Chapters 7, 8 and 10

I enjoyed the way the chapter 7 started with the comparison of ordering a product online and then moving into how trade was conducted millennium ago. We as a people have always wanted what the other person has and will travel great distances to get it. The difference in trade today is that it comes to us at the click of a button from the comfort of our homes.

I also found it fascinating to read that goods were not the only thing that were carried to distant lands on the Silk, Sea and Sand roads: culture, religion, technology, disease-bearing germs, and plants and animals were carried along with these goods. Creating an interconnected web across deserts and oceans, mountains and valleys. Today’s web of interconnection is truly staggering in comparison, but ultimately has the same outcome but on a global scale.

I loved the story of silk and how it was produced. That “women were responsible for every step of the ingenious and laborious enterprise.” And the intrigue of how the silkworms were stolen in an “act of industrial espionage.” And how it became such a coveted and controversial product for its beauty and sensuality.

It is amazing that, despite geographic and environmental obstacles, and no horses or wheeled carts or boats, some things were traded across large distances in the Americas! Although not as prolific as trade in Eurasia, they still had an interactive web that stretched from the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi south to the Andes. Evidence that maize, a particular game with a rubber ball, certain types of pottery styles and architectural conventions made their way from the southwest US to eastern North America, as well as South America. Amazing considering they had no animals to help them.

Chapter 8 helped me to understand the influence and power China has had on its neighbors, as well as the world. The many ups and downs of the dynasties was difficult to keep track of, but it seems that their demise typically stemmed from internal discontent and mistreatment of the poor population. The interactions of trade, culture and religion among neighboring countries was fascinating. How they borrowed many of the elements from China, but still maintained their own identity. And also how China was influenced and changed by its neighbors, as much as they seemed to believe they were the sole purveyors of all things important.

Reading about The Golden Age of China really took me there walking among the streets seeing the sights, hearing the sounds, and smelling the wonderful smells emanating from the restaurants and vendors! This seemed to be truly the center of the world for trade, culture and wealth. It also seemed the most benign time for women as they saw fewer restrictions during the Tang dynasty, but as always they were stripped again during the Song dynasty. Then the awful torture of foot binding was introduced. I was appalled by the picture shown and talked with my kids about this practice and the twisted reasoning behind it. They were just as appalled as I. The silk industry was also taken from women, but on the positive side of the Song dynasty they did own restaurants, sold items, and had other work outside of the home. They were also able to control their own dowries and inherit property from their families. They were also encouraged to be educated by some, even if it was only to effectively raise their sons.

It made me chuckle to read that people that were not the same as themselves were considered “barbarians” and that their influence would corrupt their perfect world. I didn’t realize the origin of the word “kowtow” until I read this chapter! Throughout all of the chapters I've been surprised to read about the environmental devastation we've caused, even so long ago in history.
 

In chapter 10, I felt like a yo yo trying to keep track of the expansions and contractions of Christianity! I was appalled by the crusades…it amazes me what men can cook up and justify in the name of God. I was born and raised Catholic, I no longer practice Catholicism but it makes me cringe to read this. What incredible egos we have to think that everyone should think the way Christian’s think and do as they do, as the only right way to live. I agree with Strayer when he writes, “Crusading drew on both Christian piety and the warrior values of the elite, with little sense of contradictions between these impulses.” Strayer also quotes Bernard of Clairvaux that it is “good that you march against the Muslims, but anyone who touches a Jew to take his life, is as touching Jesus himself.” So, it’s ok to kill Muslims, but not ok to kill Jews… How is this consistent with Christ's teachings....Just sickening.