Chapter 1: The Global Tapestry from c. 1200 to c. 1400

China

has great wealth, political stability, artistry, neo- confucian teachings, and spread of confucian and buddhism.

Bubonic plague

- Black Death that killed ⅓ of the population; growing demand for labor after so many deaths and gave serfs for bargaining power.

Religion

- worshiped pantheon of hundreds of deities, involved rituals, feast days, and human sacrifices (gods sacrificed themselves for the world so human sacrifice was repayment and atonement for sin)

Irrigation systems

used water, terraces, and pumps to increase productivity and cultivate unusable land; abundance of food means more people.

Emperor Song Taizu

Meritocracy and the civil service exam- expanded educational opportunities to men of lower economic classes to score well on the civil service exam to obtain good jobs in the bureaucracy; based on the knowledge of Confucian texts.

Filial piety

- duty of family members to subordinate desires to the male head of the family and the ruler; emphasized respect for ones elders to maintain Song rule.

Chaco

- built housing using stones and clay.

Rajput

kingdoms- northern india and present- day Pakistan; Hindu kingdoms led by clans, no centralized government (demonstrating diversity and regionalism), vulnerable to Muslim attacks.

Mesa Verde

- built multi- story homes into sides of cliffs using sandstone bricks.

Dhows

- long, thin hulls made for carrying goods.

Khmer

empire- Mekong River and irrigation and drainage systems led to economic prosperity; capital was Angkor Thom with temples of Indian cultural influences, Hindu artwork, and Buddhist sculptures.

Abbasid Caliphate

, Middle East- fragmented by invaders, shifts in trade; new Muslim states in Africa, Middle East, and Spain.

Humanism

- focus on individuals rather than God; sought education and reform, increased use of vernacular language; rise of monarchies, centralized governments, and nationalism.

Animism

- belief that elements of the physical world could be supernatural.

Vijayanagara Empire

- the victorious city; Harihara and Bukka from Delhi Sultanate in north- central India, converted to Islam for upward molbility and then returned to Hinduism and established their own Hindu kingdom.

Vietnam

- traded with and learned from China, but rebelled against Chinese influence; women had greater independence and preferred nuclear families; villages operated independently; merit- based bureaucracy and loyalty for village peasants; rejected foot binding and polygyny.

local consumption

Commercialized society- economy changed from to market production.

Inca

The government, economy, and society- split into four provinces with governor and bureaucracy, loyalty was rewarded.

Mississippian culture

- first large- scale civilization in North America near the Mississippi River Valley; built earthen mounds such as Cahokia.

Great Schism

- Christian Church in Europe divided into 2 branches; Roman Catholic Church dominated Europe; Orthodoc Church was powerful from Greece to Russia.

Government

and society- the Great Sun ruled each town, priests, nobles, farmers, hunters, merchants, artisands, and slaves; marillineal society (determined by womens side of the family)

Marco Polo

- Italian with description of the customs of the people he met; described Mongols and sparked curiosity about Asia → cartography, or mapmaking.

Grand Canal

The was inexpensive, efficient internal waterway transportation system to become most populous trading area in the world.

Theocracy

- rule by religious leaders; the Great Speaker was a political ruler and divine representative of the gods.

Technology

improved roads, canals, foreign trade, prosperity, and population growth.

Mongols

- central asian and conquered remaining Abbasid Empire, ending Seljuk rule and were stopped in Egypt by Mamluks.

Path

Eight- Fold - the precepts that can lead to enlightenment or nirvana (right speech, livelihood, effort, and mindfulness)

Sufi

- emphasized introspection to gather truths; played important role in spread of Islam; local religious elements into Islam.

Decline

- abandoned Cahokia around 1450; thought to be flooding, weather extremes, collapse of agricultural economy, or diseases.

Pochteca

- special merchant class that traded luxury goods.

Islam

spread outward from Arabia through military actions, merchants, and missionaries.

Srivijaya empire

- Hindu kingdom based on Sumatra; built up navy and charged fees for ships traveling between India and China.

Magna Carta

- forced William the Conqueror to limit power; required kind to respect certain rights.

Paper

- made way across Eurasia; increased literacy rates, focused on intellectual thought and learning led to advances in math and medicine (Islamic centers of learning)

Ibn Battuta

- from Morocco; travelog showed how Islams growth increased connections among cultures of Asia, Africa, and southern Europe.

Champa Rice

- larger urban centers and supported Chinas manufacturing capability.

Levant

4th Crusade- (Venic transported Crusaders to the Middle East) and Islamic forces won.

Nasir

al- Din al- Tusi- astronomy, law, logic, ethics, mathematics, philosophy, trigonometry, medicine.

Ghana

- rulers sold gold and ivory to Muslim traders; king ruled a centralized government with nobles and an army.

Social class

- scholar gentry, aristocracy, farmers, artisans, merchants (low status reflected Confucian respect for hard work and creative value), peasants.

Antisemitism

- Jews thought of as outsiders and untrustworthy; were expelled from Europe and moved to eastern Europe.

Feudalism

- exchanges of land for loyalty.

Muslims

- faced discrimination and moved to southeastern Europe; contact with traders in caliphates opened trading world.

Ibn Khaldun

- historical accounts and historiography and sociology.

Renaissance

- revival of interest in classical Greek and Roman literature, art, culture, and civic virtue; printing press allowed mass production of manuscripts at affordable costs; growth in literacy and spread of ideas.

Christians

vs Muslims- Muslims conquered Spain, and wanted to reconquer it during the Reconquista.

Commerce

- islamic society viewed merchants as prestigious as long as they maintained fair dealings and gave to charity and kept accord with pillars of Islamic faith.

Korea

- tributary relationship with China and emulated politics and culture, adopted Confucian and Buddhist beliefs, centralized government, writing system; aristocracy were more powerful and the elite prevented Chinese reforms.

Little Ice Age

- lower temperatures reduced agriculture, increased disease and unemployment.

Monasticism

- Christian clergy went to monasteries to meditate and pray; same economic functions as manors; women as nuns.

Bureaucracy

political organization where appointed officials carried out the empires policies (a continuity across dynasties)

Meritocracy and the civil service exam

Emperor Song Taizu expanded educational opportunities to men of lower economic classes to score well on the civil service exam to obtain good jobs in the bureaucracy; based on the knowledge of Confucian texts

Proto-industrialization

people in rural areas made more goods than they could sell and relied more on home-based or community-based production using simple equipment

Artisans or skilled craft workers

produced steel and products in smelting facilities under the imperial government; manufactured porcelain and silk that spread through trade (porcelain was highly desired because it was light-weight, strong, light-colored)

Maritime navigation

redesigned ships for more cargo, compass, print paper navigation charts (less reliant on the sky)

Commercialized society

economy changed from local consumption to market production

Tributary system

arrangement where states had to pay money or provide goods to honor the Chinese emperor; cemented economic and political power over foreign countries (Japan, Korea, and kingdoms in southeast Asia were tributary states)

Social class

scholar gentry, aristocracy, farmers, artisans, merchants (low status reflected Confucian respect for hard work and creative value), peasants

Role of women

respect for women but they still defer to men (patriarchy)

Foot binding

girls had their feet wrapped to signify social status; restricted participation in the public sphere in aristocratic families

Buddhism

came to China via Silk Roads from India (monk Xuanzang helped build popularity); introduced Buddhism in China by relating beliefs to Daoist principles; 3 forms of Buddhism

Four Noble Truths

personal suffering alleviated by eliminating cravings or desires and following Buddhist precepts

Eight-Fold Path

the precepts that can lead to enlightenment or nirvana (right speech, livelihood, effort, and mindfulness)

Chan/Zen Buddhism

syncretic Daoist and Buddhist faith; emphasized direct experience and meditations opposed to formal learning based on studying scripture

Filial piety

duty of family members to subordinate desires to the male head of the family and the ruler; emphasized respect for ones elders to maintain Song rule

Neo-confucianism

syncretic system; combined rational thought with more abstract ideas of Daoism and Buddhism; ethics over God and nature

Japan

Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shinto religion, woodblock printing, emulated Chinese traditions; feudalism and aristocrats (daimyo), serfs born into economic dependency, samurai born into roles as protectors; bushido stressed frugality, loyalty, martial arts, and honor unto death; emperor had little power and suffered regional rivalries

Korea

tributary relationship with China and emulated politics and culture, adopted Confucian and Buddhist beliefs, centralized government, writing system; aristocracy were more powerful and the elite prevented Chinese reforms

Vietnam

traded with and learned from China, but rebelled against Chinese influence; women had greater independence and preferred nuclear families; villages operated independently; merit-based bureaucracy and loyalty for village peasants; rejected foot binding and polygyny

House of Wisdom

center of learning in Abbasid Empire; helped transfer knowledge through Afro-Eurasia

Mamluks

enslaved people for Arabs who were Turks from Central Asia as soldiers and bureaucrats; in Egypt, they established the Mamluk Sultanate and prospered with trade in cotton and sugar; threat to Abbasid Empire

Seljuk Turks

challenge to Abbasids from Central Asia; muslims; starting to conquer the Middle East, leader was called a sultan and reducing highest-ranking Abbasid from caliph to chief Sunni religious authority

Crusaders

Abbasids allowed Christians to travel to and from holy sites around Jerusalem but then they limited travel, the Crusaders (Christian soldiers) reopened access

Mongols

central asian and conquered remaining Abbasid Empire, ending Seljuk rule and were stopped in Egypt by Mamluks

Economics

Abbasids became important link connect Afro-Eurasia but trade patterns shifted farther north; Baghdad stopped being center of trade and lost wealth and population, couldnt afford repairing canals, not enough food

Islamic scholars followed Muhammads advice

translated Greek literary classics into Arabic, studied mathematics from India, adopted paper-making from China

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

astronomy, law, logic, ethics, mathematics, philosophy, trigonometry, medicine

Ibn Khaldun

historical accounts and historiography and sociology

‘Aishah al-Bauniyyah

prolific female Muslim writer; Sufi

Sufi

emphasized introspection to gather truths; played important role in spread of Islam; local religious elements into Islam

Commerce

islamic society viewed merchants as prestigious as long as they maintained fair dealings and gave to charity and kept accord with pillars of Islamic faith

non-Arab states with Islamic caliphs

discrimination against non-Arabs, people paid tribute to Islamic caliphs rather than to Byzantine rulers

Slavery

islam allowed slavery of non-Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrian; imported from Africa, Kievan Rus, and Central Asia (they converted for freedom); slave women were concubines to Islamic men

Women

slave women has more independence than legal wives; hijab and dressing modestly; Muhammad raised status of women by making dowries payments to secure brides be paid to the future wife, forbade female infanticide; Islamic women had higher status than Christian or Jewish women (allowed to inherit property, retain ownership, remarry, cash settlement, birth control, etc.)

Islamic rule in spain

the Umayyads rules in spain after Muslims defeated Byzantines armies and invaded Spain, designating Cordoba as their capital; turned back after the Battle of Tours; maintained religious toleration, promoted trade; al-Andaus became a center of learning and had the largest library in the world

Dhows

long, thin hulls made for carrying goods

Hinduism provided cultural unity

southern India was more stable than the north

Chola Dynasty

southern india until 1267

Vijayanagara Empire

the victorious city; Harihara and Bukka from Delhi Sultanate in north-central India, converted to Islam for upward molbility and then returned to Hinduism and established their own Hindu kingdom

Rajput kingdoms

northern india and present-day Pakistan; Hindu kingdoms led by clans, no centralized government (demonstrating diversity and regionalism), vulnerable to Muslim attacks

Jizya

Delhi Sultanate imposed a tax on all non-Muslims

Delhi sultanate

no organized bureaucracy → had difficulty imposing policies, local kingdoms played a role in Indias decentralized political landscape; prevented the Mongols from conquering South Asia; sultants lost power to the Mughals (mongol ancestry lol)

Hinduism vs Islam

polytheistic vs monotheistic; tempes and artwork of deities vs no visual representation of Allah; hierarchical caste systems vs equality; sacred texts vs only the Quran

Arrival of Islam

Islam was a universalizing religion, voluntary converts to Islam; attracted low-caste Hindus bc of equality; largest number of converts were Buddhists bc of corrcuption and disorganization

Social structure

caste system → politically decentralized, accommodates newcomers; low-caste Hindus converted to Islam to improve social status

Culture

shared intellectual and cultural achievements; Indian developments translated into Arabic and spread throughout Dar al-Islam ("Arabic numerals"); Islamic architecture with Hindu art (Qutuv Minar); Urdu meleded Hindi (northern India) and Arabic with elements of Farsi (Persian)

Bhakti Movement

southern India; importance of emotion in spiritual life and focused on strong attachment to a deity; did not discriminate against women or people of low status; Hindu but similar to Sufi Muslims bc of mystical movements that emphasized inner reflection and less on strict adherence to traditional rituals or beliefs

Influenced Southeast Asia

Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam; Indian merchants and trade introduced Indian religions to Southeast Asia

Srivijaya empire

Hindu kingdom based on Sumatra; built up navy and charged fees for ships traveling between India and China

Majapahit Kingdom

power by controlling sea routes; primarily Buddhist