Chapter 8 & 9

CH 8-  Commerce and Culture 500-1500

Limitations in transportation during ancient times focused on trading luxurious good rather than things people needed on a daily basis. The silk roads, sea roads and sand roads have allowed people to acquire material things that they could not have obtained if it was not for trade routes. The silk roads prospered most when merchants and travelers were given security by large and powerful states. Numerous things were traded on the silk roads like furs, cotton, tents, almonds along with other good but their main product was silk. Unlike the silk road the sea road provided goods at a lower cost because the transportation cost was lower. The two ecological zones in the sub- Saharan were able to trade with the far reaches of the sand roads.

The Americas also had a trade system although it was not as strong and extensive as the silk road, sea roads or the sand roads it focused on private trade. Trade brought along good outcomes like economic prosperity to some and bad outcomes like death with the transferability of disease. Finally, trade also brought along change in communities and encouraged specialization of goods.

CH 9- China and the World: East Asian Connections 500-1300

Chinas has a great influence on the rest of the world but non-Chinese people also influence china. Cultural, economic and social aspect in China changed with growing international trade. The rise and collapse of Han, Sui, Tang and Song dynasties brought along different aspects on which the current China is founded on. Women in Song and Tang dynasty lives differed like those of Athens and Sparta that were mentioned in chapter six. It is interesting to see that depending on the tightness of patriarchy, restrictions are brought upon women. China’s interaction with nomads, Koreas, Vietnamese, Japanese and Eurasians influenced those places and those places also influenced China to how it is today.