Chapter 8, 9, 10

Chapter 8

This chapter reviewed the roads that people used to trade in Eurasia, the Indian Ocean, and the Sahara. Eurasia used Silk Roads for trading; the Indian Ocean used Sea Roads for trading; and the Sahara used Sand Roads for trading.

On the Silk Roads in Eurasia traders would sell and buy items as if on an assembly line; items would pass from one person to another which lead to faster delivery of goods. The Silk Roads reached from China, through the Taklamankan Desert, and then into India, Persia, and Arabia. "Eurasia is often divided into inner and outer zones that represent...different environments". (p. 220) The items being traded depended on where they originated. The outer Eurasia climate was warm which lead to agriculture trade. North Eurasia's climate was harsh and dry and lead to herding animals being traded. The Northern Grasslands/steppes climate was semi-arid and forest which lead to "hides, furs, livestock, wool, and amber" (p. 220) being traded.

While the Silk Roads traded upscale items, they also traded religions and disease. Religions, like goods, moved through the Silk Road. Buddhism, in particular, reached areas that it had not previously, and Eurasia's religions were also influenced by religions that they encountered. Trading on the Silk Road also brought diseases from other areas, such as: smallpox, measles, bubonic plague, black death.

The Sea Roads of the Indian Ocean "stretched from southern China to Eastern Africa.: (p. 225) While the Silk Roads traded upscale items, the Sea Roads traded "more bulk goods...for max markets." (p. 225). Some of the items traded on the Sea Roads were: porcelain from China, spices from southeast Asia, cotton and pepper from India, and ivory and gold from Africa.

The Sand Roads went across the Sahara in west Africa and helped good reach the Mediterranean. What was traded on the Sand Roads varied by region. The north African coast traded "cloth, glassware, weapons, books." (p. 234) The Sahara traded "copper and salt." (p. 234) The south traded agriculture, textiles, metal goods, and gold." (p. 234)

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 discussed China and how it made a presence in the world again, and it also discussed how Korea, Vietnam, and Japan were impacted by China.

The Tang and Song dynasties rebuilt China by using "a state structure (that had) six major ministries -- personnel, finance, rites, army, justice, and public works." (p. 244)  With the structure in place China was able to increase the population two times over and improve their agricultural practices. Their iron production grew and they created ways to print, which lead to the world's first printed books.

Though the country was growing and changing during the Song Dynasty, it's views of women were still limiting. Women were looked down upon if they remarried, and were subject to "foot binding." Foot binding was done for "beauty...delicacy, and reticence," but it was painful and often broke women's feet. (p. 246)

China created a "tribute system" with the northern Nomads. This system is "a set of practices that required non-Chinese authorities to acknowledge Chinese superiority and their own subordinate place in a Chinese-centered world order." (p. 249)  When one made a tribute to the emperor, they were allowed to trade in the Chinese markets. Though the system was made to benefit China it often led to unofficial agreements that allowed the other state to have the upper hand.

Korea particiapted in the tribute system and adopted some Chinese influences. Some Koreans went to school in China, and Korea used Chinese school books. China also put more restrictions on women in Korea.

Vietnam was also a part of the tribute systems with China, and part of it was also ruled by China for a period of time. The Vietnamese used Chinese school books, and the Chinese language was spoken instead of the indigenous ones by the elite. Vietnam did gain their state back, but they chose to use some Chinese foundations. They had "emperors, (claimed) the Mandate of Heaven (and used) Chinese court rituals." (p. 255) Though Vietnam used many Chinese foundations, they chose to keep some of their own outside of the elite, such as "distinct language" (p. 256) and less restrictions on women.

Japan was not connected to China like Korea and Vietnam were, so they were able to make more of their own choices with less Chinese influence. Some did practice Buddhism, but indigenous beliefs were still used. The used "the Chinese writing system," (p. 257) but they still had their own style of writing, and Japanese women were nto restricted by any Chinese beliefs.

China's ideas often reached other areas. "Papermaking...spread to Korea and Vietnam". "Printing ... reaching Korea." "Gunpowder...became available in Europe (and) the magnetic compass" helped many boaters find their way through the Indian Ocean. (p. 259-260) While China's goods and ideas reached other places, they received goods and ideas also. They learned how to make "cotton and sugar from India," found a new rice from Vietnam, and a Buddhist monk that "identified soils...that..produced a purple flame" started the idea of "Chinese experiments" that lead to gunpowder. (p. 260)

Chapter 10

This chapter looked at European Christendom in western Eurasia and how this area became two different areas based on religion. The Byzantine Empire became Byzantium and practiced Eastern Orthodox Christianity which became Catholicism, and the western area practice Latin Christendom which became Christianity. In Byzantium the church and state were combined, which is called "caesaropapism." (p. 273) Byzantium had a big trade market and their religion reached "the Balkans and Russia." (p. 276) The Western Christendom's were invaded year after year and were not in a good area for trading. They eventually forested their trees, expanded their agriculture, and started trading on "the Baltic coast." (p. 284)

The Crusade, "holy wars that were undertaken at God's command and authorized by the pope" changed parts of Europe. (p. 286)  Those in the Crusades kills Muslims and Jews. After the Crusades Western Christendom in spread to "Spain, Sicily, and the Baltic region." (p. 288) Europeans found new Asian goods and "learned (how to make) sugar...using slave labor", which later came to the Americas." (p. 288)

As the Europeans entered global trade they: found more goods that they desired, learned to work with different religions, and make new "technological breakthroughs." (p. 290)  Some of their new technologies were: "a heavy wheeled plow...three-field crop rotation...a new type of windmill... (and they) experimented with perpetual-motion machines." (p. 290-291)