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!

Chapters 1-3

The agricultural age was accompanied by dominance. This dominance was over nature, men of the lower-caste, femininity, and animals. I believe this was inevitable because when there are economical surpluses, people, who have the means to govern either by wealth or heredity, create a pyramidal society and the top hierarchy promote inequality. It is unfortunate that the creation of the agricultural revolution generated such a detrimental way of life.

I enjoyed reading about the agricultural village societies and chiefdoms. It is amusing to speculate why and how the people of the time built and defended their homes and also to imagine how they managed their daily lives.

I recently visited the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and I was astonished to see beauty of the ancient artifacts. The craftsmanship was amazing and how they created their art with such primitive tools.

I enjoyed reading about how the different civilizations developed around the world and the reason why the settlement occurred in a particular location. There were many similarities but many differences as well. In each case, it was the river valley and geography that dictated outcomes affecting agricultural prosperity, religious formation, and government structures.

Welcome to my World History Blog! This is the first time I have Blogged, and I am having some difficulties but I should be a pro after 10 weeks!