Cross-Cultural Exchanges

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Cross-Cultural Exchanges

• The Silk Roads

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Long Distance Trade the Silk Roads Network
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Trade Networks of the Hellenistic Era

• Road construction, bridges establishment of
  imperial states improved conditions
• Merchants could more easily travel
• This increased volume and accessibility of exotic
  goods throughout the eastern hemisphere
• Greek merchants bankers were attracted east
• Ptolemies in Egypt maintained routes into Africa
• Learned monsoon rhythms to navigate Indian Ocean
• Established links between Arabia, India, east
  Africa Egypt
• Huge economic by back despite the expense to
  maintain protect

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The Silk Roads - Structure

• The overland trade routes known as the Silk Roads
  were anchored across Eurasia by
• Han Dynasty controlled China central Asia
• Parthian Empire ruled Persia Mesopotamia
• Roman Empire held the Mediterranean world
• Kushan Empire provided protection stability in
  northern India
• Silk Roads also included water routes sea lanes
  that link the eastern hemisphere
• Used a series of ports along the Asian African
  coasts from the South China Sea to the Red Sea

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The Silk Roads - Trade

• Wide variety of manufactured agricultural goods
  traveled the road
• Silk from China
• Chinese guarded the secret of production
• Spices from China central Asia
• Served as condiments, as well as ingredients in
  medicines, perfumes magical potions
• Cotton textiles, pearls, coral ivory went west
• Glassware, jewelry, wool linen went east
• High quality jade from central Asian horses
  were prized in both the east west

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The Silk Roads Changes Continuities

• Merchants did not travel the entire length of the
  roads
• Small merchant communities developed along the
  silk roads coastlines
• Trade occurred in stages
• Governments guarded the movement of merchants
  within their empires
• Wanted to ensure collection of taxes tariffs on
  the goods crossing their territories

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Cultural Biological Exchangesalong the Silk
Roads
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The Spread of BuddhismReligious Development

• Buddhism was the most prominent faith of the silk
  roads merchants from 200 BCE- 700 CE
• Promoted by Emperor Ashoka it was spread with
  merchants to Ceylon, Bactria, Iran, central Asia,
  southeast Asia China

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The Spread of BuddhismChanges Continuities

• Did not take hold in China until monks used the
  5th century Chinese unrest as a springboard
• Quickly took hold in China, Japan Korea

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The Spread of HindusimReligious Development

• Merchants took Hinduism along the sea lanes
• Spread to Java, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula,
  parts of modern Vietnam and Cambodia

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The Spread of HinduismChanges Continuities

• Many areas adopted the cults of Shiva and Vishnu
• Sanskrit writing became the written means of
  communication in many of these areas

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The Spread of ChristianityReligious Development

• Early Roman persecution was the result of
  Christian refusal to follow state prescribed
  religious ceremonies
• Christian missionaries were perceived as violent
  disruptive
• Missionaries capitalized on ease of travel
  communication provided by the roads
• By the end of the 3rd century Christian
  communities flourished along the Mediterranean,
  Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, across
  northern Africa into southwest Asia

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The Spread of ChristianityChanges
Continuities

• Christian practices were influenced by converts
  in Mesopotamia Iran
• Asceticism withdrawal from secular socieity
  became a dominant aspect
• Influenced the development of monasteries
  separate communities in the western Mediterranean
• Nestorian Christianity developed in the east
• Greek theologian, Nestorius, stressed the human
  side of Jesus over the divine
• Mediterranean Christians opposed this the
  Nestorians moved eastward

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Spread of ManichaeismReligious Development The

• The spread of Manichaeism relied on the trade
  routes of the classical world
• Developed in the 3rd century by Mani
• Based in Zoroastrianism with a dash of
  Christianity a pinch of Buddhism
• Mani believed that syncretism would meet the
  changing needs of the new cosmopolitan world
• The faith promoted a strict ascetic
• Turned away from the physical temptations of the
  classical world
• Promised salvation eternal association w/light
  good

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The Spread of ManichaeismChanges Continuities

• Empires throughout the eastern hemisphere saw
  Manichaeism as a danger to public order
• Wanted to exterminate the followers
• Roman Sasanid emperors were largely successful
• Still survived in the plains of central Asia
• Readily adopted by nomadic Turkish peoples who
  traded along the silk roads

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The Spread of Epidemic DiseasesDemographics

• Pathogens for disease traveled easily along the
  silk roads
• Small pox, measles, and bubonic plague
• Both the Roman Han empires lost about 25 of
  their populations to disease carried along the
  silk roads

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The Spread of Epidemic DiseasesChanges
Continuities

• Demographic changes impacted the economy
• Both empires moved away from international trade
• Focused on regional exchange of goods
• Demographic changes impacted society
• Cities became less desirable places to live
• Demise of both empires can be linked to the
  spread of disease along the silk roads

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China

• After the Han Dynasty

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Internal Decay of the Han StatePolitical
Structures

• Main problems for the last Han Emperors
• Land distribution
• Conflicting factions in the Imperial household
• Widespread unrest
• Yellow Turban Rebellion was a secret peasant
  revolutionary group
• Wiley generals stepped in to take control

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Internal Decay of the Han StateChanges
Continuities

• China was eventually divided in 3 sections
• Wei
• Wu
• Shu
• Northern nomads grabbed northern China
• Controlled it for the next 300 years

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Cultural Change in Post-Han ChinaReligious
Development

• After the fall of the Han China was filled with
  nomadic invasions and war
• Population was decreased
• People migrated from the cities
• Nomadic tribes populated China
• Eventually settled intermarried with Chinese
• In time the nomads became Chinese in character
• This is sinicization invaders are assimilated
  into Chinese culture

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Cultural Change in Post-Han ChinaChange
Continuity

• Religious change also resulted from the fall of
  the Han Dynasty
• Confucianism, used to justify the Han, lost
  creditability as the chaos made it irrelevant
• Daoism offered hope
• Elixirs potions for health became popular
• Buddhism increased popularity
• Had already been embraced by northern nomads
• Laid foundation for new political unity

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Fall of the Roman Empire
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Internal Decay in the Roman EmpirePolitical
Structure

• Size of the Empire was a major problem
• Barracks Emperors attempted to seize hold
  power
• Almost all died violently as another took over
• Epidemics weakened the empire
• Many areas moved from commercial economies to
  self-sufficient economies

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Internal Decay in the Roman EmpireChange
Continuity

• Diocletian attempted to restructure the empire by
  dividing it
• Constantine moved the capital to the wealthier
  eastern part of the empire
• Byzantium (renamed Constantinople) was more
  strategically located easier to defend
• Finally only the western half of the empire fell

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Germanic InvasionsPolitical Structure

• Migratory Germanic people brought down the
  western half of the empire in the 5th c.
• Eastern half remained until the 15th century
• Pressure from the Huns of the steppes west of
  China pushed the Germans into the empire
• Visigoths had lived on Romes border for
  centuries
• Had adopted agriculture Christianity - fought
  as mercenaries for Rome

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Germanic InvasionsChange Continuity

• Visigoths had lived on Romes border for
  centuries
• Had adopted agriculture Christianity - fought
  as mercenaries for Rome
• Attila the Hun pushed the Visigoths, Ostrogoths,
  Vandals Franks into the Empire
• At first settled in less densely populated areas
• Eventually dominated Spain, France, Britain and
  north Africa
• By 476 CE they controlled Rome

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Cultural Change in the Late Roman Empire
Developments

• Christianity the Roman Empire changed
• Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan
• Gave legal protection to Christians
• Emperor Theodosius made it the official religion
  of the empire
• Augustine of Hippo reconciled Christianity with
  Greek Roman philosophy
• Made it more appealing to the educated, rather
  than the working-class, slaves women

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Cultural Change in the Late Roman Empire
Changes Continuities

• Growth of the church created a need for
  standardization of the faith development of a
  structural hierarchy
• Council of Nicaea Council of Chalcedon
• Proclaimed Jesus human divine
• Established hierarchy Bishop of Rome (pope),
  Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria
  Constantinople
• After the fall of the western empire the
  importance of the Pope grew
• Power of the patriarchs was subordinate to the
  emperor of the eastern empire