Civilization- an advanced level of culture, usually characterized by organized government and religion, division of labor, a class structure and a system of writing.
ANCIENT CIVILIZATION
The word 'Mesopotamia' is greek for land between two rivers. The civilization of Mesopotamia developed between Rivers Euphrates and Tigris in Sumer. Sumer or Babylonia was the lower part of Mesopotamia, also present day Iraq.
The civilization of Mesopotamia was characterized by many innovations. This marked advancement in political, social and economic organization.
THE FERTILE CRESCENT
Between the twin rivers of Tigris and Euphrates lies the fertile valley that has the better claim than any other place in the world as the birthplace of civilization. The two rivers carry great volumes of water, cutting deep channel that made irrigation difficult.Mesopotamia or "the land between two rivers" is the name given to its nortsouthern part was known as Babylonia and the lowest part was known as Sumer.
THE SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION
The Sumerian civilization emerged upon the flood plain of the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers about 4000 B.C. The social structure of the Sumerians was decidedly different from other societies of that and later times. The Sumerian communities were city states organized around a temple and ruled by a priesthood. The bulk of the people of the community were considered to be the servant-slaves of the god of the temple. The insecurities of life justified the role of the priesthood. When calamities occured despite the best efforts of the priesthood this was explained as being the result of the actions of other gods acting in concert which over-ruled the wishes of the local god.
RELIGION
Sumerian religion has its roots in the worship of nature, such as the wind and water. The ancient sages of Sumer found it necessary to bring order to that which they did not understand and to this end they came to the natural conclusion that a greater force was at work. The forces of nature were originally worshipp as themselves. However, over time the human form became associated with those forces. Gods in human form were now seen to have control over nature.
GOVERNMENT
The ancient Sumerians are credited for the invention of government. They were affected politically and economically by it. It was invented to organize labor and officials were appointed to sort out problems and work on construction projects. Because of this newly-organized labor, people could work together to form an economy by building canals and roads that made trading easier. Socially, the people now had something to do, and a way to earn a living. They had also set-up government to make laws. These laws, enforced by courts, were made so the Sumerian people would know what was expected of them.
The ancient Mesopotamia's created a government that was a combination of monarchy and democracy. The kingdoms of Sumer were organized into city-states and the Kings ruled each city-states for the gods. They were assisted by priests, scribes, and nobles. But before 3500 BC priests ruled Sumer. They attended the gods who really ruled.
The ancient Mesopotamia's created a government that was a combination of monarchy and democracy. The kingdoms of Sumer were organized into city-states and the Kings ruled each city-states for the gods. They were assisted by priests, scribes, and nobles. But before 3500 BC priests ruled Sumer. They attended the gods who really ruled.
THE FIRST EMPIRE BUILDERS
- The Akkadians - Semitic people, they are a group of people who spoke a language related to that if the Hebrew and Arabic. They adopted most of the Sumerian culture.
- The Babylonian Empire - also of Semitic group, invaded Mesopotamia. The Babylonians were lead by an Amorite ruler named Hammurabi. His most important gift to civilization was his written code of laws which included laws that controlled all aspects of Babylonian life.
- The Hittites - they were herdsmen from the northwest of Babylon, they were the first group of people who used iron for weapons, aside from this, their greatest contribution to civilization was their more humane legal system. Under their laws, capital punishment was reserved only for major crimes.
- The Assyrians - came from the northern portion of Mesopotamia, and built the city-state of Assur. Their exposed farmland made them easy prey to attack. They were known as one of the fiercest, cruelest, most aggressive, and most warlike of all the ancient people.
- The Chaldeans - they rebuilt the Babylon
- The Persians - bore the name of Persia, known now as Iran. under the Persian rule, subject people enjoyed remarkable freedom, but, in the end, the Persian Empire fell.
- The Phoenicians - given the name "the greatest traders of antiquity", they were the first people who ventured beyond the strait of Gibraltar. The Phoenicians developed an alphabet consisting of 22 consonants.
- The Hebrews - contributions of this empire, included the Jewish code of laws, the Ten Commandments and a body of laws called the Mosaic Law, which demanded kindness for slaves and the poor.
CIVILIZATION IN INDUS RIVER VALLEY
The earliest traces of civilization in the Indian subcontinent are to be found in places along, or close, to the Indus river. Excavations first conducted in 1921-22, in the ancient cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro, both now in Pakistan, pointed to a highly complex civilization that first developed some 4,500-5,000 years ago, and subsequent archaeological and historical research has now furnished us with a more detailed picture of the Indus Valley Civilization and its inhabitants. The Indus Valley people were most likely Dravidians, who may have been pushed down into south India when the Aryans, with their more advanced military technology, commenced their migrations to India around 2,000 BCE. Though the Indus Valley script remains undeciphered down to the present day, the numerous seals discovered during the excavations, as well as statuary and pottery, not to mention the ruins of numerous Indus Valley cities, have enabled scholars to construct a reasonably plausible account of the Indus Valley Civilization.
The cities of the Indus Valley Civilization were well-organised and solidly built out of brick and stone. Their drainage systems, wells and water storage systems were the most sophisticated in the ancient world. They also developed systems of weights and trade. They made jewellery and game pieces and toys for their children. From looking at the structures and objects which survive we are able to learn about the people who lived and worked in these cities so long ago.
The people of the Indus Valley Civilization also developed a writing system which was used for several hundred years. However, unlike some other ancient civilizations, we are still unable to read the words that they wrote.
CIVILIZATION IN CHINA
Located in Southeast Asia along the coastline of the Pacific Ocean, China is the world's third largest country, after Russia and Canada. With an area of 9.6 million square kilometers and a coastline of 18,000 kilometers, its shape on the map is like a rooster. It reaches Mohe in Heilongjiang Province as its northern end, Zengmu Ansha (or James Shoal) to the south, Pamirs to the west, and expands to the eastern border at the conjunction of the Heilongjiang (Amur) River and the Wusuli (Ussuri) River, spanning about 50 degrees of latitude and 62 degrees of longitude. China is bordered by 14 countries -- Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakstan, Mongolia, and Russia. Marine-side neighbors include eight countries -- North Korea, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
CULTURE OF CHINA
China is a large tourist country with profound culture. When visiting China, exploring Chinese culture is what you can not miss. Chinese culture page offers the most glorious essence of Chinese culture, such as Chinese cuisine,Chinese table manners, Chinese zodiac signs, Chinese tea culture, Kongfu, Beijing opera and the likes. Read the classic Chinese culture and discover the essence of China.
RELIGION
Because China is a communist state, there is no official religion and more than half of the population claims no religious affiliation or identifies as atheist. About a quarter of the people practice Taoism and Confucianism and other traditional religions. There are also small numbers of Buddhists, Muslims and Christians. Although numerous Protestant and Catholic ministries have been active in the country since the early 19th century, they have made little progress in converting Chinese to these religions.
ARTS
Chinese art is greatly influenced by the country’s rich spiritual and mystical history. Many sculptures and paintings depict spiritual figures of Buddhism.
Many musical instruments are integral to Chinese culture, including the flute-like xun and the guqin, which is in the zither family. The country’s musical history dates back to the beginning of its existence.
Eastern-style martial arts were also developed in China, and it is the birthplace of kung fu, which translates to human achievement.
Ancient Chinese were avid writers and philosophers — especially during the the Ming and Qing dynasties — and that is reflected in the country’s rich liturgical history.
CUSTOMS AND CELEBRATIONS
Chinese art is greatly influenced by the country’s rich spiritual and mystical history. Many sculptures and paintings depict spiritual figures of Buddhism.
Many musical instruments are integral to Chinese culture, including the flute-like xun and the guqin, which is in the zither family. The country’s musical history dates back to the beginning of its existence.
Eastern-style martial arts were also developed in China, and it is the birthplace of kung fu, which translates to human achievement.
Ancient Chinese were avid writers and philosophers — especially during the the Ming and Qing dynasties — and that is reflected in the country’s rich liturgical history.
THE SHANG DYNASTY
The Shang Dynasty marked the middle of China’s Bronze Age and was a dynasty that made great contributions to Chinese civilization. Scholars do not fully agree on the dates and details of the earliest Chinese dynasties, but most accept that the Shang Dynasty is the first one to have left behind written records and solid archaeological evidence of its existence. The Shang is the second dynasty of the Three Dynasties Period. Legends speak of the earlier Xia dynasty, but no written records from that time have been found to confirm this. Even though texts written later than the Shang Dynasty mention the Xia Dynasty, Western scholars argue that they are not enough to prove it truly existed. Therefore, most Western scholars regard the legendary Xia as an early civilization that existed between the Neolithic and Shang cultures. But many Chinese scholars firmly believe that the Xia did indeed exist even if written records have never been found.
Because the Three Dynasties’ civilization occupied the Yellow River valley, this geographic area is often called the birthplace or cradle of Chinese civilization. While this is true in some regard, one must keep in mind that the Shang was but one of several contemporary civilizations in China.1 It may have been the only one with written records, but that does not mean it was the only one in existence. More recently discovered archaeological sites far away from the Yellow River valley reveal distinctly different cultures from the Shang, and scholars are now trying to determine how much these cultures influenced each other.
ORACLE BONES
Before the discovery of the Shang oracle bones and the interpretation of their inscriptions and bronze inscriptions, scholars had no firm proof that the Shang Dynasty existed. Up to that point, Shang history had been based heavily on historical accounts written long after the Shang period ended. Shang bronze inscriptions were usually very short. With so little information, scholars questioned whether the dynasty even existed. The information and details inscribed onto oracle bones matched what was recorded in texts written centuries later, thereby providing the evidence scholars needed. The oracle bone inscriptions and the bronze inscriptions mark the beginning of written Chinese history.
The king or professional diviners hired by the king used oracle bones to make predictions about the future or to answer questions such as, “Will the king have a son?”, “Will it rain tomorrow?”, “If we send 3,000 men into battle, will we succeed?”, or even “Is the long drought caused by ancestor X?”2 The scribe carved the question onto a bone (most often the shoulder bones of water buffalo or other cattle) or a tortoise plastron.3 On the other side of the bone or plastron he would carve a number of small pits. He then inserted a hot metal rod into these pits until the bone cracked; and the king or diviner interpreted the cracks. Then, on the other side of the bone, the scribe carved the answer and the eventual outcome.
By analyzing oracle bone inscriptions, other artifacts, and archaeological sites such as tombs and ancient cities, scholars have been able to piece together many details of Shang civilization. They have confirmed the names of its kings, its style of government, its military history, its religious beliefs and rituals, and its society.
THE KINGDOM
According to legend, the Shang Dynasty was founded sometime around 1600 BCE by a virtuous man named Cheng Tang, who overthrew the evil king of the legendary Xia. The Shang Dynasty was a monarchy governed by a series of kings, 29 or 30 in total, over the course of almost 600 years.4 The king was served by officials who held specialized positions of authority and function; and the officials belonged to a hereditary class of aristocrats, usually related to the king himself.5
While the king lived in and ruled from a capital city, it wasn’t always the same city. Although historical records mention many different Shang capitals, only a few have actually been confirmed with archaeological evidence. No one knows exactly why a king would move the capital but some scholars think it had to do with internal power struggles within the royal family.
Cheng Tang is said to have established the dynasty’s first capital at a town called Shang (near modern-day Zhengzhou), but later kings moved the capital many more times, the last being a place called Yin (near modern-day Anyang). Archaeological evidence suggests that the town of Shang was the ancestral capital of the dynasty that remained in a fixed location throughout the dynasty. It was where the Shang kings kept their most sacred ancestral temples, tablets, and regalia. The political capital was where the kings lived and ruled from. While the political capital moved many times during the dynasty, the ancestral capital never moved.6
The core of the dynasty was located in the northern part of modern-day Henan province, in a triangular area between the cities of Anyang, Luoyang, and Zhengzhou, the latter two of which are on the Yellow River. In addition to uncovering the remains of several Shang cities, archaeologists have found huge tombs of many Shang kings and their families. Even though the dynasty was centered in this area, its culture reached places much farther away.
As the oracle bones and other artifacts and records revealed, the Shang kings were constantly at war with outsiders near and far. Many of the oracle bones bore questions related to battles, such as the outcome of a future battle or how many men to send into battle. The king sent out armies of as many as 13,000 men to fight battles on behalf of the kingdom. Victorious armies brought back prisoners of war—as many as 30,000 at a time who either became laborers or ritual sacrifices.7 The armies also helped gain new territories and bring back precious resources for the kingdom.
RELIGION
The Shang worshipped the “Shang Di,” who was the supreme god that ruled over the lesser gods of the sun, the moon, the wind, the rain, and other natural forces and places.8 They also worship8ped their ancestors because they believed that although their ancestors lived in heaven after their death, they were still actively involved in the affairs of family and descendants. The kings communicated with their ancestors using oracle bones and made frequent sacrifices to them. As in many other societies, they sacrificed animals to royal ancestors and to various nature gods,9 using sacrifices to ask the ancestors or gods for help and to feed the ancestors or gods to keep them strong.10 They believed that if they failed to properly worship their ancestors, their family and the kingdom would experience many disasters.
Because the Shang believed in the afterlife and ancestor worship, they thought very seriously about burial and what was to accompany the deceased to his or her grave. The vast and elaborate tombs of the Shang royal family are signs of their strong beliefs. Among the many treasures buried in important people’s tombs were the remains of many other people. Some were nameless individuals who had been captured during battle and used as human sacrifices at burials. Others were relatives or lower-ranking dependents of the deceased. This practice of burying lower-ranking people reflected the Shang’s belief that those related to a king or lord by blood or service in life were expected to continue that relationship in death.
THE END OF SHANG DYNASTY
The Shang Dynasty ended in about 1050 BCE, when conquerors from the state of Zhou invaded the capital and successfully toppled the Shang Dynasty. The Zhou conquerors claimed to overthrow the Shang Dynasty for moral reasons. They said that the Shang king was evil and that heaven no longer wanted him to rule. They blamed the Shang’s downfall on its king’s excessive drinking, indulgent lifestyle, and immoral behavior. The downfall remained a cautionary tale to kings and emperors for years to come.
THE CHOU DYNASTY
The Chou or Zhou dynasty ruled China from about 1027 to about 221 B.C. It was the longest dynasty in Chinese history. The Chou Dynasty followed the second Chinese dynasty, the Shang. Originally pastoralists, the Chou set up a (proto-)feudal social organization based on families, with administrative bureaucracy, and developed a middle class. From such a decentralized tribal system, the Zhou became centralized over time. Iron was introduced and Confucianism was developed. Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War in about 500 B.C.
Chinese Philosophers and Religion
During the Warring States period of the Chou dynasty, a class of scholars developed, whose members included the great Chinese philosopher Confucius. The Book of Changes was written during the Chou Dynasty. The philosopher Lao Tse was appointed librarian for the historical records of the Chou kings. This period is sometimes referred to as the One Hundred Schools Period. The Chou banned human sacrifice and saw their success over the Shang as a mandate from heaven. Ancestor worship developed.
Start of the Chou Dynasty
Wuwang ("Warrior King") was the son of the leader of the Chou (Zhou) located on the western border of the Shang's China in what is now Shaanxi province. He formed a coalition with the leaders of other states to defeat the last, evil ruler of the Shang. They succeeded and Wuwang became the first king of the Chou dynasty (c.1046-43 B.C.).
Chinese Philosophers and Religion
During the Warring States period of the Chou dynasty, a class of scholars developed, whose members included the great Chinese philosopher Confucius. The Book of Changes was written during the Chou Dynasty. The philosopher Lao Tse was appointed librarian for the historical records of the Chou kings. This period is sometimes referred to as the One Hundred Schools Period. The Chou banned human sacrifice and saw their success over the Shang as a mandate from heaven. Ancestor worship developed.
Start of the Chou Dynasty
Wuwang ("Warrior King") was the son of the leader of the Chou (Zhou) located on the western border of the Shang's China in what is now Shaanxi province. He formed a coalition with the leaders of other states to defeat the last, evil ruler of the Shang. They succeeded and Wuwang became the first king of the Chou dynasty (c.1046-43 B.C.).
Division of the Chou Dynasty
Conventionally, the Chou dynasty is divided into the Western or Royal Chou (c.1027-771 B.C.) and the Dong or Eastern Chou (c.770-221 B.C.) periods. The Dong Zhou itself is subdivided into the Spring and Autumn (Chunqiu) period (c.770-476 B.C.), which was named for a book supposedly by Confucius and when iron weapons and farm implements replaced bronze, and the Warring States (Zhanguo) period (c.475-221 B.C.).
At the start of the Western Chou, the empire of the Chou extended from Shaanxi to the Shandong peninsula and the Beijing area. The first kings of the Chou dynasty gave land to friends and relatives. Like the two previous dynasties, there was a recognized leader who passed power to his descendants. The vassals' walled cities, also passed down patriarchally, developed into kingdoms. By the end of the Western Chou, the central government had lost all but nominal power, such as was required for rituals.
During the Warring States period, the aristocratic system of warfare changed: peasants fought; there were new weapons, including crossbows, chariots, and iron armor.
Developments During the Chou Dynasty
During the Chou dynasty in China, ox-drawn ploughs, iron and iron casting, horseback riding, coinage, multiplication tables, chopsticks, and the crossbow were introduced. Roads, canals, and major irrigation projects were developed.
Legalism
Legalism developed during the Warring States period. Legalism is a school of philosophy that provided the philosophical background for the first imperial dynasty, the Qin Dynasty. Legalism accepted that humans are flawed and asserted that political institutions should recognize this. Therefore the state should be authoritarian, demanding strict obedience to the leader, and meting out known rewards and punishments.
THE CHIN DYNASTY
this dynasty reunited China. The Chin ruler, Chin Shih Huang-ti, known to be the "First Emperor". He conquered the Barbarians to the south of his kingdom and protected the northern border by building the Great Wall.
THE HAN DYNASTY
Its first Emperor, Kao-ti, established his capital at Chang-an. There he set about replacing the old laws with the teachings of Confucianism, which were to instruct and edify society. Reaching back to the Chou, the Emperor also revived the tenant of the Mandate of Heaven, justifying his authority in the celestial sphere.
In the early years of Han, government became less oppressive. Taxes were lowered and extreme punishment curtailed. Merchants, a class generally distrusted, gained new freedoms, and as the floods of the Yellow River were better controlled, more land was brought under plow. Internal disputes subsided and efforts were made to appease the barbarians of the north and west. Over time China’s borders swelled, reaching well beyond the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. By 87 BC much of what is now modern China was under Han’s direct rule. The emperor governed well over a million square miles and a population of almost fifty million, an empire comparable in almost every way to that of contemporary Rome.
Such aggressive expansion came at a cost, however, and the country found its many resources strained. Measures were undertaken to give greater authority to regional officials, and a professional army replaced the army of conscripted peasants.
This new army was tested by unrest on the borders, as outlying states warred with the Empire. Also the Yellow River again flooded and, combined with other natural disturbances, caused many to question the Emperor’s Heavenly Mandate. These problems forced a migration of peasants southward; eighteen million or more made the trek in the first two centuries of the new millennium. Strained by these migrants, the people of the south and east rebelled, climaxing in AD 220 when the Emperor surrendered his throne to Ts’ao-P’i, who declared himself the first Emperor of the Wei Dynasty. Not only had 400 years of Han ended, but the empire it ruled was split in thirds, each governed by its own emperor. | ||||
 Yang Chien became emperor in 581 and took the imperial title Wen-ti. A brilliant yet volatile leader, he was devoted to the Buddhist religion and to his wife, who made up for the Emperor’s shortcomings. Wen-ti centralized his government by controlling the appointments of local officials and sending inspectors abroad to ensure the Emperor’s wishes were being followed. Representatives from each province traveled three times each year to the capital to give an accounting. Afterwards awards and punishments were dispensed. He banned all weapons throughout the kingdom except those within the army, and using forced labor, he repaired the Great Wall, badly damaged by the warring of the previous period. Though the Emperor’s rule could be harsh, it was also tempered. He built many Buddhist temples and provided training for its clergy, but allowed Taoism to flourish. Concerning matters of state Wen-ti enforced the teachings of Confucius and its tenets of obedience. Moral character mattered more to Wen-ti than did one’s genealogy, so he opened opportunity for public service to the masses regardless of ethnicity or class. He then published a new legal code containing 1,735 articles, the essence of which was used for centuries.Wen-ti died in 604, and the throne passed to his second son, who took the imperial name Yang-ti. Where his father had spent wisely, the son spent recklessly. Emperor Yang-ti took a small canal project begun by his father and turned it monumental - it was completed six years later and stretched from present-day Hangchow to present-day Beijing. Over five million workers invested their labor in the project. Expensive pomp, construction projects, and military expeditions exacted a heavy toll, and rebellion broke out in 617. THE TANG DYNASTY  Where the Sui Dynasty brought stability to warring China, the T’ang brought imperial unity. Past institutions of nobility and soldiery, legal code and state-owned land, and sponsorship of Buddhism and Taoism were handed to T’ang rulers who fashioned them anew. Almost immediately the bureaucracy set about re-styling Sui’s ponderous legal code, reducing its 1,735 articles to 502. Advanced for its day, the code’s influence stretched four hundred years and affected the surrounding kingdoms of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. T’ang’s second emperor, T’ai-tsung, was a firm administrator, frugal at court but who invested in state-wide internal improvements. Under his rule T’ang spread, revenues were up, and China enjoyed its greatest reach with tribute states extending as much as five thousand miles west from its capital, Loyang. But as was so often the case, what could be done, could be undone. T’ai-tsung’s successor, Emperor Kao, was weak, dominated by his wife, the Empress Wu Chao. Empress Wu ensured her son would be the next emperor. She later had him banished and installed his brother, who then abdicated the throne. Seizing the moment, Wu declared herself China’s first female emperor and embarked on a long and corrupt reign. She emptied the treasury on lavish ceremony and ill-considered foreign adventures, traded lovers openly, and executed those who displeased her. When she died in 705 at age 82, the country was in economic and political chaos, and the bureaucracy swelled with the addition of one thousand eunuchs. Five years later her banished son, Hsüan-tsung, returned to begin the most influential reign of the T’ang emperors. A man of many talents, including loyalty and wisdom, Emperor Hsüan-tsung, restored frugality to the palace, created a fair tax code, and restyled the military. In Western terms a Renaissance Man, the Emperor opened his court to scholars, artists, foreigners, and various religions. He surrounded himself with few, but brilliant, advisors and banished the eunuchs. Under his rule China flourished, but with the passing years the Emperor lost interest in governing, instead turning his interests to Taoism. His indifference opened the door to rebellion, and for seven years the country suffered war waged by a governor named An Lu-shan. Though put down, a frail state was left in its wake. The eunuchs returned, choosing each emperor to the last of T’ang. The institutions that defined the dynasty were strained and twisted almost beyond recognition. Its last days were marked by battles over the tax code and Buddhist church, foreign threats, gangsterism, floods, and droughts. Wracked by purges and financial collapse, Heaven’s Mandate was revoked and T’ang fell. THE SUNG DYNASTY  The collapse of the T’ang brought chaos to China as numerous dynasties vied for control. After 50 years of turmoil, one ruler emerged to re-unite the country. Donning the yellow robe, he declared himself T’ai-tsu, Emperor of the Sung. His dynasty would last 319 years and was one of China’s most brilliant and attractive.The Emperor set aside military traditions and insisted on civilian control of his provinces, government, and military. Civil service exams were revived, schools spread, and literacy increased as new printing technology made books more widely available. From this grew a new class well versed in the arts and intellectual fields.The Sung boasted a welfare state that included housing and care for the elderly, state hospitals, low-interest loans for peasants, state orphanages, free pharmacies for the poor, filled state granaries, and fire stations and libraries in the large cities. The Sung introduced paper money in 1024. Checking accounts, bills of exchange, and promissory notes soon followed. Increased yields in agriculture grew from the introduction of new tools and techniques, and advances were made in the fields of mining and manufacturing of ceramics as China moved from an agrarian to a mercantile state. Other countries took notice. From Japan to the Red Sea, countries sent fleets to Chinese ports seeking trade. China, too, explored foreign ports. Her ships, known as junks, were guided by compasses, and sported advanced capstans, pivoting sails, and watertight compartments, making China’s fleet the world’s greatest well into the fifteenth century.In this the age of China’s renaissance, advancements and innovations flowed. The list is impressive. New methods of bridge building, canal lock-gates, and water-powered clocks improved industry and the movement of people. Methods of acupuncture and autopsies and a physician’s code of ethics were codified. Great scientific publications were compiled on zoology and botany. The field of philosophy swelled with the writings of neo-Confucians, and the arts, too, saw striking advancements in the lyrical song and portrait and landscape paintings.The peace that permitted these grand accomplishments was purchased at a high price, as foreign lands to the north were paid large tributes. In time, those barbarians became so powerful that they swept down on China, pushing the Sung southward.But in an adjacent part of the world another ruler was forging remarkable achievements of his own kind. The Mongol ruler Genghis Khan had by 1185 conquered central Asia as far west as the Black Sea. By 1232 the Jurchen state in north China fell to his pony soldiers. His son, Kublai, would defeat the Southern Sung in 1279.
THE YUAN DYNASTY
 When China fell to the Mongols, it became part of a vast empire that stretched northward into Siberia and westward to Europe’s Danube. As Kublai Khan completed his conquest of China, he moved his capital to Dadu, today’s Peking. Adopting China’s traditions, Kublai declared himself the Emperor Shih-tsu and his dynasty the Yüan. Mongol rule fell heavy upon the conquered. The examination system was scrapped, and no Chinese could occupy any key bureaucratic position. The native people were relegated to a position beneath not only the Mongols but any foreigner. Peasants suffered most. Many were pressed into military service or forced labor. Others were stripped of their land so that the Emperor could grant it to those he favored. And Kublai was hungry for more land. His armies conquered Korea, Vietnam, Burma and twice tried to conquer Japan only to have the Mongol fleets destroyed by “divine winds” of typhoons. As the empire neared its end, epidemics (contemporaneous with the Black Death in Europe) swept the land. Severe weather battered and scorched those who did not succumb to disease, and poor government following Kublai’s death yielded to widespread gangsterism. Until the Mongols arrived, China was, in the words of one historian, “as familiar to the West as the other side of the moon, except that the moon was an established fact.” Yet amid the misery of Mongol rule the West first learned of this ancient and civilized China. Because it was made a part of the vast Mongol empire, news of it spread to Europe. When two Italian merchants arrived in Cathay (as the Europeans called China) in 1268, word began to pour forth. Fame came to one of their sons, Marco Polo, who first appeared in Kublai’s court in 1275. He spent twenty years traveling China on behalf of the Great Khan. Upon returning to Italy, his tale was recorded by a friend. Reprinted, it spread through Europe causing a sensation as it went. Still, the West was another four hundred years from getting to know China well.
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