Commerce and Culture500-1500

AP World History Notes

Chapter 8

Why Trade?

Different ecological zones = natural uneven distribution of goods and resources

Early monopolization of certain goods Silk in China Spices in Southeast Asia

I want what you have! Do you want what I have? Let’s trade!

Trade: 500-1500

Long-distance trade developedThis trade shaped culture and societyTrade = mostly indirect

Chain of separate transactions Goods traveled father than merchants

Significance of Trade: Economic

Altered consumption Ex: West Africans now able to get salt to

flavor and preserve their food

Changed the day-to-day lives of individuals Ex: trade specialization --> led to less self-

sufficiency and more dependency

Significance of Trade:Social

Traders became their own social group Sometimes viewed suspiciously --> why are they

making money without making the goods?

Trade became a means of social mobility Money = land = power and status

Trade used by elite groups to distinguish themselves from commoners Only they could afford luxury goods from far away

like silk or ivory

Significance of Trade:Political

Controlling and taxing trade motivated the creation of states and kingdoms

Wealth from trade sustained these states and kingdoms and facilitated their growth

What Else Was “Traded”?

Religious ideasTechnological innovationsDisease-bearing germsPlants and animals

The Silk Roads

The Silk Roads: Growth

Eurasia = often divided into inner and outer zones with different ecologies

Outer Eurasia = relatively warm and well-watered China, India, Middle East, Mediterranean

Inner Eurasia = harsher, drier climate Eastern Russia, Central Asia

The Silk Roads: GrowthResult = steppe products traded for

agricultural products and manufactured goods from inner Eurasia Birth of the Silk Roads trade network

Hides, furs, livestock, wool, amber, horses,

saddles

The Silk Roads: GrowthConstruction of classical civilizations

and empires added major players to this trade network Persian Empire, Greek Empire, Roman

Empire, Han dynasty, Gupta Empire Result = Silk Roads continued to grow

The Silk Roads: Goods

Most goods traded = luxury goods rather than staple goods

Destined for an elite and wealthy market

Only goods worth transporting with such high transportation costs

The Silk Roads: GoodsSilk = major product in

high demandChina had a silk

monopoly until the 500s --> then others gained knowledge of silk production Increased the supply of

silk along the Silk Roads

Silk Makes the WorldGo ‘Round

Used as currency in Central Asia

Became a symbol of high status in both China and the Byzantine Empire

Used in the expanding religions of Buddhism and Christianity Ex: worn by Buddhist monks Ex: silk altar covers in Christian

churches

The Silk Roads: Goods

Volume of trade = smallBut social and economic impact of trade

= big Ex: peasant in China produced luxury

goods instead of crops Ex: merchants could make enormous

profits

The Silk Roads: Cultures

Major result of trade along the Silk Roads = the spread of Buddhism

From India to Central & East Asia

Spread by Indian traders and Buddhist monks

The Silk Roads: BuddhismSpread to oases cities in

Central Asia Voluntarily converted Buddhism gave these small

cities a link to the larger, wealthy, and prestigious civilization of India

Many of these cities became centers of learning and commerce

Buddhist temple in Dunhuang (an oases

city)

The Silk Roads: Buddhism

Transformation of Buddhism Original faith = shunned

the material world Now Buddhism = filled

with wealthy monks, elaborate and expensive monasteries, and so on

Buddhist monastery in China

The Silk Roads: Buddhism

What type of Buddhism spread? MAHAYANA! Buddha = a deity Many bodhisattvas Emphasis on

compassion

The Silk Roads: Diseases

Long-distance trade = resulted in exposure to unfamiliar diseases

The Silk Roads: Disease

Athens (430-429 BCE) = widespread epidemic; killed 25% of the army

Roman & Han Empires = measles and smallpox devastated both populations

Mediterranean World (534-750 CE) = devastated by bubonic plague from India

The Black Death

Spread due to the Mongol Empire’s unification of most of Eurasia (13th-14th centuries)

Could have been bubonic plague, anthrax, or collection of epidemic diseases

1346-1350 = killed 1/3 of European population

Similar death toll in China & parts of Islamic world