WW Chapter 12: The Worlds of the Fifteenth Century

     The chapter starts out with a quote from Winona LaDuke. In this quote, she criticizes Columbus and the fact that we honor him in a form of a holiday. In my opinion, she makes some very valid points from her personal point of view. She refers to Columbus as a "perpetrator of genocide". She makes the claim that he is not a hero.
     However, although Columbus may indeed have been the catalyst for the genocide that would ensue, due to his arrival, the fact that he did come across the sea makes everything today possible. He was the one who started the colonization of the Americas and without him, our history might have been slightly altered.
     As we progress through the chapter, we quickly learn that by the Fifteenth Century most of the populations around the world lived amongst a big civilization.
     The Chinese had been through many road bumps. The two major ones being getting through the agonizing Mongol rule and trying to fight against the plague. The recovery from all this begun during the Ming Dynasty. The main goal of the Ming Dynasty was to attempt to eliminate any form of foreign rule over the Chinese. The Chinese at the time really promoted Confucianism. The Ming Dynasty was one of the best governed and successful civilizations throughout the Fifteenth Century.
     On the other hand, Europe was experiencing its own form of reconstruction at the sam time that the Chinese were. The European population began to recover after the Plague had hit them hard. One of the biggest differences between the way that Europe was reconstructing itself, as opposed to Asia, was that the Europeans tended to be more competitive and independent, as opposed to how unified Asia seemed to be.  
     However, Europe was were the Renaissance originated from. The Renaissance is said to have begun in Florence Italy from around 1350-1500. The big emphasis during the Renaissance was realism. This is when artists began to make things, such as artwork, begin to look a lot more realistic than previous paintings done by people. The belief in Humanism was really strong at the time.
     Many voyagers explored the world throughout this frame of time. The biggest voyage was the voyage in which Columbus discovered the Americas. However, he was not the first to venture into the unknown. Several decades before Columbus discovered the Americas, Portuguese voyages had already been taken place. However, in comparison, European voyages were not as big as the Asian voyages. Each continent had different motives. The Europeans simply sought out wealth. The Europeans were also very violent. Eventually Chinese voyages ceased; however, European voyages grew more and more popular.

                       

WW Chapter 11: Pastoral Peoples on the Global Stage : Pastoral Societies

     The chapter starts out with the mention of Chinggis Khan is Mongolia and how his soul was lost after being dead for seven centuries. His soul was contained in a spirit banner, which was made of strands of hair from the best horses attached to a spear. The Communists at the time of 1937 destroyed his banner when the time came. In Mongolian tradition this means that Chinggis Khan's was destroyed with the banner. The intro goes on to state how 2006 marked eight-hundred years since the Mongol Empire was founded.
     The chapter goes on to talk of the economies that focused on livestock production. They emerged at around 4000 B.C.E. They were extremely dependent of livestock such as horses, camels goats, sheep, cattle, yaks, and reindeer. These sorts of pastoral societies developed in many various parts of the world such as Arabian and Saharan deserts, the Tibetan plateau, and across the Grasslands of Eurasia. However, this kind of lifestyle did not take shape in the Americas due to the fact there were not many large animals that they were capable of domesticating.
     Pastoral societies were, for the most part, less productive than agricultural societies. Since they were domesticating many large animals to use them in their advantage, they required very large grazing areas. In addition to this, Pastoral societies consisted of populations that were much smaller than the populations that took up space in agricultural societies. During this time clans emerged and they gathered as tribes. They were open to letting people into their clans. They were also very nomadic peoples and liked to travel.
     Women had a higher status than in other types of societies. They had fewer restrictions as to what they could and could not do. They had a much bigger role in public activities around their societies. The work that they did was a lot more productive than the work that women in other various societies were doing.
     Although they had cultural differences, Pastoral societies seemed to have good, strong connections with Agricultural societies. Forming nomadic states was difficult. I think this was partly due to the fact that they were nomads. It seems kind of hard to control people that keep moving. However, Chinggis Khan, for example, could create strong states and as a result, the entirety of the males and some females became warriors.
     As a result of the interaction with agricultural lands, many Eurasian nomads were exposed and adopted religions. They adopted Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Manichaeism.
     They also managed to survive in environments that were not suitable for agriculture.

WW Chapter 9: The Worlds of Islam - Afro-Eurasian Connections

     We start off with a neat quote from Malcolm X where he states how he had never seen, or expected to see, such a great unity of everyone around the world, regardless of color, race, backgrounds, etc. This was part of the Muslim pilgrimage to the Mecca.

     First of all, I'd like to say that it's nice to see a change once in a while where history is not necessarily always about fighting. The fact that every color was represented through this pilgrimage makes it that much more special. This is why we need history. To learn from the past and learn what we did right and what we did wrong.

     The introduction to the chapter goes on to explain how Islam, so far throughout the twenty-first century, has really begun to take form as part of the United States. This is kind of surprising to me. I thought that by now that, as a planet, we would be really diverse everywhere, in terms of religion and beliefs. Then again, we are reminded of the previous wars in the middle east and the attacks of September 11. This is a huge factor as to why Islam was not as huge as it would have been. 

     Islam really set its mark around the world back between 600 and 1600. It was spread throughout the world in places such as Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Islam resulted in the creation of new civilizations unlike anything ever seen before. It was arguably the largest third wave civilization, as well as the most influential. It has definitely stood the test of time as there were around 1.2 Billion Muslims in the world during the beginning of the twenty-first century.

     Islam originated from marginal error. The Arabian Peninsula served as the home for Bedouins. The people tended to be in tribes and sought to be independent most of the time. They believed in a huge variety of Gods.

     Arabia was located on many important trade routes that connected the East to the West. Mecca went on to become a really important trade center. The Quraysh tribe ended up being the ones that controlled local trade and pilgrimage.

     Arabia happened to be located at the edge of the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires. As a result, some of the people from Arabia were very much familiar with the way these Empires worked and what their customs were. In addition to that, Judaism, Christianity, among other religions, spread amongst the Arabian peoples.

                                 

WW Chapter 10: The Worlds of Christendom

     We start off by being told the story of Yao Hong, who was cheated on early on in her marriage at approximately the age of twenty. We later on discover that she has adopted Christianity and goes on to explain how she wishes that China was more like the United States and Europe, in terms of the condition of the religion. 

     We are told that Christianity is something that millions upon millions of people have adopted in China. Surrounding areas also have significant communities where Christianity is practiced. Considering the fact that Christianity has been around for such a long time, I find it mind-blowing that China, along with the rest of Asia, has only barely adopted it as a religion.

     Arabia was the first place where Christianity first started to disintegrate. This is completely understandable since Arabia is where Islam originated from. Arabia was not the only place affected by this downward spiral that Christianity was heading down towards. Many regions in the Middle East and African churches felt the impact that was created by Islam. In fact, the effect was so severe to Christian communities, that Christianity was "virtually extinct". 

     However, Egypt was one of the rare places where Christianity was still reaching its peak by the time the Islam invasion began. As time went by, tensions grew in Egypt. In order to practice Christianity in small undercover groups, special taxes were paid to Muslim rulers.  However, during the mid-fourteenth century, things got out of hand. Churches were burned and Christians were moved out of, what people at the time regarded as, the best land. As a result of this horrific turn of events, many Christians at time converted to Islam. Coptic virtually died out and many of the newly converted Islamic peoples adopted the use of Arabic. Although many people were forced to convert from Christianity to Islam, in the beginning of the twenty-first century, Christians still accounted for ten percent of the Egyptian population.

     However, Christianity managed to make its way down towards the South of Africa through the help of Egyptian traders and missionaries - particularly in Nubia. It was during this time that the bible was translated into various different languages such as Nubian, Greek, and Arabic.

     This all leads to later in the chapter where we compare Western Civilization with the likes of Byzantium, China, India, and the entire Islamic worldwide phenomena. Europe fell behind in many different aspects of civilization such as technological advances, smaller populations and cities, as well as economies that were far too inferior to the East.

WW Chapter 8: China and the World

     We start off by being told that China is the next superpower in today's world. This is more than a prediction. I believe this is an inevitable reality. Over the past couple years China has grown in every imaginable way. They have a stronger military, its economy is on a roll, its population grows exponentially, you name it. However, the most important aspect of their growth would probably go to their interaction with world affairs. They have, what seems to be, a really good relationship with the United States in terms of trading resources. They are well on their way to becoming one of, if not, the most powerful superpowers of the modern world.
     China was a huge part of the third wave civilizations. It was the central power that was composed of the majority of Eastern Asia, which had borders that spread as far as Central Asia. Being a wealthy civilization, it attracted many travelers. It was as if every civilization around China was focused on them and looked at them for guidance. China's economic and technological advancement spread through much of Eurasia.
     The Golden Age of China began with the Sui Dynasty. However, it did not last very long (589-618). This was due to the rulers of the Sui Dynasty' ruthlessness and the misuse of their resources. The rulers at the time expanded the canal system that was being used in China.
     The Tang and Song Dynasties would be the ones to follow the Sui Dynasty. These dynasties would implement a lifestyle that would last well into the twentieth century. This was coincidentally around when the Golden Age for arts and literature was around. Confucianism was revived, but this time it would incorporate elements of Daoism and Buddhism.
     There was a surplus in the population during this time period. China was very urbanized in comparison to other places in the world. As I mentioned before, it had a great canal system that also included lakes and rivers. Due to its huge size, people were given cheap ways of transporting from one place to another.
     Inventing was huge during this time period. Gunpowder was one of the inventions of the time. In addition to that, China was capable of the best navigation and had the luxury of having the best shipbuilding technology worldwide. This was also during the time that printing was invented.
     Although this was a very prosperous time for most people, it was not the same for women. With the exception of a couple "elite women" in the north, women were greatly oppressed. Things such as foot binding and being restricted to the house were a couple of the things that women had to face during these times. Many women found different roles in the cities. There was a spike in demand for concubines, entertainers, and prostitutes. However, there were a few benefits to women. Their property rights expanded and perhaps their biggest advancement was that they received a good education; even if it was only to help raise their sons as best they could.

 

WW Chapter 7: Commerce and Culture - The Significance of Trade

     The chapter starts out with us being told a story about someone who bought his son an iPod for his college graduation. The story goes on to explain how the iPod was going to be shipped from China. It makes us sit down and really think about this. You order an iPod. You receive it (not even two days after you placed the order). This is what we, as humans, are capable of. Back in the day it would take a lifetime to travel such a distance. Nowadays we can travel across the globe in a matter of hours.

     Thinking back when there were no planes, cars, or any technological means of transportation, trade was extremely significant. One thing it was significant for was that it encouraged specialization. People had to become good at one thing. maybe if was harvesting a certain crop and having a product so that someone who specializes in trading and traveling could go to other places and get the product out to the masses. 

     Another thing that made trading significant was that many societies became less dependent of the products they were capable of producing. For example, if the area where you lived in didn't have a certain crop or resource, you could trade one of your best resources in exchange for another good that another society or region may provide. This also allowed people who received goods to have a taste of what other people had to their disposal in their natural resources.

     One major reason that trade was so significant was that it helped spread many things; good and bad. Among those things that were spread was religion. This makes total sense. You had people from different cultures, locations, and belief systems come together and interact with one another. It only makes sense that among the topics that they may have communicated about that religion was one of them. Another thing that was spread were animals and plants. Like religion, this must have come up pretty frequently when people were trading. Given the fact that Eurasia is so diverse in settings, many people could have thought that the animals in another part of the continent would be an extreme use to them in whatever they may need them. In addition to all this, an unfortunate thing that was able to spread was disease and understandably so. Traveling long distances really wore people out. They traveled for months on end and may not have had the privilege to bathe or take care of themselves. I imagine that a major factor they had to get used to was the weather. You could be from a desert area and be used to the heat, yet you travel across the continent and up into the mountains where it is extremely cold and you may not have expected that; thus, you did not come prepared and you didn't pack the appropriate attire.