Chapters 17, 18 & 20

At the beginning of Chapter 17 the author summaries the atrocities the communist government of China inflicted upon their citizens who were protesting for democracy. In 1989 when Chinese authorities violently crushed demonstrators with armored tanks in Tiananmen Square, I was in an airplane with my sister on our way to Hong Kong. We were unaware of the massacre until the following morning when we witnessed throughout the city the massive memorials for the victims. The people of Hong Kong wore black arm bands to show solidarity and along the streets of Kowloon and Hong Kong were large displays of flowers adorned in black. We spoke to many young people who worked as tour guides, and they were very passionate and supportive of the demonstrators. Our vacation included a trip to Canton; unfortunately, all foreigners were quickly removed from China for their safety.

I enjoyed reading about the revolutions. These upheavals were caused by unfair taxes, the need for foreign and authoritarian independence and personal freedom. When I read about the number of slaves versus the number of whites along with the discrepancies of net worth, it was inevitable that the Haitian revolt would transpire. It is unfortunate that 8,000 plantations were destroyed in the once most richest colony. Haiti never recovered after the revolt and now it is considered one of the poorest areas in the world. I understand when emotions were stirring and the revolt was taking place, people don’t think rationally when their livelihood is at stake. If the infrastructure was left secure, possibly Haiti could have continued to thrive.

I found it interesting how nations developed along with the selection of languages and religions. I believe that it is very important that traditions such as songs, dances, folktales, historical experiences are kept alive for future generations. Even today, I worry that many of the songs that I learned as a child will disappear with my generation.

I am a strong advocate for women’s rights. When I read the section regarding the beginning of the feminist movement, I felt proud of those women who stood up for their rights and the rights of the women who would come after them.

The image at the beginning of Chapter 18 is very depressing. I am all for progress but not while devastating mother earth! In previous chapters it was stated that gatherers and hunters had much more leisure time than the agricultural society. As civilization entered into the industrial revolution, many of the societies’ lower class workers had to work as many as 13 hours per day. The early era of the industrial revolution was very difficult on the people and planet. I found it interesting how the different countries managed or mismanaged the growth, class divide and wealth of the industrial revolution.

Reading Chapter 20 made me ashamed to be of European descent. So much pain and suffering was inflicted on societies who were just living their lives. The picture of the two boys with their severed arms because their village was unable to supply the required amount of wild rubber is heartbreaking. The need for power and wealth has promoted so much violence. With the need for enterprise, Europeans instituted taxation, seized lands, and subjected labor to build railroads, ports and roads in order to transform foreign lands and acquire wealth. At the end of Chapter 20 the author states that defenders of colonial development praise the transformation as a jump-start in modern growth. I think that is a question to contemplate.

Timbuktu

I did not realize that there is really a place called Timbuktu! Timbuktu is in Mali which is located in West Africa.

Chapters 14, 15 & 16

Chapter Fourteen tells how the modern empire building impacted existing peoples and places. I found this chapter difficult to read because it contained stories of the exploitations that were carried out against the people who were in the way of another’s advancement. For instance, before the arrival of Europeans into Mesoamerican and Andean zones, there was an estimated 60 to 80 million people living in the area and after the contact with domesticated animals and diseases brought by Europeans and their slaves, the population fell by 90%. That information is astonishing. Another example is the devastation of the indigenous people of the Caribbean islands. Within 50 years after the arrival of Columbus the population vanished. A bit of information that I was unaware of was the use of slavery for the production of sugar in Brazil and Caribbean. It wasn’t that I was unaware that the use of slaves existed but not to the extent of the vast numbers. Brazil and the Caribbean used 80% of the slaves that were captured from their homes in African for sugar production. Not only were the slaves subjected to the atrocity of slavery but they were forced to work in dreadful conditions which resulted in a 5 to 10% death rate. It is very disheartening that the people of the era found this horrific act acceptable.

Chapter 15 begins with an interesting story about Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese mariner. Vasco da Gama witnessed the profits made by cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, pepper, silk, cottons and jewels as they were traded in Muslim Egypt. Da Gama decided to circumvent the Muslim participation in the trade by sailing through the unarmed Indian Ocean where they established fortified bases. The Portuguese officials partially blocked the Red Sea route to the Mediterranean and required all vessels to purchase a pass to day duties from 6 to 10 percent on their cargos. That story is unbelievable. If I decided to go to the local park and collect tolls from people who wished to enter, my story would resemble the Portuguese.

When I read about how Japan ruled their state and local authorities it was “déjà vu.” The Tokugawa shoguns used silver profits to finance their military to defeat hundreds of rival feudal lords and unify their country. The shoguns joined with merchants to form a market-based economy and invest in agriculture and industrial enterprises, and they also worked hard to protect the forests, attempted to have fewer children, used contraception and abortion. The outcome of Japan’s slowing down their economy was a substantial conservation program.

I am always saddened when I hear about the killing of animals. When gatherers and hunters killed animals to use for their clothing, it was understandable but when animals are killed for the use of luxury items I am saddened. Fur-bearing animals were almost put into extinction so humans could flaunt their wares.

I enjoyed reading about the Reformation. Martin Luther’s belief that the good works of a sinner or the sacraments of the Church would not get you into heaven. His conviction was that faith, a free gift of God, was graciously granted to his needy and undeserving people. I believe that Martin Luther’s religious beliefs are so true. My religious upbringing was in a small town Catholic Church in Northern California. Every Saturday afternoon my mother would coral her four children and take us to confession and then the following Sunday morning we went to mass. If we missed mass, it was a mortal sin and if we missed confession we could not receive communion until we repented our sin. As an adult, faith is still important in my life but my beliefs are no longer rigid. I believe what is important in life is being a good person and treat people how you would like to be treated.

I have attached a photograph of St. Paul’s I took in Macao which was one of the fortified bases of the Portuguese during the early Modern Era. St. Paul’s was built from 1582 to 1602 by the Jesuits, the cathedral was the largest Catholic church in Asia at the time, and the royalty of Europe vied with each other to bestow upon the cathedral the best gifts

Chapters 11, 12 & 13

As I stated in a previous blog, I very much enjoy learning about the creation of world religions. There are so many aspects of Islamic history I was unaware of. I did not know that in the early years when Jews, Christians and Muslims lived somewhat harmoniously side-by-side, the followers of Muhammad while in prayer faced Jerusalem but when some Jewish groups allied with Muhammad’s enemies the offenders were cruelly punished and the Islamic prayer then faced Mecca. Now that is interesting!!

While Christianity focused on accurate religious belief, the Sharia, the sacred law of Islam, was focused on correct behavior. I have read many Surahs, Qur’an’s 114 chapters, and I was surprised to read that the Qur’an was a book of guidance dealing with every aspect of a person’s life. The stories that Muhammad tells in the Qur’an such as Noah, Adam, and Abraham are parallel with what is written in the Bible. There is much controversy that these Judeo-Christian stories were retold by Muhammad. With my limited knowledge, I plan on leaving that controversy alone!

The more indebt stories of the pastoral peoples and nomads were very interesting. In the past when I heard the word nomadic or pastoral, the vision in my mind was a dirty, poor person who struggled through society. But after reading Chapter 12, I realized that they were a thriving society where women were equal to men, the pastoral people initiated trade with the surrounding agricultural societies and they traveled with the seasons. The pastoral peoples and nomads were a society which flourished while living in undesirable lands.

I also realized that I knew very little about the Mongol Empire which was the largest land-based empire in all of human history. There are many books and movies about the Persian, Roman and Chinese Empires but insignificant information about the Mongol Empire. Needless to say, I would probably watch the movie with my eyes closed due to all of the savagery and brutality Chinggis Khan inflicted on the surrounding empires. But Western Europe “lucked out” because of the death of the Great Khan Ogodeiin which caused the Mongols to return to Mongolia in addition to the lack of much desired pastoral lands spared the area from conflict.

With the Mongol Empire, with no written language, began a large commercial network of trade within the Afro-Eurasian regions. These trade routes promoted the widespread movement of skilled craftsmen and educated people to different regions of the empire. This movement enhanced the exchange of ideas and techniques to which brought technology throughout the area. One unfortunate factor that the trade routes produce is the sharing of diseases. The plague spread from diseased rodents and transmitted by mosquitoes. It is a testament to the Mongol’s brutality by the act of catapulting diseased corps into Caffa. First of all there is no respect for humanity..dead or alive.

Chapter 13 is a synopsis of the major developments of the fifteenth century. As I read about the voyages of Zheng He, I imagined the image of what 300 ships looked like as they neared the coast to the peoples of East Africa. Another question came to my mind which is the subject of the reflections. “What if?” There are so many “what ifs” that if history ran a different course life as we know it would be different. What if China discovered America? That is a question to contemplate. We are moving fast through the chapters of our book and even though I have learned a lot in the class it is a lot to comprehend.

The Song Dynasty

Chapters 8, 9, and 10

Chapter 8 titled Commerce and Culture is about the era of the third-wave civilizations from 500 to 1500 C.E. The creation of the Silk Roads across Eurasia where luxury items were carried by large camel caravans that traversed the harsh and dangerous steppes, deserts and oases of Central Asia linked culture and commerce throughout the planet. Another form of transportation was the Sea Roads which linked peoples across the Eastern Hemisphere between China and East Africa. This commerce changed the landscape of the Afro-Eurasian world. The West African civilizations were also experiencing commercial trading with other long distance civilizations through the use of their Sand Roads. The luxury items were transported from the local communities by donkey or boat and then transported by caravans through the Sahara Dessert. These caravans, who traveled at night to avoid the heat, consisted of 5,000 camels and hundred of people took approximately 70 days. Another form of commerce, but not to the scale the Silk, Sea and Sand Roads, was the transcontinental interactions with the Americas. The commerce connection stretched from the North American Great Lakes and upper Mississippi south to the Andes. I enjoyed reading Chapter 8 and how the determination of the people of 50 to 1500 C.E. forged their commerce and culture to destinations so different from their own. The civilizations of that era were so vast compared to today’s age of technology and travel.

What interested me in Chapter 9 was the Tribute System in China and how China believed that basically everyone, except them, were barbarians. Another key element of the history of China that I find interesting is the different ways women were treated depending on the emperor of the dynasty.

I find it difficult to keep track of the formation of cities/states/empires…who expanded where…who took over who…What I found interesting regarding the Crusaders is they swore a vow and in return offered an indulgence which removed the penalties for any confessed sins. I guess because they were killing people in the name of God it made it okay??

Chapters 8, 9, 10

I am now reading Chapters 8, 9, & 10, and I must read very slowly because it is so much material to absorb!

Chapter 4

I enjoyed reading about the creation of the different empires and the similarities they had to one another. I have summarized the differences and similarities between the Roman Empire and Chinese Empire. They both controlled such a large portion of the world population and produced political and cultural legacies that still endure in the modern era.


The similarities of the Roman Empire and Chinese Empire
1. They both felt that they were universal or governed most of the world.
2. They both invested in public works.
3. They both claimed supernational approvals.
a. The Romans believed that their deceased Roman emperors were gods.
b. The Romans persecuted the Christians for not participating in their cult
c. The Chinese emperor was called Son of Heaven
d. The Chinese governed with a mandate from Heaven
e. If tragedy occurred, it was believed that the Chinese emperor governed poorly and it was a punishment.
f. The Chinese emperor was to perform rituals to strengthen the relationship between heaven and earth.
g. Confucius and his followers wrote the moral government that was to be followed.

The Chinese Empire and Roman Empire both absorbed a foreign religious tradition.
1. Christianity developed in the Roman Empire and became the dominant religion of Europe and Buddhism came from India and developed in China. Buddhism was introduced by Asian traders and received little support from the Han Dynasty. Sui dynasty emperor Wendi 581-604 C.E. reunited China and Buddhism became popular.

Differences:
1. Roman’s beginnings were small as a city-state which meant that Italians/Romans were a minority in the empire.
2. The Chinese Empire grew from a much larger area which was already ethnicity Chinese.
3. When the Chinese spread south, they assimilated non-Chinese or barbarian people.

In 212 C.E. Roman citizenship was given on almost all free people of the empire. The advantages of being a citizen were: right to hold public office, to serve in the Roman military units (legions), to wear a toga and it conveyed a legal status.

Latin, an alphabetic language depicting sounds, gave rise to the following languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian whereas Chinese did not. Chinese characters which represent worlds or ideas were not easily transferred to other languages. Chinese could be understood by all literate people so cultural identities could not be maintained as in Roman Empire.

The Han emperor Wudi established an imperial academy with the writings of Confucius to train officials for their immerging bureaucracy. This was the beginning of the civil service system with examinations and selection by merit.

Romans developed an elaborate body of law which was applied equally dealing with matters of justice, property, commerce and family life.

What made for good government? For those who inherited the Roman tradition, it was good laws and for those who inherited the Chinese tradition, it was good men.

End of the Han dynasty empire – 220 C.E.
End of the Roman Empire is 476 C.E. Only the western half of the empire collapsed while the eastern part, known as the Byzantine Empire, continued with the tradition of imperial Rome for 1,000 years longer.

Reasons for the end of imperial states:
They got too big, too overextended, and too expensive to maintain with available resources and there were no fundamental technological breakthrough was prevalent to enlarge these resources. Also, the growth of large landowning families with huge estates enabled them to avoid paying taxes.

The reasons for the end of these states very much remind me of the problems that are happening today in our world. It’s kinda scary!