelings and thoughts

8. practicing properforms of concentration

The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path

Culture • Peoplein many parts of the worldtoday still try to follow theteachings of the Buddha. �

Indian Influence in Southeast AsiaAs the influence of India spread, new images and religious artbecame part of Southeast Asian culture. Historians can trace theseimages from one country to another. Empires were founded on thebeliefs of Hinduism, Buddhism, and, later, Islam. The success ofempires often depended on the ongoing popularity of these beliefs.

Empire of the Khmer In the sixth century A.D., the Khmer (kmair)people established a great kingdom in present-day Cambodia. Thiskingdom was Hindu and very much influenced by Indian culture.The Khmer built great Hindu temples, including the huge complex,Angkor Wat. The Khmer kingdom spread through much ofSoutheast Asia. Then, as Buddhism grew in influence, the numberof Hindu followers declined, and the Khmer lost power.The Khmerretreated south to the area near the city of Phnom Penh.

Indian influence in the form of Buddhism was also felt in theisland nations of Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, a huge Buddhisttemple called Borobudur was built in the sixth century. Thebuilders used about 2 million cubic feet of stone to build the tem-ple. It is shaped like a pyramid, with three terraces, or levels, whichcontain relief carvings. At the center, the temple is 103 feet high.

602 CHAPTER 20

C. MakingInferences Howdo you thinkBuddhism spreadto other areas?

Pagan

AngkorWat

PhnomPenh

INDIAN OCEAN

PACIFICOCEAN

SouthChina

Sea

Bay of Bengal

ArabianSea

C H I N A

K O R E AJ A P A N

I N D O N E S I A

I N D I A

TIBET

CENTRAL ASIA

SRI LANKA

BURMA

KHMER

0°

10°N

90°E 100°E 130°E

Equator

0

0 400 800 kilometers

400 800 miles

Spread of Buddhism

Core area of Buddhism

Area of Hindu influence

N

The Spread of Hinduism and Buddhism, 500 B.C. – A.D. 600

GEOGRAPHYSKILLBUILDER:Interpreting aMap1. Region • Which

area of India was home toBuddhism?

2. Movement •Which religionspread to China?

Indian culture also spread to Myanmar. There, Buddhism wasfirmly in place by the fifth and sixth centuries. In the 11th cen-tury, the powerful king Anawrahta established a strong Buddhistkingdom in the capital city of Pagan. There were soon thousandsof Buddhist temples and buildings in the kingdom. The mostfamous is the Ananda temple.

Southern Asia: Place and Times 603

Imagine you are a traveler from ancient India, passing through the Khmer Empire. Write a letter homedescribing some of the sights you see and your feelings about them.

SECTION ASSESSMENT

Using Graphics2. Use a graphic organizer like the

one below to show the ideas andgoods that came into and out ofSoutheast Asia.

Main Ideas3. (a) Why is Southeast Asia a cross-

roads for trade and culturalexchange?

(b) How did Buddhism affectSoutheast Asia?

(c) Why did the Khmer kingdomdecline?

Critical Thinking4. Making Inferences

Why do you think Southeast Asiansadopted Indian culture?

Think About◆ the level of development of Indian

civilization◆ the activity of Buddhist and Hindu

monks

Terms & Names(a) Buddhism (b) Siddhartha Gautama (c) Four Noble Truths (d) Eightfold Path

(e) Khmer ( f ) Angkor Wat

Southeast Asia

Place •Borobudur islocated inIndonesia onthe large islandof Java. Thetemple hasthree levels.Each representsa stage of spiritual perfection. �

Place • TheAnanda temple islocated at Pagan,the old capital city of Myanmar, which was an importantBuddhist center. �

1. Explain thesignificance of: