Week Ten Blog Post

The reemergence of a unified China was a key event in history. China regained unity under the Sui Dynasty. Under this dynasty, China's canal system was expanded which helped the economy tremendously. Later dynasties, like the Tang and the Song, built on the Sui's legacy. This time period was known as China's "golden age" because of the art and literature that was produced, like poetry, landscape paintings, and ceramics. These dynasties created a long-lasting state structure. It was still a bureaucracy, except this time with a better examination system. The Chinese population nearly doubled over this time, which produced a better economy because of increased agricultural production. China became the most urbanized country. It had big industrial production, especially of iron, and technological innovation, like printing, gunpowder, and shipbuilding. Chinese society quickly became commercialized. During the Tang Dynasty, women enjoyed a less restrictive life, but during the Song Dynasty, Confucianism was revived, which meant more patriarchy.

Pastoral people to the north of China were a threat to the Chinese people. But the Chinese people were also a threat to these northern people. Either way, they needed each other for goods. China created a "tribute system", or a set of practices that required non-Chinese authorities to acknowledge Chinese superiority and their own subordinate place in a Chinese-centered world order. 

Korea was politically independent from China, but they participated in China's tribute system. Korea traded with China for goods and ideas. Korean students would often study in China. These students would study Confucianism and Buddhism. Koreans originally had flexible attitudes towards women, but since they were influenced by China, these flexible attitudes were discouraged. Vietnam was also politically independent and borrowed from China. Unlike Korea, Vietnamese women played a bigger role in social and economic life. Japan was farther away, so borrowing ideas and goods from China was completely voluntary. Japan never really succeeded in creating a bureaucratic state. Japan was significantly distinctive with their religion, literature, and patriarchy.

In terms of the Eurasian world economy, Chinese technological advancements inspired other places and peoples to create their own inventions to help them better their lives. Some technological advancements included gunpowder, paper making, and creating salt through solar evaporation. Chinese goods were wanted worldwide by many different kinds of people. These goods included silk, porcelain, and lacquer ware. China not only gave to the Eurasian economy, but they also received. For instance, they learned how to process sugar and cotton from India. They also learned how to farm rice from Vietnam.

Buddhism began to grow popular in China. It was brought from India through the Silk Road. Buddhism teachings went against Confucian teachings. Buddhism became popular when the Han Dynasty fell, which discredited Confucianism. Buddhist monasteries in China provided social services for all types of ordinary people. The Chinese state didn't like the idea of Buddhism, so critics were abound. The Chinese state later tried to control Buddhists and Buddhism.

Week Nine Blog Post

A major religion came into play during the Classical Era: Islam. Islam's homeland was located in the Arabian peninsula. A major city around this area was Mecca because it was the site of the Kaaba, a religious shrine. A man named Muhammad Ibn Abdullah was tired of the corruption of Mecca, so he took to the mountains and had a religious experience. Allah, or God, told Muhammad to be his prophet. The revelations Muhammad had could be found in the Quran. Islam is a monotheistic religion, with Muhammad being the latest prophet. It requires complete submission to Allah and denounced Mecca's social practices. It sought to return to older values of Arab life. There were 5 major pillars people were to follow: there is no god but Allah and Muhammad was his messenger, ritual prayer, giving to the poor, fasting for Ramadan, and a pilgrimage to Mecca or a "hajj". Some say there is a sixth pillar which is a struggle for Allah or "jihad". Muhammad was able to transform Arabia into an Islamic state. Unlike other religions' prophets, Muhammad was a political and military leader too. Islam doesn't have any type of clergy and there was also Sharia law.

Muhammad conquered many lands, mainly for trade routes and agriculture. He didn't force Islam on conquered peoples. When conversion occurred, it was usually among slaves and war prisoners. Conversion was not easy. There was a huge division about who the successor should be after Muhammad died. This created the Sunni and Shia Muslims. The Sunnis believed that caliphs should rule and Shias believed that the leaders should come from the line of Muhammad. Shia Muslims were the minority. Another group was created, the Sufis, who focused on Islam's mystical dimension. Although the Quran stressed that men and women were equal, women were still treated as inferiors.

Islam spread to many places, like India, Anatolia, West Africa, and Spain. In India, Islam especially appealed to outcasts and those transitioning into agriculture. Islam didn't spread too much in India because Hinduism had such a strong hold on the Indian people. In Anatolia, there was a more thorough Islamization than in India because it was smaller and left leaderless and dispirited. Also, monotheism was already common there. The biggest difference was that instead of Arabic language and writings, Turkish language and writings were more widespread. In West Africa, the spread of Islam was peaceful and voluntary and was spread by Muslim traders and not armies. This created major centers for Islam that attracted many people. In Spain, there was a tolerant time between Muslims and Christians, but it didn't last very long. A Muslim leader started encouraging the persecution of Christians. When the Christian reconquest happened in 1200, Christians fought back and many Muslims were kicked out of Spain.

As for Christianity, it didn't spread very far into Asia and Africa due to the rapid spread of Islam. The Byzantine Empire did not have a specific starting point, as it was just built on the Roman Empire. It might have started around 330 C.E. when the Christian ruler Constantine made Byzantium the new capital. Byzantine was considered the Eastern Roman Empire. Their government was centralized, but mostly concerned with taxes, maintaining order, and suppressing revolts rather than personal freedoms. The church and the state were tied closely together. There was a deep religious division in the Byzantine Empire: Orthodox Christianity vs. Catholicism. The Byzantine Empire had a tense relationship with Western Europe and Persia, but long distance trade was great between the empire and the rest of Eurasia. The Byzantine Empire really preserved the ancient Greek culture. The empire spread Christianity to Russia and Balkan Slavic people to the North of them.

As for Western Europe, the Germans took over the Roman Empire. Western Europeans branched out and created different rulers and kingdoms. Feudalism was a very popular system and it created a noticeable social hierarchy. The Roman Catholic Church was very popular, too. It was mainly in Latin and the church was pretty wealthy. The church had a tight relationship with influential politicians. The population in Western Europe grew a lot overtime. A general global warming trend created favorable conditions for agriculture. Land was widely available as trees and marshes were cleared. All of this made it possible for long-distance trade. A key feature of Western European governments was that they started demanding loyalty from their subjects. Women had many new opportunities because of this economic growth and urbanization, but it gradually declined because of men. The church offered an alternative for women to become nuns and create another kind of life for themselves. Western Europeans wanted to expand their reach to different places, mostly to spread their religion. This marked the beginning of the Crusades, a series of religious wars. The Middle East felt little impact from the Crusades, but Spain, Sicily, and the Baltic region were permanently influenced since they were brought into Western Europe. The Crusades created deeper cultural divisions between different people.

Western Europe, in general, was less developed than other civilizations at the time. Yet, they were willing to borrow ideas from the East. They made remarkable technological advances like the plow, three-way crop rotation, a different kind of windmill, and a way to harness energy through the environment. Competing states within Western Europe created different kinds of political systems. Western Europe also had weaker rulers than those in the East, since the rulers had to compete with warrior aristocrats and church leaders. A major philosophical question was raised also during this time in Christianity: reason vs. faith?