Chapter 3 - Connections and Interactions 1200-1450 Flashcards
What was the most important factor in fostering relationships among distant peoples?
Commerce or the urge to trade
How did long-distance trade shaped the daily life of people?
- altered habits of consumption as goods from afar became available
- elite distinguished themselves by using luxury items, such as silk or jade
- working people specialized in producing products for sales in distant markets
- merchants became a distinct social group
- significant income for states/kingdoms from controlling and taxing the trade
- spread of religions, technology innovations, knowledge, but also plants and animals AND illnesses along the trade roads
What animals were often used by caravans on Silk Road?
Camels
What was caravanserai?
Inns/guesthouses stops located all along trade routes from easter Mediterranean to China, where merchants’ caravans stopped on their way to rest, exchange goods with local people and other traders.
Such places became centers of cultural exchange as merchants from many religious and cultural traditions met and mingled. Some of those caravanserai developed into major Central Asian commercial cities.
Why the long-distance merchants focused on luxury goods (like silk) destined for an elite and wealthy?
Only commodities of great value could compensate for the high cost of transportation across long (and dangerous) distance.
Brief history of silk (read only)
The history of silk dates back to ancient China, around 2700 BCE. According to legend, Empress Leizu discovered how to unravel silk threads from the cocoon of the silkworm while sipping tea beneath a mulberry tree. The Chinese closely guarded the secret of silk production for centuries, making it a highly valued commodity.
By the 6th century CE, Byzantine monks smuggled silkworms out of China, spreading production to the West. Over time, countries like Japan and India developed their own silk industries, and silk became a symbol of luxury and wealth across the world.
In Central Asia, silk was used as currency. In China and Byzantine Empire, silk became a symbol of high status. Law restricted silk clothing to members of elite. Silk was also used for religious purposes. In Buddhism, silk robes and banners adorned temples, while Hindu priests and deities were dressed in silk for ceremonies. In Christianity, silk vestments were worn by clergy, and in Islam, silk covers adorned the Kaaba in Mecca. Even in Judaism, silk was used for Torah covers and prayer shawls, reflecting the fabric’s connection to the sacred across different faiths.
Brief history of beginning of banking (Read only)
The origins of banking are closely tied to early trade along routes like the Silk Roads. Around the 4th century BCE, Mesopotamian temples and merchants in cities like Babylon began offering loans and accepting deposits, laying the groundwork for formal banking systems. As trade expanded across the Silk Roads, the need for secure methods of storing and transferring wealth became crucial.
By the time of the Song Dynasties in China, merchants utilized letters of credits, “flying cash”, which allowed them to transfer large sums of money without carrying bulky coinage across dangerous trade routes.
Similar banking systems emerged in Central Asia and the Islamic world, where merchants could deposit money in one location and withdraw it in another, facilitating the vast trade of goods like silk, spices, and precious metals across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. These innovations laid the foundation for modern banking practices, including credit, loans, and long-distance money transfer.
Why banks and banking developed?
As trade expanded across trade roads, the need for secure methods of storing and transferring wealth became crucial.
Why silk road trade prospered only during certain times?
The silk road network prospered most when large and powerful states provided relative security for merchants.
Which empires provided relative security on Silk Road during 200 BCE to 200 CE?
Roman and Chinese
Which empires provided relative security on Silk Road during 7th and 8th centuries?
Byzantine Empire, Muslim Empire of the Abbasid and Tang Dynasty (China)
Which empires provided relative security on Silk Road during 13th and 14th centuries?
Mongol Empire
Did trade roads play a major role in spreading and exchanging culture and religion?
Yes
From where to where Buddhism spread along the Silk Road?
From India to Central Asia, China and beyond
Why people along Silk Road often converted to Buddhism? Note - it was done voluntarily.
They were drawn to rich spiritual tradition and they wanted a link to the larger, wealthy and prestigious civilization of India
How Buddhism changed in Buddhist monasteries in the rich oasis towns of the Silk Roads? (Read)
The original faith had shunned the material world, However, some monasteries in the rich oasis became prosperous, receiving gifts from merchants, local rulers and artisans. Murals in the monasteries give glimpse into their “fun” life and include musicians, acrobats, drinking parties, etc.
Buddhism also picked up elements of other cultures (such bodhisattvas, fully enlightened beings who assisted a suffering humanity)
By the 9th century, Buddhism had been deeply integrated into Chinese culture, society, and politics. It was popular among the elite and the common people alike, with large monastic institutions, temples, and religious practices influencing daily life.
What were the dominant schools of Buddhism in 9th-century China?
The dominant schools were Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Pure Land
What was the focus of Pure Land Buddhism in 9th-century China?
Pure Land Buddhism focused on devotion to the Buddha and promised salvation in the heavenly realm, the Pure Land.
What major event challenged Buddhism in 9th-century China?
The Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution between 841-845 CE, under Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty, where thousands of temples were closed, monastic wealth confiscated, and monks and nuns forced to return to normal life. Buddhists were now forbidden to use gold, silver, copper, iron and gems.
The persecution severely weakened Buddhist institutions, though Buddhism survived and many monasteries were restored later.
What is Chan (Zen) Buddhism?
Chan Buddhism emphasized meditation and personal enlightenment, rejecting reliance on scriptures or rituals Its simplicity and focus on self-realization made it popular. Chan Buddhism continued to grow in influence and remained a major spiritual force in Song Dynasty China and later in Japan.
What is Neo-Confucianism?
Neo-Confucianism emphasis moral virtues, and the importance of social harmony and proper relationships.
Neo-Confucianism movement emerged during the Song Dynasty in China as a response to the growing influence of Buddhism and Daoism. It sought to reassert Confucian principles while incorporating metaphysical and cosmological elements from other traditions, like Daoism and Buddhism.
Note: By 17th century Neo-Confucianism had become the official ideology of the Japanese Tokugawa regime.
What does “every black-haired son of Han wears a Confucian thinking cap, a Daoist robe and Buddhist sandals” saying means?
The saying reflects the blending of three major philosophical and religious traditions in Chinese culture: Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Temples frequently included Confucius, Laozi and the Buddha statues.
China influence on Japan, Korea and Vietnam - Political Systems (Read)
China’s influence on political systems was profound, especially through Confucianism, which played a central role in governance and society in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
In Korea, Confucian principles were adopted into the civil service examination system, bureaucratic structure, and family values. Korea deeply absorbed Confucian ideals, shaping its political and social order. Korean new capital city was modeled directly by Chinese capital. Thousands of Korean students were sent to China, where they studied Confucianism, science and arts.
In Vietnam, Confucianism influenced governance, education, and legal reforms, following the Chinese model.
Japan, adopted aspects of Confucian political thought, especially as the warrior elite (samurai) valued hierarchy and duty. However, Confucianism was less dominant than in Korea and Vietnam due to Japan’s unique sociopolitical systems.
China influence on Japan, Korea and Vietnam - Art (Read)
Chinese art styles, such as landscape painting, influenced Korean and Japanese artists.
Korean celadon pottery, for instance, developed distinct characteristics, but its techniques and aesthetics were heavily inspired by Chinese ceramics.
In Japan, Chinese calligraphy and painting techniques were adapted and blended with local traditions. Zen art, particularly ink wash paintings, showed the influence of Chinese Song Dynasty aesthetics.
Vietnamese ceramics were also influenced by Chinese styles, but over time, local materials and techniques gave Vietnamese pottery its own character, blending Chinese forms with indigenous designs.
