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.