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Influences on the Silk Road during the Chinese Dynasties
Continuities and changes in cultural traditions on the silk road
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In modern day society, artists, musicians, and even simple things like fancy dishes are often linked to or associated with the rich and people of status. People of the contemporary world have also been accustomed to interacting with people of different backgrounds, heritages, cultures, and religion. With that, societies from all over have developed significantly both politically and economically in recent decades due to ethnic diversity and transfusion. In fact, the modern concept of ethnicity is prevalent in the Tang Dynasty. Additionally, this era was very well known for its incredible material prosperity, sophisticated cultural and artistic achievement, and a high interest along with acceptance regarding foreign religions and cultures. The modern concept of ethnicity can be applied very directly to the Tang dynasty because of the Silk Road and perhaps even the Nanhai Sea trade routes. Similar to modern day countries, for example the U.S., it is not uncommon for people to be exposed to different ethnicities. …show more content…
Many viewed this period of time as a golden age in the annals of Chinese history as the Silk Road rose to its peak in history. Because the Silk Road was so huge, it ran through a lot of land space. The enormous stretch by this route encompassed a lot of different ethnicities from the Europeans to the Middle East. Foreign languages were a norm in Tang China due to the massive numbers of foreign merchants that travel down the Silk Road. The large amount of foreign exposure influenced different levels of civilization throughout Tang China especially at the middle class and upper class as they had more exposure and interaction to merchants and foreign
To begin, around 4000 B.C.E., China’s biggest seller was Silk. In fact, that’s mostly why the Silk Road was built! Everyone wanted some of China’s beautiful silk. In India, everyone traveled for spices as Christopher Columbus...attempted. But that was in the 1400’s. Around 50 C.E., the Kushan Empire started to take over these countries and the road after the Han Empire was overthrown. In the Background Essay, it says “Starting in 50 CE, another Asian Empire took shape and began profiting
The vast Silk road had people of different ethnicities travel itself, and even document it. Faxian was a Chinese Buddhist monk that had traveled the Silk Road. (Source 3) According to Faxian, their were “ a multitude of monks and a succession of very many monasteries”, this indicates that Buddhism spread across the Silk Road. Faxian even told us that “when stranger monks arrive at any monastery”, then older monks meet and receive them. Additionally Friar John of Montecorvino, a wealthy italian priest who wrote about his travels on the Silk Road. (doc 5) It is documented that the “wherein stands the church of St. Thomas the Apostle, for thirteen months”, this proves that catholicism traveled from italy all the way to India through the Silk Road. While in the excerpts the Mongols (led by the
Since the introduction of Buddhism into China, it was not well received by the population as its foreign beliefs clashed with pre-existent principals of Confucianism and Taoism. On top of that, it was alienated by the Confucianism-based government in the late Han Dynasty. All in all, Buddhism was not a common nor a popular religion throughout China at first. Nevertheless, this all changed after the rise of the Tang Dynasty. There is no doubt that Buddhism and the Tang administration under Wu’s reign formed a critical symbiotic relationship with one another. Buddhism played a pivotal role in justifying Empress Wu’s rule. She enthroned herself as the monarch of China, an extraordinarily difficult achievement for a woman in a male-dominant society, by associating herself with Buddhism: proclaiming herself as the Maitreya and that she will bring an utopian era for the Chinese. (Smarr, 17 Feb. 2012) At the same time, Buddhism benefitted handsomely from government support, as monasteries are exempted from tax and that they are financially supported by the state, as seen in A Pilgrim’s Visit to the Five Terraces Mountains, which ultimately resulted in the substantial growth in attraction of Buddhist converts and Buddhism itself. Wu’s extensive support of the religion with ostentatious gifts and donations contributed to the rapid proliferation of Buddhism. Evidently, the mutually benefitting relationship between Buddhism and the state are crucial to each other’s survival during Wu’s sovereignty, but to what extent did her financial support (donations to monasteries) of Buddhism bettered the government overall?
During the Tang and Song dynasty, many excellent achievements have been accomplished which are still being preserved and used widely over centuries. Their citizens were excelled in many fields with several of new and practical inventions which all directly affected the citizens’ lives.
Similarly to many ancient societies, the Chinese dynasties and societies flourished along the fertile land around rivers. The societies were based on agriculture, and engaged in trade networks along the Silk Road. The societies were ruled by semi-divine monarchies, with a class system. Unlike many of the other ancient societies, China’s rulers were chosen by The Mandate of Heaven, thus creating the dynastic cycle. China began to spread it’s ideals and products along the Silk Road, therefore influencing societies such as Persia, Greece and Rome.
Gender hierarchies have been a central pillar of social orders almost since its inception. However, the balance has not been remotely even throughout history, with patriarchies far outnumbering matriarchies. Despite the large dominance held by men, it was not all black and white in East Asian societies. Even though Tang and Song China were all patriarchal, they were very different in their application and influences of gender hierarchies.
Today we can look around ourselves and see thousands of technical innovations that make life easier; But if we take a step back and ask ourselves “How?” we will soon realize that most often, these technological advancements did not just “poof” into existence, but are usually the outcome of building upon yesterday’s technology. If we follow this cycle back into time, we can attribute almost any modern day invention to an ancient civilization during its golden age. China was no exception. China’s Song and Tang dynasties fostered scientific advances comparable to Rome’s during its Pax Romana. The most significant and impacting of these were the development of primitive gunpowder and porcelain of the Tang and paper money, and the magnetic compass of the Song Dynasties. Although these may seem very far off, if you look hard enough, you can see traces of their impacts in society today because most of the advancements today we owe to them.
During the early Ming Dynasty, China was one of the most economically and technologically advanced countries in the world. As Ebrey pointed out, “Europe was not yet a force in Asia and China continued to look at the outer world in traditional terms.” China was regarded as the center of Asia at the beginning of the 15th century and the idea of “Middle Kingdom” (Zhong guo) began to take off at that time. The early Ming Emperors were not interested in promoting commercial trade at all. Emperor Hongwu, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, implemented the Hai jin policy which forbade maritime shipping and private foreign trade outside of the tributary system (Ebrey, p. 209).
At the time of the Han Dynasty, general trade began over the Silk Road, which was a network of trails that stretched 4,000 miles from China extending to the Roman Empire. At the time the Chinese were unique in their knowledge of how to raise silkworms and weave silk. Chinese silk was extremely expensive. In fact it was worth its weight as gold in Rome! Europeans also preferred other Asian luxury goods including but not limited to exotic sp...
In conclusion, the Chinese literati have gone through many changes in the history of China. Changes include economic, political and social which mostly involved Chinese officials of the Qing and Ming court. The officials were effected by rebellions and foreign involvement throughout the years. This shows that even lower societies such as peasants can make a difference in the world with the right type of leader. Confucianism, which was followed for hundreds of years, vanished very quickly. It is amazing how a society of high stature and power early in the 1500’s could disappear so quickly to modern times.
Major changes in political structure, social and economic life define the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties. Each period laid the foundation for the next, with changes and improvements to create a new order.
During this time in China the Han dynasty was responsible for the greatest expansion of China, to what is now southern China, northern Vietnam, and parts of Korea and had trade with Central Asia, India, Persia. Because of the expansion of the territory they were able to trade with more countries. This was furthered by the discovery of the Silk Road in 2nd century BC. The Silk Road, discovered by a Chinese ambassador Zhang Qian, was a series of trade routes from China to the Mediterranean Sea. The Silk Road got its name from the amount of silk used for trade during the Han dynasty. This route was used to travel from West to East on land they traveled to India, Persia, Arabia, and Europe, while traveling by sea they traveled through Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. These paths were used by merchants, pilgrim, monks, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers.
The Tang and Song Dynasties are both pertinent to China’s development. During the Tang period, which is also considered the “Golden Age”, art and literature was embraced and thrived. During the Song Dynasties, many technical inventions allowed China to grow as a nation, and emerge as one of the greatest nations in the medieval world. Both dynasties played a key role in the history of China.
There was indeed a thriving trading system that brought goods and people from surrounding countries into China and vice versa. We see evidence of ideas and practices coming into China from Central Asia. For example, Buddhism took a strong foothold in the seventh century and Buddhist monasteries were established across the empire by the ninth century. Clothing and music from India was introduced to Tang culture, as well as the religions of Zoroastrianism and Nestorian Christianity (McKay 190) Yet this assertion that the Tang were a completely open and accepting society fails to consider what occurred in the later stages of the
The purpose of this paper is to tell the history of the Ming Dynasty’s impact on the Chinese Empire, and to explain why the Chinese Empire was in fact an empire.