Commerce and Culture 500-1500 AP World History

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 developed This trade shaped culture and society Trade = 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 ideas Technological innovations Disease-bearing germs Plants 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

Hides, furs, livestock, wool, amber, horses, saddles The Silk Roads: Growth Result = 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: Growth Construction 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: Goods Silk = major product in high demand China 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 World Go ‘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 = small But 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: Buddhism Spread 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