Unit 0

Mesopotamia (0-1200)

• how the Human race survived and thrived in their early upbringings. (period from 0-1200)

• Neolithic revolution- the discovery of planting provided lots more food than hunting and gathering.

• Sustainable food = permanent living = baby boom

Several agricultural societies focused around rivers: Nile river valley, Yellow RV, Indus RV, Mesoamerica, and Andes Mountain Society. These settlements around water also led to permanent settlements, and the baby boom= more people so cities began. As new cities were built, so were buildings, but some were bigger than others. Bigger homes= more important people. ESTABLISHMENT OF HIERARCHY.

• Code of Hammurabi: societal code for hierarchy, early law and punishment for breaking laws.

• Early Writing: was to keep track of grain amounts, but developed into literature and early stories- Epic of Gilgamesh from the Indus River Valley

• Religions: Hinduism -Indus river valley, Monotheistic Religions- Southwestern Asia, Zoroastrianism- Isreali’s

• Claim of Divinity: Like the divine right of kings, early societal leaders claimed that they were sent from God in order to rule.

• Pastoralists: People that continued to be nomadic, and eat by hunter-gathering. Led to cultural exchanges from ‘established’ societies, the origin of trade through nomads- Mongols

Development of early societies

Unit 1

1.1 - Developments in East Asia (1200-1450)

CHINA:

• Neo-Confucian teachings supported the government-shaped social classes and the family system

• Developed greatest manufacturing capability in the world

• Song Dynasty: replaced Tang in 960 and ruled for three centuries; ruled smaller region than Tang and arts flourished

• Imperial Bureaucracy: a vast organization in which appointed officials carried out the empire’s policies

• Bureaucracy existed since the Qin Dynasty and expanded under Song

• Civil Service Exam: Emperor Song Taizu expanded educational opportunities to young men of the lower economic classes so they could score well on the civil service exams; score well = let them obtain a highly desired job in the bureaucracy; exams based on knowledge of Confucian texts. Greatened the Confucian faith and promoted unity.

• Meritocracy: officials obtained their positions by demonstrating their merit on those exams; Chinese system allowed for more upward mobility than any other hiring system of the time

• By the end of Song, the bureaucracy had grown so large that it contributed to the empire’s weakness due to the many jobs and paying the officials handsomely (aka drying up the China’s surplus wealth)

• Tang Dynasty successfully promoted agricultural development, improved roads and canals, encouraged foreign trade, and spread technology leading to rapid prosperity and population growth during the Song Dynasty

• Grand Canal: an inexpensive and efficient internal waterway transportation system that extended over 30,000 miles (enabled China during the Song Dynasty to become the most populous trading area in the world)

• Gunpowder: Made in previous dynasties before; innovators in the Song Dynasty made the first guns; technology of making gunpowder and guns spread from China to all parts of Eurasia via traders on the Silk Roads

• Champa Rice: a fast-ripening and drought-resistant strain of rice from the Champa Kingdom in present-day Vietnam; greatly expanded agricultural production in China

• Innovative methods of production contributed to agricultural success (ex: Chinese farmers put manure on the fields to enrich the soil); built irrigation systems using ditches, water wheels pumps, and terraces to increase productivity

• Population grew quickly due to abundance of food; in the three centuries of Song Dynasty rule, China’s population increased from around 25 percent of total world population to nearly 40 percent

• Manufacturing and Trade: industrial production soared and China’s discovery of black coal enabled it to produce greater amounts of cast iron goods; later learned how to take the carbon out of cast iron and began to manufacture steel to make bridges, gates, and ship anchors as well as religious items (also strengthened food production)

• Proto-Industrialization: a set of economic changes in which people in rural areas made more goods than they could sell; relied more on home-based or community-based production using simple equipment

• Artisans: skilled craft workers produced products under the supervision of the imperial government;manufactured porcelain and silk that reached consumers through expanding trade networks, especially by sea

• Chinese used the compass in maritime navigation, and they redesigned their ships to carry more cargo; ability to print paper navigation charts made seafaring possible in open waters, out of sight of land, and sailors become less reliant on the sky for direction

• Became the world’s most commercialized society with its economy changing from local consumption to market production

• Naval technology allowed China to control trade in South China Sea

• Taxes: Song promoted growth of commercial economy by changing how they built public projects (started paying people to work on them increasing the amount of money in circulations, aka economic growth)

• Tributes: another source of income for the government; an arrangement in which other states had to pay money or provide goods to honor the Chinese emperor; cemented its economic and political power over several foreign countries and also created stability and stimulated trade for all parties involved

• By the time of Song Dynasty, Japan, Korea, and kingdoms throughout southeast Asia were tributary states (sent fleets to receive tribute)

• Most urbanized land in the world at the height of Song Dynasty

• China’s Class Structure: urbanization represented a significant development in China, but life in rural areas grew more complex as well; bureaucratic expansion created an entirely new social class, the scholar gentry

• Scholar Gentry: soon outnumbered the aristocracy, which comprised of landowners who inherited their wealth; were educated in Confucian philosophy and became the most influential social class in China

• Three other classes ranked below the scholar gentry: farmers, artisans, and merchants

• Merchants: did not require physical strength or endurance; simply exchanged goods without growing or making anything new; low status reflected Confucian respect for hard work and creating value

• Peasants: lower rungs of Chinese society who worked for wealthy landowners, often to pay off debts, and the urban poor; Song government provided aid to the poor and established public hospitals where people could receive free care

• Role of Women: Confucian traditions included both respect for women and the expectation that they would defer to men; patriarchal pattern strengthened during the Tang and Song dynasties; one distinctive constraint on women’s activities in China was the practice of foot binding

• Foot Binding: a common activity among aristocratic families during the Song Dynasty where girls had their feet wrapped so tightly that the bones did not grow naturally; bound foot signified social status, something suitors particularly desired; also restricted women’s ability to move and hence to participate in the public sphere; was finally banned in 1912

• During the Tang and Song eras, China enjoyed affluence, a well-educated populace, and extensive contact with foreign nations; due to this, intellectual pursuits (technology, literature, and visual arts) thrived

• Paper and Printing: The Chinese invented paper as early as the 2nd century CE, but they developed a system of printing in the 7th century

• Woodblock Printing: first culture to use woodblock printing; in the Song era, printed booklets on how to farm efficiently were distributed throughout rice-growing regions; people could make multiple copies of art or written texts without laboriously copying each by hand

• Reading and Poetry: development of paper and printing expanded the availability of books; peasants couldn’t read but China’s privileged classes had increased access to literature; Confucian scholars were major producers of literature; emphasis of schooling created generations of well-rounded scholar-bureaucrats

• Buddhism: had come to China from India via Silk Roads; popularity became widespread during the Tang Dynasty

• Buddhism and Daoism: Three forms of Buddhism from India came to shape Asia, each developing a different emphasis

- Theravada Buddhism: focused on personal spiritual growth through silent meditation and self-discipline; became strongest in Southeast Asia

- Mahayana Buddhism: focused on spiritual growth for all beings and on service; became strongest in China and Korea

- Tibetan Buddhism: focused on chanting; became strongest in Tibet

• All three include a belief in the Four Noble Truths

• Four Noble Truths: stress the idea that personal suffering can be alleviated by eliminating cravings or desires and by following Buddhist precepts

• All three also embrace the Eight-Folf Path, the precepts (including right speech, right livelihood, right effort, and right mindfulness) that can lead to the establishment or nirvana

• Zen Buddhism: Monks introduced Buddhism to the Chinese by relating its beliefs to Daoist principles until Buddhist doctrines combined with elements of Daoist traditions to create synthetic or fused faith; emphasized direct experience and meditation as opposed to formal learning based on studying scripture

• Buddhism became very popular in China

• Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism: Tang Dynasty had a hard time with Buddhism but the Song Dynasty was somewhat more friendly towards Buddhism (did not promote the religion thought)

• Buddhism had a strong presence and many Confucians began to adopt its ideals into their daily lives

• Filial Piety: the duty of family members to subordinate their desires to those of the male head of the family and to the ruler; emphasis on respect for one’s elders helped the Song maintain their rule in China

• Neo-Confucianism: evolved in China between 770 and 840; combined Daoism and Buddhism; emphasized ethics rather than God or nature

JAPAN:

• Had ability to control its interactions with China than Korea or Vietnam could

• Prince promoted Buddhism and Confucianism as well as traditional religion

• Took woodblock printing from China

• Heian Period: 794-1185; emulated Chinese traditions in politics, art, and literature

• Japan’s Feudalism: had been a feudal society without a centralized government; landowning aristocrats (the daimyo) battled for control of land, while majority of people worked as rice farmers; very little social mobility and heredity hierarchy

• Samurai were born into their roles as protectors and daimyo were born into lived of privilege

• The daimyo ruled over vast stretches of land and were more powerful than either the emperor or the shogun (in reality)

• Bushido: code that stressed frugality, and loyalty, the martial arts, and honor unto death

• While China was ruled by an emperor who oversaw a large civilian bureaucracy, Japan had a powerful landowning family (Minamoto clan) take charge

• Minamoto installed a shogun, or military ruler, to reign in 1192

KOREA:

• Korea emulated many aspects of China’s politics and culture; centralized its government in the style of the Chinese; adopted Confucian and Buddhist beliefs (elite studied Confucian classics and peasant masses studied Buddhist doctrines)

• The landed aristocracy were more powerful in Korea than in China (Korea’s civil service examination was not open to peasants)

VIETNAM:

• Adapted the Chinese writing system and architectural styles, but Vietnam had a more adversarial relationship with China (launched violent rebellions against Chinese influence)

• Vietnamese women enjoyed greater independence to their married lives than did Chinese women

• Vietnamese preferred only husband, wife, and children in houses while Chinese lived in extended families

• Adopted merit-based bureaucracy of education but the allegiance was to the village peasants

• Rejected customs of foot binding and polygyny

• Vietnamese rebels pushed out China’s army as the Tang Dynasty began to crumble

• Strong capacity of guerilla warfare

1.2 - Developments in Dar al-Islam (1200-1450)

MIDDLE EAST:

• After death of Muhammad in 632, Islam spread rapidly outward from Arabia- missionary religion

• Reach extended from India to Spain

• Many Islamic leaders tolerated Christians, jews, and others who believed in a single god and did good works- monotheistic, egalitarian religions

• House of Wisdom: Under Abbasid Empire, scholars traveled from far away to Baghdad to study at the renowned center of learning; Islamic community helped transfer knowledge throughout Afro-Eurasia

• When the Abbasids declined, they were replaced by other Islamic States

• Crusaders: groups of soldiers organized by European Christians

• Abbasids allowed Christians to travel easily to and from their holy sites in and around Jerusalem, but Seljuk Turks limited the travel; so Christians organized crusaders to reopen access

• The Mongols: came from Central Asia; conquered remaining Abbasid Empire in 1258 and ended Seljuk rule; continued west but were stopped in Egypt by the Mamluks

• Abbasids was an important link connecting Asia, Europe, and North Africa. They controlled trade routes that transferred goods and ideas

• Baghdad: many trade routes connected there; however, as trade patterns slowly shifted to routes farther north, they lost its traditional place at the center of trade and lost its wealth and population; could not afford to keep its canals repaired, farmers could not provide enough food for the population, and infrastructure fell into decay

• Islamic world fragmented politically

• Abbasid Caliphate was led by Arabs and Persians, and the later Islamic States were shaped by Turkic people who descended from people in Central Asia

• Three large Islamic states had their roots in Turkic cultures:

- Ottoman Empire in Turkey

- Safavid Empire in Persia

- Mughal Empire in India

• Trade spread new goods and fresh ideas, created similar legal systems and centers for sharing intellectual innovations

• Cultural Continuities____: Islamic scholars learned from many cultures, carried on work of earlier thinkers

- Translated greek literary classics in Arabic; saved works of Aristotle and other Greek thinkers from oblivion

- Studied mathematics texts from India and transferred the knowledge to Europeans

- Adopted techniques for paper-making from China

• Cultural Innovations____: scholars made their own achievements

- Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-1274): contributed to astronomy, law, logic, ethics, mathematics, philosophy, and medicine; built an advanced observatory which produced accurate astronomical charts; laid groundwork for trigonometry; medical advances and hospital care improved; doctors and pharmacists then had to take examinations for licenses that would allow them to practice

- Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406): well known for historical accounts and is widely acknowledged as a founder of the fields of historiography and sociology

- ‘A’ishah al-Ba’uniyyah (1460-1507): Sufi poet and mystic;most profile female Muslim writer before the 20th century; most works describe her journey toward mystic illumination

Arts, Sciences and Technolgies: Learned Muslim officials, helped establish formal educational estitutes to

• Sufi: emphasized introspection to grasp truths that they believed could not be understood through learning; Sufism may have begun as a mystical response to the perceived love of luxury by the early Umayyad Caliphate

• Sufi missionaries played an important role in the spread of Islam; adapted to local cultures and traditions, sometimes interweaving local religious elements into Islam

• Merchants: Islamic society viewed them as more prestigious than did other societies in Europe and Asia at the time; could go rich from dealings due to revival of trade on Silk Roads; esteemed as long as they maintained fair dealings and gave to charity in accord with the pillars of the Islamic faith; some were even sent to missionaries

• Discrimination: against non-Arabs in the non-Arab areas of Islamic expansion, but rarely open persecution; faded in the 9th century

• Presence of a permanent military force that kept order but did not own property (forbidden to own areas they conquered) allowed life for most of the inhabitants of the countryside to remain virtually unchanged; however, they did pay tribute to Islamic caliphs rather than to Byzantine rulers

• Role of Women: Islam was a very patriarchal system, but arabian women had more freedoms than most. They could inherit property, get divorced, and engage in business. The Qur’an emphasizes that all people are equal before Allah, but some discrimination still existed. Women could only have 1 husband while men could have up to 4 wives. Male dominance was enforced.

• Women could study and read, but not allowed to do so in the company of men not related to them

• Slavery: Islam prohibited Muslims from enslaving other Muslims or monotheists, but it permitted enslaving others; imported enslaved people from Africa and Central Asia

• Enslaved women might find themselves serving as concubines (living with a man but lower status of wife) to Islamic men who already wed other women; allowed more independence and opportunity to earn money to buy their freedom

• Some women practices now associated with Islam were common cultural customs in Central Asia and Byzantine Empire

• Hijab: a term that can refer either to the practice of dressing modestly or to a specific type of covering

• Muhammad raised the status of women in several ways (insisted on dowries made to secure brides were to be paid to the future wife, forbade killing newborn girls)

• Islamic women had an overall higher status than Christian and Jewish women; could remarry if widowed and could receive a cash settlement if divorced; could practice birth control; protected in court testimony was worth only half that of a man

• Resulted in new limitations on women’s rights as the rise of towns and cities in Islamic-ruled areas grew

SPAIN:

• Umayyads: ruled only briefly in Middle East, kept power longer in Spain

• In 711, successfully invaded Spain from the south; tolerated other religions; also promoted trade, allowing Chinese and Southeast Asian products to enter into Spain and thus into the rest of Europe

• Battle of Tours: Islamic military lost this battle against Frankish forces; marked the limit of rapid Islamic expansion into Western Europe

• Most of the continent remained Christian, but Muslims ruled Spain for the next seven countries

• al-Andalus: Islamic state in Spain that became a center of learning

• Ibn Rushd: famous scholar that wrote influential works on law, secular philosophy, and the natural sciences

• Non-Muslims and Muslims influenced each other with philosophers, interpretations, and scientific innovations as well as knowledge transferred from India and China

• Laid groundwork for Renaissance and Scientific Revolution in Europe

• LINK: period ½ review

INDIA:

• In this time period, the Indian territory was overtaken by Muslim Turks. The Indian population was largely Hindu and wasn’t interested in converting. (due to the religion of Islam, the Turks were not allowed to convert the people by force).

Sufi Missionaries; Sufi is a branch of Islam, that put more emotion into the faith of Islam. Accepted some of the Hindu celebrations, and gods. Gained converts either from Buddhism or people from very low castes due to the promotion of egalitarianism aka equality.

ISLAM IN WEST AFRICA:

• Spread by traveling merchants, and conversions were voluntary. Occurred in the great urban centers (ex: Ghana, Songay, and  Mali) due to the abundance of Muslim Merchants. The converts also continued to spread the religion through upward diffusion. It went to the highest levels of government.

Mansa Musa: The ruler of Mali, converted to Islam and went on the Hajj to Mecca the holy city. His devotion and new common religion gave a sense of unity to the subjects of his country. His pilgrimage also displayed his great amount of wealth and brought in new trade.