Unit 2.5 Cultural Consequences of Connectivity 1200-1450

Majority of Unit 2.5 is review

Buddhism in East Asia

-Came into China thru Silk Roads & monks like Xuanzang who related Buddhist & Daoist ideals in Chan/Zen Buddhism. Despite intolerance from elite, it was popular w/ peasants, & Tang/Song scholar gentry spread it in Neo-Confucianism thru printing of its original vernacular

• Neo-Confucianism: Mixed rational thought & abstract beliefs from Daoism/Buddhism

• Tributary States: adopted Indian & Chinese religions

  • Korea: Buddhist w/ peasants, Confucianism w/ educated elite, est. Neo-Confucianism as state ideology

  • Japan & Vietnam: Neo-Confucianism

Hinduism and Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia

-Srivijaya Empire in Sumatra: Hindu

-Majapahit Kingdom in Java: Buddhist

-Sinhala Dynasties in Sri Lanka: Buddhist center of study & priests involved in bureaucracy

-Khmer Empire/Angkor Kingdom in Cambodia: Most successful SEA kingdom, peacefully coincided Hindu & Buddhist artworks & temples

Islam throughout Afro-Eurasia

-Spread thru missionaries, merchants, & conquest

• Africa: Timbuktu & centers of learning, Swahili mixed Bantu & Arabic, Hajj for many leaders

• South Asia: After predominance of Hinduism & Buddhism, Buddhists disillusioned from corruption & low-caste Hindus converted, spawning mixed architecture, languages (Urdu: Hindi, Arabic, Farsi), & Bhakti Movement

• Southeast Asia: Javanese Muslims mixed, Mughal Indian, local, & Chinese Buddhist & Confucian traits & techniques

Scientific & Technology Innovations

-Islamic Scholars: Saved Greek classics by translating into Arabic, Indian math

• adopted Chinese papermaking into Europe, increasing literacy

• Adv. hospital care/surgery w/ Greek, Mesopotamian, & Egyptian med. adv.

-Seafaring: Magnetic compass, lateen sail, astrolabe, stern rudder

-Champa Rice: From India→Vietnam, China’s pop & production of silk, porcelain, steel, & iron

• Hangzhou: Center of culture, trade, & diversity

Declining Cities

-Prospered thru political stability, safe transportation, commerce, & labor

• Kashgar: Nomadic invasions & Tamerlane invasion in 1389-90

• Constantinople: Disobedient crusaders & bubonic plague made it susceptible to Ottomans in 1453, ending the High Midle Ages

The Crusades

-Demand for Asian products led to disease & innovation

• 1347-1351 + subsequent outbreaks: 25 Million or 1/3 of Europe killed = labor shortage & decline of feudalism

• Exposure to Byzantine/Islamic culture: Inspired Renaissance & Secularism

Marco Polo

-Venetian merchant wrote abt Yuan Dynasty’s size, wealth, & prosperity thru paper $ and silk

Ibn Battuta

-Morrocan Muslim jurist & Sufi wrote abt his 30-year travel across Dar al-Islam in “A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Traveling”

• Spoke of Islam & Muslims’ accomplishments

Margery Kempe

-Middle-class English mystic turned to scribes to write abt her daily life & pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Rome, Germany, & Spain

• The Book of Margery Kempe: Earliest autobiographies