Chapter 11

Chapter 11 begins with the world of pastoral societies. At this time, there was a small population of people on large amounts of land, but there was also high levels of social and gender equality. There was mobility but in contact with settled agriculturalists. The rise of tribal alliances and military power of horemen have taken place. Then there was the breakout of the Mongol Empire. Temujin= Chinggis Khan, which is universal ruler. The most success that the Mogols had was their organized army. The Mongols had lots of discipline, loyalty, and lots of money. Then the invasion in North China began in 1209 to 1279. The second great civilization conquered was the Islamic Persia. Then the Mongols entered Russia between 1237 and 1240, they encountered a new third wave civilization. Results of trade and interactions, the black death happened, an Afro Eurasian pandemic. People thought it was the end of the world and there was lots of social changes in Europe.

Chapter 8 (China and the World)

By this point, China had reached its golden age. A Bureaucracy and exam system took place, and also the population was growing, there was an economic boom, and urbanization. Women in the Song Dynasty had it rough, they were seen as weak and distracting. On this time period, women were seen attractive it they had small feet so women would literally bind their foot to make them look smaller and so the men would find them attractive. Buddhism was growing now but in a new form of Buddhism which was Mahayana. There was a lot of comparison between China and Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. China ruled Vietnam for 1,000 years (111 BCE- 939 CE). China had a great impact on Eurasia. Salt making, paper, printing, gun powder, and the compass were all involved. There were lots of finished goods from China.But eventually China lost its state support which was the crisis of Chinese Buddhism.

Chapter 10 (The Worlds of Christendom)

Reading this chapter surprised me to know that Asian Christianity was a thing. It was the challenge of Islam but it was tolerated. There were Nestorian Christians in the Middle East and China, Mongols and Christians. The Byzantine state was smaller but more organized than the Roman Empire. But it was under attack from West and East. The Byzantine Church and Christian divergence impacted the crusaders. The Byzantium church had confllicts with the Persians, Arabs, and Turks. But change in the West soon was accelerating. There was new security, long-distnace trade, urbanization and specialization of labor. There was a rise and a fall of opportunities for women.

Chapter 9 (The Worlds of Islam)

In the homeland of Islam, there were tribal feuds and trading centers in the Arabian Peninsula. The people there recognized many gods, ancestors, and nature spirits. They highly appreciated oral poetry, which is interesting to me because I didn't think poetry existed back then. Mecca came to occupy a major role in Arabia. It was the home of the Kaaba and the Quraysh. Muhammad Ibn Abdullah who was born in Mecca, was the catalyst for the birth of new religion. It became a revolutionary message of monotheism. But tensions in Mecca and the Hijra started to arise, building the Umma in Medina. Soon war and alliances entered Mecca. Majority of the Peninsula was now under a unified Islamic state.

Intro to Part Three & Ch 7

The overall picture of chapter 7 was about trade. Trade had influenced civilizations by this time period. Trade was so big beause it didn't just had to do with trading goods but also technologies, cultures, and ideas were being thrown around. The growth of silk roads across Eurasia were expanding and this made connections between empires. The goods that were transported and traded were luxurious such as silk and women were producers and consumers of this. China was the main center of silk production. But a downside to trading was diseases being spread such as smallpox and measles but an upside to this was culture and religion was also being passed on. Sea roads were also a way of trading through the Indian Ocean. Many different types of voyages and roads were created for trade like Sand roads.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 focused on Africa and the Americas. It begins by explaining commonalities and variations. Continental comparisons were made, agriculture revolutions and complex societies were mentioned, uneven dsitribution of humans and domesticated animals, variation in metallurgy and literacy, and American isolation versus Africa in contact. It goes on to talk about civilizations of Africa. The major points of this were, Continuing a Nile Valley Civilization, The Making of a Christian Kingdom, and Along the Niger River: Cities without States. The Nile Valley civilization was Egypt and Nubia, there were kings and queens of Meroe. There was agriculture and long-distance trade and lasted for 1,000 years. The making of a Christian kingdom had plow agriculture and trde through the Indian Ocean. Monumental buildings and court culture and spread and conversions to Christianity and imperial expansian had also occurred. Along the Niger river, urbanization without imperial or bureaucratic systems were mentioned, iron working, and a regional West Africa trade system was created. Civilizations of Mesoamerica came about as well. The Mayas were a great civilization that started on 2000 BCE. Civilizations of the Andes also came about and brought great movements, such as religion.

Readings for the week

The readings begin with Culture and religion in Eurasia/North Africa. China has a tradition of state building. In 1122 B.C.E., the Zhou dynasty took power and the Mandate of Heaven had taken root. But by the 18th century, the Zhou dynasty had weakend and the overall unity of China was cpmpletetly gone. A bunch of Chinese thinkers were trying to find solutions to the problem. The Legalist answer was layed out by rules and laws. High rewars but heavy punishments. Qin and Shihuangdi dynasty were in charge but it did not last very long. Then Confucius thought he found the answer to the problems of China's disorders. But no actual opportunity came to him. The reading then goes on with trying to find the "right" answer for their problems. Religion was mentioned a lot. Buddhism came about when the founder Siddhartha Gautama introduced it (566- 486 B.C.E.). It was related to Hinduism and it had a popular appeal. Though it had restrictions and opportunities for women. The readings continue on to Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Classical Greece, birth of Christianity, and the spread of new religions. Chapter 5 then proceeds with societies in China there was a caste in China and India that restricted some people from wealth and power. The people at the top which where the land owners and the elite class had all the power while everyone else suffered and experinced unfairness. Slavery came about in Greece and patriarchy.