Eurocentrism, ripples in the pond.

Eurocentrism,  was it the dominant cultural phenomenon of the Modern Era, or the over hyped history written by the victors of the industrial revolution?  Nothing in life happens in a bubble, everything effects everything else, there is always a ripple effect, an echo, a convergence of ideas.  It seems like everybody borrows from everybody else when it comes to culture, language, ideas, philosophies, and inventions.  We all like to take credit for our original ideas, but by the time of the modern era the world had shrunk significantly and most cultures had experienced the exchange of information and goods with at least one other culture, and in most cases more. Many times we take ideas, inventions, philosophies, or religions from other cultures and make them our own, with our own cultural flavor and spice.  This offshoot can seem like an original idea to the uninformed because it is news to them, and to those that might be more worldly and maybe previously exposed to a foreign idea, it might none the less feel brand new with some home cooking in the way of cultural shaping and transformation.  I think that this can be a beautiful synergy of the best practices and ideas, but like in writing, we have to give credit to the original source and show respect for those that came before us, and inspired and enlightened us.

Lets study for Quiz #2, questions 4,5.

4) In what sense did the Persian Empire bridge the Ancient and Classical worlds?

The Persian Empire formed around 560 BC at the very beginnings of the start of the Classical Era and the end of the Ancient Era. They built an empire that drew on an imperial system from the ancient civilizations of the Babylonian, and Assyrian Empires before them, but then far exceeded them in scope and wealth.

5)  Who were the seminal thinkers of the Classical period?  Write some details about one of them.

Some of the seminal thinkers of this period were: Confucius, Siddhartha, Socrates/Plato/Aristotle, and Jesus.
 Confucius was from China and lived during the sixth century.  He developed a philosophy that later became known as Confucianism.  This philosophy espoused social harmony through moral example, a secular outlook, the importance of education, and the family as the model of the state.  Confucius advocated unquestioning obedience and respect for ones parents and other senior family members.  Confucius sought to bring order from Chaos, in governing China. Using this model of deference and obedience of ones morally superiors, be it Father, older brother, husband, or political ruler/elite, he believed harmony would be the result. This philosophy of Confucianism has had a great impact on the culture and governing of China over hundreds of years and has survived in some forms into the modern era.

Let's study for Quiz # 2 Questions 1,2,3.

1) The Mongols got a bad rap.  In fact, they were a significant civilization that made long-term contributions to the evolution of the Eurasian world.  Discuss:

The Mongols were famous for their fighting prowess, superior hosrsemanship, and nomadic ways that made them a feared and respected culture.  In addition to this they were able to developed a stable civilization for 300 years that made contributions to the evolution of the Eurasian world.  The Mongols established a cosmopolitan capital city (Karakorum) and because of their religious tolerance built places of worship for the various religions. The Mongols had a central government which exchanged ambassadors with Persia and China, and they participated in trans-continental trade. They introduced a system of standardized weights and measures that impacted the trade of Eurasia.  Mongols developed the most extensive postal system at the time, and were able to bring the major civilizations of Eurasia,  Europe, China,  and the Islamic world into more direct contact with each other than in earlier times. They were very good at assimilating other cultures ideas about government, art, and language, and translated their official decrees into various languages.  Mongol culture was also more egalitarian the most with women and men possessing many of the same fighting and riding skills that made them a great invading army.

2) In what way does Islam highlight the reason why the entire period from 500 BC to 1400 AD should be considered the "Classical Era" from a World Historical point of view?

Islam's reign should be considered part of the Classical Era because it mirrored some of the other civilizations of the time with its trans-continental expansionism, and all encompassing religion, that included spiritual, personal and governmental codes of behavior.  Islam brought vast amounts of diverse peoples and cultures in Afro-Eurasia under one virtual roof that in many ways has endured into the modern era. Peoples from other cultures and continents wanted to be part of the Islamic empire. Like the other empires of the classical era, Islam made great strides in education and knowledge with advances in medicine, mathematics, and science, which developed across cultures.  Also The Islamic religion, similar to Catholicism under the Roman Empire, suffered a division which lasted into the modern era with Shiites and Sunnis on two opposing sides.

3) What were the Sand and Sea Roads?  Were they as significant as the Silk Road?

The Sand Road was the long distance trading route that linked North Africa and the Mediterranean with the interior of West Africa across the Sahara.  It was as significant as the Silk Road because, like the Silk Road, "the commercial networks had a transforming impact, stimulating and enriching West African civilization and connecting it to larger patterns of world history during the post classical era". (Strayer 2009)  The long distance trade of the Sea Roads across the Indian Ocean also had this trans-formative effect that the Sand and Silk exhibited with its impact giving rise to the East African civilization known as Swahili.

I am also intrigued by the what if questions.  What if this empire had moved farther north or south?  What if this culture had adopted Christianity versus Islam?  What if these peoples decided not to venture across vast oceans to look for a new world?   What if Mongol Pastoral peoples had been docile and lived in quiet obscurity?  What if this or that leader had lived longer or never had existed?  Life does seem to hang by a thread sometimes or turn on a dime.  What if Hitler had not come to power in Germany?  What if Japan had not attacked Pearl Harbor?  What if JFK had lived to serve two Presidential terms? I think that it is intriguing to play the what if game but it becomes a conundrum, circles within circles.  There is no real way to know the what ifs unless we could time travel and change events, although this could lead to a ripple effect and change other things farther along that we did not want different.  Everything is either pre-determined, or blind luck, or a logical conclusion to events that preceded them.  What if I had turned right instead of left that day?  Maybe I would not be writing this Blog right now!  If I believe in a greater power/God then the what ifs don't concern me as much because I could say it is Gods/Allah's will, not for mere mortal man to understand.  I can see how this would be more comforting that always asking Why/What if?

Chapter Eleven is titled, "The Worlds of Islam", but a better title might be, Islam takes over the World.  It seems incredible that a religion could spread so wide and so fast as Islam was able to do from 600-1500. The length and breadth of the Islamic culture and religion was referred to by Strayer as, "the first truly Global Civilization".  Act locally, and think globally would have summed up the vast civilizations and peoples that converted to Islam.  Again, I am intrigued by the practical reasons that peoples and cultures chose to follow certain religions, and to switch allegiances if the need arose, like the arrival of a conquering Army.  It makes sense that if a giant empire/civilization/culture is roaring across continents like Islam did in Afro-Eurasia, that your choice would be to get on the bus or be run over by it. On the other hand it sounds like people joined willingly, many feeling a comfort from the monotheistic teachings that were prominent in Judaism, and Christianity, Strayer referred to it as a "social conversion, the movement from one religiously defined social community to another".  Islam was indeed a religiously defined social community with its teachings of correct behavior, versus the emphasis in Christianity on correct beliefs.  I think this emphasis on correct behavior in regard to all aspects of ones life, including political, social, religious, and personal, made Islam a unifying force for these diverse peoples spread from as far away as Spain, on through North and West Africa all the way to India. This unifying force became a global network for the exchange of ideas, goods, and technologies that brought about a surge in science, medicine, philosophy, and Islamic scholarship.  The reach of Islam and its tenets of correct behavior resonate today with adherents all over the world, including America.

Take religion, politics, empire building, Popes, Kings, Despots, and throw in occasional marauding bands of knights,Vikings, and assorted pillagers, and you have yourself a great mini-series on the history of the world Part III, or as Strayer calls it, "The Worlds of European Christendom", Connected and Divided. It is fascinating to me that peoples, cultures, and civilizations had many different reasons why they ended up following certain religions versus others, and it seems that these reasons were more worldly than celestial.  Strayer talks about a unified identity that Orthodox Christianity brought to the emerging RUS civilization. To me it seems that there is always this interesting intersection of religious beliefs in the form of cultural identity passed down from the ruling elite to the masses for unified political expediency and control, versus the masses acquiescing to the wealth and protection afforded by the powerful rulers in society by adopting their religious beliefs. It seems that faith in a power greater than self starts with the present strata in your society and from there, over time, may lead to a belief in a power greater than man. During this period of European Christendom some leaders were viewed as demi-gods, or God appointed rulers as in the case of the Byzantine emperors.  There was no such thing as a separation of church and state, the church was government and vice versa. A few weeks ago I happened to find this eight part mini-series on netflix called, 'Arn: the Night Templar', which is set in Sweden and Norway during the Crusades.  One of the things that stood out to me was the fact that the Kings of these early, splintered, small republics, deferred to the church as the final say over matters of faith and state.  Now that I have read about this period from 500-1300 of European Christendom I have come to understand that the Church held great sway over every aspect of society, including governing the flock as well as spiritually guiding them.

China is an effective, centralized, and bureaucratic state, experiencing an economic revolution whose ripple effect makes a significant difference to the way other human beings make their livings throughout a large part of the world. (Strayer 2009)  Robert Strayer was not describing China in the twenty first century, he was referring to China around a thousand years ago!  I have to admit that I had no idea China was that advanced and such a world power so long ago.  Their ripple effect was surely felt throughout what Strayer referred to as, the civilized world, at the time.  Among other things the Chinese invented was paper and movable type, which allows me to write this, some one thousand years later.  Add to that list gunpowder, salt production by solar evaporation, and the magnetic compass and we start to get an idea why Europe was in the dark ages!  It is ironic today because I for one tend to view China as a immensely antiquated country that is finally modernizing at a maniacal rate, but that is clinging to a dying political model in communism.  Yet as history does indeed repeat itself, China is now a superpower with immense economic and military might, that allows it to shape the dialogue, and sit a the table (U.N. Security Council) with the other most powerful countries in the world, including the United States.

By land and sea they brought people, goods, religions, and diseases.  It seems like the movement of goods, by trade along the land and maritime silk road during the period between 500-1500 A.D., was more influential in its effect on cultures than the movement of peoples.  The propagation of Indian religions like Buddhism by the traders, along with their wares for sale, forever altered the landscape of these vast areas along this trade route. I think that it was more of a velvet revolution of philosophical ideas shared by this cultural elite of traders,  as opposed to the later missionary style of hammer and nail theology. What I mean by that is, I don't get the sense that anybody was proselytizing, as much as sharing ideas across the cultural divide.  The traders seem like an elite clique that had an advantage over their other more stay at home brethren, they got to live the exciting life of new adventures in exotic locales. This brotherhood of trade was a perfect breeding ground for the exchange of ideas. It also makes sense that those along the trade routes would want to show solidarity with their peers, and honor them by adopting, what would probably seem now like the popular new in thing, Buddhism.  These common beliefs among people spread far and wide, and the subsequent building of temples, monasteries, and icons must have further cemented these relationships and bonds of the traders.  Even today it sounds exciting and exotic to have lived during that time and have been a silk road trader/traveler, being at the forefront of discovering new goods, new ideas, new lands, and new peoples.  When I think of the scope of World trade today in the modern world, with airplanes, ships, trains, and trucks, other than the speed of travel, probably not that much has changed.  We are still seeing the propagation of new goods, new ideas, and new diseases spread around the world.  Maybe this is why when we travel we like to shop so much, this is our chance to experience the trade of goods and ideas with foreign cultures and peoples, even if the road is short, the difference can be quite profound.