The Super Summary of World History

by Alan Dale Daniel

  Because of the two different kinds of newcomers to South and North America the continents developed in very different ways. In South America, subjugation was the way of life with the Spanish ruling the natives. As such, only a few Spanish settled and stayed, usually as overseers of the natives. Those that stayed ran huge estates and lived as royalty. Here too the natives died of diseases in large numbers, but the Spanish were mostly concerned that enough of them remained to work the land or dig the gold. The Catholic Church looked after many natives and converted them to Christianity; however, it was a Christianity mixed with native ways.

  In North America, independence was the way of life, with the newcomers establishing themselves on the land and pushing out the natives. The “Indian Wars” on the frontier were unremitting affairs. The fighting went on year after year as colonists moved west to gain more farmland. In the end, diseases, the crushing numbers of Europeans, and Europe’s advanced technology overwhelmed the natives. The Native Americans in the North lost their lives, their land, their culture, and their future every bit as surely as those Native Americans in South America had.

  The Age of Discovery went on for decades as men sought new places to explore. For our purposes, the Age of Discovery will end with the voyage of Magellan in 1522 because it is a good date to hang our hat on, it found the extent of the South American continent, and “proved” the world was round—and very big.

  Let Us Learn

  From the Age of Discovery we find out that expectations are often wrong. Spending a lot of money on an adventure (project) involves unstated assumptions. Sure, the world is round and Isabella’s advisors knew it, but the Europeans assumed nothing but ocean stood between them and Asia if they sailed west. So, beware of unstated assumptions and unproven expectations. Also, learn that scouting ahead can make a big difference. We must also learn that killing and oppressing people will ruin those doing the oppressing. Spain failed to benefit from its oppression in the New World. From settlers in New England and the North American colonies we learn the value of hard work. By staying put, working hard, saving, and protecting their profit, they set the foundations for a great nation. Keeping it simple, working hard and setting aside for the future pays off. We must note the importance of technology. Falling behind in technology doomed the Native Americans. Same for disease. Disease is a big deal, and disease alone changed the course of history more than once. Keep up with changing technology, and try to stay healthy.

  Books and Resources:

  The Discoverers, Boorstin, D.J., 1985, Vintage. Outstanding book.

  The New Penguin History of the World, Roberts, J., 2007, Penguin Books, Starting at page 546.

  Chapter 6

  The EAST

  China

  The history of China is a thorny subject. The names are strange and hard to spell, plus what was going on in China did not seem to affect Europe (although we know it did). China’s largest impact on the West was the result of Europe knowing about China and expending a lot of energy trying to get there for trading purposes. The silks and spices of the Orient drew such good prices in Europe that it made sense for traders to get there however they could and bring back these most profitable items.

  What seems odd is China was not trying to get to Europe. Chinese traders did not venture very far west or east. What did go west, with the armies of the Mongols and others, was disease and war. Of course, the wars imposed on the West from the East did not come from China proper; they came from the nomads living in the area west of China. The diseases that swept over Europe probably started in China, it is often hard to say, but this was not a purposeful export[72]

  China’s impacts on Europe were actually profound. Anything that kills off about one-third of the population of an area, such as the Black Death did in Europe, is important. The area of trade involved men taking action to get to China. The great explorers sailed west to reach the east (Columbus for example), and their tales of high adventure on the seas caused a lot of attention to be cast onto them. The opening of sea routes to Asia had an enormous impact on Europe, and helped to make Europe the dominant region of the world after they had secured the sea lanes to the orient. On the way to Asia, the explorers discovered other lands and claimed them for their own. Such claimed areas often became colonies of the “mother country” and once again increased the wealth of Europe.

  Thus, China, through its mere existence, had a massive impact on European history (and therefore world history) even though it is seldom mentioned in that light.

  Why did China keep to herself and not venture out and try to gain knowledge and trade from the rest of the world? At one time, China did just that, reaching India and perhaps beyond; however, later emperors thought China was the center of the earth and that it had no need for exploration. Like any nation with a very long history it is not uniform from start to finish. What we have to look at is the larger trends, and China’s trend for centuries was isolation. The Chinese called themselves the middle kingdom, or the center of all the earth—or at least the part that mattered. The Chinese had everything they needed so why venture out to the barbarian world? Aggressors came from Mongolia and conquered the Chinese; however, China prevailed because the newcomers did not change China, rather, China changed the newcomers. The invaders were few compared to the Chinese, eventually adopted Chinese ways, and gradually merged into the population until China was once more China—and the former conquerors were now Chinese.

  A great Chinese asset is the continuity and stability of their ancient civilization. Ancient Egypt had a solid continuity for over 2000 years, but ancient Egypt is with us no longer while China is. Chinese continuity goes back to the Shang and Chou Dynasties.[73] These two dynasties gave China the structural organization that continued for centuries. After laying these foundations, China remained basically the same until the 20th Century. A strong centralized government, the basic land divisions, and the fundamental classes of society began during the reign of the Shang and Chou. The people of the land (peasants) and the ruling class (nobles and emperors) were set up as distinct groups, becoming nearly unchanging categories of people that formed the basis of Chinese life from these early dynasties until the modern world interposed itself. Thus, Chinese society resisted change and achieved a remarkable stability for about 3,500 years.

  The Chinese always thought their greatest asset was “the Chinese mind.” As they scrutinized other cultures the Chinese noticed foreigners saw life quite differently, failing to understand the qualities of thought separating them from the Chinese. For example, the first legendary Chinese Emperor, Fu Xi, was famous for establishing a connection between the individual and nature (philosophy & keen insight), unlike western leaders such as Sargon famed for slaughter and conquest (war & killing). Unlike the West, Chinese philosophers avoided arguments about definitions (epistemology) or what was real and what was not, and stuck with practical subjects. Most Chinese philosophers were concerned with how to live now, what makes a superior person, and how one could grow to be a superior person. Lao Tzu founded Taoism in 600 BC, Confucius taught morality in 549 BC, and Buddhism started to infiltrate China in 200 BC from India. These eastern philosophies avoided conflicts about the afterlife. Life here on earth was stressed, and the afterlife was something no one could know.

  Taoism concentrated on telling the adherent to flow with events as water flows down a stream, and concentrate on becoming a superior man. One key to Taoism was conformity with facts found in life. To struggle against the tides of the time was not the sign of a superior person. The Tao is “the way” or the principle governing an ordered universe.[74] Confucius was an ethics teacher stressing right living, honor, and obedience. He was especially concerned with governments, and wanted governments to be operated honestly and for the benefit of all, including the peasants. During his life his impact was not great; however, after his death his philosophies became widely accepted, and the model for government officials in China. Buddhism taught that one might achieve enlightenm
ent by living right (right work, etc.) and trying to reach out to the universal “one” into which everything must someday merge. Buddhism taught the Eightfold Path to living and enlightenment. Named for Buddha, who was rich as a boy, but as a man he quit worldly things and began to contemplate what made people miserable. One day, while sitting under a tree, he was hit with the thought that “wanting things” is what makes men miserable. If people could get rid of this desire for more, they would be happy. Buddha did not write anything down himself, but his disciples wrote down his thoughts after he died, thus starting a movement that would sweep the East with his ideas. Buddhism requires one to focus on the ability to accept what is while turning aside the cares of the world. As a person’s thoughts reach perfection, then enlightenment draws near. This enlightenment is to feel and experience oneness with the universe[75] (Nirvana). Buddhism was originally simplistic and without ritual. In India, where it arose, it remained a minority religion; however, it spread to the whole of Asia and gained a massive following in China, Japan, and the rest of the world.

  China’s language was another unifying factor. The Chinese way of writing, in characters that identified an entire thought rather than an alphabet, shows another way the Chinese mind was, and is, different from the Western mind. Many of the concepts found in eastern writing (Chinese and Japanese) cannot be translated into English. As such, it is difficult to understand the thinking process since it remains hidden behind a language others cannot know unless they learn it and live it.

  The Dynasties (this can get very dull)

  Pottery found in China dates from 6000 BC, showing the ancient age settlers began farming the areas of the Yangtze and Huang river valleys in China. The earliest settlements were farming villages that grew into small towns. Rice farming was taken up at a very early time as well (about 6000 BC), and rice proved to be an excellent food source which facilitated the Chinese population leap. Evidence from these early eras show China’s population growing rapidly; thus, China probably gained the population edge from the start of human history. China was working iron by 500 BC and making iron casts from 400 BC—over nine hundred years before casting became available in the Western world. By 1000 BC, China was making by far the finest pottery in the world along with using extreme temperatures to fire the pottery. About 1000 BC Chinese ink painting began.

  From 2500 BC, large parts of China were unified under various dynasties starting with the Yao, which lasted two hundred years. Approximately 1994 BC, the Xia clan managed to gain control of enough of China to qualify as a dynasty. Xia’s dynastic reign ended by 1600 BC with the inception of the Shang dynasty. The Shang lasted six hundred years before its overthrow by the Chou (also Zhou) in 1050 BC.

  Together, the Shang and Chow dynasties established the fundamental patterns of Chinese life that would prove to be so enduring. The institutions established by the Shang and continued by the Chou would become the same institutions used by Imperial China for two thousand years. The Chou established a strong unified central government that was able, by using clans and the family unit, to run the nation. This strong central governmental control continues in China until this very day. The Chou divided the country into landowning nobility and a peasant underclass. One had to be a recognized member of a clan to be a noble. The peasants could not be members of a clan; thus, welding the peasants in place as workers of the land—and nothing else.

  After the fall of the Chou dynasty in 480 BC, China entered into the Warring States Period until 221 BC. During the Warring States Period, philosophy, technology, and the arts flowered. It was during this time of disarray that Sun Tzu wrote the famous Art of War that is still widely read today. Sun Tzu thought the greatest victories came without fighting. The goal was to bend your adversary to your will, and if accomplished without loss of life, then one had shown himself to be the greatest of generals (note the difference in the Chinese mind, very different from the west). Nevertheless, it was a period of extensive warfare and chaos failing to advance the overall society.

  In 221 BC the Qin (also Chin, for which the nation was named) dynasty began after this clan was able to conquer and again reunite China under one ruler. The Qin had been fighting the nomads in the northern areas of China for years, and they put this knowledge of warfare to use in conquering the feudal states of the Warring States Period. After the conquest, the Qin dynasty started construction on The Great Wall to keep the nomads from the north out of China.[76] The Qin established a total dictatorship, created one language for the entire nation, and required one system for weights and measures. Using harsh laws, the Qin oppressed the people. By murdering intellectuals with different ideas they instilled fear to maintain their rule. This harsh treatment led to discontent and rebellion.

  Figure 23 Jin (North) and Song(South) Dynasties 1142 AD

  In 206 BC the prosperous Han dynasty began and lasted four centuries until AD 220. The greatest ruler of the Han, Emperor Wu, started the civil service system in China wherein individuals were chosen for government jobs by testing rather than heredity. This fundamental change ensured a quality bureaucracy for China. The civil service system was part of a centralized government that was the norm in China since the Qin. The Confucius system and the civil service fit together well, as Confucius had taught that each person had his place in a great web of relationships and obligations. This web of relationships started in the home where each individual had a place with specific obligations, such as children to parents, and wives to husbands; then on to the larger world of peasants to local officials, local officials to regional officials, and so on, which then expanded out to the emperor and the entire world. As a part of this web of relationships and obligations, the civil servant had his place. The civil servant was to be an upright official and lead by example. The Confucius’ system tempered the particularly harsh legalism in China and thereby assisted in holding the nation together.

  Emperor Wu expanded the empire by conquering Northern Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand in Southeast Asia. Between 9 BC to AD 25, the Han dynasty was overthrown and then restored, thus showing a great resiliency. In the year 2 AD, a census taken by the Han dynasty recorded a population of 57 million. This was a huge number for the time. China was in the population lead and never relinquished it. The West was starting to reach China during this period, and about AD 80 the great Silk Road trading route was established from Rome from China. [77] China managed to keep a complete monopoly on the riches of the East for centuries; thus, the Silk Road became a highway of wealth for European merchants if they could reach the portals of commerce in the East. Control of or access to this trade route would determine the economic viability of many empires.

  In AD 220, China fell into a severe civil war that divided China into Three Kingdoms (Wei, Wu, and Shu). It was during this 300 year period (longer than the USA has been around) of war and unrest that Buddhism began to establish itself as a major religion in China. The wars continued and eventually the Sui dynasty, in AD 581, reunited China into one country. The Sui did not last long, and in AD 618 the Tang dynasty emerged. The Tang conquered territory well beyond previous Chinese borders, and they benefited from an excellent road and canal infrastructure. Trading silk—which the Chinese held a monopoly on by keeping its mode of production a secret—along the Silk Road and with the Indian Ocean trade network increased the nation’s wealth. Civil war broke out once again in AD 755 when a great Tang general, An Lushan, rebelled against the throne. His rebellion was defeated, but it cost the empire so much blood and treasure the Tang never recovered. By 907 the Tang dynasty, one of the most brilliant in Chinese history, had disintegrated. From 907 to 960 is the time of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms where multiple states rose and fell rather quickly, leaving China searching for stability.

  Note how closely this follows the basic outline of European and Middle Eastern civilization. Empire after empire arose, only to be conquered by another empire. Some lasted longer than others, but the pattern is the same.

  The Fiv
e Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period ended in northern China when the Liao dynasty, as part of the non-Chinese Khitan Empire, gained control. The Jin conquered the Khitan in 1127 when they took over northern China. The European Marco Polo was traveling around China during the Jin period, and upon returning home told wondrous tales of the Far East, hence increasing western curiosity about Asia. Beginning in 960 and lasting until 1279 AD, the Song dynasty ruled much of southern China. Song emperors survived by retreating south, under pressure from the Jin and later the Mongols, and establishing a new capital at Hangzhou. They managed to create a competent government made up largely of the civil servants recruited from prosperous rural-area families. The Song dynasty was the first to use gunpowder weapons extensively in battles, some of them at sea. After the Mongol conquest of the Jin, the Song warred with the northern invaders for sixty-five years which considerably sapped their strength, but they managed to protect southern China from a Mongol conquest for many years.

  The Mongol successors of Genghis Khan conquered northern China and the Jin by 1234. Commencing in 1231 they conquered Korea by 1236, then turned in earnest on southern China (the Song). Kublai Khan conquered the southern Song dynasty in 1279, establishing the Yang dynasty. Twice Kublai Khan tried to invade Japan only to have his fleets swept away by huge storms named Kamikaze (Divine Winds) by the Japanese. Once again weather and geography changed history.