China, South Southeast Asia, Dar al Islam

Song Dynasty

960-1279CE

TECH: paper money, gunpowder, irrigation, champa!

Population Boom: agriculture techniques

Sophisticated culture: confucian ideals

Hangzhou

Capital of southern song.

SIG: Urbanization, commercialization, intellectual flourishing. 

Chinese luxury goods + foreign exchange

Filial Piety

Confucian virtue: care, respect, devotion for parents elders

Mandate of Heaven

philosophical concept, primary justification for political legitimacy in Imperial China

Grand Canal

Longest artificial waterway globally:

State-sponsored project that strengthened political control and boosted economic productivity

Neo-confucianism

political and ethical system from Song Dynasty:

response to growing influence of BUddhism and Daoism while maintaining Confucian thought.

Confucian Revival!!

Heian Japan

(794-1850CE)

Marked by flourishing aristocratic court culture,

development of distrint Japanese identity,

Japan

contrast w China:

Political decentralization and rise of samurai

also: power went to aristocrat klans

Role of women in society + culture: much greater. Kana: women wrote classics

textile

Cloth: major econ commodity

Driving force of trade, specialization and econ growth

facilitated: creation of new markets across Afro-Eurasia, China, India, ISlamic world, Europe

Champa Rice

fast-ripening and drought resistant strain of rice from vietnam

Transformative effect on China: POP BOOM

Better irrigation + farming techs: econ Revo!!

Increased Wealth and trade + specialization in different crops

Dar-Al Islam

Fostered Cultural and Intellectual centers: House of Wisdom, Baghdad

Econ connectivity

Cross-cultural exchange

Hinduism

Social structure(CASTE) ,

state & political legitimacy(bc of the caste),

spread & cultural exchange: to some of southeast asia, EX AngKor Wat

Christianity

Unifying force in europe:

political centralization by catholicism and political power fromt he pope

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Europe Orthodox

Cultural diffusion (slavs into the Byzantine orthodoxy)

Motivator for military campaigns(Crusades)

Christian Monasticism

monks dvlped watermills and plows,

managed landholdings,

stimulated trade,

social services,

mission work

Buddhist monasticism

Centers of learning and meditation,

spread of buddhism on trade routes

Egalitarian

Chanting

ISlamic Monasticism

Sufism!

emphasizes personal relationship w God: chants

ISlamic mysticism

Spreading Islam

Foundation of different religious orders

Confucianism

State Ideology: reinforced governance, on civil service exams

Legitimized rule!!

Social structure and hierarchy!

NeoConfucianism

synthesis of ideas, empohasis on cultivation

counter to buddhism!

Confucian revival

Buddhism

500 BCE, spiritual and philosophical religion that emphasized moral conduct and abstaining from excess.

Challenged rigid social hierarchy

Sufism

Islamic branch emphasizing internal personal search for God instead of rules. 

Asceticism, meditation, chanting. 

MISSIONARY GROUP: SPREAD ISLAM

Community building and social wellfare: also impact on persian, turkish, and urdu literary traditions

Theravada Buddhism

Bedrock of Southeast asian culture, Lay and monastic relationship

mahayana buddhism

emphasized salvation for all: even lay people, 

Seljuk Empire

medieval turko-persian Sunni Muslim empire 1037-1194

Conquered Persia, Mesopotamia, Levant, Anatolia

Transformation fo ISlamic world: expansion

Weakening of Byzantine Empire

catalyst for the crusades

Cultural andintellectual flourishing (madrasas)

Legacy for Ottoman empire

Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt

Powerful Medieval Islamic state, ruled over Egypt and Levant(syria and palestine)

1250-1500s

Military prowess and defense of Dar al Islam against Mongol Invasions in 1200s and Crusaders in LEvant

Cultural and econ center

DECLINE: Conquered by OTTOMANS

Delhi Sultanate

Islamic rule in India 1200-1500

Indo-Islamic culture: cultural Synthesis in language

Social Structure: islamic ruling class over Hindu vassals

Repelled Mongols

Centralized Govt

Abbasid Caliphate

750-1258CE: Second Great caliphate of Muslim Empire

Islamic Golden Age: Science medicine, math, art, astronomy]

Overthrew Umayyads

DECLINE: dominated by sunni Seljuk Turks and later attacked by mongols

House of Wisdom

700-800, in Baghdad

Central Intellectual hub: math, astronomy, medicine

Bridge to European Renaissance

FOundation of modern science

Nasir Al Din al Tusi

Persian astronomist and mathematical scholar

Bridged Knowledge and led to Copernican Revo

Spherical trig, Tusi couple, Milky way hypothesis

Magrabeh Observatory

Transcultural influence

A’ishah al Ba’uniyyah

Rare and prolific female Muslim mystic and writer

Insight into sufism and Islamic spirituality

Contributions to islamic culture as a woman

Bhakti Movement

Spiritual, social, religious reform/revival movement in 12th-13th century

Personal emotional connection to God

Challenged traditional authority

Elevated Women and untouchable lower classes

Hindu Revival: spread to SE Asian cities like modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia

Connect: SUFI MUSLIMS

Srivijaya Empire

Powerful Maritime kingdom between India and China:

ctrlled crucial trade routes,

facilitated spread of Mahayana Buddhism

Hub of Cultural Exchange in SE asia

Lucrative Trade bw India and China

Buddhist pilgrimage site

Angkor Wat

Massive Khmer Temple in Cambodia: demonstrated King’s power

Transition from Hinduism to Buddhism at end of 12th century

Example of religious syncretism

Khmer Empire

expansion and centralization: 

modern-day Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and southern Vietnam.

Divine Rule & Monumental agriculture:

Khmer kings legitimized their authority by portraying themselves as god-kings

Agricultural innovation:

canals, moats, and reservoirs (baray) 

To….

manage the monsoon climate,

irrigate rice fields

support a massive population.

Tech spread throughout the muslim empire

Algebra, Numerals

Hospitals, Pharmacology

Observatories, Astrolabe