Posts

REVISED Chapter 5: Society and Inequality in Eurasia/North Africa

Chinese Society: Only men can move into positions of political power. The wealthy elite made up most of those who went on to hold great positions of power. Wu Di established an academy in 124 B.C.E where young men of promise could be trained in history, literature, art, and mathematics with an emphasis on confucian teachings before they were sent to the capital for examinations. The examination system provided a bit of limited mobility that the was not otherwise offered by the hierarchal structure of Chinese society. Men from common families could attend school if they were sponsored, perhaps by landowners, to bring honor to their village and enter the circle of elite officials. The examination system was a key factor unique to chinese society. Those who entered bureaucracy traveled in carriages, wore robes and headdresses, and given seals appropriate to their rank as doing so was considered of the greatest honor. In China, wealth meant land. in 210 B.C.E. most small-scale peasants and...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chapter 12:The Worlds of the 15th Century

Many don't view Columbus as a hero due to the invasions, slavery, and murders his voyages brought about Arguably the single most important event of the 15th century, columbus's voyages were not the only significant event 15th century was about globalization Bands of hunter-gatherers, villages of agricultural peoples,  newly emerging chiefdoms or small states, pastoral communities, and established civilizations and empires were all societies existing in the 15th century substantial areas of the world still hosted hunter-gatherers or paleolithic peoples though they had changed over time Australia had 250 separate groups still hunting and gathering at this time a pattern which continued well after europeans arrived in the  late 18th century Australians practiced firestick farming which cleared brush and made hunting easier North America had a very different type of gathering and hunting society with affluent gathering and hunting communities Northwest coast peoples had per...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chapter 8: China and the World

3rd World China was very powerful, had a gravitational pull on neighboring civilizations Northern Nomads were considered barbarians International trade stimulated social, cultural, and economic change in China Buddhism took root in China as did Christianity and Islam to a much smaller extent The collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220 CE resulted in more than 3 centuries of political chaos and in that time aristocratic power grew Northern Nomads married into aristocratic families and gained political power This time period largely discredited Confucianism which resulted in wider acceptance of Buddhism and Daoism among the elite Widespread Chinese migration south to Yangzi River valley which gave southern China about 60% of China's population by 1000 Widespread environmental destruction, old trees and elephants devastated China regained unity under Sui Dynasty (589-618) Emperor made vast extensions of canal system that linked North and South China economically and contributed t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chapter 6: Commonalities and Variations

Human evolution developed at more or less the same rate across the globe with key differences in each region. These regions are the Americas, Eurasia, Africa, Australia and Pacific Oceania respectively, the supercontinents being Eurasia, Africa and the Americas. In the Americas there were no animals available to draw plows with the exception of llamas in the Andes. America also did not have the luxury of interacting with with other civilizations like Africa and Eurasia did. The cultures were able to intermingle and borrow from each other in the two eastern supercontinents while the Americas were isolated from all other ways of life.  In africa, there were many small cultures that occasionally shared similarities with other small cultures in the area. There was no central political power that united the continent as "Africans". Many civilizations grew up near river basins and had a mix of agriculture and hunter gathering tendencies. Meroe was a huge power in Nubian civilizatio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chapter 4: Culture and Religion

Once there were scholars there was a need for guidance and for belief on how to act and what life was all about. Confucianism was a religion developed around a strict patriarchy and was about those who were "superior" being dignified and genuine and those inferior being obedient in response to the niceness of those above them. Daoism was created in opposition of confucianism, being largely centered around the natural world and the gods who are in it. In Daoism there were no formal worship places or rituals as in confucianism. Hinduism was developed in India and was written in language imaccesible to most of the people. It was centered around good values that would result in good karma or higher caste placement in reincarnation. Women were still subordinate to men, educating themselves to serve their husbands. Buddhism was in response to this elite religion, with no formal wordhip place nor rituals. It's founder, Buddha, or Siddhartha believed that enough devotion to Buddh...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chapter 3 Documents: Herodotus "The Histories"

This document is very informational on the lives of Persians and Egyptians and how those differ from the greeks. The religious practice of sacrafice is very different in Persia, requiring no alters or images of gods. Persians celebrate their birthdays with many dishes of foods because they consider themselves superior to all other peoples and mark a person's excellence by how close they are to Persia. They adopt many foreign customs-anything they see as lavish or of higher standard they immedietly begin practicing at home. They allow sex with adolescent boys which is not okay but apparently that's just what people did back then. Manliness is determined by courageous acts in battle and how many sons they can produce. Men do not see their sons until 5 when they begin their education so as not to be saddened if they die early. They also dont kill people for single wrong doings, free or slave.  The Egyptians had many great infrastructures and architectural accomplishments that oth...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chapter 3: State and Empire in Eurasia/North America

During this second wave of civilizations nothing significant developed in terms of the human way of life like the agricultural revolution or Industrial revolution. The Persian and Greek empires were the first of the second wave, frequently clashing and fighting one another. Both had their own types of empires, Persia entirely centralized and Greece uniting it's States for battles. After these empires came Roman and Chinese Empires that expanded to incredible lengths over Eurasia. The Chinese Empire outlasted all of the forementioned by centuries, lasting well into the 20th century. In contradt to all of these powerful empires, India was united not by political organization but more as a Hindu community as well as their caste system.
Post a Comment
Read more