News update 15/03/2022 5
The science of healing was called Ayurveda - "the science of long life." The ancient Indian physician was at the same time a botanist, a pharmacologist, a biologist, and a psychologist. Skilled surgeons, they not only removed arrows from wounds almost painlessly for the patient, but even restored the correct shape of noses and ears crippled in battle, i.e. did plastic surgery. Well, in the treatment of snake bites, Indian doctors knew no equal!
Barcience castle dates back to the XV century
Casarrubios del Monte castle dates back to the 15th century
Castillo de la Vela was declared a historical monument of art in 1931
El Toboso – the homeland of Dulcinea, a character from Don Quixote de la Mancha
Guadamur castle was declared a historical-artistic monument
Escalona and its castle-palace
La Puebla de Montalbán and its attractions
Orgaz castle was built in the 14th century
Puñoenrostro castle dates back to the XIV century
Talavera de la Reina and its pottery craft
The most interesting monuments of architecture have come down to us from ancient times. Buddhist sanctuaries-stupas outwardly very much resemble a bell. When looking at them, thoughts about their cosmic origin unconsciously arise - they are so unusual. Their basis is an artificial mound, lined with bricks or covered with whitewashed plaster. The top of the structure crowns
square terrace "harmika" ("palace of the gods"). A spire rushes upward from its center, on which umbrellas (three or seven), called "amalaka", are strung. Seven umbrellas symbolize seven steps from earth to heaven, and three - the number of heavenly spheres. Inside there is a small chamber (sometimes more than one) with the remains of the Buddha or Buddhist saints. All prayers and rituals are performed only outside.
The most famous is the stupa sanctuary in Sanchi, which was built from the 3rd to the 1st century BC. BC. On its famous four gates, called "torana", the whole of India is represented: nature, architecture, traditions and legends associated with the life of gods and people, fantastic creatures, wildlife, trees and flowers, the biography of the Buddha. You can look at the gate for hours - how to read a fascinating book.
Ancient Indian civilization had a huge impact on many countries of the East. It is impossible to understand or study the history and culture of the peoples of South and Southeast Asia without knowing the history of Ancient India. She teaches a lot today. Do not forget the wisdom of the Vedas:
Let there be no hate
From brother to brother, and from sister to sister!
Turning to each other
following one vow, Speak a good word!
Ancient China... There, since time immemorial, the earth has been yellow. And the yellow waters of the great river, which they called so - Yellow - Huang He. Sitting on its shore, the goddess Nuwa sculpted little men from yellow clay. They slipped out of her life-giving hands and populated this land. Their lord was called the Yellow Sovereign - Huangdi. So the legend tells.
Fertile soil and an abundance of water determined the main occupation of the ancient inhabitants of the Huang He Valley - agriculture. Exploring new lands far from water, people learned how to irrigate them by laying canals.
They began to get a larger harvest when tools began to be made not from stone, as before, but from bronze and iron. An arrow with a metal tip instead of a flint or bone one and an iron sword instead of a stone or club were much more convenient for hunting and in battle. The ability to use them to appropriate the property of neighbors, to annex foreign lands gave rise to frequent wars between various clans and tribes. Clashes with neighbors-foreigners continued with the advent of state formations: destinies, principalities, kingdoms.
The Shang tribe with resettlement in the Huang He valley began to be called Yin. It settled on new lands, after a bloody struggle, driving out the Qiang or Xia tribe that lived here earlier.
The shang-yin elders turned from tribal leaders into sole rulers. Among the subjects, the idea of them as "sons of Heaven", who received power at the behest of divine forces, was strengthened. This was a turning point in the formation of the state in the Central Plain, as the Yellow River valley has long been called. "Zhong Guo" - "Middle State" - this is how the people of China themselves began to call their country.
The state of Shang-Yin, having existed from 1766 to 1122 BC, fell under the rule of the Zhou tribe, whose rulers, who ruled from 1122 to 247 BC, called themselves vans - kings. The first of these was U-van - "King Warrior". He handed out lands and titles to his comrades-in-arms: “gun”, “hou”, “bo”, “zi”, “nan”, which is similar to the European “duke”, “prince”, “count”, “baron”, “baronet”. Under the onslaught of neighboring tribes and their own tribal nobility, the Zhou kingdom broke up into destinies. This time (from 770 to 403 BC) was sometimes called by the inhabitants of the Middle State "Spring and Autumn".
The rulers of the destinies fought with each other and with neighbors-foreigners, who were considered savages. Spring and Autumn were replaced by the hard times of the Warring States, which lasted almost two centuries - from 403 to 221 BC. The rulers of the seven kingdoms entered into a deadly fight. “In the battles for the capture of cities, the dead overwhelmed the cities,” wrote a contemporary, “and in the battles for the lands, the battlefields were completely covered with the bodies of the dead.” After one such battle near Changping in 260 BC. the warriors of the Qin kingdom buried alive 400 thousand warriors of the Zhao kingdom who had surrendered.
The kingdom of Qin emerged victorious from the war. His victories over his neighbors were facilitated by the new organization of the troops: there were young people in the attacking detachments, and elderly soldiers in the defenders.
Having conquered all six kingdoms of rivals and perpetrated massacre there, the ruler of Qin, the thirteen-year-old Zheng-wang, declared himself "huangdi" (lord, emperor) and began to be called Qin Shw-huangdi - the first emperor of Qin. In the lands subject to him, he put an end to the power of the specific rulers. The whole country was divided into regions, and those, in turn, into counties. The heads of the regions and counties were appointed from the capital and could be removed at any moment at the will of the Huangdi. In the former six kingdoms, tortoise shells, shells, and pieces of jasper were used as money. Qin Shi Huangdi ordered to pay only in gold and copper coins. Life in the state had to go according to general rules. The emperor introduced unified written signs, streamlined measures of weight and length, established the same gauge for wagons, approved laws binding on all, ordered all ritual utensils and weapons to be made according to a single model.
Qin Shih Huangdi considered strict observance of the laws to be the paramount condition for order in the country. The rebels were to be executed. The family was responsible for the behavior of each of its members. So they hoped to eradicate robbers and robbers.
Once in Sanyang, the capital of the new state, more than 460 people were executed. All residents of the country were informed about this. The strength of family ties was strongly supported. The murder of a husband who destroys his family by his behavior was ordered not to be considered a crime.
Strengthening the state from within, Qin Shih Huangdi did not disregard his neighbors either. Several hundred thousand Qin warriors laid down their lives during a campaign against the state of Nanyue in the south.
Once a soothsayer predicted: "The Qin Hus, in the north, will be destroyed." The alarmed sovereign sent thousands of people to build a defensive rampart against the "northern savages". All the unjust judges were sent to erect this rampart. This was the beginning of the construction of Wan li chang cheng (ten thousand li wall) - the Great Wall of China. Descending into the valleys and crawling up the mountain steeps, it stretched from west to east. Many generations of Chinese built new walls and towers and renovated old ones.
Qin Shi-huangdi did not know how to restrain his whims. Whenever his army crushed the power of one of the sovereign princes, the Qin ruler ordered to build himself the same palace as that of the defeated sovereign. Roads fenced with ramparts were laid to the palaces located outside the capital.
The tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi can compete with the pyramids of the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. For 37 years, 720,000 people built it on Mount Li. First, they dug a huge hole in the mountain, getting to the bottom of three keys. Their water was diverted, and the holes were filled with copper. A mound was poured over the pit, planted with trees and shrubs. The bottom of the grave and the walls were lined with lacquered stones and jasper. Models of sacred mountains and mercury-filled likenesses of seas and rivers with gold and silver birds floating on them were placed on the floor. The ceiling was given the appearance of the sky with various luminaries. Together with Qin Shi-huangdi, several hundred girls were put in the grave, including 10 sisters of the sovereign.
Soon after the death of the first Huangdi, civil strife broke out. The winner in the struggle for power was Liu Bang, the volost chief. He laid the foundation for the Early, or Western, Han Dynasty (206 BC - 25 AD).
To stop robbery and bloodshed, to restore the economy destroyed during the internecine strife - these were the aspirations of the emperor of the new dynasty. “For murder - death to the murderer, for wounding and robbery - the appropriate punishment,” read the agreement concluded by Liu Bang with the elders of Qin. He abolished the cruel laws of the Qin Empire.