THE FAR EAST AND BEYOND TO 1200

I.) GEOGRAPHY OF THE NON-EUROPEAN GLOBE

  1. Africa south of the Sahara: Early life and Muslim influence
  2. China: Sphere of Influence in Asia: Japan, Korea and India
  3. India: Sphere of Influence in China, Tibet, S.E. Asia, Middle East, through the Khyber Pass
  4. Middle East in N. Africa, Mediterranean Sea, India
  5. The Land Bridge from Alaska south; the water bridge between S. America & Pacific Islands
  6. Centrality of Central America: Heyerdahl's Odyssey (W to E)

II.) CHINA, THE "MIDDLE KINGDOM"

  1. Sui Dynasty (589-618): Fall of the Han Dynasty, 220 opened the Period of Disunion
    • Official Support of Buddhism by building many stupas; ordained monks
    • Completed the Grand Canal linking the Yangtze & Yellow Rivers, 605
    • Unifying elements ended the near-anarchy
    • Confucian principles of the period as seen in Judge Dee literature
  2. Tang Dynasty (618-907): Consolidation then Backsliding into disunity
    • Buddhism gained power, wealth, prestige
    • Pushed borders N,S,W; Created first Chinese Legal Code
    • 850: Emperor declared foreigners verboten, 'nationalized' their wealth, suppressed Buddhism
  3. Sung Dynasty (907)-1279): Recovery again, then Backsliding again
    • A Most Confucian gov't & society
      • Calligraphy an art-form; literacy widespread in upper classes
      • Relationships between Buddhists and Confucians: Benign and otherwise
    • Commercialized 'federation' of principalities nominally under the Emperor
      • The Silk Road and other Commercial Enterprises
      • Using the Grand Canal and Roads
    • Tibet and Chinese Influence
    • 1000 ff: Invention of Gunpowder, printing, Use of the magnetic compass; Results? Reasons?
    • Eastern Women's status: Isidasi, Li Ch'ing-chao, Rubiyat, Lady Murasaki; versus Western Women: Iseult, Cappellanus, Eleanor?

III.) EASTERN-MOST PENINSULA AND ISLANDS

  1. Korea during the Han Dynasty and afterward
    • Tang Dynasty: "nominal" (McNeill 264) Hegemony
    • Korean language and script(s)
  2. Japan: Geography; Coalescing Civilization in Yamoto Period, 3-7th Centuries
    • The Emperor of Japan in the Heian Period, 794-1185 vs Shoen System & Fujiwara Family
    • Chinese influence at court, writing, political manners
    • Buddhist influence everywhere vs the Shinto religion; a Shinto Shrine
    • New Way in Japan: Kamakura Period (1185-1338) of Shogunate, Samurai
    • Noh Drama, Tea Ceremony and Yoshikawa's Formulation of the Samurai Code: Musashi
    • Question on the Status of Medieval Women

IV.) THE AMERICAN CONTINENTS

  • Classical Mayan Culture & Architecture, fl.ca. 600; Origins? End?
  • Strangely, abandoning the temples, 850 ff
  • Yucatan capital for northern warrior invaders
  • Recent research begins to read Mayan Hieroglyphs
  • The Book-Ends: Aztec & Inca Civilizations