Most of this note document will be a recap of 2.1 through 2.4 notes.

Historical Developments

Increased cross-cultural interactions resulted in the diffusion of literary, artistic, and cultural traditions, as well as scientific and technological innovations

Diffusion of cultural traditions:

• The influence of Buddhism in East Asia

• The spread of Hinduism and Buddhism into Southeast Asia

• The spread of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia

Diffusion of scientific or technological innovations:

• Gunpowder from China

• Paper from China

The fate of cities varied greatly, with periods of significant decline and periods of increased urbanization, buoyed by rising productivity and expanding trade networks.

As exchange networks intensified, an increasing number of travelers within Afro Eurasia wrote about their travels.

Travelers:

• Ibn Battuta

• Margery Kempe

• Marco Polo

Silk Roads - Spreading Culture!

• To the west, Persian Zoroastrianism blocked the spread of Buddhism

• Buddhism changed as it spread

• Originally not focused on material wealth, the addition of wealthy merchants meant a shift in priorities

• Mahayana Buddhism flourished on the Silk Roads (popular b/c of emphasis of compassion, use of Bodhisattvas, & Buddha was seen as divine)

The Silk Road and Buddhist Monasteries

• Prosperous Buddhist merchants could earn religious merit by building monasteries and supporting monks

• Monasteries provided convenient and cultural familiar places of rest and resupply for merchants

• Many cities became cosmopolitan centers of learning and commerce

• In Sogdian city of Samarkand, use of Zoroastrian fire rituals became part of Buddhist practice

• Gods of many people along the silk road were incorporated into Buddhism as bodhisattvas (guides to Enlightenment)

Chinese Popular Religion

• The term Chinese Popular Religion is used for the blend (syncretism) of Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism practiced by many people in China

• Especially popular with people in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore

• Synthesis of faiths emphasizes the immortals, the festivals, and other religious observances

• Buddhism spread to Japan around 500 CE.

Borobudur

• Buddhist temple built in the Sailendra kingdom in central Java

• Closely allied with Srivijaya

• Built Hindu and Buddhist temples, Borobudur being the most famous

• Mountain shaped structure of ten levels, three mile walkway, and elaborate carvings illustrating the spiritual journey from ignorance and illusion to full enlightenment

• Syncretism = carved statues have Javanese features, scenes are set in Java, not India, resonated with mountain worship in SE Asia as homes of ancestral spirits

• Shiva was also worshipped and cows were honored

Buddhism in East & SE Asia

Korea

• Buddhism spread here via Chinese conquest and colonization

• Tribute system with China ensured a cultural link between the two

• Korean Buddhist monks visited Chinese centers of learning

• Buddhism had a much longer cultural impact than that of Chinese Confucian culture

Vietnam

• Adopted Buddhism from China

• Directly ruled by Chinese officials

• A “female Buddha” was part of Vietnamese popular religion showing syncretism of Vietnamese beliefs (and less patriarchal than China) and Chinese Buddhist culture

Angkor Wat

via Khan Academy

Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia is the largest religious monument in the world. Angkor Wat, translated from Khmer (the official language of Cambodia) literally means “City Temple.”

We have little knowledge of how this temple was referred to during the time of its use, as there are no extant texts or inscriptions that mention the temple by name—this is quite incredible if we consider the fact that Angkor Wat is the greatest religious construction project in Southeast Asia.

Angkor Wat is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu who is one of the three principal gods in the Hindu pantheon (Shiva and Brahma are the others). Among them he is known as the “Protector.” The major patron of Angkor Wat was King Suryavarman II, whose name translates as the “protector of the sun.” Many scholars believe that Angkor Wat was not only a temple dedicated to Vishnu but that it was also intended to serve as the king’s mausoleum in death.

Islamic Networks of Exchange

• world of Islamic civilization was an immense arena of exchange

• goods, technologies, food products, and ideas circulated widely

• due to its central location in the Afro-Eurasian world and break down of political barriers between the Byzantine and Persian empires

• Commerce was valued positively within Islamic teaching because Muhammad himself had been a trader

• Muslim merchants, Arabs and Persians in particular, became prominent or sometimes dominant players in all of major Afro-Eurasian trade routes of the third-wave era

  • in Mediterranean Sea

  • along the revived Silk Roads

  • across the Sahara

  • throughout the Indian Ocean basin

• By 8th century CE, had established a colony at Canton (Guangzhou) in southern China, linking Islam with Asia

• Islamic civilization contributed to ecological change and agricultural products and practices which spread from region to region

• Rice, sugarcane, sorghum, hard wheat, bananas, lemons, limes, watermelons, coconut palms, spinach, artichokes, and cotton spread from South and Southeast Asia into the Middle East

• New crops created an “Islamic Green Revolution” of increased food production, population growth, urbanization, and industrial development

Syncretism in Swahili City-States

• Swahili language is grammatically African with Bantu roots

• Written in Arabic script with Arabic loan words

• Many ruling families claimed Arab or Persian origins

• Arab and Indian merchants settled on the coast creating new blended families

• Rapidly became Islamic, introduced by Arab traders

Ibn Battuta

• Muslim Moroccan explorer

• Visited most of the known Islamic world

• Visited North Africa, Horn of Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe, and Eastern Europe, Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and China

• Traveled much more extensively than Marco Polo

• Set off on a hajj to Mecca which took him 16 months but he did not return to Morocco for 24 years

Marco Polo

• Venetian merchant traveler

• Recorded travels in Il Milione which introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China

• Some believe that he might have fabricated his journeys and that he never went to China

• Spent time with Kublai Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan) in modern day China

• Inspired Christopher Columbus