Ways of the World Chapter 2

Varieties of Civilization: 1200-1450

1. China and Its Neighbors

   1. China before the Mongol Takeover

      1. The Song Dynasty, from the year 1960 to 1279, ruled over large parts of Chinese civilization and was a golden age of arts and literature

      2. It operated under a meticulously organized bureaucracy fueled by schools and colleges that prepared candidates for rigorous exams

      3. Normally candidates came from privileged backgrounds but there were rare occasions where those from common backgrounds were able to pass

      4. China experienced an economic revolution which made the Song Dynasty the most rich, skilled, and populous country on earth

      5. The Song Dynasty capital of Hangzhou was home to more than a million people

      6. By the 11th century industrial production was in full swing and China was producing suits of armor, arrowheads, metal for coins, tools, and construction.

      7. China also boasted an immense network of internal waterways that stretched perhaps 30,000 miles and facilitated the chief movement of goods, allowing peasants to grow special crops for sale while they purchased rice or other staples on the market. 

      8. Foot binding was the practice of tightly wrapping young girls feet which would usually cause breaking of bones and intense pain

      9. The view of the Song Dynasty was that women had to be docile and men resolute

      10. Among the elites, masculinity in men was defined less than athleticism and more in refined pursuits of calligraphy, scholarship, painting, and poetry

      11. Female qualities emphasized women’s weakness, delicacy, and fragility

      12. It became widespread in Chinese society and was associated with images of female beauty that involved small size and frailty

   2. Interacting with China: Korea, Vietnam, and Japan

      1. Korea and Vietnam took shape underneath the influence of China but retained their distinctive identities

      2. Korea adopted Chinese models of family life and female behavior based on Confucian concepts

      3. While originally Korean women enjoyed more flexibility and freedom than their Chinese counterparts, Chinese pressure lead to complete Confucian adherence to gender roles in Korea

      4. Despite Chinese influence Korea was able to remain Korean, and Chinese cultural pressure, except for Buddhism, had a little impact beyond the aristocracy and did not penetrate the lives of Korean peasants or the lives Korea’s slaves

      5. In the mid 1400s hangul was developed and is a phonetic alphabet for writing the Korean language

      6. Vietnam incorporated the Chinese style of government making use of Chinese court rituals more so than Korea

      7. Vietnam retained a greater role for women in social economic life despite heavy Chinese influence

      8. In fact Vietmenese women saw Confucian-based ideas as the enemy to the pre-existing gender roles in Vietnam

      9. Vietnam developed a style of writing chu nom

      10. Japan was located farther away from China with 100 miles of ocean separating them.

      11. Because of this Japan only borrowed from Chinese civilization voluntarily, never by force or because of proximity

      12. Between the seventh and ninth centuries Japan sought to transform themselves into a centralized bureaucratic state based on the Chinese model

      13. In addition to this Chinese Buddhism was also implemented in Japan education

      14. However Japan remained very independent from Chinese culture and retained a distinctive Japanese civilization

      15. The samurai had a central role both politically and socially.

      16. Bushido - the way of the samurai, a distinctive set of values such as bravery, loyalty, endurance, honor, great skill in martial arts, and most importantly a preference for death over surrender

      17. Japanese literacy evolved in distinctive ways and a unique writing system that combine Chinese characters with a series of phonetic symbols became the basis for the Japanese writing system

      18. Japanese women escaped the more oppressive features of Chinese Confucian culture

2. The Worlds of Islam: Fragmented and Expanding

   1. This Islamic Heartland

      1. The Abbasid caliphate had ruled the Islamic world since 750 but was a shadow of its former self as it faced challengers from other Islamic tribes 

      2. The Seljuk Turkic Empire of the 11th and 12th centuries began to claim the Muslim title of Sultan as they became major players in the Islamic Middle East

      3. The Ottoman Empire was the creation of one of the many Turkic warrior groups that had migrated into Anatolia that brought greater long-term political unity to the Islamic Middle East and North Africa

      4. The Ottoman Empire became the incorporation of many diverse peoples and a landmark of economic and cultural sophistication

      5. By the 16th century the Ottomans brought to the Islamic Middle East a greater measure of political coherence, military power, economic prosperity, and cultural brilliance than it had known since the early centuries of Islam

   2. Cultural Encounters in India and Spain

      1. By 1200 and the centuries that followed substantial Muslim communities begin to emerge in northern India

      2. Islam was only able to take up 20 to 25% of the total population in India as it was not able to challenge the lasting impact Hindu culture had

      3. Spain was referred to as al-Andalus by Muslims and was the sight of a sustained cross cultural encounter with Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

      4. Astronomy, medicine, the arts, architecture, and literature flourished as all religions contributed to a brilliant high culture

      5. By 1000, 75% of the population has converted to Islam.

      6. By 1000 the period of tolerance in Spain ended as persecution against Christians begin to rise

      7. The intolerance intensified as the Christian conquest of Spain gained ground after 1200

      8. The end came in 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella took Grenada which was the last Muslim stronghold.

      9. Many of the remaining Muslims had to either convert or be exiled alongside 200,000 Jews

3. The Worlds of Christendom

   1. The Byzantine Empire had been a sophisticated and powerful Christian empire but had entered a steady state of decline by 1200

   2. The Eastern Orthodox World

      1. Constantinople was the capital of Byzantine and was also referred to as New Rome and their people as Romans

      2. Eastern Orthodox Christianity defined the authority of the emperor as supreme and absolute because was anointed by God

      3. The Crusades were launched in 1095 by the Catholic pope against the forces of Islam

      4. Kievan Rus emerged in a region near where Ukraine is now and was a significant region of expansion for orthodox Christianity

   3. A Fragmented Political Landscape in Western Europe

      1. Western Christendom began to gain ground around 1000 CE

      2. Feudalism emerged during the ninth and 10th centuries in Western Europe and persisted in some regions into the 15th century

      3. After 1000 European political life began to take shape as outlines of French, English, Spanish, Scandinavian, and other states begin to appear

      4. By 1450 Europeans had made great strides towards catching up with their morgue Vance to Asian counterparts and by 1500 they had the most advanced arsenals in the world 

      5. advances in shipbuilding and navigational techniques were also made

      6. Roman Catholic Church influence spread across the entire western European region

   4. An Evolving European Society and Economy 

      1. The high middle ages was a. That took place from 1000 to 1300 and was home to an accelerating tempo of economic and social change

      2. This included a boom in population size 

      3. Technological breakthroughs in agriculture such as the heavy wheeled plow, an increasing reliance on horses rather than oxen, as well as a three-field system of crop rotation allowed for a more productive agriculture that could support the growing population of European civilization, especially in its urban centers

      4. After 1000 Europeans begin to use mechanical sources of energy with devices such as cranks, flywheels, camshaft, and complex gearing mechanisms 

      5. Increase in populations in towns gave rise to new groups of people, particularly merchants, bankers, artisans, and university trained professionals such as lawyers, doctors, and scholars

      6. These changes had implications for many lives and created many opportunities

      7. Women were able to be active in a number of urban professions

      8. The church also offered women an alternative to home, marriage, family, and rural life

   5. Western Europe Outward Bound

      1. By the 13th and 14th century Europe begin to expand outwards

      2. An example is the crusades that began in 1095 and stretched into the 13th century

      3. The crusades were viewed as wars that had to be fought under God‘s command

      4. As a result an amazing amount of support was maintained for the crusades in Europe 

      5. They demonstrated a growing European capacity for organization, finance, transportation, and recruitment

      6. The crusades had a small impact both politically and religiously in the Middle East as European power was not strong or long lasting to induce conversion

      7. Europeans were able to come to contact with Asian luxury goods while in the Islamic world which stimulated a demand back in Europe

      8. As a result channels of trade, technology transfer, and intellectual exchange were opened

   6. Reason and Renaissance in the West

      1. While in the setting of schools and European universities Europeans began to explore the ability of human reason which led to a new interest in rational thought

      2. This logic, philosophy, and rationality was applied to law, medicine, and the world of nature, exploring astronomy and alchemy

      3. This scientific study of nature, known as natural philosophy, began to separate itself from theology

      4. Europeans began to seek out original Greek texts, particularly those of Aristotle

      5. His writings became the basis for university education and largely dominated the thought of Western Europe

      6. European Renaissance begin in the vibrant cities of Italy between 1350 and 1500

      7. The educated citizens of cities that were experiencing the renaissance sought inspiration in art and literature of Ancient Greece and Rome

      8. The elite patronized great Renaissance artist such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Rafael, whose paintings and sculptures were far more naturalistic in portraying the human body

4. Civilizations of the Americas

   1. Emergence of the Aztecs in MesoAmerica

      1. Mesoamerica was a distinct region bound by a common culture that included an intensive agricultural technology devoted to raising maze, beans, chili peppers, and squash and included in economy based on market exchange

      2. Maya civilization dominated a region centered on modern day Guatemala between 250 and 900 CE

      3. Mayan builders and artists were able to create urban centers with temples, pyramids, palaces, and public plazas

      4. Intellectuals developed the most elaborate writing system in the Americas

      5. The Aztec Empire prospered from 1345 to 1528 and was the last and largest of the Mesoamerican states to emerge before the Spanish conquered the region in the early 16th century

      6. The Aztec empire had a core population estimated at 5 to 6 million people and was a loosely structured and unstable state that witnessed frequent rebellions by its subject peoples

      7. Slaves played a prominent role in Aztec society for they were often destined for sacrifice in the bloody rituals that were essential to Aztec religious life

      8. The Aztecs believed that the sun was central to all life and was constantly hovered in battle against encroaching darkness

      9. Thus the Aztecs believe they were always on the edge of catastrophe and that a solution to this problem was endless sacrifice

      10. Therefore enslaved prisoners of war became those who would have to die for God

      11. This lead to Aztec rulers often holding massive sacrificial rituals that would often be coupled with a display of great wealth

   2. Emergence of the Incas in the Andes

      1. Andean societies had an endless supply of sea birds and fish from the Pacific ocean as well as dozens of rivers which allowed the possibility of irrigation and cultivation

      2. The Inca Empire stretched 2500 miles along the Andes and contained an estimation of 10 million subjects during short life in the 15th and early 16th centuries

      3. The Incans were ruled by an emperor, who was viewed as an absolute ruler

      4. Each of the eight provinces in the empire had an Incan governor

      5. Births, deaths, marriages, and other population data was carefully recorded on quipus.

      6. Incans were required to acknowledge major Incan deities but were also allowed to practice their own religions which lead to a very fluid state.

      7. The people had to work for the state on large state farms or in other military construction projects

      8. Young girls would be removed from their home, trained in Incan ideology, and set to producing corn beer and cloth at state centers

      9. Both the Incans and the Aztecs practiced gender parallelism in which women and men operated in two separate but equivalent spheres