WW Part 3: Intro, Ch 7 (Commerce & Culture), Ch 8 (China & the World), Ch 10 (the Worlds of Christendom)

Ways of the World Part Three: Intro

• The “Third-Wave” as Strayer refers to it represented a blending of new and old world. Existing societies colonized beyond their borders or influenced their neighbors in such a way that new distinct cultural identities were formed based on early civilizations.
• Cultures such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam borrowed heavily from the existing Chinese society, as many of the newly formed nations were influenced by their dominant early societies.
• Islam became a prominent nation, defined by its religion, and encompassing large swaths of land from modern Spain and Northern Africa to Western India.
• The Byzantine Empire, embraced the older eastern portion of the remaining Roman Empire, continuing the establishment of Mediterranean Christianity.
• In Mesoamerica, the Aztec created an impressive nation based on the ruins of the earlier Maya, and in South America the Inca incorporated Andean civilization into a much larger political empire.
• During this “Third-Wave” culture interaction with other societies exploded due to several factors:
• Increase in long-distance trade through popularized trade-routes.
• Empires created a cosmopolitan ecosystem, and reinforced secure trade.
• Nomadic and pastoral cultures established civilizations, ruling over agricultural peoples.
• The spread of ideas (religion) created lasting ties among distance civilizations.
• The diffusion of technology created new industry to further expand trade (i.e. processing of silk and sugars)

Chapter 7 (Commerce & Culture)

• Silk Roads
• Connected the Eurasian region empires and city states through a series of transcontinental secure roads.
• Trade flourished for 2,000 years as large caravans spread ideas, technology, and in many cases diseases previously unknown.
• Silk was the primary luxury good traded along the route, monopolized by traders from its origin, China.
• An impressive amount of regional goods were traded, many of which in current day would be difficult to determine their place of origin (were it not for this book), while some are commodities still associated with the origin region (bamboo and ginger for example are typically associated with Asia if not China proper.
• China: Silk, bamboo, mirrors, gunpowder, paper, rhubarb, ginger, lacquerware, chrysanthemums
• Forest lands of Siberia / Grasslands of Central Asia: Furs, tusks, amber, livestock, horses, falcons, hides, copper, tents, saddles, slaves.
• India: Cotton textiles, herbal medicine, precious stones, spices
• Middle East: dates, nuts, almonds, dried fruit, dyes, lapis lazuli, swords
• Mediterranean Basin: Gold Coins, glassware, glazes, grapevines, jewelry, artworks, perfume, wool and linen textiles, olive oil.
• Silk while a main commodity for China represented a huge technological achievement in the form of textiles. Once the silkworms have created their cocoons, , they were unwound in hot water, and the fibers used to create thread and woven into textiles. The desire for silk was so great in all of the surrounding regions, either as a luxury commodity for the wealthy or as a trade lever for negotiations with surrounding regions. Ultimately the technology spread throughout the surrounding regions, creating a surplus of the good to be used to trade with farther away civilizations in Africa.
• Buddhism spread throughout the Silk Road, originating from India, and spreading through Central Asia, China, and the surrounding areas; although the form of Buddhism was altered over time. Many traders voluntarily adopted Buddhism as a way of incorporation with the wealth Indian culture.
• Disease was a significant byproduct of the continued trade among human communities. With little immunity many civilizations were decimated: Athens infected by an unknown affliction lost 25% of its army, smallpox and measles destroyed the Roman Empire and Han dynasty ultimately leading to their demise, and the most impactful was the Mongol spread of the Black Death across China and Europe. The positive outcomes from this were the further spread of Christianity and Buddhism as they offered “compassion in the face of immense suffering”, and ultimately an immunity overtime was developed which the Americas lacked due to tight trade infrastructure and a lack of agricultural beasts.
• Sea Roads
• The known sea roads connected Africa, Arabia, Persia, India, China, and the islands of the Pacific with one another. Additionally, entrepreneurially Mediterranean city-states created a trans regional exchange which linked the Mediterranean seas with the large Indian Ocean trade routes.
• Transportation across the sea routes were extremely cost efficient as a boat could carry significantly more weight, faster, and traditional silk road caravans.
• Sea Trade Goods:
• Mediterranean Basin: ceramics, glassware, wine, gold, olive oil
• East Africa: ivory, gold, iron goods, slaves, tortoiseshells, quartz, leopard skins
• Arabia: frankincense, myrrh, perfumes
• India: grain, ivory, precious stones, cotton textiles, spices, timber, tortoiseshells
• Southeast Asia: tin sandalwood, cloves, nutmeg, mace
• China: silks, porcelain, tea
• Similar to how Buddhism spread through the silk road, Islam spread across the sea road as merchants found it to be friendly to commercial life.
• India being somewhat of a trade hub at this point expanded its culture across Southeast Asia.
• East African civilizations (Swahili) expanded to into a series of city-state similar to their Greek counterparts in the Mediterranean. The introduction of Islam as the primary religion of many city-states future increased trade with their Islamic counterparts in Arabia.
• Sand Roads
• Connected North Africa, the Mediterranean, and West Africa through the Sahara. The Sahara itself held deposits of copper and salt to be exploited by traders, and it was the introduction of camels into North Africa which made the trek possible.
• Arab traders prized gold among other commodities, which was in abundance in West Africa.
• Increased trade led to the construction of many new political entities within the central Sudan: Kingdom of Ghana and Kingdom of Mali. Slavery out of the Sudan being a main export to wealthy Islamic North Africans.
• American Network
• Diffusion of culture between North America, South America, and Mesoamerica did not occur readily and in some cases not at all. A web of trade however did exist which linked the Mississippi Cultures, Mesoamerican Civilizations, and the Andean Civilizations with primarily luxury goods.
• Economic Globalization contributed significantly to the initiation and continued interaction between civilizations, allowed for the proliferation of religions and ideas, and created leaps in technological innovation not just through necessity, but through constant collaboration.

Chapter 8 (China & the World)

• “Golden Age”
• China reunified under the Sui dynasty (589-618), and solidified it through a centralized canal system linking northern and southern China (an engineering feat of the age). Ultimately this dynasty was overthrown after the exhaustion of state resources in an attempt to conquer Korea.
• The Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) build on the charred foundation of the Sui dynasty to create a “golden age” of arts and literature. The government structure consisted of six ministries: personnel, finance, rites, army, justice, public works, and a sneaky seventh which from all accounts was their to spy internally. During this time, the ability to print books was created for the first time in history. While exam systems existed to identify qualified officials, many public office positions were retained by the wealthiest of families. Prosperity during this time was gauged by the doubling of its population, and achievements to support the growing populace included agricultural selection of strains of rice which were more resistant to drought and matured more quickly. Industrial iron production increased along with the population, to support everything from military armor and weapons, to agricultural tools. Surplus in crops and cheap transportation created a commercialized trend of growing crops for trade rather than local consumption. To facilitate the sale of goods and services and the taxation related to those transactions, a paper money system was established.
• During the Tang Dynasty women led a less restricted life, and participated in all parts of society. The revival of Confucianism quickly change the focus to a more female subservient society was further restricted into the Song dynasty as Confucian ideas resurged.
• China and the Nomads of the north were a give and take in which China became reliant on the horses produced from northern lands, and yet restricted access to China's trade market and lands. China quickly created a benevolent system, from their perspective, to grant access to trade and culture in exchange for tribute as a sign of subservience to the Emperor.
• As the barbarian societies formed nomadic empires able to compete equally with China, groups like the Xiongnu confederacy enacted the same tribute system as a type of protection money to prevent excursions into China.
• Nomadic rulers of parts of China began to assimilate into Chinese culture through language, education, and ideological practices (Daoism / Buddhism), although the majority still retained their nomadic roots.
• China likewise enacted the tribute system with the newly emerging Korea, Vietnam, and Japan societies. While these new civilization adopted many major elements of Chinese culture, they retained their distinct identities and responded to the request for tribute differently:
• Korea actively embraced the tribute system which provided legitimacy for Korean rulers, exposed new trade opportunities in goods and ideas. As Confucianism took hold, a change in Korean family dynamic occurred which prohibited plural marriages, and Korean women raising children.
• Vietnam like Korea embraced the tribute system but was ruled by a Chinese official who enforced Chinese culture and language, while equally vilifying them as barbarians. Ultimately several female let rebellions ensued, which led to the creation of an independent Vietnamese dynasty in which some of Chinese culture remained.
• Japan being separated entirely by sea prevented a successful invasion by China, but many cultural aspects were voluntarily adopted. This culminated during the first pseudo-unified Japan in which a centralized bureaucratic system was established on a Chinese model. Excursions to China brought back knowledge to create a Emperor based government system and Chinese style court, and encouraged Confucianism and Buddhism. In many ways they took what they saw as the best of Chinese culture and molded it to meet their needs. Political power ultimately decentralized and unified over the years, but this period of fracture and warring led to a focus on militarization which created a distinctly Japanese Samurai caste system which was in stark contrast to Chinese beliefs. Religion wise Buddhism became apart of the culture while the traditional Shinto beliefs still retained religious dominance
• China had a significant impact on Eurasia through technological innovation. Solar evaporation to produce salt, paper making, and printing which spread across Eurasia like wildfire, and ultimately led to mass literacy to educate and spread religion. Likewise, the known world had an impact on China. Persian windmills spurred the creation of similar devices in china, the need to disseminate Buddhist teachings and images (originating from India) led to the development of printing,

Chapter 10 (the Worlds of Christendom)

• Christian Contraction in Asia and Africa
• During the Tang dynasty, a small Nestorian church founded by Persian missionary monks took root in China. Using Daoist and Buddhist concepts, the Christian message was conveyed to the Chinese in the form of the Jesus Sutras. This ultimately declined to to a Chinese political attempt to turn from all foreign religions. Mongol conquest of China allowed a Christian resurgence, many of which converted to Christianity until their rule was ended with the Confucian Ming dynasty.
• With the popularity of Islam growing, churches were on the decline in Africa. In Egypt, Christianity was the religion of the masses, even under Muslim rule. During the era of the European crusades from the west, and Mongol hordes from the east, Christians in Egypt were targeted by Muslims due to loyalty concerns, almost extinguishing it entirely. Further south, Christianity saw a resurgence in the Nubian kingdoms, due to trade with Egypt. Ultimately, this too disappeared due to pressures from Islam in Egypt and from the desert tribes. The only remaining bastion of Christian faith existed in Ethiopia, surrounded by Islam and yet protected due to their assistance to Muhammad’s followers in early Islam.
• Byzantine Christendom: Building on the Roman Past
• While the origins of the Byzantine empire are somewhat unclear, it is said that it began as a continuation of the Roman empire and based on Emperor Constantine who favored Christianity. The walled capital, Constantinople, rests on the site of the Greek city Byzantium which ultimately survived the Germanic and Hun invaders which overtook the western Roman Empire. The remaining eastern empire, while compact, reformed with a superior navy and access to the Black seas to recapture parts of the loss western Roman Empire until its eventual decline by Catholic Crusaders and Turkic Muslims (Ottoman Empire).
• The Byzantium emperor retained the power of both the head of state and church. A network of priests brought the churches messages to the entire empire.
• Eastern Orthodox Christianity was the pervasive form of Christianity which countered against a Latin Christianity centered on papal Rome, even though their belief structures remained relatively consistent. Additional differences between the two became apparent in their language Latin in the west and Greek in the east, and their divergence about the nature of the holy Trinity.
• Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of Roman Collapse
• With the ultimate demise of the Roman empire, the encompassing lands were divided into more rural communities which eventually became the regional kingdoms of Goths (Germanic), Visigoths (Spain), Franks (France), Lombards (Italy), and Angles and Saxons (England). Ultimately Roman prestige and laws remained intact, while roads and infrastructure declined. During this era the Carolingian empire of Charlemagne was established as a infant imperial bureaucracy, which led to the eventual Holy Roman Empire which was a pervasive civilization during the Middle Ages.
• The west in Comparative Perspective
• Western civilization has at this point gone through several upheavals and restructuring, but was far from dominant Islamic and Chinese civilizations. During this time, Europe began re engaging in trade with other dominant culture, and with it’s own independent invention began to catch up in the global race for cultural supremacy. The development of heavy wheeled plow and a three-field system of crop rotation allowed them to plant more and yield more from agricultural crops. Grain and water mills allowed them take advantage of the geographical differences of the region, and later industrialization allowed them to get away from human and animal energy. Borrowing of gunpowder from China and adapting it to larger range based artillery on ships, along with advances in ship building and navigation, gained them the sea and weapon superiority.