Extra Credit: Mongol Dynasty Discussion with Parents

                                    Mongol Dynasty Discussion

Through discussion with my parents, the Mongol Dynasty achievements were recorded in history; however to achieve their goals, they were tyrants and brutally enslaved their people to achieve their technology glory.  The Mongol Dynasty implemented psychological warfare through cruelty and destruction by the slaughtering of human lives.

My parents felt that they were evil barbarians and thus today, the Chinese remain reserve about the topic of the Mongol Dynasty.  They have brought shame to my parents because the Mongol Dynasty destroyed and disregarded humanity and fairness.  There are many hostile feelings of betrayal and shame that lead to the main reason my mother would never revisit China because of the senseless use of massacre of human lives for dominance.   The Mongol Dynasty resulted in advances of technologies such as gun powder, paper, money, and even compass.  Even though their large empire was historical, it did not change the fact that my parents still feel the Mongol Dynasty suppressed the peoples’ lives similar to Communism.   They feel that this suppression signified torture beyond imagination.  My mother feels that the “true spirit of honor and dignity” never existed with the Mongol Dynasty.  Both my parents do not respect or hold faith that the Mongol Dynasty should be recognized as heroes of the land in their technological advances even though many creditors recognized them as uniting parts of China.  Finally, the emotional suffrage of my parents’ ancestors continues and linger while feudal societies are glorified of their accomplishment.

Chapter 12 The Worlds of the Fifteenth Century

Chapter 12 The Worlds of the Fifteenth Century

            I recall learning about the Ming Dynasty  (1368-1644) when I was nine years old.  My interpretation of this civilization has now changed.  Today, the Ming Dynasty,  which followed the rule of the Mongolians,  still has a historical impact especially when travelers go the China and see the “Great Wall” which was built during that time.   Of great concern, the Ming dynasty reestablished the civil service examination system that created a centralized government unlike the Mongol rule. Most prominent at during that time was the building of massive ships of Emperor Yongle himself.   This started the expansion of an entire community including physicians, government officials, merchants, cooks, soldiers and sailors.  These ships were capable to endure long voyages. This type of ship technology that seem superior over the Europeans have restore back to the Chinese honor and prestige among Asia’s continent.     However, when Yongle died, and the belief that the Chinese were self-sufficient, the ships slowly were neglected because travel by sea was disabled.   To differentiate, humiliation collapse the Chinese power. 

                 Finally, to bring to light, the Chinese people were willing to give up sea power.  Cultural 

isolation turned against the Chinese  people during Ming Dynasty.   This isolation declined any trade 

with seafaring nation.  This “lock-down” technique applied through the Ming Dynasty was during 

the feudal society,  and thus questions why the Chinese relinquish power when Yongle died after 

building such a great army.    Additionally, the developments of the Ming Dynasty famously 

navigated the end of communications of the Ming Dynasty to other parts of the world.   

Chapter 11 Pastoral Peoples on the Global stage

Chapter 11  Pastoral Peoples on the Global stage

Pastoral societies are very interesting and comparing them to other civilizations, there are distinctions between them. The people live in small and dispersed encampments of kinfolk and organize themselves in kinship-based groups. Pastoral societies are more mobile, egalitarian, hierarchy, and less civilized, urban, and agricultural.  Unlike other societies, what astonished me was that women had empowerment.  They were offered more opportunities, and men were not superior to them. The Mongol empire arised, and it was the largest land-based empire. Additionally, the Mongols’ armies were ruthless  people who executed those who disobeyed them.   Even though they conquered territory, relearning their conquest today, made them a true dictatorship and murderers.     I find it truthful, that they were terrorists than historians.   Historic documentation showed that the Mongolians expanded their territory through the use of violence to revolutionize their world. The Mongols past history was a reminder that we must not repeat their history as an approach to show power. Violence never prevails.  Obtaining territory through brutality does not signify honor.    In opposition, I do not concur that they were successful individuals because they lack the honor and respect of true historians who used violent methods to obtain their power.   They brutally killed all who stood in their way.  Furthermore, the Mongolians tortured people, and they were terrorists.   They continued through history as smart people using their violence to manipulate the weak.  Without a doubt in my opinion, they wanted to slaughter and destroy the innocent individuals.   Furthermore, I believe that historians today realize that this method of conquest only leads to more violence. Nevertheless, history does not need to repeat historians’ actions, but today, we must admit our mistakes and correct them.  Equally important, war does not bring peace but significantly war consumes peace.   

Chapter 9 Early Women in Islam

                                              Chapter 9 Early Women in Islam

         I presuppose that women made some gains when in the rise of Islam when Quran began.  As women were given control over their own property and granted rights of inheritance, this offered new opportunities for them.    In the religious sphere, the women were granted a spiritual union equal to men.  However, I conceive that there still existed a strong division of inequality.

         Islam women, particularly from a Westerner’s point of view, were still exploited.  Women weren’t recognized as independent people, so I accredit that women were still mistreated.  Men were still in charge of women.   Traditions for the Islam women still made women victims of honor.   For example, “honor killings” had no sanctions.   It was allowed that a husband could murder his wife if he didn’t want to divorce her but she wanted a divorce from him.  Honor killings were permissible and even today, this suggest a distortion of what Islam people consider righteous honor.   Men superiority still was the tradition in the early Islam life.  Sexism was obvious even though there existed more outlets and opportunities in the religious field. 

         In an indirect way, the women in the early Islam planted seeds for the next generation of women in Islam.   Reforms from strong and influential women later demonstrated how inequality affected the Islam women historically.     The women of early Islam give me vivid reminders of how it reflects my ancestors’ struggles of prejudice especially that of my Great Grandmother who was torture and imprisoned and my helpless Grandmother, who was tortured and exploited by evil men. Finally, I cannot correct history, but only see it as a constant reminder of mistakes that our country cannot repeat again.

  

Chapter 8 China and the World: East Asian Connections, 500-1300

 Chapter 8 China and the World: East Asian Connections, 500-1300

Strayer opens the chapter with China in the “Golden Age” as the country was unified under the Sui dynasty. It’s amazing how many dynasties china had such as Tang and Song, and they formed ever so quickly! If you look back at other civilizations that we have studied, the other civilizations sometimes took a little longer to reform their government system/ruling situation. I have heard of the term “foot binding” before; this is such a cruel crime! Foot binding was tightly wrapping a young girl’s, which lead to broken bones. Many Chinese mothers encouraged their daughters to go through this procedure to enhance their marriage. I have heard in the past that smaller feet looked more graceful and elegant, and big feet were not as acceptable, so foot binding came into play. China developed the tribune system, which required non-Chinese authorities to accept Chinese superiority. Outsiders had to perform the kowtow to the Chinese emperor, and in return, one was able to trade in China, and the emperor would give one “bestowals” or gifts to maintain a neutral relationship with them. This was clever because this would also protect the emperor of possibly getting killed.  If he keeps a regulated relationship, he would not feel threatened that one could possibly rebel against him. Even though the process is not similar, it reminded me of a foreigner obtaining citizenship from another country by passing an exam about the country’s facts. Change is recurrent and has remained constant throughout all of history from the beginning, and the emerging beliefs of Confucianism and Daoism have shaped China tremendously.

Chapter 6 Classical Era Variations

Chapter 6 Classical Era Variations

Strayer conveys many different civilizations throughout this chapter, and a few civilizations were civilizations were similar to what we have studied in the past as well. On page 264, there’s a chart on the continental population in the second wave era. These population numbers were estimates and controversial among many scholars. I found the statistics particularly interesting because Australia/Ocenia’s population remained almost the same throughout. There was not much fluctuation in the population, whereas Africa kept bouncing up and down. The image “Lord of Sipan” displayed on page 280 caught my eye because the Moche civilization, or in fact the Mesoamerica civilizations, reminded me of the Egyptian civilization. To enjoy afterlife, the Egyptians would bury their dead rulers in tombs dug underground similar to the Moche ruler going back to 290 C.E.  Mesoamerica is similar to Egypt spiritually as well and the rulers acted as the middleman between heaven and earth.

The cities without states intrigued me as well. In the past, we have learned about the Greeks thriving in city-states and the ancient Mesopotamians, where they had their own centralized form of government. Also known as “cities without citadels”, they were functioning without a coercive authority of a state. The question we had debated in class, is subjugation inevitable in societies, popped up in my head. Referring back to the chart on page 280, the African population thrived and increased from 11% (400 B.C.E) to 15% (1000 C.E). This civilization reminded me of the Indus Valley. However, there was no one person/group who controlled the population, but the civilization did not last very long compared to for example the china civilization.