Chapter 10
Civilization in Eastern Europe: Byzantium and Orthodox Europe
CHAPTER SUMMARY. In addition to the great civilizations of Asia and North Africa forming during the postclassical period, two related, major civilizations formed in Europe. The Byzantine Empire, in western Asia and southeastern Europe, expanded into eastern Europe. The other was defined by the influence of Catholicism in western and central Europe. The Byzantine Empire, with territory in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the eastern Mediterranean, maintained very high levels of political, economic, and cultural life between 500 and 1450 C.E. The empire continued many Roman patterns and spread its Orthodox Christian civilization through most of eastern Europe, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. Catholic Christianity, without an imperial center, spread in western Europe. Two separate civilizations emerged from the differing Christian influences.
The Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire, once part of the greater Roman empire, continued flourishing from an eastern Mediterranean base after Roman decline. Although it inherited and continued some of Rome’s heritage, the eastern Mediterranean state developed its own form of civilization.
The Origins of the Empire. Emperor Constantine in the 4th century C.E. established a capital at Constantinople. Separate emperors ruled from it even before Rome fell. Although Latin served for a time as the court language, Greek from the 6th century became the official tongue. The empire benefited from the high level of civilization in the former Hellenistic world and from the region's prosperous commerce. It held off barbarian invaders and developed a trained civilian bureaucracy.
Justinian's Achievements. In the 6th century Justinian, with a secure base in the east, attempted, without lasting success, to reconquer western territory. The military efforts weakened the empire as Slavs and Persians attacked frontiers, and also created serious financial pressures. Justinian rebuilt Constantinople in classical style; among the architectural achievements was the huge church of Hagia Sophia. His codification of Roman law reduced legal confusion in the empire. The code later spread Roman legal concepts throughout Europe.
Arab Pressure and the Empire's Defenses. Justinian's successors concentrated upon the defense of their eastern territories. The empire henceforth centered in the Balkans, and western and central Turkey, a location blending a rich Hellenistic culture with Christianity. The revived empire withstood the 7th century advance of Arab Muslims, although important regions were lost along the eastern Mediterranean and the northern Middle Eastern heartland. The wars and the permanent Muslim threat had significant cultural and commercial influences. The free rural population, the provider of military recruits and taxes, was weakened. Aristocratic estates grew larger, and aristocratic generals became stronger. The empire's fortunes fluctuated as it resisted pressures from the Arabs and Slavic kingdoms. Bulgaria was a strong rival, but Basil II defeated and conquered it in the 11th century. At the close of the 10th century the Byzantine emperor may have been the strongest contemporary ruler.
Byzantine Society and Politics. Byzantine political patterns resembled the earlier Chinese system. An emperor, ordained by god and surrounded by elaborate court ritual, headed both church and state. Women occasionally held the throne. An elaborate bureaucracy supported the imperial authority. The officials, trained in Hellenistic knowledge in a secular school system, could be recruited from all social classes, although, as in China, aristocrats predominated. Provincial governors were appointed from the center, and a spy system helped to preserve loyalty. A careful military organization defended the empire. Troops were recruited locally and given land in return for service. Outsiders, especially Slavs and Armenians, accepted similar terms. Over time hereditary military leaders developed regional power and displaced better-educated aristocrats. The empire socially and economically depended upon Constantinople's control of the countryside. The bureaucracy regulated trade and food prices. Peasants supplied the food and provided most tax revenues. The large urban class was kept satisfied by low food prices. A widespread commercial network extended into Asia, Russia, Scandinavia, western Europe, and Africa. Silk production techniques brought from China added a valuable product to the luxury items exported. Despite the busy trade the large merchant class never developed political power. Cultural life centered upon Hellenistic secular traditions and Orthodox Christianity. Little artistic creativity resulted except in art and architecture. Domed buildings, colored mosaics, and painted icons expressed an art linked to religion.
The Split between East and West. Byzantine culture, political organization, and economic orientation help to explain the rift between the eastern and western versions of Christianity. Different rituals grew from Greek and Latin versions of the Bible. Emperors resisted papal attempts to interfere in religious issues. Hostility greeted the effort of the Frankish king Charlemagne to be recognized as Roman emperor. The final break between the two churches occurred in 1054 over arguments about the type of bread used in the mass and the celibacy of priests. Even though the two churches remained separate they continued to share a common classical heritage.
The Empire's Decline. A long period of decline began in the 11th century. Muslim Turkish invaders seized almost all of the empire's Asian provinces, removing the most important sources of taxes and food. The empire never recovered from the loss of its army at Manzikert in 1071. Independent Slavic states appeared in the Balkans. An appeal for western European assistance did not help the Byzantines. Crusaders, led by Venetian merchants, sacked Constantinople in 1204. Italian cities, with their navies, secured special trading privileges. A smaller empire struggled to survive for another two centuries against western Europeans, Muslims, and Slavic kingdoms. In 1453 the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople.
The Spread of Civilization in Eastern Europe. The Byzantine Empire’s influence spread among the people of the Balkans and southern Russia through conquest, commerce, and Christianity. In the 9th century missionaries Cyril and Methodius devised a written script, Cyrillic, for the Slavic language, providing a base for literacy in eastern Europe. Unlike western Christians the Byzantines allowed the use of local languages in church services.
The East-Central Borderlands. Both eastern and western Christian missionaries competed in eastern Europe. Roman Catholics, and their Latin alphabet, prevailed in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland. The region became a long-standing region for competition between the two influences. A series of regional monarchies - Poland, Bohemia, Lithuania - with powerful, landowning aristocracies developed. Eastern Europe also received an influx of Jews from the Middle East and western Europe. They were often barred from agriculture, but participated in local commerce. They maintained their own traditions, and emphasized education for males.
The Emergence of Kievan Rus'. Slavic peoples from Asia migrated into Russia and eastern Europe during the period of the Roman Empire. They mixed with and incorporated earlier populations. They possessed iron and extended agriculture in Ukraine and western Russia. Political organization centered in family tribes and villages. The Slavs followed an animist religion and had rich traditions of music and oral legends. Scandinavian traders during the 6th and 7th centuries moved into the region along its great rivers and established a rich trade between their homeland and Constantinople. Some won political control. A monarchy emerged at Kiev around 855 under the legendary Danish merchant, Rurik. The loosely organized state flourished until the 12th century. Kiev became a prosperous commercial center. Contacts with the Byzantines resulted in the conversion of Vladimir I (980-1015) to Orthodox Christianity. The ruler, on the Byzantine pattern, controlled church appointments. Kiev's rulers issued a formal law code. They ruled the largest single European state.
Institutions and Culture in Kievan Rus'. Kiev borrowed much from Byzantium, but it was unable to duplicate its bureaucracy or education system. Cultural, social, and economic patterns developed differently from the western European experience. Rulers favored Byzantine ceremonials and the concept of a strong central ruler. Orthodox Christian practices entered Russian culture: devotion to god's power and to saints, ornate churches, icons, and monasticism. Polygamy yielded to Christian monogamy. Almsgiving emphasized the obligation of the wealthy toward the poor. Literature focused on religious and royal events, while art was dominated by icon painting and illuminated religious manuscripts. Church architecture adapted Byzantine themes to local conditions. Peasants were free farmers, and aristocratic landlords (boyars) had less political power than similar westerners.
Kievan Decline. Kievan decline began in the 12th century. Rival princes established competing governments while the royal family quarreled over the succession. Asian invaders seized territory as trade diminished due to Byzantine decay. The Mongol invasions of the 13th century incorporated Russian lands into their territories. Mongol (Tartar) dominance further separated Russia from western European developments. Commercial contacts lapsed. Russian Orthodoxy survived because the tolerant Mongols did not interfere with Russian religious beliefs or daily life as long as tribute was paid. Thus when Mongol control ended in the 15th century a Russian cultural and political tradition incorporating the Byzantine inheritance reemerged. The Russians claimed to be the successors to the Roman and Byzantine states, the "third Rome."
In Depth: Eastern and Western Europe: The Problem of Boundaries. Determining where individual civilizations begin and end is a difficult exercise. The presence of many rival units and internal cultural differences complicates the question. If mainstream culture is used for definition, Orthodox and Roman Catholic religion, each with its own alphabet, offers a logical answer. Political organization is more complicated because of the presence of loosely organized regional kingdoms. Commercial patters and Mongol and Russian expansion also influenced cultural identities.
Conclusion: The End of an Era in Eastern Europe. With the Mongol invasions, the decline of Russia, and the collapse of Byzantium, eastern Europe entered into a difficult period. Border territories, such as Poland, fell under western influence, while the Balkans fell to the Islamic world of the Turks. Western and Eastern Europe evolved separately, with the former pushing ahead in power and cross-cultural sophistication.
KEY TERMS
Justinian: 6th century Byzantine emperor; failed to reconquer the western portions of the empire; rebuilt Constatinople; codified Roman law
Hagia Sophia: great domed church constructed during reign of Justinian.
Body of Civil Law: Justinian's codification of Roman law; reconciled Roman edicts and decisions; made Roman law coherent basis for political and economic life.
Bulgaria: Slavic kingdom in Balkans; constant pressure on Byzantine Empire; defeated by Basil II in 1014.
icons: images of religious figures venerated by Byzantine Christians.
iconoclasm: the breaking of images; religious controversy of the 8th century; Byzantine emperor attempted, but failed, to suppress icon veneration.
Manzikert: Seljuk Turk victory in 1071 over Byzantium; resulted in loss of the empire’s rich Anatolian territory.
Cyril and Methodius: Byzantine missionaries sent to convert eastern Europe and Balkans; responsible for creation of Slavic written script called Cyrillic.
Kiev: commercial city in Ukraine established by Scandinavians in 9th century; became the center for a kingdom that flourished until the 12th century.
Vladimir I: ruler of Kiev (980-1015); converted kingdom to Orthodox Christianity.
Russian Orthodoxy: Russian form of Christianity brought from Byzantine Empire.
boyars: Russian landholding aristocrats; possessed less political power than their western European counterparts.
Tartars: Mongols who conquered Russian cities during the 13th century; left Russian church and aristocracy intact.
Chapter 11
A New Civilization Emerges in Western Europe
CHAPTER SUMMARY. The postclassical period in western Europe, known as the Middle Ages, stretches between the fall of the Roman Empire and the 15th century. Typical postclassical themes prevailed. Civilization spread gradually beyond the Mediterranean zone. Christian missionaries converted Europeans from polytheistic faiths. Medieval Europe participated in the emerging international community. New tools and crops expanded agricultural output; advanced technologies improved manufacturing. Mathematics, science, and philosophy were stimulated by new concepts.
The Flavor of the Middle Ages: Inferiority and Vitality. Although western European society was not as commercially or culturally developed as the great world civilizations, it had its own distinctive characteristics. Western political structures had many similarities with the other more recent civilizations of Japan, Russia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Europeans long lived under threat of incursions from the stronger Islamic world. There were many indications of a developing, vital society: population growth, economic productivity, increased political complexity, technological innovation, and artistic and intellectual complexity. Major contributions to the development of Western civilization occurred in politics and social structure; in intellectual life medieval striving produced the university and Gothic architectural forms.
STAGES OF POSTCLASSICAL DEVELOPMENT. From the mid 6th century C.E. until about 900 disorder prevailed in western Europe. Rome's fall left Italy in economic, political, and intellectual decline. The Catholic church remained strong. Muslim controlled Spain maintained a vibrant intellectual and economic life, but only later influenced European development. The center of the postclassical west was in France, the Low Countries, and southern and western Germany. England later joined the core. Continual raids by Scandinavian Vikings hindered political and economic development. Intellectual activity sharply diminished; most literate individuals were Catholic monks and priests.
The Manorial System: Obligations and Allegiances. Until the 10th century most political organization was local. Manorialism was a system of reciprocal economic and political obligations between landlords and peasants. Most individuals were serfs living on self-sufficient agricultural estates (manors). In return for protection they gave lords part of their crops and provided labor services. Inferior technology limited agricultural output until the 9th century introduction of the moldboard plow and the three-field cultivation system increased yields. Serfs bore many burdens, but they were not slaves;. They had heritable ownership of houses and land as long as they met obligations. Peasant villages provided community life and limited self-government.
The Church: Political and Spiritual Power. The Catholic church in the 1st centuries after 500 was the single example of firm organization. The popes headed a hierarchy based upon the Roman imperial model; they appointed some bishops, regulated doctrine, and sponsored missionary activity. The conversion of Germanic kings, such as Clovis of the Franks around 496, demonstrated the spiritual and political power of the church. It also developed the monastic movement. In Italy Benedict of Nursia created the most important set of monastic rules in the 6th century. Monasteries had both spiritual and secular functions. They promoted Christian unity, served as examples of holy life, improved cultivation techniques, stressed productive work, and preserved the heritage of Greco-Roman culture.
Charlemagne and His Successors. The Carolingian dynasty of the Franks ruling in France, Belgium, and Germany grew stronger during the 8th century. Charles Martel defeated Muslim invaders at Tours in 732. Charlemagne built a substantial empire by 800. He helped to restore church-based education and revived traditions of Roman imperial government. The empire did not survive Charlemagne's death in 814. His sons divided the territory and later rulers lacked talent. Subsequent political history was marked by regional monarchies existing within a civilization with strong cultural unity initially centered on Catholic Christianity. French, German, English, and other separate languages emerged, providing a beginning for national identity. The rulers reigning in Germany and northern Italy initially were the strongest; they called themselves holy Roman emperors, but they failed to create a solid monarchy. Local lords and city-states went their own way.
New Economic and Urban Vigor. During the 9th and 10th centuries new agricultural techniques - the moldboard plow, the three-field system - significantly increased production. , Horse collars - also useful for agriculture - and stirrups confirmed lordly dominance. Viking incursions diminished as the raiders seized territorial control or regional governments became stronger. Both factors allowed population growth and encouraged economic innovation. Expanding towns emerged as regional trade centers with a merchant class and craft production. The need for more food led to colonization developing new agricultural land. The demand for labor resulted in less harsh conditions for serfs. The growing urban centers increased the spread of literacy, revitalized popular culture, and stimulated religious life. By the 11th century cathedral schools evolved into universities. Students studied medicine and law; later theology and philosophy became important disciplines. Art and architecture reached new peaks.
Feudal Monarchies and Political Advances. From the 6th century feudalism, a system of political and military relationships, evolved in western Europe. Military elites of the landlord class could afford horses and iron weapons. The greater lords provided protection to lesser lords (vassals) who in return supplied military and other service. Feudal relationships first served local needs, but they later were extended to cover larger regions. Charlemagne acted in that fashion. Later rulers, notably the Capetian kings of France from the 10th century, used feudalism to evolve from regional lords to rulers controlling a larger territory. In their feudal monarchy they began bureaucratic administration and specialization of official functions. William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 and merged feudal techniques with a more centralized government. Royal officials, sheriffs, supervised local justice. The growth of feudal monarchies independently duplicated measures followed in other centralizing societies.
Limited Government. Western Europe remained politically divided. The Holy Roman empire territories in German and Italy were controlled by local lords and city-states. The pope ruled in central Italy. Regional units prevailed in the Low Countries. In strong feudal monarchies power was limited by the church, aristocratic military strength., and developing urban centers. King John of England in 1215 was forced to recognize feudal rights in the Magna Carta. Parliaments, bodies representing privileged groups, emerged in Catalonia in 1000. In England a parliament, operating from 1265, gained the right to rule on taxation and related policy matters. Most members of societies were not represented, but the creation of representative bodies was the beginning of an distinctive political process not present in other civilizations. Despite the checks, European rulers made limited progress in advancing central authority. Their weakness was demonstrated by local wars turning into larger conflicts, such as the Hundred Years War of the 14th century between the French and English.
The West's Expansionist Impulse. The ongoing political and economic changes spurred European expansion beyond initial postclassical borders. From the 11th century Germanic knights and agricultural settlers changed the population and environmental balance in eastern Germany and Poland. In Spain and Portugal small Christian states in the 10th century began the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from Muslims. Viking voyagers crossed the Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland, and Canada. The most dramatic expansion occurred during the Crusades against Muslims in the Holy Land. Pope Urban II called the first in 1095. Christian warriors seeking salvation and spoils established kingdoms in the Holy Land enduring into the 13th century. Their presence helped to expose Europeans to cultural and economic influences from Byzantium and Islam
Religious Reform and Evolution. The Catholic church went through several periods of decline and renewal. The church’s wealth and power often led its officials to become preoccupied with secular matters. Monastic orders and popes from the 11th century worked to reform the church. Leaders, as St. Francis and St. Clare, both from of Assisi, purified monastic orders and gave new spiritual vigor to the church. Pope Gregory VII attempted to free the church from secular interference by stipulating that priests remain unmarried and that bishops not be appointed by the state. Independent church courts developed to rule on religious concerns.
The High Middle Ages. Postclassical western civilization reached its high point during the 12th and 13th centuries. Creative tensions between feudal political forms, emerging monarchies, and the authority of the church produced major changes in political, religious, intellectual, social, and economic life.
In Depth: The Sources of Vitality in the Postclassical West. Western Europe began demonstrating new vigor about 1000 C.E. An understanding of the process can assist in evaluating similar transformations in other civilizations. The desire to revive the legacy of Greece and Rome motivated both secular and religious individuals. Once Christianity had been assimilated by Europeans its beliefs importantly reshaped old habits. More stable political structures appeared and a greater emphasis on intellectual and educational endeavors occurred. A more utilitarian view of nature as something to be exploited prepared receptivity for technological innovations.
Western Culture in the Postclassical Era. Christianity was the clearest unifying cultural element in Western Europe.
Theology: Assimilating Faith and Reason. Before 1000 C.E. a few church members had attempted to preserve and interpret the ideas of earlier thinkers, especially Aristotle and Augustine. The efforts gradually produced a fuller understanding of the past, particularly in philosophy, rhetoric, and logic. After 1000 the process went to new levels. Absolute faith in god's word was stressed, but it was held that human reason contributed to the understanding of religion and the natural order. Peter Abelard in 12th-century Paris utilized logic to demonstrate contradictions in doctrine. Many church leaders opposed such endeavors and emphasized the role of faith for understanding religious mysteries. St. Bernard of Clairvaux successfully challenged Abelard and stressed the importance of mystical union with god. The debates matched similar tensions within Islam concerning philosophical and scientific traditions. In Europe there were increasing efforts to bridge this gap. By the 12th century the debate flourished in universities, opening intellectual avenues not present in other civilizations. In China, for example, a single path was followed. The European universities produced men for clerical and state bureaucracies, but they also motivated a thirst for knowledge from other past and present civilizations. By the 13th century western thinkers had created a synthesis of medieval learning. Thomas Aquinas of Paris in his Summas held that faith came first, but that human reason allowed a greater understanding of natural order, moral law, and the nature of god. Although scholasticism deteriorated after Thomas, it had opened new paths for human understanding. Medieval philosophy did not encourage scientific endeavor, but a few scholars, as Roger Bacon, did important experimental work in optics and other fields.
Popular Religion. Although we do not know much about popular beliefs, Christian devotion ran deep within individuals. The rise of cities encouraged the formation of lay groups. The cults of the Virgin Mary and sundry saints demonstrated a need for intermediaries between people and god. Pagan practices endured and blended into Christianity.
Religious Themes in Art and Literature. Christian art and architecture reflected both popular and formal themes. Religious ideas dominated painting, with the early stiff and stylized figures changing by the 14th and 15th centuries to more realistic portrayals that included secular scenes. Architecture followed Roman models. A Romanesque style had rectangular buildings surmounted by domes. During the 11th century the Gothic style appeared, producing soaring spires and arched windows requiring great technical skills. Literature and music equally reflected religious interest. Latin writings dealt with philosophy, law, and politics. Vernacular literature developed, incorporating themes from the past, such as the English Beowulf and the French Song of Roland. Contemporary secular themes were represented in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Courtly poets (troubadours) in 14th-century southern France portrayed courtly love.
Changing Economic and Social Forms in the Post Classical Centuries. Apart from the cultural cement framed by the Catholic church, Western society had other common features in economic activity and social structure. The postclassical West demonstrated great powers of innovation. When trade revived in the 10th century the West became a kind of common commercial zone as merchants moved commodities from one region to another.
New Strains in Rural Life. Agricultural improvements after 800 C.E. allowed some peasants to shake off the most severe manorial constraints. Noble landlords continued their military functions, but utilized trade to improve their living styles. The more complex economy increased landlord-peasant tensions. From then until the 19th century there were recurring struggles between the two groups. Peasants wanted more freedom and control of land, while landlords wanted higher revenues. In general, peasant conditions improved and landlord controls weakened. Although agriculture remained technologically backward when compared to other societies, it had surpassed previous levels.
Growth of Trade and Banking. Urban growth promoted more specialized manufacturing and commerce. Banking was introduced by Italian businessmen. The use of money spread rapidly. Large trading and banking operations clearly were capitalistic. Europeans traded with other world regions, particularly via Italian Mediterranean merchants, for luxury goods and spices. Within Europe raw materials and manufactured items were exchanged. Cities in northern Germany and southern Scandinavia formed the Hanseatic League to encourage commerce. European traders, although entering into many economic pursuits, as demonstrated in the 15th century career of Jacques Coeur, still generally remained less venturesome and wealthy than their Islamic counterparts. The weakness of Western governments allowed merchants a freer hand than in many civilizations. Cities were ruled by commercial leagues, and rulers allied with them against the aristocracy. Apart from taxation and borrowing, governments left merchants alone, allowing them to gain an independent role in society. Most peasants and landlords were not enmeshed in a market system. In cities the characteristic institution was the merchant or artisan guild. Guilds grouped people in similar occupations, regulated apprenticeships, maintained good workmanship, and discouraged innovations. They played an important political and social role in cities. Manufacturing and commercial methods in Europe improved, but they did not attain Asian levels in iron making and textile production. Only in a few areas, such as clock making, did they take the lead. By the late Middle Ages the western medieval economy contained contradictory elements. Commercial and capitalistic trends jostled the slower rural economy and guild protectionism.
Limited Sphere for Women. As elsewhere, increasing complexity of social and economic life limited women's roles. Women's work remained vital to families. Christian emphasis on spiritual equality remained important, while female monastic groups offered a limited alternative to marriage. Veneration of the Virgin Mary and other female religious figures gave positive role models for women. Still, even though women were less restricted than females within Islam, they lost ground. They were increasingly hemmed in by male-dominated organizations. By the close of the Middle Ages patriarchal structures were firmly established.
The Decline of the Medieval Synthesis. After 1300 postclassical Western civilization declined. A major war embroiled France and England during the 14th and 15th centuries. The sporadic fighting spread economic distress and demonstrated the weaknesses of the feudal order. At the same time key sources of Western vitality degenerated. Agriculture could not keep up with population growth. Famines followed. Further losses came from the Black Death in 1348 and succeeding plagues. Tensions between landlord and peasants, and artisans and their employees, intensified.
Signs of Strain. There were increasing challenges to medieval institutions. The landowning aristocracy, the ruling class, lost its military role as professional armies and new weapons transformed warfare. Aristocrats retreated into a ceremonial style of life emphasizing chivalry. The balance of power between church and state shifted in favor of the state. As the church leaders struggled to retain secular authority, they lost touch with individual believers who turned to popular currents emphasizing direct experience of god. Intellectual and artistic synthesis also declined. Church officials became less tolerant of intellectual daring and retreated from Aquinas's blend of rationalism and religion. In art, styles became more realistic.
Conclusion: The Postclassical West and Its Heritage: A Balance Sheet. The Middle Ages has been regarded as a backward period between the era of Greece and Rome and the vigorous new civilization of the 15th century. The view neglects the extent of creativity present. Much of Europe had not previously been incorporated into a major civilization. Europeans for the first time were building appropriate institutions and culture. Medieval thinkers linked classical rationalism within a strong Christian framework. Classical styles were preserved, but were surpassed by new expressive forms. Medieval economics and politics established firm foundations for the future. Western European civilization shared many attributes with other emerging regions; among its distinctive aspects was an aggressive interest in the wider world.
KEY TERMS
Middle Ages: the period in western European history between the fall of the Roman Empire and the 15th century.
Gothic: an architectural style developed during the Middle Ages in western Europe; featured pointed arches and flying buttresses as external support on main walls.
Vikings: sea-going Scandinavian raiders who disrupted coastal areas of Europe from the 8th to 11th centuries; pushed across the Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland, and North America.
manorialism: system of economic and political relations between landlords and their peasant laborers during the Middle Ages; involved a hierarchy of reciprocal obligations that exchanged labor for access to land.
serfs: peasant agricultural laborers within the manorial system.
moldboard: heavy plow introduced in northern Europe during the Middle Ages; permitted deeper cultivation of heavier soils.
three-field system: one third of land left uplanted each year to increase fertility.
Clovis: King of the Franks; converted to Christianity ca. 496.
Carolingians: royal house of Franks from 8th to 10th century.
Charles Martel: Carolingian monarch of Franks; defeated Muslims at Tours in 732.
Charlemagne: Carolingian monarch who established large empire in France and Germany ca. 800.
Holy Roman Emperors: rulers in northern Italy and Germany following break-up of Charlemagne's empire; claimed title of emperor but failed to develop centralized monarchy.
feudalism: relationships among the military elite during the Middle Ages; greater lords provided protection to lesser lords in return for military service.
vassals: members of the military elite who received land or a benefice from a lord in return for military service and loyalty.
Capetians: French dynasty ruling from the 10th century; developed a strong feudal monarchy.
William the Conqueror: invaded England from Normandy in 1066; established tight feudal system and centralized monarchy in England.
Magna Carta: Great Charter issued by King John of England in 1215; confirmed feudal rights against monarchical claims; represented principle of mutual limits and obligations between rulers and feudal aristocracy.
parliaments: bodies representing privileged groups; institutionalized feudal principle that rulers should consult their vassals.
Hundred Years War: conflict between England and France (1337-1453).
Pope Urban II: called first Crusade in 1095; appealed to Christians to free the Holy Land from Muslim control.
St. Clare of Assisi: 13th century founder of a woman’s monastic order; represented a new spirit of purity and dedication to the Catholic church.
Gregory VII: 11th-century pope who attempted to free church from interference of feudal lords; quarreled with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV over practice of lay investiture of bishops.
Peter Abelard: Author of Yes and No; university scholar who applied logic to problems of theology; demonstrated logical contradictions within established doctrine.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux: emphasized role of faith in preference to logic; stressed importance of mystical union with god; successfully challenged Abelard and had him driven from the universities.
Thomas Aquinas: creator of one of the great syntheses of medieval learning; taught at University of Paris; author of Summas; believed that through reason it was possible to know much about natural order, moral law, and nature of god.
scholasticism: dominant medieval philosophical approach; so-called because of its base in the schools or universities; based on use of logic to resolve theological problems.
troubadours: poets in 14th century southern France; gave a new value to the emotion of love in Western tradition.
Hanseatic League: an organization of north German and Scandinavian cities for the purpose of establishing a commercial alliance.
Jacques Coeur: 15th century French merchant; his career demonstrates new course of medieval commerce.
guilds: associations of workers in the same occupation in a single city; stressed security and mutual control; limited membership, regulated apprenticeship, guaranteed good workmanship, discourage innovations; often established franchise within cities.
Black Death: plague that struck Europe in the 14th century; significantly reduced Europe's population; affected social structure.
Chapter 11
The Americas on the Eve of Invasion
CHAPTER SUMMARY. American societies during the postclassic era remained isolated from other civilizations. The societies continued to show great diversity, but there were continuities. American civilizations were marked by elaborate cultural systems, highly developed agriculture, and large urban and political units. Columbus’ s mistaken designation of the inhabitants of the Americas as Indians implies a non-existent common identity. The great diversity of cultures requires concentration upon a few major civilizations, the great imperial states of Mesoamerica (central Mexico) and the Andes, plus a few other independently developing peoples..
Postclassic Mesoamerica, 1000-1500 C.E.. The collapse of Teotihuacan and the abandonment of Maya cities in the 8th century C.E. was followed by significant political and cultural changes. The nomadic Toltecs built a large empire centered in central Mexico. They established a capital at Tula about 968 and adopted many cultural features from sedentary peoples. Later peoples thought of the militaristic Toltecs as givers of civilization. The Aztecs organized an equally impressive successor state.
The Toltec Heritage. The Toltecs created a large empire reaching beyond central Mexico. Around 1000 they extended their rule to Yucatan and the former Maya regions. Toltec commercial influence extended northward as far as the American southwest, and perhaps to Hopewell peoples of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys. Many cultural similarities exist, but no Mexican artifacts have been found.
The Aztec Rise to Power. Northern nomadic invasions probably caused the collapse of the Toltec empire around 1150. The center of population and political power shifted to the valley of Mexico and its large chain of lakes. A dense population used the water for agriculture, fishing, and transportation. The region became the cultural heartland of postclassical Mexico. It was divided politically into many small and competing units. The militant Aztecs (or Mexica) migrated to the region during the early 14th century and initially served the indigenous inhabitants as allies or mercenaries. Around 1325 they founded the cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco on lake islands. By 1434 the Aztecs had become the dominant regional power.
The Aztec Social Contract. The Aztecs were transformed by the process of expansion and conquest from an association of clans to a stratified society under a powerful ruler. Central to the changes was Tlacaelel, an important official serving rulers between 1427 and 1480. The Aztecs developed a self-image as a people chosen to serve the gods. The long-present religious practice of human sacrifice was greatly expanded. The military class had a central role as suppliers of war captives for sacrifice. The rulers used sacrifice as an effective means political terror. By the rule of Moctezuma II the ruler, with civil and religious power, dominated the state.
Religion and the Ideology of Conquest. In the Aztec religion little distinction was made between the world of the gods and the natural order. Hundreds of male and female gods representing rain, fire, etc., were worshipped. They can be arranged into three major divisions. The first included gods of fertility, the agricultural cycle, maize, and water. The second group centered on creator deities: Tonatiuh, warrior god of the sun, and Tezcatlipoca, god of the night sky, were among the most powerful. The third division had the gods of warfare and sacrifice, among them Huitzilopochtli, the tribal patron. He became the paramount deity and was identified with the old sun god; he drew strength from the sacrifice of human lives. The Aztecs expanded the existing Mesoamerican practice of human sacrifice to an unprecedented scale. Symbolism and ritual, including ritual cannibalism, accompanied the sacrifices. The balance between sacrifice motivated by religion or terror is still under debate. The Aztecs had other religious concerns besides sacrifice. They had a complex mythology that explained the birth and history of the gods and their relation to humans. Religious symbolism infused all aspect of life. The Aztecs had a cyclical, fatalistic, view of history; they believed the world had been destroyed before and, despite the sacrifices, would be again.
Tenochtitlan, the Foundation of Heaven. The Aztec believed their capital to be a sacred space. The great metropolis of Tenochtitlan had a central zone of palaces and temples surrounded by residential districts and markets. Its design, craftsmanship, and architecture were outstanding. By 1519 the city covered five square miles and had 150,000 residents. The island city was connected to the lake shores by four causeways and was crisscrossed by canals. Each city ward was controlled by a kin group (calpulli) who maintained temples and civic buildings. Tribute and support came to the imperial city-state from allies and dependents.
Feeding the People: The Economy of the Empire. Feeding the Aztec confederation depended both upon traditional agricultural forms and innovations. Conquered peoples lost land and gave food as tribute. In and around the lake the Aztecs developed a system of irrigated agriculture. They built chinampas, artificial floating islands, that permitted the harvesting of high-yield multiple yearly crops. Aztec peasant production and tribute supplied the basic foods. Clans in each community apportioned land between people, nobles, and temples. There were periodic markets for exchange. The great daily market at Tlatelolco was controlled by a merchant class (pochteca) which specialized in long-distance luxury item trade. The Aztecs had a state-controlled mixed economy: tribute, markets, commodity use, and distribution were highly regulated.
Aztec Society in Transition. The society of the expanding Aztec empire became increasingly hierarchical. Calpulli organization survived, but different social classes appeared. Tribute from subject peoples was not enough to maintain the large Aztec population.
Widening Social Gulf. By the 16th century the seven original calpulli had expanded from kinship groups to become residential groupings including neighbors, allies, and dependents. The calpulli performed vital local functions in distributing land and labor and maintaining temples and schools. During wars they organized military units. Calpulli were governed by councils of family heads, but all families were not equal. During Aztec expansion a class of nobility (pipiltin) had emerged from privileged families in the most distinguished calpulli. The nobles controlled the military and priesthood. Military virtues infused all society and were linked to the cult of sacrifice; they justified the nobility's predominance. Death in battle assured eternal life, a reward also going to women dying in childbirth. The social gulf separating nobles from commoners widened. Social distinctions were formalized by giving the pipiltin special clothes and symbols of rank. The imperial family were the most distinguished of the pipiltin. A new class of workers resembling serfs was created to serve on the nobility's private lands. They held a status above slaves. Other groups, scribes, artisans, and healers, constituted an intermediate social group in the larger cities. Long-distance merchants had their own calpulli, but restrictions blocked their entry into the nobility.
Overcoming Technological Constraints. Aztec women had a variety of roles. Peasant women helped in the fields, but their primary work was in the household; skill in weaving was highly esteemed. Elder women trained young girls. Marriages were arranged between lineages, and female virginity was important. Polygamy existed among the nobility; peasants were monogamous. Women inherited and passed on property, but in political and social life they were subordinate to men. New World technology limited social development, especially for women, when compared to other cultures. The absence of milling technology meant that women spent many hours daily in grinding maize by hand for household needs. The total Aztec population may have reached over 20 million.
A Tribute Empire. Each of the Aztec city-states was ruled by a speaker chosen from the nobility. The ruler of Tenochtitlan, the Great Speaker, surpassed all others in wealth and power. He presided over an elaborate court. A prime minister, usually a close relative of the ruler, had tremendous power. There was a governing council, but it lacked real power. During the first 100 years of Aztec expansion a powerful nobility and emperor had taken over authority formerly held by calpulli. Military virtues became supreme as the state religion, and the desire for more tribute and captives for sacrifice, drove the Aztecs to further conquests. The empire was not integrated; defeated local rulers often remained in place as subordinate officials. They were left alone if tribute and labor obligations were met. Revolts against the exactions were ruthlessly suppressed. The Aztec system was successful because it aimed at political domination and not direct control. In the long run the growing social stresses created by the rise of the pipiltin and the terror and tribute imposed on subjects contributed to the empire's collapse.
In Depth: The "Troubling" Civilizations of the Americas. European concepts of civilization did not match with the practices of American Indians. Judging a civilization different from one’s own always is a complex proceeding. While some condemn Aztec sacrifice, others romanticize the Indian past. The arguments over the possible existence of Inca socialism or about the nature of Aztec religion are examples. Moral judgment is probably inevitable, but students of history must strive to understand a people’s practices in the context of their own time and culture.
Twantinsuyu: World of the Incas. During the period following the disintegration of the states of Tihuanaco and Huari (c.550-1000 C.E.) smaller regional states exercised power in the Andes. Some of them were centers of agricultural activity and population density. The considerable warfare among the states resembled the post-Toltec period in Mesoamerica. The state of Chimor (900-1465) emerged as most powerful, controlling most of the north coast of Peru. After 1300 the Inca developed a new civilization.
The Inca Rise to Power. In the southern Andean highlands many groups fought for supremacy. Quechua- speaking clans (ayllus) around Cuzco won control of territory formerly under Huari. By 1438, under Pachacuti, they began campaigns ending with their control of the region. Pachacuti's son, Topac Yupanqui (1471-1493), conquered Chimor and extended Inca rule into Ecuador and Chile. Huayna Capac (1493-1527) consolidated the conquests; by his death the Inca empire - Twantinsuyu - stretched from Colombia to Chile, and eastward to Bolivia and Argentina. From 9 to 13 million people were under Inca rule.
Conquest and Religion. The Inca had other reasons for expansion besides the desire for economic gain and political power. They adopted from Chimor the practice of "split inheritance": all of a ruler’s political power went to the successor, while all wealth and land passed to male descendants for the eternal support of the cult of the dead ruler's mummy. The system created a justification for endless expansion. Inca political and social life was infused with religious meaning. The sun was the highest deity; the ruler (Inca) was the god’s representative on earth. The Temple of the Sun at Cuzco was the center of state religion. The sun cult spread throughout the empire, but the worship of local gods continued. Popular belief was based upon a profound animism that endowed natural phenomena with spiritual power. Prayers and sacrifices were offered at holy shrines (huacas), which were organized into groupings under the authority of ayllus. The temples were served by priests and women dedicated to preparing the sacrifices and managing important festivals and celebrations.
The Techniques of Inca Imperial Rule. The Inca, considered virtually a god, ruled the empire from Cuzco. It also was the site of the major temple. The empire was divided into four provinces, each under a governor. The Incas had a bureaucracy in which most of the nobility served. Local rulers (curacas) continued in office in return for loyalty. They were exempt from tribute and received labor or produce from their subjects. Their sons were educated in Cuzco. The Quechua language, the use of colonists (mitmaqs), and the forced transfer of peoples were important techniques for integrating the empire. A complex system of roads, bridges, and causeways, with way stations (tambos) and storehouses, helped military movement. Conquered peoples supplied land and labor. They served in the military and received rewards from new conquests. The Inca state organized building and irrigation projects beyond the capabilities of subject peoples. In return tribute and loyalty were required. All local resources were taken and redistributed: there were lands for the people, the state, and religion. Labor on state and religious land was demanded rather than tribute in kind. Women had to weave cloth for the court and religious use. Some women were taken as concubines for the Inca or as temple servants. Each community, was controlled by the ayllus and aimed at self-sufficiency. Most males were peasants and herders. Women worked in the household, wove cloth, and aided in agriculture. Since Andean people recognized parallel descent, property passed in both lines. Even though an ideology of complementarity of the sexes was strong, the emphasis on military virtue made men dominant. The idea of gender cooperation was reflected in cosmology. Gods and goddesses were venerated by both sexes, though women had a special feeling for the moon and the fertility goddesses of the earth and corn. The ruler's senior wife was a link to the moon. Still, male power within the empire showed in the selection of women for state and temple purposes. The integration of imperial policy with regional diversity was a political achievement. Reciprocity between the state and local community allowed the empire to function efficiently. Within the system the Inca nobility had many privileges and were distinguished by dress and custom. There was no distinct merchant class because of the emphasis on self-sufficiency and state management of the economy. The state remained strong until it lost control of its subject peoples and government mechanisms. Royal multiple marriages used to forge alliances eventually created rival claimants for power and civil war.
Inca Cultural Achievements. The Inca produced beautiful pottery and cloth. Their metallurgy was among the most advanced of the Americas. They lacked the wheel and a writing system, instead using knotted strings (quipu) for accounts and enumeration. The peak of Inca genius was in statecraft and architecture. They constructed great stone buildings, agricultural terraces, irrigation projects, and road systems.
Comparing Incas and Aztecs. Both empires were based upon the long development of civilizations that preceded them. They excelled in imperial and military organization. The two were based upon intensive agriculture organized by the state; goods were redistributed to groups or social classes. The Aztecs and Incas transformed an older kinship system into a hierarchical one where the nobility predominated. In both the nobility was the personnel of the state. Although the Incas tried to integrate their empire as a unit, both empires recognized local ethnic groups and political leaders in return for loyalty. The Aztecs and Incas found their military power less effective against nomadic frontier people; their empires were based on conquest and exploitation of sedentary peoples. There were considerable differences between Incas and Aztecs, many of them the result of climate and geography. Trade and markets were more developed among the Aztecs. Other differences were present in metallurgy, writing systems, and social definition and hierarchy. In the context of world civilizations both can be viewed as variations of similar patterns, with sedentary agriculture as the most important factor.
THE OTHER INDIANS. Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations were high points of Indian cultural development. The rest of the American continents were occupied by many peoples living in different ways. They can be grouped according to gradations based upon material culture and social complexity. The Incas shared many things with tribal peoples of the Amazon, including clan divisions. The diversity of ancient America forces a reconsideration of patterns of human development dependent on examples from other civilizations. Social complexity based upon agriculture was not necessary for fishing and hunting-gathering societies of the northwest United States and British Columbia: they developed hierarchical societies. In Colorado and South America, Indians practiced irrigated agriculture but did not develop states.
How Many Indians? Arguments about the population of the Americas have been going on for a long time. Most scholars now agree that Mesoamerica and the Andes had the largest populations (see table 17.1). If we accept a total of 67 million, in a world population of about 500 million (see table 17.2), Americans clearly were a major segment of humanity.
Differing Cultural Patterns. There were major cultural patterns in the Americas outside of the main civilization areas. They shared features with both the Andes and Mesoamerica, perhaps serving at times as points of cultural and material change between the two regions. In central Colombia the Muisca and Tairona peoples had large, sedentary agriculture-based chiefdoms that shared many resemblances with other similarly based states. Along the Amazon the rich aquatic environment supported complex, populous chiefdoms; other large populations dependent upon agriculture were present on Caribbean islands. Such societies resembled societies in Polynesia. By 1500 agriculture was widely diffused throughout the Americas. Some societies combined it with hunting-gathering and fishing. Slash-and-burn farming caused frequent movement in societies often not possessing large numbers, strong class divisions, or craft specialization. There were few nomadic herders. In 1500 about 200 languages were spoken in North America. By then the towns of the Mississippi Mound Builders had been abandoned and only a few peoples maintained their patterns. In the southwest the Anasazi and other cliff dwellers had moved to pueblos along the Rio Grande and practiced irrigated agriculture. Most other North American Indians were hunters and gatherers, sometimes also cultivating crops. In rich environments complex social organization might develop without agriculture. There were sharp differences with contemporary European and Asian societies. Most Indian societies were kin-based, with communal ownership of resources. Material wealth was not important for social rank. Women were subordinate to men, but in many societies held important political and social roles. They had a central role in crop production. Indians, unlike Europeans and Asians, viewed themselves as part of the ecological system, not in control of it.
Conclusion: American Indian Diversity in World Context. Two great imperial systems had been created in Mesoamerica and the Andes. By the close of the 15th century these militaristic states were fragile, weakened by internal strains and technological inferiority. American societies ranged from the Aztec-Inca great civilizations to small bands of hunters. The continued; evolution of all Indian societies was disastrously disrupted by European invasions beginning in 1492.
KEY TERMS
Indian: misnomer created by Columbus when referring to indigenous New World peoples; implies social and ethnic commonalty that did not exist among Native Americans; still used to describe Native Americans.
Toltecs: nomadic peoples from beyond the northern frontier of sedentary agriculture in Mesoamerica; established capital at Tula following migration into central Mesoamerican plateau; strongly militaristic ethic, including cult of human sacrifice.
Aztecs: the Mexica; one of the nomadic tribes that penetrated into the sedentary zone of the Mesoamerican plateau after the fall of the Toltecs; established empire after 1325 around shores of Lake Texcoco.
Tenochtitlan: founded ca. 1325 on a marshy island in Lake Texcoco; became center of Aztec power.
pipiltin: nobility in Aztec society; formed by intermarriage of Aztecs with peoples tracing lineage back to the Toltecs.
Tlacaelel: advisor to Aztec rulers (1427-1480; had histories of Mexico rewritten; expanded cult of human sacrifice as effective means of political terror.
Huitcilopochtli: Aztec tribal patron god; central figure of human sacrifice and warfare; identified with old sun god.
calpulli: clans in Aztec society; evolved into residential groupings that distributed land and provided labor and warriors.
chinampas: beds of aquatic weeds, mud, earth placed in frames made of cane and rooted in lakes to create "floating islands"; system of irrigated agriculture used by Aztecs.
pochteca: merchant class in Aztec society; specialized in long-distance trade in luxury items.
Inca socialism: an interpretation describing Inca society as a type of utopia; image of the Inca empire as a carefully organized system in which every community collectively contributed to the whole.
Twantinsuyu: Inca word for their empire; region from Colombia to Chile and eastward
into Bolivia and Argentina.
Inca: group of clans (ayllu) centered at Cuzco; created an empire in the Andes during the 15th century; also title of the ruler.
Pachacuti: Inca ruler (1438-1471); began the military campaigns that marked the creation of an Inca empire.
Topac Yupanqui: Inca ruler (1471-1493); extended his father’s conquests; seized the northern coastal kingdom of Chimor and pushed into Equador..
Huayna Capac: Inca ruler (1493-1527); brought the empire to its greatest extent.
split inheritance: Inca practice of ruler descent; all titles and political power went to successor, but wealth and land remained in hands of male descendants for support of dead Inca's mummy.
Temple of the Sun: Inca religious center at Cuzco; center of state religion; held mummies of past Incas.
Curacas: local rulers who the Inca left in office in return for loyalty.
mitmac: Inca colonists in new regions; could be Quechua speakers used to pacify new conquest or conquered population moved to new homes.
tambos: waystations used by Incas as inns and storehouses; supply centers for Inca armies; relay points for system of runners used to carry messages.
mita: labor extracted for lands assigned to the state and the religion; all communities were expected to contribute; an essential part of Inca control.
quipu: system of knotted strings utilized by the Incas in place of a writing system; could contain numerical and other types of information for censuses and financial records.
Chapter 12
Reunification and Renaissance in Chinese Civilization:
The Era of the Tang and Song Dynasties
Chapter Summary. Basic themes of Chinese civilization underwent vital consolidation during the postclassical period. Less fundamental innovation occurred than in the Americas and Europe. Important developments took place in technology. Political turmoil followed the fall of the Han during the "period of the Six Dynasties" (220-589 C.E.) and the empire's bureaucratic apparatus collapsed. The scholar-gentry class lost ground to landed families. Non-Chinese nomads ruled much of China and a foreign religion, Buddhism, replaced Confucianism as a primary force in cultural life. There was economic, technological, intellectual, and urban decline. New dynasties, the Sui and Tang, from the end of the 6th century brought a restoration of Chinese civilization. Political unity returned as nomads and nobility were brought under state control and the bureaucracy was rebuilt. Major changes occurred in economic and social life as the focus of a revived civilization shifted from the north to the Yangtze valley and southern and eastern coastal areas. The Song dynasty continued the revival; their era saw the restoration of scholar-gentry and the Confucian order. It was a time of artistic, literary, and technological flourishing. Male dominance reached new heights.
Rebuilding the Imperial Edifice in the Sui-Tang Era. A noble, Wendi, with the support of nomadic military leaders won control of northern China. In 589 he defeated the Chen kingdom which ruled much of the south and established the Sui dynasty as ruler of the traditional Chinese core. Wendi won popularity by lowering taxes and establishing granaries to ensure a stable, cheap food supply.
Sui Excess and Collapse. Wendi's son Yangdi continued strengthening the state by further conquests and victories over nomads. He reformed the legal code and the Confucian educational system. The scholar-gentry were brought back into the imperial administration. Yangdi undertook extensive and expensive construction projects at a new capital, Loyang, and for a series of canals to link the empire. He attempted unsuccessfully to conquer Korea and was defeated by Turkic nomads in central Asia in 615. Widespread revolts followed. Imperial rule crumbled and Yangdi was assassinated in 618.
The Emergence of the Tang and the Restoration of the Empire. Imperial unity was saved when Li Yuan, Duke of Tang and a former supporter of the Sui, won control of China and began the Tang dynasty. Tang armies extended the empire's reach to the borders of Afghanistan and thus dominated the nomads of the frontier borderlands. The Tang utilized Turkic nomads in their military, and tried to assimilate them into Chinese culture. The Great Wall was repaired. The extensive Tang empire stretched into Tibet, Vietnam, Manchuria, and Korea.
Rebuilding the Bureaucracy. A restored scholar-gentry elite and reworked Confucian ideology helped the Tang to maintain imperial unity. The power of the aristocracy was reduced. Political authority henceforth was shared by imperial families and scholar-gentry bureaucrats. The bureaucracy, subject to strict controls, reached from the imperial court to district levels of administration. A Bureau of Censors watched all officials.
The Growing Importance of the Examination System. Under the Tang and Song the numbers of scholar-gentry rose far above Han levels. They greatly extended the examination system, and civil service advancement patterns were regularized. Specialized exams were administered by the Ministry of Rites. The highest offices went only to individuals able to pass exams based on the Confucian classics and Chinese literature. Additional exams determined their ranking in the pool eligible for office and awarded special social status. Birth and family connections remained important for gaining high office. Intelligent commoners might rise to high positions, but the central administration was dominated by a small number of prominent families.
State and Religion in the Tang-Song Era. The Confucian revival threatened Buddhism’s place of in Chinese life. Many previous rulers had been strong Buddhist supporters. Chinese monks gave the foreign religion Chinese qualities. Salvationist Mahayana Buddhism won wide mass acceptance during the era of war and turmoil. Elite Chinese accepted Chan Buddhism, or Zen, which stressed meditation and appreciation of natural and artistic beauty. Early Tang rulers continued to patronize Buddhism, especially Empress Wu (690-705). She endowed monasteries, commissioned colossal statues of Buddha, and sought to make Buddhism the state religion. There were about 50,000 monasteries by the mid 9th century.
The Anti-Buddhist Backlash. Confucians and Daoists opposed Buddhist growth, castigating it as an alien faith. Daoists stressed their magical and predictive powers. Confucian scholar-administrators worked to convince the Tang that untaxed Buddhist monasteries posed an economic threat to the empire. Measures to limit land and resources going to Buddhists gave way to open persecution under Emperor Wuzong (841-847). Thousands of monasteries and shrines were destroyed; hundreds of thousands of monks and nuns had to return to secular life. Buddhist lands were taxed or redistributed to taxpaying nobles and peasants. Buddhism survived the persecutions, but in a much reduced condition. Confucianism emerged as the enduring central ideology of Chinese civilization.
Tang Decline and the Rise of the Song. The reign of Emperor Xuanzong (713-756) marked the zenith of Tang power. He initially advanced political and economic reform; later he turned to patronizing the arts and the pleasures of the imperial city. Xuanzong became infatuated with an imperial harem woman, Yang Guifei. She filled upper levels of government with her relatives and gained authority in court politics. Rival cliques stimulated unrest, while lack of royal direction caused economic distress and military weakness. A serious revolt occurred in 755. The rebels were defeated, and Yang Guifei was killed, but Xuanzong and succeeding rulers provided weak leadership for the dynasty. Nomadic frontier peoples and regional governors used the disorder to gain virtual independence. Worsening economic conditions in the 9th century caused many revolts, some of them popular movements led by peasants.
The Founding of the Song Dynasty. The last Tang emperor resigned in 907, but, after a period of turmoil, a military commander, Zhao Kuangyin, renamed Taizu, in 960 reunited China under one dynasty, the Song. His failure to defeat the Liao dynasty of Manchuria founded by Khitan nomads in 907,. established a lasting precedent for weakness in dealing with northern nomadic peoples. Ensuing military victories by the Khitans led to the paying of heavy tribute to the Liao who became very much influenced by Chinese culture.
Song Politics: Settling for Partial Restoration. The Song never matched the Tang in political or military strength. To prevent a return of the conditions ending Tang rule, the military was subordinated to scholar-gentry civilians. Song rulers strongly promoted the interests of the Confucian scholar-gentry class over aristocratic and Buddhist rivals. Salaries were increased, civil service exams were routinized, and successful candidates had a better chance for employment.
The Revival of Confucian Thought. Confucian ideas and values dominated intellectual life. Long-neglected texts were recovered; new academies for the study of the classics and impressive libraries were founded. Many thinkers labored to produce differing interpretations of Confucian and Daoism, and to prove the superiority of indigenous thought. The most prominent neo-Confucianist, Zhu Xi, emphasized the importance of applying philosophical principles to everyday life. Neo-Confucians believed that the cultivation of personal morality was the highest human goal. Confucian learning, they argued, produced superior men to govern and teach others. Neo-Confucian thinking had a lasting impact on intellectual life. Hostility to foreign thought prevented the entry of innovations from other societies, while the stress on tradition stifled critical thinking within China. Neo-Confucian emphasis on rank, obligation, deference, and performance of rituals reinforced class, gender, and age distinctions. The authority of the patriarchal family head was strengthened. Social harmony and prosperity, claimed neo-Confucianists, was maintained when men and women performed the tasks appropriate to their status.
Roots of Decline: Attempts at Reform. Song weakness before the Khitan encouraged other nomads to carve out kingdoms on the northern borders. The Tangut from Tibet established the kingdom of Xi Xia southwest of Liao. The Song paid them and other peoples tribute, and maintained a large army to protect against invasion, thus draining state resources and burdening the peasantry. Song emphasis on scholar-gentry concerns contributed to military decline. Confucian scholar and chief minister Wang Anshi attempted sweeping reforms in the late 11th century. He used Legalist principles, and encouraged agricultural expansion through cheap loans and government-assisted irrigation projects. The landlord and scholar-gentry were taxed and the revenues went for military reform. Wang Anshi even attempted to revitalize the educational system by giving preference to analytical skills.
Reaction and Disaster: The Flight to the South. When the emperor supporting Wang Anshi died in 1085, his successor favored conservatives opposing reform. Neo-Confucianists gained power and reversed Wang's policies. Economic conditions deteriorated and the military was unable to defend the northern borders. The nomadic Jurchens, after overthrowing Liao, in 1115 established the Qin kingdom. They invaded China and annexed most of the Yellow River basin. The Song fled south and established a capital at Hangzhou in the Yangtze River basin. The small southern Song dynasty ruled from 1127 to 1279.
Tang and Song Prosperity: The Basis of a Golden Age. The Sui and Tang had built canals because of a major shift in Chinese population balance. Yangdi's Grand Canal, eventually over 1200 miles long, linked the original civilization centers of the north with the Yangtze River basin. The rice-growing regions of the south became the major food producers of the empire. By early Song times the south was the leader in crop production and population. The canal system made government of the south by northern capitals possible. Food from the south could be distributed in the north, while the south was opened to migration and commercial development.
A New Phase of Commercial Expansion. Tang conquests and the canal system promoted commercial expansion. Expansion into central Asia reopened the silk routes to the west and intensified international contacts with the Buddhist and Islamic worlds. China exported manufactured goods in return for luxury items. By late Tang and Song times Chinese merchants went directly to foreign ports; Chinese junks were among the best ships in the world and allowed the Chinese to be the dominant force in the seas east of the Malayan peninsula. The increased role of commerce and a money economy showed in the numerous and enlarged market quarters in Chinese urban centers. The expansion accompanied growing sophistication in commercial organization and forms of credit. Deposit shops, an early form of banks, and the first paper money appeared. Credit vouchers, called flying money, assisted transactions in distant markets.
The World's Most Splendid Cities. Urban growth surged during the Tang and Song eras. The 2,000,000 inhabitants of the Tang capital of Changan made it the world's largest city. Other cities similarly grew; many had over 100,000 inhabitants. Most preindustrial civilizations had few or no large urban centers, and China's estimated urban population - 10% of total population - surpassed all others. The late Song capital of Huangzhou exceeded all others in beauty, size, and sophistication. Its location near the Yangtze and the seacoast allowed traders and artisans to prosper. Its population of over 1,500,000 enjoyed well-stocked marketplaces, parks, restaurants, teahouses, and popular entertainments.
Expanding Agrarian Production and Life in the Country. Tang and Song rulers pushed agricultural expansion. Peasants were encouraged to migrate to new areas where the state supported military garrisons and provided irrigation and embankment systems. The canals enabled their produce to move through the empire. New crops and technology increased yields. Sui and Tang rulers adopted policies designed to break up aristocratic estates for more equitable distribution among free peasants, the class Confucian scholars held to be essential for a stable and prosperous social order. The scholar-gentry gradually supplanted the aristocracy in rural society.
Family and Society in the Tang-Song Era. Family organization resembled that of earlier eras. The status of women was improving under the Tang and early Song, but steadily declined during the late Song. Extended-family households were preferred, although only the upper classes could afford them. The Confucianist male-dominated hierarchy was common in all classes. An elaborate process of making marriage alliances was handled by professional female go-betweens. Partners were of the same age; marriage ceremonies did not take place until puberty. Urban classes consummated marriage later than peasants. Upper class women had increased opportunities for personal expression and career possibilities under the Tang and early Song. The empresses Wu and Wei, and royal concubine Yang Guifei, exercised considerable power. The legal code had provisions supporting women's rights in divorce arrangements. The practice of allowing wealthy urban women to have lovers is an example of female independence.
The Neo-Confucian Assertion of Male Dominance. The independence and legal rights of elite minority of women worsened under the influence of Neo-Confucian thinkers. They stressed the roles of housemaker and mother, advocated physical confinement of women, emphasized the importance of bridal virginity, wifely fidelity, and widow chastity. Men were permitted free sexual behavior and remarriage. The decline of the opportunities once open in Buddhism also contributed to the deteriorated status of women. New laws favored males in inheritance and divorce, and females were excluded from the educational system. The painful, mobility-restricting practice of foot binding exemplifies the lowly position imposed upon women in late Song times.
A Glorious Age: Invention and Artistic Creativity. The Tang and Song periods are most remembered for their accomplishments in science, technology, literature, and the fine arts. Technological and scientific discoveries - new tools, production methods, weapons - passed to other civilizations and altered the course of human development. The arts and literature passed to neighboring regions - central Asia, Japan, and Vietnam. Engineering feats - the Grand Canal, dikes and dams, irrigation systems, bridges - were especially noteworthy. New agricultural implements and innovations - banks and paper money - stimulated prosperity. Explosive powder was invented under the Tang; it was used for fireworks until the Song adapted it to military use. Song armies and navies also used naphtha flame-throwers, poisonous gasses, and rocket launchers. On the domestic side, chairs, tea drinking, the use of coal for fuel, and kites were introduced. Compasses were applied to ocean navigation, and the abacus helped numerical figuring. In the 11th century the artisan Bi Sheng devised printing with movable type. Combined with the Chinese invention of paper, printing allowed a literacy level higher than any other preindustrial civilization.
Scholarly Refinement and Artistic Accomplishment. The reinvigorated scholar-gentry class was responsible for art and literary creativity. Well-educated men were supposed to be generalists capable of both official and artistic achievement. As the scholar-gentry replaced Buddhists as major art and literature producers they turned to portraying daily life and the delights of nature. Literature focused upon the doings and beliefs of common people. Poets, such as Li Bo, celebrated the natural world. Under the Song, interest in nature reached artistic fruition in symbolic landscape paintings, many accompanied by poems, that sought to teach moral lessons or explore philosophic ideas. .
In Depth: Artistic Expression and Social Values. Examining artistic creativity is an effective approach for studying the values of a civilization. In preliterate societies art and architecture provide evidence otherwise lacking. When civilizations have written records we still can learn about social structure by discovering who produced art, for whom it was created, by the technologies and materials utilized, and through the messages it was meant to convey. In India and European societies artistic creations were the work of skilled craftsmen, a role played in China the scholar-gentry class. In another difference, Indian, Muslim, and European artisans made anonymous creations for a mass audience. In China identifiable individuals produced art for the pleasures of the elite.
Conclusion: The End of the Song: The Legacy of Two Great Dynasties. The Song dynasty fell to the Mongol invasions inaugurated by Chinggis Khan. Kubilai Khan completed the conquest and founded the Yuan dynasty. The Tang and Song dynasties had a great impact upon both Chinese and world history. Centralized administration and the bureaucratic apparatus were restored and strengthened. The scholar-gentry elite triumphed over Buddhist, aristocratic, and nomadic rivals. They defined Chinese civilization for the next six and one-half centuries. The area subject to Chinese civilization expanded dramatically, as the south was integrated to the north. The Chinese economy, until the 18th century, was a world leader in market orientation, overseas trade volume, productivity per acre, sophistication of tools, and techniques of craft production. Chinese inventions altered development all over the world. China, as a civilization, retained many traditional patterns, but it also changed dramatically in the balance between regions, in commercial and urban development, and in technology. Outside influences, such as Buddhism, were incorporated into existing patterns.
KEY TERMS
Period of the Six Dynasties: era of continuous warfare (220-589) among the many kingdoms that followed the fall of the Han.
Wendi: member of prominent northern Chinese family during the Period of Six Dynasties; ; with support from northern nomadic peoples established Sui dynasty in 589.
Yangdi: 2nd Sui ruler; restored Confucian examination system; constructed canal system; assassinated in 618.
Li Yuan: Duke of Tang; minister for Yangdi; took over empire after assassination of Yangdi; 1st Tang ruler.
Ministry of Public Rites: administered the examinations for state office during the Tang dynasty.
jinshi: title given students who passed the most difficult examinations; became eligible for high office.
Chan Buddhism: called Zen in Japan; stressed meditation and appreciation of natural and artistic beauty; popular among the elite.
Mahayana (Pure Land) Buddhism: emphasized salvationist aspects of Chinese Buddhism; popular among the masses.
Wuzong: Tang emperor (841-847); persecuted Buddhist monasteries and reduced influence of Buddhism in favor of Confucianism.
Yang Guifei: royal concubine of Tang emperor Xuanzong; introduction of relatives into administration led to revolt.
Khitan nomads: founded Liao dynasty of Manchuria in 907; remained a threat to Song; very much influenced by Chinese culture.
Zhao Kuangyin: general who founded Song dynasty; took royal name of Taizu.
Zhu Xi: most prominent Neo-Confucian scholar during the Song dynasty; stressed importance of applying philosophical principles to everyday life.
Wang Anshi: Confucian scholar and chief minister of a Song ruler in 1070s; introduced sweeping reforms based on Legalism; advocated greater state intervention in society.
Southern Song: smaller surviving dynasty (1127-1279); presided over one of the greatest cultural reigns in world history.
Jurchens: founders of Qin kingdom that succeeded the Liao in northern China; annexed most of Yellow River basin and forced Song to flee south.
Grand Canal: great canal system begun by Yangdi; joined Yellow River region to the Yangtze basin.
junks: Chinese ships equipped with watertight bulkheads, stern-post rudders, compasses, and bamboo fenders; dominant force in Asian seas east of the Malayan peninsula.
flying money: Chinese credit instrument that provided vouchers to merchants to be redeemed at the end of a venture; reduced danger of robbery; an early form of currency.
Changan: capital of Tang dynasty; population of 2,000,000 larger than any contemporary world city.
Hangzhou: capital of later Song; location near East China Sea permitted international commerce; population over 1,500,000.
footbinding: male imposed practice to mutilate women's feet in order to reduce size; produced pain and restricted movement; helped to confine women to the household.
Bi Sheng: 11th century artisan; devised technique of printing with movable type; made it possible for China to be the most contemporary literate civilization.
Li Bo: most famous poet of the Tang era; blended images of the mundane world with philosophical musings.
CHAPTER 13
The Spread of Chinese Civilization: Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
CHAPTER SUMMARY. The peoples on China's borders naturally emulated their great neighbor. Japan borrowed heavily from China during the 5th and 6th centuries when it began forming its own civilization. To the north and west of China nomadic peoples and Tibet also received influence. Vietnam and Korea were part of the Chinese sphere by the last centuries B.C.E. The agrarian societies of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam blended Chinese influences blended with their indigenous cultures to produce distinctive patterns of civilized development. In all three regions Buddhism was a key force in transmitting Chinese civilization.
JAPAN: THE IMPERIAL AGE. During the Taika, Nara, and Heian periods, from the 7th to the 9th centuries, Japanese borrowing from China peaked, although Shinto views on the natural and supernatural world remained central. The Taika reforms of 646 aimed at revamping the administration along Chinese lines. Intellectuals and aristocrats absorbed Chinese influences. The common people looked to Buddhist monks for spiritual and secular assistance, and meshed Buddhist beliefs with traditional religion. The Taika reforms failed. The aristocracy returned to Japanese traditions; the peasantry reworked Buddhism into a Japanese creed. The emperor lost power to aristocrats and provincial lords.
Crisis at Nara and the Shift to Heian (Kyoto). The Taika effort to remake the Japanese ruler into a Chinese-style absolutist monarch was frustrated by resistance from aristocratic families and Buddhist monks. During the next century the Buddhists grew so powerful at court that one monk attempted to marry Empress Koken and claim the throne. The emperor fled and established a new capital at Heian (Kyoto). He abandoned the Taika reforms and restored the power of aristocratic families. Despite following Chinese patterns, the Japanese determined aristocratic rank by birth, thus blocking social mobility. The aristocrats dominated the central government and restored their position as landholders. The emperor gave up plans for creating a peasant conscript army and ordered local leaders to form rural militias.
Ultracivilized: Court Life in the Heian Era. Although the imperial court had lost power, court culture flourished at Heian. Aristocratic males and females lived according to strict behavioral codes. They lived in a complex of palaces and gardens; the basis of life was the pursuit of aesthetic enjoyment and the avoidance of common, distasteful elements of life. Poetry was a valued art form, and the Japanese simplified the script taken from the Chinese to facilitate expression. An outpouring of distinctively Japanese poetic and literary works followed. At the court women were expected to be as cultured as men; they were involved in palace intrigues and power struggles. Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji, the first novel in any language, vividly depicts courtly life.
The Decline of Imperial Power. The pleasure-loving emperor lost control of policy to aristocratic court families. By the 9th century the Fujiwara dominated the administration and married into the imperial family. Aristocratic families used their wealth and influence to buy large estates. Together with Buddhist monasteries, also estate owners, they whittled down imperial authority. Large numbers of peasants and artisans fell under their control. Cooperation between aristocrats and Buddhists was helped by secret texts and ceremonies of esoteric Buddhism, techniques to gain salvation through prayer and meditation. Both groups failed to reckon with the rising power of local lords.
The Rise of the Provincial Warrior Elite. The provincial aristocracy also had gained estates. Some carved out regional states ruled from small fortresses housing the lord and his retainers. The warrior leaders (bushi) governed and taxed for themselves, not the court. The bushi created their own mounted and armed forces (samurai). Imperial control kept declining; by the 11th and 12th centuries violence was so prevalent that monasteries, the court, and high officials all hired samurai for protection. The disorder resulted in the emergence of a warrior class. The bushi and samurai, supported by peasant dependents, devoted their lives to martial activity. Their combats became man-to-man duels between champions. The warriors developed a code that stressed family honor and death rather than defeat. Disgraced warriors committed ritual suicide (seppuku, or hari-kiri). The rise of the samurai blocked the development of a free peasantry; they became serfs bound to the land and treated as the lord's property. Rigid class barriers separated them from the warrior elite. To counter their degradation the peasantry turned to the Pure Lands salvationist Buddhism. Artisans lived at the court and with some of the bushi; they also, despite their skills, possessed little social status.
THE ERA OF WARRIOR DOMINANCE. By the 11th and 12h centuries provincial families dominated the declining imperial court. The most powerful families, the Taira and Minamoto, fought for dominance during the 1180s in the Gempei wars. The peasantry suffered serious losses. The Minamoto was victorious in 1185 and established a military government (bakufu) centered at Kamakura. The emperor and court were preserved, but all power rested with the Minamoto and their samurai. Japanese feudalism was underway.
ANALYSIS: Comparing Feudalisms. Fully developed feudal systems developed during the postclassical age in Japan and western Europe. They did so when it was not possible to sustain more centralized political forms. Many other societies had similar problems, but they did not develop feudalism. The Japanese and western European feudal systems were set in political values that joined together most of the system’s participants. They included the concept of mutual ties and obligations and embraced elite militaristic values. There were differences between the two approaches to feudalism. Western European stressed contractual ideas while the Japanese relied on group and individual bonds. The shared feudal past may have assisted their successful industrial development and shaped their capacity for running capitalist economies. It may also contribute to their tendencies for imperialist expansion, frequent resort to war, and the rise of right-wing militarist regimes.
The Declining Influence of China. Chinese influence waned along with imperial power. Principles of centralized government and a scholar-gentry bureaucracy had little place in a system where local military leaders predominated. Chinese Buddhism also was transformed into a distinctly Japanese religion. The political uncertainty accompanying the decline of the Tang made the Chinese model even less relevant. By 838 the Japanese court discontinued its embassies to the Tang.
The Breakup of Bakufu Dominance and the Age of the Warlords. The leader of the Minamoto, Yoritomo, because of fears of being overthrown by family members, weakened his regime by assassinating or exiling suspected relatives. His death was followed by a struggle among bushi lords for regional power. The Hojo family soon dominated the Kamaura regime. The Minamoto and the emperor at Kyoto remained as powerless, formal rulers. In the 14th century a Minamoto leader, Ashikaga Takuaji, overthrew the Kamakura regime and established the Ashikaga Shogunate. When the emperor refused to recognize the new regime he was driven from Kyoto; with the support of warlords he and his heirs fought against the Ashikaga and their puppet emperors. The Ashikaga finally won the struggle, but the contest had undermined imperial and shogunate authority. Japan was divided into regional territories governed by competing warlords. From 1467 to 1477) a civil war between Ashikaga factions contributed to the collapse of central authority. Japan became divided into 300 small states ruled by warlords (daimyo).
Toward Barbarism? Military Division and Social Change. The chivalrous qualities of the bushi era deteriorated during the 15th and 16th centuries. Warfare became more scientific, while the presence of large numbers of armed peasants in daimyo armies added to the misery of the common people. Despite the suffering of the warlord period there was economic and cultural growth. Daimyos attempted to administer their domains through regular tax collection and support for public works. Incentives were offered to settle unoccupied areas, and new crops, tools, and techniques contributed to local well-being. Daimyos competed to attract merchants to their castle towns. A new and wealthy commercial class emerged, and guilds were formed by artisans and merchants. A minority of women found opportunities in commerce and handicraft industries, but the women of the warrior class lost status as primogeniture blocked their receiving inheritances. Women became appendages of warrior fathers and husbands. As part of this general trend, women lost ritual roles in religion and were replaced in theaters by males.
Artistic Solace for a Troubled Age. Zen Buddhism had a key role in maintaining the arts among the elite. Zen monasteries were key locations for renewed contacts with China. Notable achievements were made in painting, architecture, gardens, and the tea ceremony.
Seeds of Unity and Japanese Nationhood. The period of the daimyos provided the basis for the lasting unification of Japan. The emerging regional commercial and artisan classes later transferred their wealth and skills to a national system. The legal and administrative reforms made by daimyos supplied the infrastructure for a unified state.
KOREA: BETWEEN CHINA AND JAPAN. Korea, because of its proximity to China, was more profoundly influenced over a longer period than any other state. But, despite its powerful neighbor, Korea developed its own separate cultural and political identity. Koreans descended from hunting and gathering peoples of Siberia and Manchuria. By the 4th century B.C.E. they were acquiring sedentary farming and metal-working techniques from China. In 109 B.C.E. the earliest Korean kingdom, Choson, was conquered by the Han and parts of the peninsula were colonized by Chinese. Korean resistance to the Chinese led to the founding in the north of an independent state by the Koguryo people; it soon battled the southern states of Silla and Paekche. After the fall of the Han an extensive adoption of Chinese culture - Sinification - occurred. Buddhism was a key element in the transfer. Chinese writing was adopted, but the Koguryo ruler failed to form a Chinese-style state.
Tang Alliances and the Conquest of Korea. Continuing political disunity in Korea allowed the Tang, through alliance with Silla, to defeat Paekche and Koguryo. Silla became a vassal state in 668; the Chinese received tribute and left Silla to govern Korea. The Koreans maintained independence until the early 20th century.
Sinification: The Tributary Link. Under the Silla and Koryo (918-1392) dynasties Chinese influences peaked and Korean culture achieved its first full flowering. The Silla copied Tang ways and through frequent missions brought to Korea Chinese learning, art, and manufactured items. The Chinese were content with receiving tribute and allowed Koreans to run their own affairs.
The Sinification of Korean Elite Culture. The Silla constructed their capital, Kumsong, on the model of Tang cities. There were markets, parks, lakes, and a separate district for the imperial family. The aristocracy built residences around the imperial palace. Some of them studied in Chinese schools and sat for Confucian exams introduced by the rulers. Most government positions, however, were determined by birth and family connections. The elite favored Buddhism, in Chinese forms, over Confucianism. Korean cultural creativity went into the decoration of the many Buddhist monasteries and temples. Koreans refined techniques of porcelain manufacture, first learned from the Chinese, to produce masterworks.
Civilization for the Few. Apart from Buddhist sects that appealed to the common people, Chinese influences were monopolized by a tiny elite, the aristocratic families who dominated Korea's political, economic, and social life. Trade with China and Japan was intended to serve their desires. Aristocrats controlled manufacturing and commerce, thus hampering the development of artisan and trader classes. All groups beneath the aristocracy in the social scale served them. They included government officials, commoners (mainly peasants), and the "low born," who worked as virtual slaves in a wide range of occupations.
Koryo Collapse, Dynastic Renewal. The burdens imposed by the aristocracy upon commoners and the "low born" caused periodic revolts. Most were local affairs and easily suppressed, but, along with aristocratic quarrels and foreign invasions, they helped weaken the Silla and Koryo regimes. Over a century of conflict followed the Mongol invasion of 1231 until the Yi dynasty was established in 1392. The Yi restored aristocratic dominance and tributary links to China. The dynasty lasted until 1910.
BETWEEN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA: THE MAKING OF VIETNAM. The Chinese move southward brought them to the fertile, rice-growing region of the Red River valley. But the indigenous Viets did not suffer the same fate as other, to the Chinese, "southern barbarians." Their homeland was far from the main Chinese centers and the Viets had already formed their own distinct culture. They were prepared to receive the benefits of Chinese civilization, but not to lose their identity. The Qin raided into Vietnam in the 220s B.C.E. The contact stimulated an already existing commerce. The Viet rulers during this era conquered the Red River feudal lords. They incorporated the territory into their kingdom, and Viets intermarried with the Mon-Khmer and Tai-speaking inhabitants to form a distinct ethnic group. The Viets were part of Southeast Asian culture. Their spoken language was not related to Chinese. They had strong village autonomy, and favored the nuclear family. Vietnamese women had more freedom and influence than Chinese females. General customs and cultural forms were very different than those of China.
Conquest and Sinification. The expanding Han empire first secured tribute from Vietnam; later, after 111 B.C.E. the Han conquered and governed directly. Chinese administrators presided over the introduction of Chinese culture. Viets attended Chinese schools where they learned Chinese script and studied the Confucian classics. They took exams for administrative posts. The incorporation of Chinese techniques made Vietnamese agriculture the most productive in Southeast Asia and led to higher population density. The use of Chinese political and military organization gave the Viets a decisive advantage over the Indianized peoples to the west and south.
Roots of Resistance. Chinese expectations for absorption of the Viets were frustrated by sporadic aristocratic revolts and the failure of Chinese culture to win the peasantry. Vietnamese women participated in the revolts against the Chinese. The rising led by the Trung sisters in 39 C.E. demonstrates the differing position of Viet and Chinese women. The former were hostile to the male-dominated Confucian codes and family system.
Winning Independence. The continuing revolutions were aided by Vietnam's great distance from China. When political weakness occurred in China the Viet took advantage of the limited Chinese presence. By 939 Vietnam was independent; it remained so until the 19th century.
The Continuing Chinese Impact. A succession of dynasties, beginning with the Le (980-1009), ruled Vietnam through a bureaucracy modeled upon the Chinese system. But the local scholar-gentry never gained the power that class held in China. Local Viet officials identified with village rulers and the peasantry instead of the ruling dynasty. Buddhist monks also had stronger links with common people, especially women, than the Confucian bureaucrats.
The Vietnamese Drive to the South. The Chinese legacy did help the Viets in their struggles with local rivals. Their main adversaries were the Indianized Khmer and Chams peoples of the southern lowlands. A series of successful wars with them from the 11th to the 18th centuries extended Viet territory into the Mekong delta region.
Expansion and Division. The dynasties centered at the northern capital city of Hanoi were unable to control distant frontier areas. Differences in culture developed as the invaders intermarried with the Chams and Khmers. Regional military commanders sought independence. By the end of the 16th century a rival dynasty, the Nguyen, with a capital at Hue, challenged the northern ruling Trinh family. The dynasties fought for control of Vietnam for the next two centuries.
CONCLUSION: Divergent Paths in East Asian Development. During the 1st millennium C.E. Chinese civilization influenced the formation of three distinct satellite civilizations in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Unlike China's nomadic neighbors, each contained areas suitable for sedentary agriculture - wet rice cultivation - and the development of civilization. Common elements of Chinese culture - writing, bureaucratic organization, religion, art - passed to each new civilization. All the imports, except Buddhism, were monopolized by courts and elites. The civilizations differed because of variations in the process of mixing Chinese and indigenous patterns. China's nearness to Korea forced symbolic political submission and long-term cultural dependence. In Vietnam Chinese conquest and control stretched over a thousand years. Although the Viets eventually obtained independence., Chinese culture helped form their civilization and allowed the Viets to counterbalance Indian influences among their Southeast Asian rivals. The Japanese escaped direct Chinese rule; Chinese culture was first cultivated by the elite of the imperial court, but rival provincial, militaristic clans opposed Chinese influences. Japanese political patterns became very different from the centralized system of China. The preoccupation with interaction within the East Asian sphere left the region's inhabitants with limited awareness of larger world currents when compared with other major civilizations.
KEY TERMS
Taika reforms: attempt to remake Japanese monarch into an absolutist Chinese-style emperor; included attempts to create professional bureaucracy and peasant conscript army.
Heian: Japanese city later called Kyoto; built to escape influence of Buddhist monks.
Tale of Genji: written by Lady Murasaki; first novel in any language; evidence for mannered style of Japanese society.
Fujiwara: mid 9th century Japanese aristocratic family; exercised exceptional influence over imperial affairs; aided in decline of imperial power.
bushi: regional warrior leaders in Japan; ruled small kingdoms from fortresses; administered the law, supervised public works projects, and collected revenues; built up private armies.
samurai: mounted troops of the bushi; loyal to local lords, not the emperor.
seppuku: ritual suicide in Japan; also known as hari-kiri; demonstrated courage and was a means to restore family honor.
Gumpei wars: waged for five years from 1180 on Honshu between the Taira and Minamoto families; ended in destruction of Taira.
bakufu: military government established by the Minamoto following Gumpei wars; centered at Kamakura; retained emperor, but real power resided in military government and samurai.
shoguns: military leaders of the bakufu.
Hojo: a warrior family closely allied with the Minamoto; dominated Kamakura regime and manipulated Minamoto rulers; ruled in name of emperor.
Ashikaga Takuaji: member of Minamoto family; overthrew Kamakura regime and established Ashikaga shogunate (1336-1573); drove emperor from Kyoto to Yoshino.
Onin war: struggle between rival heirs of Ashikaga shogunate (1467-1477); led to warfare between rival headquarters and Kyoto and destruction of old capital.
daimyo: warlord rulers of small states following Onin war and disruption of Ashikaga shogunate; holdings consolidated into unified and bounded mini-states.
Choson: earliest Korean kingdom; conquered by Han in 109 B.C.E.
Koguryo: tribal people of northern Korea; established an independent kingdom in the northern half of the peninsula; adopted cultural Sinification.
Sinification: extensive adaptation of Chinese culture in other regions.
Silla: Korean kingdom in southeast; became a vassal of the Tang and paid tribute; ruled Korea from 668.
Yi: Korean dynasty (1392-1910); succeeded Koryo dynasty after Mongol invasions; restored aristocratic dominance and Chinese influence.
Trung sisters: leaders of a rebellion in Vietnam against Chinese rule in 39 C.E.; demonstrates importance of women in Vietnamese society.
Khmers and Chams: Indianized Vietnamese peoples defeated by northern government at Hanoi.
Nguyen: southern Vietnamese dynasty with capital at Hue that challenged northern Trinh dynasty with center at Hanoi.
Chapter 20
The Last Great Nomadic Changes: From Chinggis Khan to Timur
Chapter Summary: The nomads of central Asia during the 13th century returned to center stage in world history. The Mongols ended or interrupted the great postclassical empires while extending the world network of that era. Led by Chinggis Khan and his successors, they brought central Asia, China, Persia, Tibet, Iraq, Asia Minor, and southern Russia under their control. The states formed dominated most of Asia for one and half centuries. The Mongol success was the most formidable nomadic challenge to the global dominance of the sedentary, civilized core civilizations since the 1st century C.E.. The Mongols often are portrayed as barbarian, destructive conquerors, but their victories brought much more than death and destruction. In their vast possessions peoples lived in peace, and enjoyed religious toleration and a unified law code. Peaceful contacts over long distances opened. Mongol territory was a bridge between the civilizations of the Eastern Hemisphere as products and ideas moved among civilized and nomadic peoples.
The Mongol Empire of Chinggis Khan. The Mongols were nomadic herders of goats and sheep who lived off, and traded, the products of their animals. Boys and girls learned to ride as soon as they could walk. The basic unit of social organization, the tribe, was divided into kin-related clans. Great confederations were organized temporarily for defensive and offensive operations. Males held dominant leadership positions; women held considerable influence within the family. Leaders were elected by free males. They gained their positions through courage and diplomatic skills and maintained authority as long as they were successful.
The Making of a Great Warrior: The Early Career of Chinggis Khan. Mongolian peoples had held brief periods of power in central Asia. They established kingdoms in north China in the 4th and 10th centuries C.E. Kabul Khan in the 12th century defeated a Qin army, but Mongol organization declined after his death. His grandson, Chinggis Khan, originally named Temujin, was a member of one of the clans disputing Mongol leadership at the end of the 12th century. After surviving defeat and capture Temujin gained strength among the Mongols through alliances with more powerful groups. After defeating his rivals he was elected supreme ruler (khagan) of all Mongol tribes in 1206 .
Building the Mongol War Machine. Mongol males were trained from youth to ride, hunt, and fight. Their skillfully-used powerful short bows, fired from horseback, were devastating weapons. The speed and mobility of Mongol armies, when joined to the discipline brought by Chinggis Khan, made them the world's best military. The armies, divided into 10,000-strong fighting units (tumens),. included both heavy and light cavalry. A separate messenger force made possible effective communication
between units. Harsh discipline, enforced through a formal code, brought punishments and rewards for conduct. Another unit, employing spies, secured accurate information for campaigns. New weapons, including gunpowder and canon, were used.
Conquest: The Mongol Empire under Chinggis Khan. Chinggis Khan set forth to conquer the known world. In 1207 the Mongols defeated and forced the northwestern China Tangut kingdom of Xi-Xia to become a vassal. They next attacked the Qin empire established by the Jurchens. In these first campaigns the Mongols developed new tactics for capturing fortified urban centers. Cities that resisted were sacked; their inhabitants were killed or made slaves. Submission avoided this fate; tribute was paid for deliverance.
First Assault on the Islamic World: Conquest in China. After the Chinese successes the Mongols moved westward, first defeating the Mongolian-speaking Kara-Khitai state, and then the Khwarazm empire of the Turkic ruler Muhammad Shah II. The victory over Khwarazm brought many Turkic horsemen into Chinggis Khan's army. The Mongol leader spent the rest of his life fighting in China. The Xi-Xia kingdom and the Qin empire were destroyed. At the death of Chinggis Khan in 1227 the Mongols ruled an empire stretching from Persia to the North China Sea.
Life under the Mongol Imperium. The Mongols were both fearsome warriors and astute, tolerant rulers. Chinggis Khan, although illiterate, was open to new ideas and wanted to create a peaceful empire. He established a new capital in the steppes at Karakorum and drew there talented individuals from all conquered regions. Chinggis followed shamanistic Mongol beliefs, but tolerated all religions. He used the knowledge of Muslim and Chinese bureaucrats to build an administrative structure for the empire. A script was devised for the Mongolian language, and a legal code enforced by special police helped to end old quarrels. The Mongol conquests brought peace to much of Asia. In urban centers artisans and scholars freely worked. Commerce flourished along secure trade routes.
The Death of Chinggis Khan and the Division of the Empire. When Chinggis died in 1227 the vast territories of the Mongols were divided among three sons and a grandson. His 3d son, Ogedei, a talented diplomat, was chosen as grand khan. He presided over further Mongol conquests for nearly a decade.
The Mongol Drive to the West. The armies of the Golden Horde, named after the tent of the khans, were ready to move westward. By the 13th century Kiev was in decline and Russia was divided into many petty kingdoms. They were unable to unit before the Mongols (called Tartars by Russians). Batu, Chinggis Khan's grandson, invaded in 1236 and defeated Russian armies one by one. Resisting cities were razed. In 1240 Kiev was taken and ravaged. Novgorod was spared when its ruler submitted peacefully.
Russia in Bondage. The Russians became vassals of the khan of the Golden Horde, a domination lasting for two and one-half centuries. Russian princes paid tribute. Peasants had to meet demands from both their own princes and the Mongols. Many sought protection by becoming serfs. The decision inaugurated a major change in rural social structure: serfdom endured until the mid 19th century. Some cities, especially Moscow, benefited from the increased commercial possibilities brought by Mongol rule. It grew at the expense of nearby towns and profited as tribute collector for the khans. The metropolitan of Moscow was made the head of the Russian Orthodox church. When the power of the Golden Horde declined, Moscow led Russian resistance to the Mongols. The Golden Horde was defeated at Kulikova in 1380. Later attacks by Timur finished breaking the Mongol hold on Russia. They remained active in the region through most of the 15th century, but from the end of the 14th century Moscow was the center of political power in Russia. The Mongol occupation was very important for Russian history. Their example influenced military and political organization. Most significantly, the Mongols isolated Russia from developments in western European civilization.
Mongol Incursions and the Retreat from Europe. Christian western Europe initially had been pleased by Mongol successes against Islam. The attitude changed when the Mongols moved westward; they invaded Hungary in 1240 and raided widely in central and southeastern Europe. Europe escaped more serious invasion when the death of Ogedei, plus the resulting succession struggle, forced Batu to withdraw. Satisfied with their rich conquests in Asia and the Middle East, the Mongols did not return to Europe.
The Mongol Assault on the Islamic Heartlands. Hulegu, a grandson of Chinggis Khan and ruler of the Ilkhan division of the Mongol empire, moved westward against Mesopotamia and North Africa. Baghdad was seized and destroyed in 1258. Islam, with the fall of the Abbasid dynasty, had lost its central authority; many focal points of its civilization were devastated. A major Mongol victory over the Seljuk Turks in 1243 opened Asia Minor to conquest by the Ottoman Turks. The Mongol advance halted in
1260 when the Mamluks of Egypt, led by Baibars, won victory at Ain Jalut. Hulegu, faced with other threats to his rule, including the conversion of the khan of the Golden Horde to Islam, did not resume the campaign.
The Mongol Impact on Europe and the Islamic World. The Mongols brought the Muslim world new military knowledge, especially the worth of gunpowder. Trade and cultural contact between different civilizations throughout Eurasia became much easier. The trading empires established in their dominions by Venetians and Genoese provided experience useful for later European expansion. An unintended consequence was the possible transmitting of the fleas carrying the bubonic plague - the Black Death - from China and central Asia to the Middle East and Europe.
The Mongol Interlude in Chinese History. The Mongol advance into China resumed after Ogedei's election. Kubilai Khan, another grandson of Chinggis Khan, during the mid-13th century led the Mongols against the Song. In 1271 Kubilai's dynasty became the Yuan. As his conquests continued, Kubilai attempted to preserve the distinction between Mongols and Chinese. Chinese were forbidden from learning the Mongol script and intermarriage was prohibited. Mongol religious ceremonies and customs were retained. Kubilai refused to reestablish exams for the civil service. Despite the measures protecting Mongol culture, Kubilai was fascinated by Chinese civilization. He adopted much from their culture into his court; the capital at Tatu (Beijing) was in Chinese style. A new social structure emerged in China. The Mongols were at the top; their nomadic and Islamic allies were directly below them. Both groups dominated the highest levels of the administration. Beneath them came first the north Chinese, and then ethnic Chinese and peoples of the south.
Gender Roles and the Convergence of Mongol and Chinese Cultures. Mongol women remained aloof from Confucian Chinese culture. They refused to adopt foot binding, and retained rights to property and control in the household, and freedom of movement. Some Mongol women hunted and went to war. Chabi, wife of Kubilai, was an especially influential woman. The Mongol interlude in China was too brief, and Mongol numbers too small, to change Confucian patterns. The freedom of women declined under Kubilai’s successors.
Mongol Tolerance and Foreign Cultural Influences. The openness of Mongol rulers to outside ideas, and their patronage, drew scholars, artists, artisans, and office-seekers from many regions. Muslim lands provided some of the most favored arrivals; they were included in the social order just below the Mongols. They brought much new knowledge into the Chinese world. Kubilai was interested in all religions; Buddhists, Nestorian and Latin Christians, Daoists, and Muslims were all present at court. He welcomed foreign visitors. The most famous was the Venetian Marco Polo.
Social Policies and Scholar-Gentry Resistance. The ethnic Chinese, the vast majority of Kubilai's subjects, were never reconciled to Mongol rule. The scholar-gentry regarded Mongols as uncouth barbarians with policies endangering Chinese traditions. The refusal to reinstate the examination system was especially resented. The Mongols also bolstered the position of artisans and merchants who previously not had received high status. Both prospered as the Mongols improved transportation and expanded the supply of paper money. The Mongols developed a substantial navy that helped conquest and increased commerce. Urban life flourished. Mongol patronage stimulated popular entertainments, especially musical drama, and awarded higher status to formerly despised actors and actresses. Kubilai’s policies initially favored the peasantry. Their land was protected from Mongol cavalrymen turning it into pasture, and famine relief measures were introduced. Tax and labor burdens were reduced. A revolutionary change was formulated - but not enacted - for establishing elementary education at the village level.
The Fall of the House of Yuan. By the time of Kubilai's death, the Yuan dynasty was weakening. Song loyalists in the south revolted. Mongol expeditions of 1274 and 1280 against Japan failed. Other Mongol forces were defeated in Vietnam and Java. Kubilai’s successors lacked talent and the Yuan administration became corrupt. The suffering peasantry were called upon by the scholar-gentry to drive out the "barbarians." By the 1350s the dynasty was too weak to control all of China. Famines stimulated local risings. Secret societies dedicated to the overthrow of the dynasty formed. Rival rebels fought each other. Many Mongols returned to central Asia. Finally, a peasant leader, Ju Yuanzhang, triumphed and founded the Ming dynasty.
In Depth: The Eclipse of the Nomadic War Machine. The incursions of small numbers of militarily-skilled nomads into the civilized cores have had a major impact on world history. The nomads destroyed entire civilizations, stimulated great population movements, caused social upheavals, and facilitated cultural and economic exchanges. The Mongol and Timurid invasions were the high-point of nomadic success. During the 14th century the impact of the Black Death upon nomads gave sedentary peoples numerical superiority. Sedentary civilizations became better able to centralize political power and to mobilize resources for developing superior military organization. With the Industrial revolution sedentary dominance became permanent.
Conclusion: The Mongol Legacy and an Aftershock: The Brief Ride of Timur. The Mongol impact on conquered peoples varied considerably. Sedentary farms and city inhabitants often felt the destructive side of their legacy. But the Mongols decisively influenced human history in many ways. They provided the opening for the rise of Moscow as the central force in the creation of the Russian state. In the Islamic world they ended Abbasid and Seljuk power and prepared the way for the Mamluks and Ottomans. The Mongol empire promoted trade and cultural exchanges among civilizations and brought stable government and religious toleration to much of Asia. It also facilitated the spread of the Black death. When the peoples of Eurasia began to recover from the effects of Mongol expansion, a new leader, the Turk Timur-i Lang, brought new expansion. Timur, a highly cultured individual from a noble, landowning clan, in the 1360s moved from his base at Samarkand to conquests in Persia, the Fertile Crescent, India, and southern Russia. Timur is remembered for the barbaric destruction of conquered lands. His rule did not increase commercial expansion, cross-cultural exchanges, or internal peace. After his 1405 death Timur's empire fell apart. The last great challenge of the steppe nomads to Eurasian civilizations had ended.
KEY TERMS
Chinggis Khan: grandson of Kabul Khan; born in 1170s; elected supreme Mongol ruler (khagan) in 1206; began the Mongols rise to world power; died 1227.
tumens: basic fighting units of Mongol forces; made up of 10,000 cavalrymen divided into smaller units.
Tangut: rulers of Xi-Xia kingdom of northwest China; during the southern Song period; conquered by Mongols in 1226.
Muhammad Shah II: Turkic ruler of Muslim Khwarazm; conquered by Mongols in 1220.
Karakorum: capital of Mongol empire under Chinggis Khan.
shamanistic religion: Mongol beliefs focused on nature spirits.
Batu: grandson of Chinggis Khan and ruler of Golden Horde; invaded Russia in 1236
Ogadei: 3rd son of Chinggis Khan; succeeded him as Mongol khagan.
Golden Horde: one of four regional subdivisions of the Mongol empire after the death Chinggis Khan; conquered and ruled Russia during the 13th and 14th centuries..
Metropolitan: head of Russian Orthodox church; located at Moscow; gained power during the Mongol era.
Prester John: a mythical Christian monarch whose kingdom supposedly had been cut off from Europe by the Muslim conquests; some thought he was Chinggis Khan.
Ilkhan khanate: one of four regional subdivisions of the Mongol empire after the death of Chinggis Khan; eventually included much of Abbasid empire.
Hulegu: grandson of Chinggis Khan and ruler of Ilkhan khanate; captured and destroyed Abbasid Baghdad.
Mamluks: Muslim slave warriors; established dynasty in Egypt; led by Baibars defeated Mongols at Ain Jalut in 1260.
Kublai Khan: grandson of Chinggis Khan; conquered China; established Yuan dynasty in 1271.
Tatu: Mongol capital of Yuan dynasty; present-day Beijing.
Chabi: influential wife of Kubilai Khan; demonstrated refusal of Mongol women to adopt restrictive social conventions of Confucian China.
Nestorians: Asian Christian sect; cut off from Europe by Muslim invasions.
Romance of the West Chamber: famous Chinese dramatic work written during the Yuan period.
White Lotus Society: secret religious society dedicated to overthrow of Yuan dynasty;.
Ju Yuanzhang: Chinese peasant who led successful revolt against Yuan; founded Ming dynasty.
Timur-i Lang: last major nomad leader; 14th century Turkic ruler of Samarkand; launched attacks in Persia, Fertile Crescent, India, southern Russia; empire disintegrated after his death in 1405.
CHAPTER 14
The West and the Changing World Balance
Chapter Summary. By 1400 there was a shifting balance between world civilizations. The international role of the Islamic world, with the fall of the Abbasids and other Mongol disruptions, was in decline. The Ming dynasty of China attempted for a time to expand into the vacuum. The most dynamic contender was western Europe. The West was not a major power, but important changes were occurring within its civilization. Italy, Spain, and Portugal took new leadership roles. The civilizations outside the international network, the Americas and Polynesia, also experienced important changes.
The Decline of the Old Order. In the Middle East and North Africa the once powerful civilizations of Byzantium and the Abbasids had crumbled. The Byzantine Empire was pressed by Ottoman Turks; Constantinople fell in 1453. The Abbasids had been destroyed by the Mongols in 1258.
Social and Cultural Decline in the Middle East. By around 1300 Islamic religious leaders had won paramountcy over poets, philosophers, and scientists. A rationalist philosopher like Ibn-Rushd (Averröes) in Spain was more influential in Europe than among Muslims. Islamic scholarship focused upon religion and legal traditions, although Sufis continued to emphasize mystical contacts with god. Changes occurred in economic and social life as landlords seized power over the peasantry. From 1100 they became serfs on large estates. As a result agricultural productivity fell. Tax revenues decreased and Middle Eastern merchants lost ground to European competitors. The Islamic decline was gradual and incomplete. Muslim merchants remained active in the Indian Ocean, and the Ottoman Turks were beginning to build one of the world's most powerful empires.
A Power Vacuum in International Leadership. The rise of the Ottomans did not restore Islam's international vigor. The Turkish rulers focused on conquest and administration and awarded less attention to commerce. The result was a power vacuum beyond Ottoman borders. The Mongol dominions in Asia provided a temporary international alternative, but their decline opened opportunities for China and Western Europe.
Chinese Thrust and Withdrawal. The Ming dynasty (1368-1644) replaced the Yuan and pushed to regain former Chinese borders. It established influence in Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet. In a new policy, the Ming mounted state-sponsored trading expeditions to India, the Middle East, and eastern Africa. The fleets, led by Chinese Muslim admiral Cheng Ho and others, were technological world leaders. Ming rulers halted the expeditions in 1433 because of their high costs and opposition from Confucian bureaucrats. Chinese merchants remained active in southeast Asian waters, establishing permanent settlements in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, but China had lost a chance to become a dominant world trading power. The Chinese, from their viewpoint, had ended an unusual experiment, returning to their accustomed inward-looking policies. Since internal economic development flourished, there was little need for foreign products. The withdrawal opened opportunities for European expansion.
The Rise of the West. The small states of the West were still a backward region during the 14th and 15th centuries. The staples of medieval culture, including the Catholic church, were under attack. Philosophy had passed its creative phase. Warrior aristocrats lost their militaristic focus and indulged in courtly rituals. The economic activities of ordinary Europeans were in disarray. Growing population outstripped food supplies, and famines were a recurrent threat after 1300. The arrival of the deadly Black Death (bubonic plague) during the 14th century cost Europe one-third of its population.
Sources of Dynamism: Medieval Vitality. The West, despite the reverses, remained a dynamic society. Strengthened feudal monarchs provided effective government. The Hundred Years’ War stimulated military innovation. In Spain and Portugal regional rulers drove back Muslim occupiers. Urban economic growth continued to spur commerce, and the church accepted key capitalistic principles. Technology, especially in ironworking and timekeeping, continued to progress.
Imitation and International Problems. New opportunities for imitation occurred when the rise of the large and stable Mongol empire provided access to Asian knowledge and technology. Western elites sought Asian luxury products, paying for them by exporting raw materials. The ensuing unfavorable trade balance had to be made up in gold. By 1400 gold shortage threatened the economy with collapse. The rise of the Ottoman empire and other Muslim successes further threatened Europe’s balance of trade with Asia. The reaction included the expansion in the Adriatic of the city-state of Venice and the beginning of explorations to bypass Muslim-dominated routes to Asia.
Secular Directions in the Italian Renaissance. A final ingredient of the West's surge was internal change. The Renaissance, a cultural and political movement grounded in urban vitality and expanding commerce, began in Italy during the 14th century. The earlier phases involved literary and artistic themes more friendly to the secular world than the previous religiously oriented outlook. Artists and writers became more concerned with personal reputation and glory. In commerce merchants sought out new markets. City- state governments, eager for increased revenue, supported their expansion.
Human Values and Renaissance Culture. The Renaissance above all was a cultural movement. It began in Florence and focused on literature and the arts. The movement stressed stylistic grace and a concern for a code of behavior for urban gentlemen. There was innovation in music and the visual arts. Painters realistically portrayed nature and individuals in religious and secular themes and introduced perspective. The early Renaissance did not represent a full break from medieval tendencies. It had little impact outside of Italy, and in Italy it focused on high culture and was little concerned with science. Still, the Renaissance marked the beginning of important changes in Western development. The developing scope of Italian commerce and shipping, ambitious, revenue-seeking city-states, and seamen seeking the renaissance goal for personal glory, set the stage for future expansion.
The Iberian Spirit of Religious Mission. The Iberian peninsula also was a key center for change. Spanish and Portuguese Christian military leaders had for centuries been pushing back the borders of Islam. Castile and Aragon established regional monarchies after 1400; they united through royal marriage in 1469.. Iberian rulers developed a religious and military agenda; they believed they had a mission to convert or expel Muslims and Jews and to maintain doctrinal purity. Close links formed between church and state. The changes stimulated the West’s surge into wider world contacts.
Western Expansion: The Experimental Phase. European efforts to explore the Atlantic began in the late 13th century. After early discoveries a rapid move was made to a colonial system.
Early Explorations. The Genoan Vivaldi brothers in 1291 had vanished after passing the Straits of Gibraltar in search of a route to the "Indies." Other Genoan explorers reached the Canary Islands, the Madeiras, and perhaps the Azores during the 14th century. Vessels from Spain sailed southward along the West African coast as far as Sierra Leone. Technological barriers hindered further exploration until 1430. Europeans solved problems through building better ships and learning from the Arabs the use of the Chinese compass and astrolabe. European mapmaking also steadily improved.
Colonial Patterns. The Portuguese and Spanish began to exploit the discovered island territories of the Azores, Madeiras, and Canaries. Prince Henry of Portugal, motivated by a combination of intellectual curiosity, religious fervor, and financial interest, reflected many of the key factors then stimulating European expansion. Land grants were given to colonists who brought along western plants, animals, and diseases. They began a laboratory for later European imperialism. Large estates produced cash crops - sugar, cotton, tobacco - for Western markets. Slaves were introduced for crop cultivation. The developments were modest, but their patterns established precedents for the future.
In Depth: The Problem of Ethnocentrism. The presence of ethnocentric outlooks in most cultures creates problems of interpretation in world history. The practices of foreign peoples often are regarded as inferior. Although many civilizations looked down on others, the present power of Western standards males ethnocentrism a real issue. It is necessary to remain open-minded when thinking about other cultures, and to consider how their patterns are the result of their particular historical development.
Outside the World Network. The international framework developing during the postclassical period left out many regions and peoples. The Americas and Polynesia were not part of the new international exchange. Some of their societies experienced new problems that placed them at a disadvantage when experiencing outsider intervention.
Political Issues in the Americas. Both the Aztec and Inca empires experienced difficulties after 1400. Aztec exploitation of their subject peoples roused resentment and created opportunities for outside intervention. The Inca system created tensions between central and local leadership, stresses exacerbated by imperial overextension. The complications stemming from European invasion changed all of the developing dynamics of the peoples of the Americas.
Expansion, Migration, and Conquest in Polynesia. Polynesian culture between the 7th century and 1400 experienced spurts of migration and conquest that spread peoples far beyond the initial base in the Society Islands. One migration channel brought Polynesians to the Hawaiian islands. After 1400 Hawaiian society was cut off from Polynesia. In Hawaii the newcomers, living from agriculture and fishing, spread widely across the islands; pigs were introduced from the Society Islands. Warlike regional kingdoms were formed. In them a complex society emerged where priests and nobles enjoyed special privileges over commoners. Rich oral traditions preserved their cultural values.
Isolated Achievements by the Maoris. A second channel of migration brought settlers to New Zealand perhaps as early as the 8th century. The Polynesians adapted to the different environment, producing an expanding population and developing the most elaborate Polynesian art. Tribal military leaders and priests dominated a society that possessed many slaves gained in warfare. The Polynesians did not work metals, but they created a vigorous economy based upon agriculture and domestic animals. They produced a rich oral tradition. As in Hawaii, all the accomplishments were achieved in isolation from the rest of the world.
Conclusion: Adding Up the Changes. The era around 1400 clearly was a time of transition in world history. It was the most significant alteration since the fall of the classical empires. The West was rising in significance as part of a series of complex happenings all over the world. There were shifts in international trade leadership,, in power relationships, and civilization dynamism. The changes even affected societies where existing patterns endured. Although sub-Saharan Africa continued along independent paths of evolution long after 1400, the altering world patterns were drawing Africans into a new relationship with Europe..
KEY TERMS
Ottoman Empire: Turkic empire established in Asia Minor and eventually extending through the Middle East and the Balkans; conquered Constantinople in 1453 and ended Byzantine Empire.
Ibn-Rushd (Averroës): Iberian Muslim philosopher; studied Greek rationalism; ignored among Muslims but influential in Europe.
Ming Dynasty: replaced Mongol Yuan dynasty in China in 1368; lasted until 1644; initially mounted large trade expeditions to southern Asia and Africa; later concentrated on internal development within China.
Cheng Ho: Muslim Chinese seaman; commanded expeditions throughout the India Ocean.
Black Death: 14th century bubonic plague epidemic; decimated populations in Asia and Europe.
Renaissance: cultural and political elite movement beginning in Italy ca. 1400; rested on urban vitality and expanding commerce; produced literature and art with distinctly more secular priorities than those of the European Middle Ages.
Portugal, Castile and Aragon: regional Iberian kingdoms; participated in reconquest of peninsula from Muslims; developed a vigorous military and religious agenda.
Francesco Petrarch: Italian author and humanist; a major literary figure of the Renaissance.
Vivaldi brothers: Genoan explorers who attempted to find a western route to the "Indies"; precursors of European thrust into southern Atlantic.
Henry the Navigator: Portuguese prince; sponsored Atlantic voyages; reflected the forces present in late postclassical Europe.
ethnocentrism: judging foreigners by the standards of one’s own group; leads to problems in interpreting world history.
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