Introduction
Map of Land and Sea Trade Routes across South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia
Lesson by: Char Nacion and Amanda Wada
Introduction
Cultures have used a wide array of strategies to communicate thoughts and sounds to their communities and other groups of people. Some of these forms of communication rely on visual cues, like symbols and images. Other forms of communication use sound or even writing. To communicate is to express oneself and interact with the people and world around you. In the past, much like the present, storytelling has been an integral part of communication. Some of these stories, along with other ideas and thoughts, are spread to faraway places through trade routes and the migration of people to new places. In this lesson, we will learn how different cultures communicate, drawing on Assyria, Egypt, and Greece as examples. In the end, we will learn about the spread of Buddhism and how the tenets of this religion spread across Asia.
People have been communicating for a very long time. Some of the earliest evidence of image-making comes from the Paleolithic, as early as 30,000 BP. Communication continues to evolve for people, with communities today using various media to tell stories. For example, today, we use different digital technologies, such as social media, the internet, emojis, memes, etc.
Can you think of other ways you communicate with friends or family today?
Before we begin our lesson, we want to acknowledge that the term “ancient” implies that cultures and practices are part of a long-gone society. However, the peoples and cultures, specifically Buddhism, are very active and thriving today. We will be using the term “early” throughout our lesson to describe the people, cultures, and practices from the past.