Week Ten Blog

       In chapter eight, we looked at China and the world. We see that China experienced their "Golden Age," which is arguable just as important for China as the Renaissance was for Europe. During this age of arts and literature, China set standards in poetry, landscape painting and ceramics (367). Furthermore, an economic revolution made the Song Dynasty "By far, the richest, most skilled, and populous country on Earth." (369). One of the most obvious gains for China was in its population, which grew from about 50-60 million to 120 million by 1200 A.D. In order to supply this population and cities with food, there was an immense network of internal waterways, which stretched about some 30,000 miles. China also used what is referred to as the tribute system. This system was a set of practices that require non-Chinese authorities to acknowledge Chinese superiority and their own subordinate place in a Chinese-centered world. However, this system in practices was somewhat different. For example, we can see what happened with the people of Uigher. On occasions, the nomad people would attack China, and conquer bits and pieces of it. This system simply allowed China to imagine that they were still in control of the situation, despite paying heavily from the protection that nomads offered at times.

       Next, we saw how China did with its neighbors. For example, we can see China and Korea's relations. Korea, for the most part, was able to maintain itself as sovereign. Furthermore, tribute systems to China further legitimized the Korean rulers, as they acknowledged the Chinese authority (378). Even thousands of Korean students were sent to China to study, where they primarily studied Confucianism, but also studied natural sciences and the arts. In an effort to maintain greater independence, Korea created their own phonetic alphabet which is known as hangul (379). We also saw the relations between China, and Vietnam and Japan. With Japan, a major, indeed obvious, difference is that it is physically separated from China by over 100 miles of ocean. This kept Japan from being successfully invaded or conquered by its giant neighbor, China. Because of this immediate absence of Chinese influence, the Japanese were able to cherry-pick what they wanted to borrow from China. Over time, the Japanese combined what they assimilated from China with elements of their own traditions, creating a distinctive Japanese civilization (382). Furthermore, just like in Korea and Vietnam, Japan also developed their own writing style; which also combined some Chinese characters (383). Unlike in Korea, the Japanese women were able to avoid the very oppressive Chinese features from Confucian culture. In terms of the rest of the world, the greatest Chinese features was in terms of their inventions. One such invention was gunpowder. Other inventions included paper making and printing. These inventions revolutionized the world, and are still very much a major part of life today.