AP World History

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3. Connections and Interactions

Eurasia: Silk Roads

Eurasia (China - Europe)

vast array of goods transferred

often used large camel caravans

stopped at caravanserai (inns or guesthouses)

rest

exchange goods with local people, other traders

resupply animals

centers of cultural exchange

some developed into major Central Asian commercial cities

Bukhara

Samarkand

Khotan

Kashgar

Dunhuang

Making of

most of goods were luxury products for wealthy and elite

not staple goods

only readily moved commodities of great value could compensate for costs of transportation across such long and forbidding distances

Silk

primary product

China had long held monopoly on silk production

by 6th century: knowledge/technology spread to Korea, Japan, India, Persia, Byzantine Empire

as supply increased, circulated more extensively across Afro-Eurasian trade routes

Importance

Central Asia: currency, means of accumulating wealth

China, Byzantine Empire: symbol of high status, laws restricting silk to elite

associated with the sacred in Buddhism, Christianity

Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who traveled to India seeking religious texts, relics took large quantities of silk as gifts to monasteries

Christendom: silk wall hangings, altar covers, vestments were highly prestigious signs of devotion, piety

12th century: West African king of Ghana had silk

circulated in Egypt, Ethiopia, East African coast

Technological innovations

Transportation

yokes

saddles

stirrups

made use of camels, horses, oxen more effective

“frame and mattress saddle”

most likely an Arab invention

allowed camels to carry much heavier loads in a stabler fashion

Economy

new forms of credit and economic exchange

paper money

initially Chinese invention

“flying cash” because of tendency to fly away in wind

unnecessary to carry heavy metal coins

“bills of exchange”: contract-promising payment

novel banking practices: urban-based banking houses could offer credit to merchants

Consequences

compared to global commerce today, modest volume of trade

focus on luxury goods limited direct impact on most people

peasants in Yangzi River delta of southern China

sometimes gave up cultivation of food crops

focused on producing silk, paper, porcelain, lacquerware, iron tools

impact of long-distance trade trickled down to affect lives of ordinary people

merchants could benefit immensely from involvement in long-distance trade

Ramisht

12th-century Persian trader

commissioned enormously expensive covering made of Chinese silk for Kaaba (central shrine of Islam in Mecca)

made small fortune

Impact of states

prospered most when large/powerful states provided relative security for merchants/travelers

200 BCE - 200 CE: Roman, Chinese empires anchored long-distance commerce at west and east Eurasia

7th - 8th: Byzantine Empire, Abbasid dynasty, Tang dynasty created nearly continuous belt of strong states across Eurasia

13th - 14th: Mongol Empire briefly encompassed almost entire route of Silk Roads

renewed vitality to long-distance trade

fostered cultural, religious exchange

facilitated spread of diseases (e.g. Black Death)

Buddhism and other religions

Silk Roads was conduit of culture

Spread

spread through Central, East Asia as Indian traders, Buddhist monks brought it to Silk Roads

took root in oasis cities of Central Asia (Merv, Samarkand, Khotan, Dunhuang)

conversion was voluntary - no pressure of conquest/foreign rule

dependent on long-distance trade, Buddhism was rich spiritual tradition and link to India (larger, wealthy, prestigious)

Change

shunned material world → involved in secular affairs

some became prosperous

received gifts from merchants, artisans, local rulers

begging bowls became symbol, not daily activity

sculptures/murals in monasteries suggested wealthier and more worldly style of living compared to Buddhist asceticism

musicians and acrobats

women applying makeup

drinking parties

religious practice

Mahayana Buddhism flourished

Buddha is deity

numerous bodhisattvas (fully enlightened beings who assisted suffering humanity)

emphasis on compassion

possibility of earning merit

picked up elements of other cultures while in transit on Silk Roads

Samarkand (Songdian city): Zoroastrian fire rituals became part of Buddhist practice

gods of many peoples incorporated as bodhisattvas

Chinese Buddhism

Pure Land School: popular expression of Buddhism in China

faithfully repeating name of earlier Buddha, Amitabha, ensured rebirth in Pure Land (heavenly realm)

emphasis on salvation by faith, without intense study or meditation

Resistance

Han Yu, 819: “Now the Buddha was of barbarian origin. His language differed from Chinese speech; his clothes were of a different cut; his mouth did not pronounce the prescribed words of the Former Kings. ... He did not recognize the relationship between prince and subject, nor the sentiments of father and son.”

later, Chinese state took direct action against Buddhism and other foreign religions

841-845: series of imperial decrees that ordered 260,000 monks and nuns to return to normal life as tax-paying citizens

thousands of monasteries, temples, shrines were destroyed or turned to public use

state confiscated lands, money, metals, serfs belonging to monasteries

Buddhists forbidden to use gold, silver, copper, iron, gems in constructing images

serious blow to Chinese Buddhism

scholars, monks were scattered

creativity diminished

institutions even more firmly under state control

Impact

did not vanish from China

Chan school of Chinese Buddhism became dominant during Song dynasty

emphasized meditation practice

favored by court officials, scholars

Neo-Confucianism

Buddhist philosophy played role of reformulation of Confucianism during Song Dynasty

rejected religious aspects of Buddhism and Daoism

appreciated high moral standards of Buddhism

classical texts of Confucianism

at village level, Buddhism was one element of Chinese popular religion, which also included:

reverence of ancestors

honoring of Confucius

Daoist shrines, rituals

temples included statues of Confucius, Laozi, Buddha with little incompatibility

Buddhism became assimilated into Chinese culture alongside other traditions

Chinese influence on others

nearby societies (Korea, Vietnam, Japan) adopted many cultural features from China

Korea

sent tribute missions to China

gave legitimacy for Korean rulers

models of court life and administrative techniques to copy

capital city Kumsong modeled on Chinese capital Chang’an

official and private trade (through tributes)

mostly luxury goods

ceremonial clothing

silks

fancy teas

Confucian, Buddhist texts

artwork

enriched lives of Korean aristocracy that was becoming increasingly Chinese in culture

thousands of Korean students sent to China

studied mostly Confucianism

also studied science, arts

Buddhist monks visited China

visited centers of leraning, pilgrimage

brought back popular forms of Chinese Buddhism, which quickly took root

schools for studying Confucianism established in Korea

used texts in Chinese language

Japan

various schools of Chinese Buddhism

first among educated and literate classes

later more braodly in society

by 1200: Chinese Chan school of Buddhism had become Zen in Japan

highly popular among samurai warrior class

Neo-Confucian teachings arrived in Japan around 1240

highly influencial among intellectuals

17th: official ideology of Japanese Tokugawa regime

Chinese writing system proved attractive, along with:

historical writing

calligraphy

poetry

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