In what ways did European maritime voyaging in the fifteenth century differ from that of China?

I'm here if you're here! But like the Ming fleet, I'll withdraw if you show too little promise!

Olivia Manning

8/11/2015 11:37:03

Alrighty, let's get this show on the road.
I'll take a shot at MQ3, What role did Central Asian and West African pastoralists play in their respective regions?

The Central Asian Pastoralists played a political and somewhat cultural role in their respective region. Timur, a Turkic warrior, led an army of nomads that modeled Chinggis Khan. His army brought devastation to Russia, Persia, and India again (which wasn't really mentioned in the last chapter. How did the mongols affect India?). Anyways, his empire didn't last due to conflicts among his successors. But throughout the 15th century, his descendants kept control over the area between Persia and Afghanistan. His conquest proved to be the last great military success of nomadic peoples from Central Asia. Hence, probably effecting on the other nomads?

Central Asian pastoralists played a somewhat cultural role because it facilitated the spread of culture a little bit as well. That state between Persia and Afghanistan hosted a sophisticated elite culture that combined Turkic and Persian elements, particularly in its capital Samarkland, whose rulers patronized artists, poets, traders, and craftsmen.

West Africans played a more cultural role i their respective region as well. More so than a political role. The Fulbe, the largest pastoral society in West Africa at the time, shoes how herding people could of had a prominent role in the 15th century. After 1000 CE they gradually migrated eastward from their home located on the upper Senegal on the western edge of the Sahara. They resented their subordination to the neighboring agricultural peoples. The eventual adoption of Islam, due to their migration eastward, a sense of cultural superiority developed. Some even stopped being pastoralists and became respected religious leaders in the settled towns. Their political effect was very minor because it was only in the 18th and 19th centuries that they were the center of religious uprisings, also know as jihads.

Is this answer okay? I was trying to organize the points by the SPICE themes. Is it too wordy? If this were on a test, Mr. Bingham, how would I know what is supporting detail vs. what is just an explanation or an elaboration? I'm open to all suggestions and comments!! Thanks in advance!!

Bingham

8/11/2015 13:58:25

You're fine Olivia. I'm going to address exactly that concern in an answer below. Thanks for breaking the ice, I wasn't going to post if nobody else did!

cathleen freedman

8/11/2015 13:39:06

Bingham has said that in order to better understand concepts in the chapters you should relate them into some kind of story or anecdote. Here's what I have for the ming dynasty:
Ming dynasty had just gone through a nasty break up with Mongol and Ming was super embarrassed to have been with mongol, because what would Ming's ancestors (Han, Tang, and Song) think of savage-like mongol? Ming decided to eradicate all signs of Ming's time with mongol, told all of its friends to never mention Mongol's name(s) or Mongol's clothes ever again, and decided to go back to everything it did before mongol came into their life (confucianism, expanding on knowledge like the crazy huge encyclopedia).
Slowly after Ming's break up, Ming started getting involved in their government job again. Ming reestablished the civil service examination and created a successful, centralized government. With the help of an emperor friend, Yongle, Ming pulled her company (china) back together through restoring the damage Mongol had done. Land was cultivated, canals and irrigation works were restored. The economy was benefitting and Ming was back on the market- She even participated in international and domestic trade again. Good for ming!
Ming started travelling again, but to really cool places. She didn't need Mongol! Ming had a presence in south china and southeast asian port cities and a huge fleet thanks to her just friend, Emperor Yongle. Ming's fleet was crazy incredible. Another friend of Ming, Zheng He, great guy, helped captain fleets in places like Indonesia and Arabia. He sought to enroll distant people and states in Ming's tribute system. Thanks to Zheng- his journey brought power and prestige to china and allowed them to have power in the indian ocean trade system. But Ming was not ready to spread her influence to other territories yet. When Ming's friend, Yongle died, it was really hard for her to continue these fleets. Ming also felt like she was at a point past her breakup with mongol that she was self sufficient and didn't need to associate with other territories. Some barbarians also lived across the street and reminded Ming of Mongol, so you know that wouldn't go over well with Ming. And lastly,Ming was paranoid that her friends, court enuchs were doing the fleets for their own benefit. her other official friends were even more paranoid and couldn't let that happen and ultimately convinced Ming to stop her fleets. That is the story of Ming after the Mongol breakup of 1368.

Bingham

8/11/2015 14:02:43

That's awesome! Are you guys watching? Kathleen killed the Mongol test, so you should be paying attention.

Okay, now the next step Kathleen is to add visualization. Draw, or grab a series of images on the net to serve as place-markers for each step in your story. Then practice looking at the image and reciting that part of the story. Then, on the test, you just move from one mental image to the next with it's associated information. Nicely done!

Bingham

8/11/2015 14:14:25

So I think you guys were a little thrown off by the categories in the test questions last week. Don't over think; this is what we have been talking about with regard to essay writing. The categories would be the point, or the mini-thesis, or the assertion- in a topic sentence. What follows a topic sentence of course is evidence, or concrete details, - things that exist, or existed, in the real world - not ideas or commentary.

Here's an example. I'll punch the categories by capitalizing them. Look for the details that follow each category - or units of analysis (see the summer packet!)

MQ: In what ways did European maritime voyaging in the fifteenth century differ from that of China? What accounts for these differences?

SIZE OF FLEETS: Chinese exploration was undertaken by an enormous fleet composed of several hundred large ships, while European explorations were undertaken by expeditions made up of a handful of small ships.
MOTIVATIONS: European motivations for exploration included the desire for wealth from trade, the search for converts to Christianity, and the recruitment of possible Christian allies against the Muslim powers. China, by contrast, needed no military allies, required little in the way of trade, and had no desire to convert foreigners to Chinese culture or religion.
USE OF FORCE: The Europeans sought to monopolize by force the commerce of the Indian Ocean and violently carved out empires in the Americas; the Chinese fleet sought neither conquests nor colonies.
DURATION: China ended its voyages abruptly after 1433; the European explorations continued and even escalated.
UNITY/DISUNITY: In terms of why China’s explorations were so different from their European counterparts, the fragmentation of political authority in Europe, unlike China’s unified empire, ensured that once begun, rivalry alone would drive Europeans to the ends of the earth, and boy, did that ever make them annoying!
ELITES INTERESTS: Much of Europe’s elite, including merchants, monarchs, the clergy, and nobles, had an interest in overseas expansion; in China, by contrast, the emperor Yongle was the primary supporter of the Chinese voyages of exploration, and after he passed from the scene, those opposed to the voyages prevailed within the politics of the court.
SELF IMAGE: The Chinese were very much aware of their own antiquity, believed strongly in the absolute superiority of their culture, and felt that, should they need something from abroad, others would bring it to them. The Europeans also believed themselves unique; however, in material terms, they were seeking out the greater riches of the East, and they were highly conscious that Muslim power blocked easy access to these treasures and posed a military and religious threat to Europe itself.

Get it?

Hallie Schulze

8/11/2015 14:40:51

Got it! Thanks for clearing this up! I was unclear on how that worked. I guess I'm going to have to start writing smaller on tests...

Olivia Manning

8/11/2015 15:50:54

I guess I'll take some other stabs at more questions.
How about MQ5, What political and cultural differences stand out in the histories of fifteenth-century China and Western Europe? What similarities are apparent?

POLITICAL SIMILARITIES
- Both in China and Europe the infrastructure of civilization proved a durable foundation for demographic and economic revival
- Both Europe and China continued earlier patterns of state-building

POLITICAL DIFFERENCES
- In China, continuing earlier patterns of state-building meant a centralized government, whereas in Europe, this meant a fragmented system of many separate, independent, and highly competitive states.
- State-building was driven by the needs of war in Europe. Whereas in China, nothing like this even happened

CULTURAL SIMILARITIES
- Both Europe and China experienced a cultural blossoming.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
- However, in Europe the “blossoming” reclaimed a classical Greek tradition that earlier had been obscured through Arabic or Latin translations

Strayer goes on from here describing the Renaissance. Should I include all of those details as supporting details to these main points?? He also mentions "than" when describing the Renaissance and then he'll compare it to something else. Is he talking about Europe's past or China??

Ex. Heavily influenced by classical models, Renaissance figures were more interested in capturing the unique qualities of particular individuals and in describing the world as it was THAN in portraying or exploring external religious truths.

Or, is he possibly trying to reiterate that religion was not the main focus of the Renaissance.

I'm kinda insomniac, hence the time I'm writing this at.

So basically, whenever we are presented with a question that asks us for categories, we should immediately begin to break our answer down to SPICE themes and analyze them independently. This is what I got out of earlier posts here. Would that be correct?

Bingham

9/11/2015 05:54:05

Yes, spice is a good start, and often enough to get you to a coherent answer. But categories often turn out to be more specific than that, as you can see in my example above.

Look over the spice themes chart, it's still on the site here as part of the summer packet if you don't have it around. There are those 38 units of analysis, sub-themes of spice, that are often closer to a usable category.

elle (praying hands emoji) norman

9/11/2015 20:51:19

I was just wondering if my answer to MQ 11 is correct so help me out if I'm wrong or missed something:

1. Absolute and divine ruler
2. State owned all land and resources
3. Subjects were organized into hierarchical units
4. “Inspectors” checked up on the provinces
5. Births, deaths, and marriages were recorded
6. Resettlement program move a quarter of the population to new territory
7. Leaders were required to learn Quechua, and their sons were moved to the capital for education
8.Subjects had to acknowledge deities, then could do their own thing
The Empire played a major role in production and distribution of resources

elle (praying hands emoji) norman

9/11/2015 21:03:00

sorry there is a number 9 too :)

Carson Introligator

9/11/2015 21:19:49

Wondering if anyone can think of anything else to add to my answer to margin question 8!

Question: What distinguished the Aztec and Inca empires from each other?

Answer:
1. The Inca Empire was much larger than the Aztec Empire.
2. The Aztec Empire only controlled part of the Mesoamerican cultural regions, whereas the Inca Empire practically encompassed the whole Andean region when it was at its height.
3. In the Aztec realm, the Mexica rulers largely left their conquered peoples alone, and no elaborate administrative system arose to integrate the conquered territories, or to assimilate their people to Aztec culture. On the other hand, the Incas raised a more bureaucratic empire.
4. The Aztec empire extracted substantially tribute in form of goods from its subject populations, but the Incas primarily extracted labor from their subjects.
5. The Aztec Empire had a system of commercial exchange that was based on merchants and free markets, where as the Inca government played a major role in both the production and distribution of goods.
6. The state authorities directed and penetrated the Incas' economy and society far more than did that of the Aztecs.

ilona

10/11/2015 20:59:19

oh this is a very small thing but off the top of my head I think another difference is that though both societies participated in human sacrifice it was hugely more prominent in the Aztec Empire, (where it was tied to replenishing the power of their sun god) than in the Inca Empire. Your answer looks wonderful <3 !

Carson

10/11/2015 21:34:42

thank you!!

Diego

10/11/2015 19:07:15

So, let's see if I'm in the right track

Margin question 1: how did Australian hunters and gatherers differ from their neighbors in N. America ( I find it helpful to rewrite the question in my own words)

Politically: they were divided into 250 different groups, did not develop permanent settlements with sturdy houses and develop neither a social ranking system nor a chiefdom that revolved around a central political entity.

Economically: they assimilated material items and agricultural practices through trade,yet did not develop a formal agriculture. They lacked any form of economic specialization

Environmentally: they lacked the North American plethora of edible animals (approximately 300 species) due to the harshness of the Australian environment. They were forced to use fire stick farming in order to manipulate the types of animals and plants that could be present in the environment.

Culturally: they developed a form of mythology as well as embracing art in the form of rock painting and sculpture through foreign exchange.

What do you guys think?

Diego

10/11/2015 19:09:08

I may or may not post more answers here

Koseki, Sabrina

10/11/2015 19:46:30

I remembered to put my last name first!! HAH.

MQ1: In what ways did the gathering and hunting people of Australia differ from those of the northwest coast of North America?

The people of the northwest coast of North America lived in permanent village settlements with large and study houses, had considerable economic specialization, ranked societies that sometimes included slavery, chiefdoms dominated by powerful clan leaders ("big men") and extensive storage of food, which distinguished them from the people of Australia. The people of Australia, however, had mastered and manipulated their environment ("firestick farming").

Sabrina Koseki

10/11/2015 19:48:07

Oops, didn't see Diego's comment- I do like how you included cultural aspects as well :) Will definitely keep those in mind.

Allen, Augustus

10/11/2015 20:45:54

You forgot to put your last name first again...

Morgan Levine

10/11/2015 21:53:13

Okay, so in making a device to remember the Aztec/Inca comparison, I thought about trying to get a date - hear me out - and treating them like an Aztec, but they really want to be treated like an Inca. So that way you get the comparison the whole way through. I don't know if this would work for anyone but me, but here you go:

So you go to a coffeehouse, and try and get them a cute lil pastry (smaller landmass), but they're like "nah son I want some real large food" (larger landmass) so you go to a sleazy diner and order a heaping plate of fries. While you're there, you get kinda concerned about your relationship and also start speaking in spanish, so you're like, "we should take this one mes at a time" (Aztecs ruled part of Mesoamerica), but they're like, "no I'm in it for the whole año" (Incas ruled all of the Andes). So you're kind of freaked, and you're like, dude, this is all so new to me, maybe I should leave you alone (Aztecs generally left conquered peoples alone, no urge to assimilate) but they say that they're in a state (bureaucracy) of mind to change if you need them to (which isn't good relationship advice, but conquered peoples changed to Inca culture). So you think it's alright and on the second date you bring them some flowers as tribute (goods) to win their luv, but they say that actions (labor services) speak louder than words. So you run off into the streets, and try to trade your gift with some dude you find (like a free market commercial exchange kinda deal), but instead you get picked up by the police (state) who confiscate your gift and distribute it as they so desire. In the end, you stay in jail and the date leaves you, which is rough, but the last point is that the Inca state is generally stronger and more involved than the Aztec one.

So yeah, convoluted, but fun. For me.

Morgan pt 2

10/11/2015 22:22:41

Looking at Ilona and Carson's convo above, I added the ritual sacrifice thing to the story by you trying to give them ketchup (blood sacrifice) with their fries at the diner, but them saying they preferred their fries without. Sorry about missing that point

Caroline O'Connor

10/11/2015 22:52:42

Ok so I know I'm late to the party for anyone taking the test tomorrow, but better late than never, right? Hopefully it will still be helpful to some lucky Thursday testers. I'm going to take a stab at MQ7 since no one else seems to have done it yet.

What differences can you identify among the four major empires in the Islamic world of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries?

Mughal and Songhay governed over a mostly non-Muslim population while Ottoman and Safavid governed mostly Muslim population.

Both Ottoman and Mughal continued interactions with other religions (Christianity and Hinduism, respectively).

Mughal Ottoman and Safavid were all founded by Turks, while Songhay was not.

Safavid was the only one to forcibly impose Islam on its inhabitants. The other 3 showed some religious tolerance. Safavid was founded by the Sufi religious order, but imposed Shia Islam on its citizens.

Safavid was the only one to practice Shia Islam while all the others practiced Sunni Islam.

If anyone has any additions or questions please help me out!

Leave a Reply.

Bingham

While this is a great place to test your ideas about margin questions and big picture questions, consider thinking "outside the box" and connecting this content to your life, and other experiences you've had with learning.

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