120Otto I or the Great is considered by many historian.docx

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20
Otto I or the Great is considered by many historians to be the
founder of the Holy Roman Empire. He was an effective
military warrior who encouraged military expansion,
colonization, and missionary activity eastward into the Slavic
world. His campaign was to restore kingship on the Carolingian
model. Succeeding his father Henry I as the Duke of Saxony in
936, his military genius was tested early. Otto I faced the
continuous raids and sieges of the dukes, the Ducal Rebellions,
which were led by his brother Henry of Bavaria. The war was
the result of him acquiring an increasing amount of power that
others resented. It ended with Otto's victory in 941 in which he
replaced the rebellious dukes with his own relatives, thus
compelling them to accept royal over lordship. In 951, he
commanded a successful invasion of Italy and declared himself
King. Magyars invaded the empire in 954, and this invasion
forced the nobility to reunite with Otto in order to defend
themselves. He was able to defeat the Magyars in the battle of
Lechfield in 955 and this temporarily restored peace throughout
his empire.
Duke William, King of England from 25 December 1066. He
was the illegitimate son of Duke Robert the Devil whom he
succeeded as Duke of Normandy in 1035. Claiming that his 2nd
cousin King Edward the Confessor had bequeathed him the
English throne, William invaded England in September 1066,
defeating Harold II Godwineson at the Battle of Hastings on 14
October 1066. William's coronation took place in Westminster
Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. He completed the establishment
of feudalism in England, compiling detailed records of land and

property in the Domesday Book, and kept the barons firmly
under control. He died in Rouen after a fall from his horse and
is buried in Caen, France. He was succeeded by his son William
II.Gregory VII (ca. 1020-1085) was pope from 1073 to 1085.
One of the greatest medieval popes, later canonized, he was a
man of intense conviction and will. He vigorously initiated
reforms and asserted the papal claim to primacy of jurisdiction
in the Church.
Although Gregory VII did not create the grandiose structure of
the medieval papacy, he was certainly one of its chief
architects. He became pope at a time when powerful forces were
striving to rid the Latin Church of moral corruption and
organizational confusion, when the papacy had already begun to
assume the role of reforming leadership previously filled by
emperors, kings, and lesser churchmen, and when imperial
control over the Church in Italy had already weakened. Gregory
continued the policies he had previously advocated as a
prominent member of the papal court. He intensified papal
involvement in the reforming movement and directed that
movement along the road that was to lead to the first major
clash between pope and Western emperor and ultimately to the
papal theocratic claims of the High Middle Ages.
Foundations of Chemistry Laboratory Manual VITAMIN C
DETERMINATION 3F
1

EXPERIMENT 3F
Determination of
Vitamin C Concentration
(This experiment is done individually.)
Useful background reading (this is not compulsory but may be
helpful):
Tro, 4th and 5th Edition: Sections 7.9, 13.6 (repeat), 2.5
(repeat) – Introduction and all
Questions
What is the relevance of this prac…?
The last quantitative techniques experiment demonstrated the
importance of acquiring
laboratory skills. The better your laboratory skills, the more
accurate and precise your
results and therefore the more useful and significant they are.
This may seem fairly
unimportant in a first year practical but our environment, our
health and our safety depend
every day on the skills of scientists in the medical, transport,
food production and energy
sectors, just to name a few.
Scientists depend on their analytical skills for their livelihood
and society depends on these

skills in order to live their day-to-day lives. This experiment
provides a real-world example of
how laboratory skills are used in industry. These exact
quantitative techniques were used to
discredit GlaxoSmithKline – the major company responsible for
manufacturing the popular
fruit drink, Ribena.
Learning objectives (remember these are different to the
scientific objectives):
On completion of this practical, you should have:
(pipetting and buretting).
categories that have similar
chemical features. Two such examples are acid-base reactions
and redox reactions.
technique.
Introduction
You have already performed titrations in your last practical
session. This is a common
analytical technique that can be used for many analyses. In the
last experiment the titration

was used with an acid-base reaction – a solution of base
(sodium hydroxide) of known
A BIG Question
How do we unravel the causes of
disease?
Scientists all over the world are trying to determine
what causes many diseases and how to cure them –
cancer, AIDS, diabetes and neurological conditions
are just a few, high profile examples. Their research
(and therefore their ability to help people) is entirely
dependent on how careful and precise their
experimentation is. This practical provides another
chance for you to master some common laboratory
skills.
DETERMINATION 3F
2

concentration was used to determine the concentration of a
solution of sulphuric acid. Acids
and bases are found everywhere from food, to our bodies to
cleaning products.
There are too many individual chemical reactions for chemists
to be familiar with all of
them, so they are divided into categories of reaction that have
specific features. For
example, all acid-base reactions like the one between sulphuric
acid and sodium hydroxide,
involve an acid which donates a proton to a base. This means
that if a chemist knows what
category a reaction falls into they can make predictions about it
even if they are unfamiliar
with the specific reacting molecules.
Another category of chemical reaction is the “redox” category.
Redox reactions involve one
reactant losing an electron (or electron density) to another
reactant. You will learn about
this category of reaction in Semester 2. Just like with acid-base
reactions, titrations can be
used with redox reactions. In this experiment you will perform a
redox titration to

determine the concentration of Vitamin C and two solutions.
Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid (C6H8O6), is an essential nutrient.
Its structure can be seen in
Diagram 2.1 below. Many animals can produce it within their
bodies, but humans must
obtain it through their diet. Vitamin C deficiency can lead to
skin, bone and teeth issues and
a serious deficiency can cause death. Some sources of Vitamin
C are fruits and vegetables
(including citrus fruits, green chili peppers and broccoli), their
juices and Vitamin C tablets.
Diagram 2.1 The chemical structure of essential nutrient
Vitamin C, one natural source and
synthetically produced Vitamin C tablets.
In determining the amount of Vitamin C in samples, the redox
titration is more useful than
an acid-base titration as natural sources are comprised of other
acids and bases that may
affect the results.
In this experiment, the redox reaction is between iodine and
Vitamin C – the Vitamin C loses
electron density and the iodine accepts it. The overall equation
is shown below:

C6H8O6 + I2 - + 2H
+ Equation 2.1
DETERMINATION 3F
3
The endpoint is shown by an indicator, in this case a solution of
starch. Iodine, I2, and starch
form a blue-black product when they react. When there is still
Vitamin C in the reaction
vessel, it will react with the iodine, I2, and convert this to the
product I- which does not react
with the starch indicator. However, once the Vitamin C has all
been removed by reaction,
the excess iodine, I2, will react with the starch indicator and
cause the solution to change
colour.
Although you will be doing a redox titration rather than an acid-
base titration, the method
and technique are exactly the same. You will use the pipetting
and titration skills learnt in
the last prac.

In Part One you will perform a titration using a solution of
iodine and a standard solution of
Vitamin C.
Chemistry connections…
Recall from Experiment 0 that a standard solution is one of
known concentration. The
concentration of standard solutions is usually known because
the chemist has made the
solution themselves using volumetric glassware. For example,
in your last practical you used
a standard solution of sodium hydroxide (exact concentration
provided on the dispenser)
and whilst you didn’t originally know the sulphuric acid
concentration, that solution too had
been prepared volumetrically (you checked your titration skills
at the end by discovering the
actual concentration at the servery).
In this experiment you must first prepare the Vitamin C
standard solution very accurately so
you can use it to confirm the concentration of the iodine
solution by titration in Part One.
This procedure is referred to as standardisation – you are said to

standardise the iodine
solution. The accurate Vitamin C standard solution is prepared
by dissolving pure Vitamin C
(ascorbic acid, a white powder) in water using a volumetric
flask.
In Part Two once you have confirmed the iodine solution
concentration you can use it to
determine the unknown concentration of Vitamin C samples.
These could include Vitamin C
tablets or fruit or, in this case, apple juice. This is the method
by which the concentrations of
many species of interest in many different samples may be
determined.
The apple juice container advertises how much Vitamin C is
present in the drink. You should
be able to determine whether this assertion is correct.
In 2004, two school students in New Zealand performed redox
titrations on several brands
of juice and cordial to determine their Vitamin C content. In
their school laboratory they
discovered that the cordial drink Ribena did not contain the
advertised Vitamin C content.

The manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline ended up in court facing
charges of over two million
Australian dollars because of their find.
DETERMINATION 3F
4
In general; as long as you know the concentration of one
reactant (in this case the iodine
solution) you can use it to determine the concentration of the
other (in this case the Vitamin
C content of commercial sources).
Experimental
Remember: drawing a diagrammatic representation of what you
will do in your experiment
can help you to visualize what you’ll need to do during the
session and also to not
accidentally miss crucial steps.
Before commencing work you should watch the video, ‘

Solution
Preparation’. You will need
to equip yourself with headphones and wait until your
colleagues are ready before asking
your demonstrator to start the video.
Reminder - each student should work individually. It is
important that you work carefully in
order to gain worthwhile experience from this class.
Hazardous substances
Iodine I2 toxic, irritant
Starch (C6H10O5)n irritant
PART ONE VITAMIN C (ASCORBIC ACID) STANDARD
SOLUTION

PREPARATION AND IODINE SOLUTION
STANDARDISATION
PROCEDURE
1 The standard solution of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) has a
desired concentration of
0.005mol/L. Using the molar mass, M, of ascorbic acid and the
two equations –
n=cxV and n=m/M – calculate the mass of ascorbic acid
required to make up 0.25L
(250mL) of solution. (Hint: refer to Experiment 0 Introductory
Experiment, Question 3
if you need a refresher on how to do this type of calculation. Be
sure to check your
units.) Check your calculated mass with your demonstrator
before proceeding.
Notice that there are no longer questions worth marks in your
Report Book about solution
preparation calculations (unlike experiments 0 and 1F).
Calculations and then solution
preparation are standard skills that all chemists are assumed to

have. They are therefore
never discussed in scientific articles (beyond stating a standard
solution’s concentration) and
consequently will not appear in your Report Books anymore.
Remember that the molar mass
and two equations described above can be used to determine the
mass of ANY compound in
a solution of ANY concentration and volume. In a regular
scientific article the experimental
procedure would simply state “A 1L solution of 0.005mol/L
ascorbic acid was prepared”, so
you need to be becoming familiar with the method/calculations
you’d require to prepare this
yourself.
DETERMINATION 3F
5
2 Weigh out this calculated mass (you only need to weigh the
amount approximately

but record the weight exactly) then deliver it to a 250mL
volumetric flask using a
funnel (be sure to get all of the ascorbic acid into the flask,
otherwise the
concentration will not be correct - rinsing the funnel into the
flask with some
deionised water may help).
3 Add approximately 100mL of de-ionised water to the
volumetric flask. Swirl the flask
until all of the Vitamin C is dissolved.
4 Fill the remaining volume to the aliquot line with de-ionised
water (do not do this if
there is un-dissolved solid present still).
5 Replace the stopper and invert the flask a number of times to
ensure that the solution
is homogenous and its concentration is uniform.
If the solid dissolves in the water at the very bottom of the
volumetric flask and you do not
invert it, what affect might this have on the titrations you do?

Would the results from these
titrations be reliable?
6 Clean two 250 mL beakers carefully and rinse them at least
twice with de-ionised
water. Shake them to remove most of the water. The remaining
water must be
removed by drying with paper towel.
Using your knowledge from the last titrations prac can you
explain why the beakers must be
dry and have no water present in them before use?
7 In one of the clean and dry 250 mL beakers place
approximately 150 mL of iodine
solution. (It is the concentration of this solution that you are
trying to determine. Ie
you are about to “standardise” this iodine solution.) In the other
beaker pour a
similar quantity of Vitamin C solution you prepared in Step 1.

(It helps to label your
solutions!)
8 Rinse a 50 mL burette well with de-ionised water.
9 Rinse the burette at least twice with the iodine solution, fill
the burette (to near the
top), wipe the outside with paper towel and mount it on a
burette stand at your
bench. Make sure the space in the burette beneath the tap also
has solution in it
because the volume graduations on the side account for this.
DETERMINATION 3F
6

In the last titrations prac the solution of known concentration
was placed in the burette and
the “unknown” was placed in the conical flask beneath it. Does
it matter which solution goes
where?
10 Clean and rinse a 250mL conical flask with deionised water
and, using a volumetric
pipette, transfer to it a 25.00mL aliquot of the Vitamin C
standard solution from the
beaker (note: you will always pipette from this beaker and NOT
from the volumetric
flask).
A chemist will never pipette directly from the volumetric vessel
that contains a standard
solution. The point of a standard solution is that it has a
precisely-known concentration that
you can use to your advantage (in this case performing a
titration to calculate an unknown
concentration). In these experiments the results are therefore

only as reliable as the
standard solution. Why is it not good practice to pipette directly
from the volumetric flask?
11 Add 10 drops of starch indicator to the solution in the
conical flask.
12 Titrate the solution in your flask. Like in the last
experiment, it is generally worthwhile
to do the first titration quickly at the cost of accuracy to
determine the approximate
end-point for the next more accurate runs. This is referred to as
the “Rough” run.
Record all your titre values in Table 2.1. Note: the end-point is
reached at the first
sign of blue colour that remains after 20 seconds of swirling the
conical flask.
13 Repeat the titration until you have a minimum of two
concordant titres (readings
that differ by less than 0.1mL). Top up the iodine in the burette
as required.

Question 1 – iodine solution standardisation
a) Calculate the mean (average) volume of the titre values you
have chosen. Justify any
exclusions you have made.
b) What is the number of moles of Vitamin C present in the
25.00mL you pipette into
each conical flask?
c) Using the balanced Equation 2.1, how many moles of iodine,
I2, must have been
present in the amount of iodine solution you titrated?
d) Given this number of moles and the average titre value, what
is the concentration of
your iodine solution?

DETERMINATION 3F
7
PART TWO APPLE JUICE INVESTIGATION
PROCEDURE
1 Thoroughly clean and dry a 250mL beaker and transfer to it
roughly 100mL of apple
juice. Note the Vitamin C concentration advertised with the
nutritional information
on the apple juice bottle.
2 Clean and rinse a 250mL conical flask and pipette into it a
25.00mL aliquot of the
apple juice.
3 Add 10 drops of starch indicator to this conical flask.

4 Ensure there is a sufficient volume of iodine solution in your
burette and that it is set
up correctly still from Part One.
5 Perform the titrations until you have a minimum of two
concordant titres. Record all
your titre values in Table 2.2.
Question 2 – Apple juice investigation
a) Calculate the number of moles of iodine, I2, that was
involved during the redox
reaction. (Hint: you are calculating n because you know c and
V. What equation
should you use? Refer to Experiment 1F Quantitative
Techniques for help.)
b) The equation for the redox reaction between iodine and
Vitamin C is provided again

below. Using this balanced equation, how many moles of
ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in
the apple juice reacted with the I2 on average in each titration?
– + 2H+
c) Given the number of moles of ascorbic acid and original
pipette volume, what is the
concentration of Vitamin C in the apple juice you tested?
d) The concentration you calculated in Part c) is in mol.L-1.
Convert your concentration
from Part c) to g.L
-1
(hint: What equation relates number of moles and mass?).

e) Convert the concentration from Part d) to milligrams per litre
(mg.L-1)
f) Now convert the concentration from Part e) to milligrams per
100 ml.
g) How does your experimentally determined Vitamin C
concentration compare with the
value given on the juice bottle?
h) List the experimental errors that could lead to a discrepancy
between the determined
and the advertised value.
i) Considering your experimentally determined value and the
possible sources of error,
make a comment about the accuracy of the advertised amount of
Vitamin C present.

DETERMINATION 3F
8
Information Sheet
HARMFUL
(can affect health if exposed to large doses
or to low doses over a long period of time)
IODINE SOLUTION
IDENTIFICATION
Name Iodine

Structure I2
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND PROPERTIES
Description brown solution
Boiling Point not available
Melting Point not available
Vapour Pressure not available
Flammability non combustible.
Density not available
Solubility Soluble: water
Reactivity Considered stable.
HEALTH HAZARD INFORMATION
Major hazards

Inhalation or skin contact can cause sensitisation. Cumulative
effects may result following exposure
(limited evidence).
Toxicity
Inhalation: Is not thought to produce adverse health effects or
irritation of the respiratory tract. Not
normally a hazard due to its non volatility.
Eye contact: May irritate the eye.
Skin contact: May not thought to produce adverse health effects
or irritation of the skin.
DETERMINATION 3F
9

Swallowing: Has NOT been classified as “harmful by
ingestion”. May irritate the digestive tract,
causing nausea and vomiting.
FIRST AID INFORMATION
Eyes: Hold the eyelid wide open, wash the eye for at least 10
minutes with flowing water.
Lungs: Remove patient to fresh air.
Mouth: Immediately give a glass of water.
Skin: Wash off skin with running water and soap.
DISPOSAL OF SMALL AMOUNTS/SPILLAGES BY
DEMONSTRATORS
Mop spill area with water.
Other Information
The full Material Safety Data Sheet for this chemical is
available from Chemwatch, on-line

at:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/hr/ohs/legislation/chemwatch
DETERMINATION 3F
10
Information Sheet
(can affect health if exposed to large doses
or to low doses over a long period of time)
STARCH SOLUTION

IDENTIFICATION
Name starch
Structure (C6H10O5)n
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND PROPERTIES
Description cloudy, colourless solution
Boiling Point not available
Melting Point not available
Vapour Pressure not relevant
Flammability non combustible.
Density not available
Solubility Soluble: water
Reactivity Considered stable.

HEALTH HAZARD INFORMATION
Major hazards
Inhalation or skin contact and/or ingestion may produce health
damage (limited evidence).
Cumulative effects may result following exposure (limited
evidence). May produce discomfort of the
eyes (limited evidence).
Toxicity
Inhalation: Inhalation of vapours or aerosols generated by the
material may be damaging to the
health of the individual.
Eye contact: May cause irritation and damage of the eye in
some persons.
IRRITANT

DETERMINATION 3F
11
Skin contact: Skin contact with the material may be damaging
to the health of the individual.
Swallowing: Ingestion of the material may be damaging to the
health of the individual.
FIRST AID INFORMATION
Eyes: Wash the eye immediately with fresh flowing water.
Lungs: Remove patient to fresh air.
Mouth: Do NOT induce vomiting.
Skin: Wash off skin with running water and soap.
DISPOSAL OF SMALL AMOUNTS/SPILLAGES BY
DEMONSTRATORS

Mop spill area with water.
Other Information
The full Material Safety Data Sheet for this chemical is
available from Chemwatch, on-line
at:
DETERMINATION 3F
12
METTLER ANALYTICAL BALANCE

TITRATION END-POINT
IIIooodddiiinnneee tttiiitttrrraaatttiiiooonnn
eeennnddd---pppoooiiinnnttt
1
Chapter 19
Agriculture and herding spread gradually throughout sub-
Saharan Africa from about 2000 B.C.E. until the end of the first
millennium C.E. through a process known as the Bantu
migrations. After about 500 B.C.E. the knowledge of iron
metallurgy was also disseminating throughout Africa. As a
result of these movements, of the introduction of new nutritious
foods such as bananas, and of long-distance trade, the
population of Africa grew dramatically, and increasingly

complex forms of government began to emerge. Most sub-
Saharan African cultures were kin-based and organized into
relatively small villages that were loosely allied into districts
governed by a chief. Occasionally larger and more structured
kingdoms and empires appeared. These larger states generally
consolidated their position through controlling long-distance
trade in their regions.
In the western part of the Indian Ocean, a major empire rose
after Muhammad (d. 632 CE) brought Islam to the Arabian
Peninsula. A century of rapid expansion brought huge territories
under Muslim rule. The Umayyad and Abbasid Empires
controlled territories from Spain in the west to the borders of
China in the east. In the following centuries, both Islam and the
Arabic language spread through much of this territory. The
Arabs had already been active traders in the Indian Ocean, and
Islam encouraged trade and created opportunities as it spread a
universal belief system, Arabic language, and a system of law.
Sufi mystical orders or brotherhoods spread and popularized
Islam along the trade routes, and annual pilgrimage journeys to
Makkah reflected a diverse and growing Ummah, or Muslim
community carrying out this religious duty. The Muslim lands,
with their growing cities, were wealthy and demand for goods
of all kinds was high. Like the Chinese at the time, science,
learning and the arts were prized, and production rose. Crops
such as sugar, rice, hard wheat, vegetables and fruits spread

from east toward the west. All sorts of imports flowed into the
Arabian (Persian) Gulf and the Red Sea, and exports flowed out.
Recent finds of shipwrecks from the medieval period are
beginning to show the large volume of this trade, which travel
accounts have described in detail.
No Muslim empire set out to control trade in the ocean, but
merchant communities spread widely, and through them, Islam
spread around the lands bordering the Indian Ocean. It spread
along the Silk Road and into West Africa. Arab and Persian
traders stopped at ports in the growing East African city-states,
where a Swahili, or coastal, culture combined African, Islamic
and regional influence. Trade on the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf
linked to land routes and the Mediterranean trading system.
Africans had become a visible part of the Indian Ocean world
long before the advent of Islam in the seventh century C.E. For
over half a millennia prior to the formation of the initial ummah
wahida-community of Muslims-in western Arabia, Africans
were enslaved and taken across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to
the Arabian Peninsula and as far away as the Indian
subcontinent. In time, the descendants of Afro-Arabs would
become among the leading sailors in the region. Men and
women of African descent would assume a variety of subaltern
positions in the Indian Ocean world, from concubines, domestic
servants, pearl divers, tea and date plantation workers, to
bodyguards, palace guards, and soldiers.

1
18
Nomadic herders populated the steppes of Asia for centuries
during the classical and postclassical eras and periodically came
into contact and conflict with the established states and empires
of the Eurasian landmass. It was not until the eleventh century,
however, that the nomadic peoples like the Turks and Mongols
began to raid, conquer, rule, and trade with the urban-based
cultures in a systematic and far-reaching manner. While these
resourceful and warlike nomads often left a path of destruction
in their wake, they also built vast trans regional empires that
laid the foundations for the increasing communication and
exchange that would characterize the period from 1000 to 1500
in the eastern hemisphere. The success of these nomadic
empires in this era can be attributed to. In spite of these
successes and the enormous influence of these nomadic peoples,
their leaders were, in general, better at warfare than

administration. With the exception of the later Ottoman empire,
most of these states were relatively short-lived, brought down
by both internal and external pressures.
Nomads have been a distinct element within and carriers of
civilizations within the old world dry belts for thousands of
years, from Morocco in the west to northern China in the east.
They have, however, not always been perceived as such.
Academics have only learned within the past few decades to
view nomads not as a separate societal phenomenon, or as a
fascinating particular form of human lifestyle, but, rather, to
perceive them as an intertwined, broad societal structure. Thus,
the importance of nomads is now seen in a new light. Within the
wide expanse of history nomadic peoples – also, indeed, not
necessarily small in number - have formed their own distinct
forms of lifestyle, yet also remained in close contact with
settled societies and have helped to mould institutions, social
structures and moral concepts. Nomadic mobility has also
shaped nomadic lifestyles and living forms. Continuous cyclical
wandering, usually in tribal or familial groupings, has helped to
create spatial and cultural distance to settled communities. This
is to be observed within the Roma and other traveling peoples in
Europe. Economic practices, social organization, laws, norms,
language and the material culture of nomads have, usually,
distinguished them greatly from their social surroundings.
The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous land empire in

history. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in
1206, and at its height, encompassed the majority of territories
from southeast Asia to central Europe. After unifying the
Mongol–Turkic tribes, the Empire expanded via numerous
conquests over continental Eurasia, beginning with the
conquests of Western Xia in north China and the Khwarezmid
Empire in Iran. Modern estimates suggest that 30 million or
more people died during the Mongol conquests. During its
existence, the Pax Mongolica facilitated cultural exchange and
trade between the East, West, and the Middle East in the period
of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Mongol Empire
had a lasting impact, unifying large regions, some of which
(such as eastern and western Russia and the western parts of
China) remain unified today, albeit under different leadership.
The Mongols themselves were assimilated into local populations
after the fall of the empire, and many of these descendants
adopted local religions—for example, the western Khanates
adopted Islam, largely under Sufi influence.
The first military target was Xixia which was located in the
middle and western areas of China and in 1205, 1207 and 1209,
the Mongolian army launched three massive invasions. Under
such military threat, the helpless Xixia was forced to pay
tributes to the Mongol and sue for peace. In 1211, attacks were
made on the Jin Dynasty (1115 - 1234) and four years later, the
Mongolian army captured one of the major cities of Jin,

Zhongdu. After that, most areas in the north of the Yellow River
fell under Mongol control. Following the last wish of Genghis
Khan on his deathbed, Xixia was defeated in 1227. Wo Kuotai,
third son of Genghis Khan, ascended the throne seven years
later and defeated the Jin Dynasty. From then on, the Mongolian
army continued to march westward and Mongol troops even
advanced into the European continent. As the military strength
of the Mongols became stronger and stronger, the territory of
the great Mongolian Empire became larger and larger.
Gradually, grandsons of Genghis Khan established four grand
khanates respectively in Eastern Europe, North Asia, Central
Asia, the Arab region and the vast Central Plain regions of
China. Among them, Kublai Khan, one of Genghis Khan's
grandsons, unified the vast land of the northern areas of China
and founded a new dynasty in 1271- the Yuan Dynasty, with
Yuandadu as its capital.

1
Ch 17
While other parts of the world were experiencing unprecedented
prosperity during the postclassical era, Europe's economy
underwent a sharp constriction with the fall of the Roman
Empire. Long-distance trade did not entirely disappear,
significant developments took place in agricultural production,
and there were brief periods of government consolidation;
nevertheless, early medieval Europe was a world dominated by
rural self-sufficiency and political decentralization. In spite of
its seeming "backwardness" compared to the other great empires
of the postclassical world, Europe was laying the foundation for
the development of the powerful society that would emerge
during the high middle ages.
Carolingian dynasty, family of Frankish aristocrats and the
dynasty (ad 750–887) that they established to rule western
Europe. The name derives from the large number of family
members who bore the name Charles, most notably
Charlemagne. A brief treatment of the Carolingians follows.
The family came to power as hereditary mayors of the palace of
the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia, and, by the time of Pippin II
of Herstal (French Héristal), who became mayor of the palace in
679, they had reduced their nominal Merovingian kings to mere
figureheads. Indeed, in 687 Pippin II gained effective rule over

the entire Frankish realm when he defeated his Neustrian rival,
Ebroïn. At his death in 714 Pippin left a legitimate heir, a child
of six, and an illegitimate son, Charles Martel. By 725 Charles
Martel had established himself as ruler of the Franks, although
he maintained the fiction of Merovingian sovereignty until 737,
when following the death of Theuderic IV he let the throne
remain vacant. Charles Martel died in 741, and his sons Pippin
III the Short and Carloman divided the realm between
themselves. Upon Carloman’s abdication in 747, Pippin III
became the sole ruler. His position was so secure that in 750 he
deposed the last of the Merovingians, Childeric III, and, with
the support of Pope Zacharias, had himself elected king by an
assembly of Frankish nobles and consecrated by a bishop of the
Roman church.
Pope Gregory was born circa 540, a member of a noble family.
Gregory grew up in a Christian home with parents who were
strong in the faith. He was the son of Gordianus, at that time, a
wealthy Senator. His grandfather was Pope Felix. Gregory's
mother is named as a saint in the Roman Martyrology His noble
upbringing helped acquaint him with the difficulties in Roman
government at the time. The Byzantine Empire changed
emperors four times during his boyhood. The city of Rome itself
was conquered in 546 by the Goths, who were very brutal. In
552, the Narses recaptured Rome, but were equally as
troublesome to the Romans as the Goths who preceded them.

Finally, in 568, the Germanic Lombards began warring with
Rome.
Monastics have been instrumental in creating, preserving, and
enhancing institutions of religious and secular learning and in
transmitting cultural goods, artifacts, and intellectual skills
down through the generations. Monastic institutions have also
fulfilled medical, political, and military functions, though since
1500 the latter two have become completely secularized in most
societies.
A definition of monasticism that covers all its forms would be
so broad that particulars would have to be relegated to the
analysis of specific monastic systems. Such a definition might
be: religiously mandated behaviour (i.e., orthopraxy), together
with its institutions, ritual, and belief systems, whose agents,
members, or participants undertake voluntarily (often through a
vow) religious works that go beyond those required by the
religious teachings of the society at large. Such behaviour
derives from the example of religious and spiritual founders
who interpreted more radically the tenets that apply to all
believers or to the whole society. Beyond such a statement, one
can speak only of the principal characteristics of the monastic
life and its institutions, since none of them is universal.
Celibacy is fundamental to the majority of the world’s monastic
orders but is by no means universal, as shown by the case of
Buddhism in modern Japan. Another characteristic, asceticism,

is universal, provided the term is defined widely enough so as
to include all supererogatory religious practices.
1
Ch 16
No centralized imperial authority emerged to govern the Indian
subcontinent as had been the case in China; however the area
remained united because of powerful social and cultural
traditions, including the caste system and the Hindu religion. In
the seventh century C.E., Islam came to India and became
influential in Indian society. Indian traditions soon became
influential in other parts of Southeast Asia, including the spread
of Islam. Turkish speaking people from central Asia often took
advantage of the unsettled state of Indian affairs and came in

through the Khyber Pass. They ultimately worked themselves
into the Caste system and became completely absorbed in Indian
affairs. Other nomadic peoples invaded, however, and
contributed to the disruption of Northern India. The founder of
the Chola Empire was Vijayalaya, who was first feudatory of
the Pallavas of Kanchi. He captured Tanjore in 850 A.D. He
established a temple of goddess Nishumbhasudini (Durga) there.
Aditya I succeeded Vijayalaya. Aditya helped his overlord the
Pallava king Aparajita against the Pandyas but soon defeated
him and annexed the whole of the Pallava kingdom. By the end
of the ninth century, the Cholas had defeated the Pallavas
completely and weakened the Pandyas capturing the Tamil
country and including it under their domination He then became
a sovereign ruler. The Rashtrakuta king, Krishna II gave his
daughter in marriage to Aditya.
the kingdom of Axum was pursuing trade and empire. Despite
the disintegration of the Roman Empire in the 400s and the
decline in world trade, Axum's trade increased during that
century. Its exports of ivory, glass crystal, brass and copper
items, and perhaps slaves, among other things, had brought
prosperity to the kingdom. Some people had become wealthy
and cosmopolitan. Axum's port city on the Red Sea, Adulis,
bustled with activity. Its agriculture and cattle breeding
flourished. Axum extended its rule to Nubia. It expanded across
the Red Sea to Yemen. It extended its rule to the northern

Ethiopian Highlands and east along the coast of the Gulf of
Aden to Africa's eastern most point at Cape Guardafui. From
Axum's beginnings in the third century, Christianity there had
spread. But at the peak of Christianity's success, Axum began
its decline. In the late 600s, Axum's trade was diminished by
the clash between Constantinople and the Sassanid Empire over
trade on the Red Sea. Axum was driven out of Yemen. Then
Islam united Arabia and began expanding. In the 700s, Muslim
Arabs occupied the Dahlak Islands just off the coast of Adulis,
which had been ruled by Axum. The Arabs moved into the port
city of Adulis, and Axum's trade by sea ended.
1
Chapter 15
After the fall of the Han dynasty, more than 350 years of
disruption plagued China. Toward the end of the sixth century,

centralized imperial rule returned to China and persisted for
almost 700 years under the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (589–
1279 C.E.). This period witnessed unprecedented economic
prosperity for China. In addition, China, as the "Middle
Kingdom," made its influence felt throughout the surrounding
territories, creating a larger East Asian society centered on
China.
In 589 CE, after almost four centuries, China was reunited for
the first time since the end of the Han era. The intervening four
hundred years, often referred to as the Six Dynasties Period,
was marked by political struggle and military strife on a level
not seen in China in over a millennium. Yet while many
histories describe the Six Dynasties era as a China's version of
Europe's "dark ages," it was also a period of great cultural
intermingling. Various Central and Western Asian peoples
settled in the north regions of China, and local populations
migrated en masse from area to area in search of new lands to
settle. The various cultural elements introduced during these
four centuries were further unified and Sinicized when the Sui
achieved a new unification of China. This synthesis would reach
its culmination in the distinctive culture of the Tang dynasty,
which came to power after the downfall of the second Sui
emperor.
Though the Sui dynasty ruled only for approximately thirty
years, much was accomplished by the first emperor Wendi

(reigned 581-604), formerly a general for the Northern Zhou
dynasty. Among Wendi's many accomplishments was a
restructuring of the government to simplify internal
administration, a revision of the penal code, and a number of
public work projects, including the creation of a complex canal
system joining the Yellow, Huai and Yangzi Rivers. Wendi was
also a supporter of Buddhism, and encouraged the spread of the
religion throughout his domain.
The Chinese believe in a surrounding-world of spirits, whose
origin is exceedingly various. They touch life at every point.
There are spirits which are guardians of the soil, tree spirits,
mountain demons, fire gods, the spirits of animals, of
mountains, of rivers, seas and stars, of the heavenly bodies and
of many forms of active life. These spirits to the Chinese mind,
of today are a projection, a sort of spiritual counterpart, of the
many sided interests, practical or otherwise, of the groups and
communities by whom they are worshipped. There are other
spirits which mirror the ideals of the groups by which they are
worshipped. Some of them may have been incarnated in the
lives of great leaders. There are spirits which are mere
animations, occasional spirits, associated with objects crossing
the interests of men, but not constant enough to attain a
definite, independent life as spiritual beings. Thus surrounding
the average Chinese peasant there is a densely populated spirit
world affecting in all kinds of ways his, daily existence. This

other world is the background which must be kept in mind by
one who would understand or attempt to guide Chinese religious
experience. It is the basis on which all organized forms of
religious activity are built. The nearest of these to his heart is
the proper regard for his ancestors.
1
The Expansive Realm of Islam
The origin of Islam is in the Arabian Peninsula as the new
religion reflected faithfully the cultural as well as the social
conditions of the homeland. The people of the area were known
as Bedouin and were mostly pastoralists as the area is not good
for agriculture due to desert conditions. They organized
themselves into family and clan groups. The kinship system was
important for the Bedouin’s and was depended for support as
well as networks for the immediate family members. Long
distance trade was predominant in the area, and Arabia was a
key area of this trade as it linked China, India as well as Persia.
Prophet Muhammad was born in this society in about 570 C.E
into a reputable merchant family in Mecca and was named

Muhammad Ibn Abdullah. He became an orphan at the age of
six. His uncle and grandfather fended for him and provided him
with education although his education life was difficult. In
about 595 C.E he worked for a wealthy widow known as
Khadija and subsequently married her hence becoming
prominent. He became established by the age of thirty.
Many Arabs at that time were polytheists, and many Arabs had
converted to Christianity. When he was about forty years, he
underwent a spiritual transformation when he underwent an
experience that convicted him that there is only one God, Allah,
who ruled the universe and that idolatry was wickedness. At
first, he only presented oral recitations of the revelations he
received from his visions. His following grew, and the written
version of his revelation was completed in 650 and named
Quran, which is the holy book of Islam. Other than the Quran,
traditions known as hadith also provided religious and moral
guidance. His popularity brought him in conflict with the
Mecca’s ruling elites. He fled to Medina, and the migration was
known as hijra. He subsequently organized his follw0ers into
Umma, which was a community of faithful. They returned to
Mecca and during his death in 632 C.E he and brought most of
the Arabia under Islamic control. The Islamic faith is based on
five pillars. Jihad has been taken by some Muslims as an
obligation, and it means to struggle. The Muslims are guided by
Sharia laws that were advanced by the prophet concerning

almost all aspects of life.
After the death of Prophet Muhammad, the Islamic faith
expanded through conquests. There were dynasties that ruled
after his death and sometimes brought disagreements as to who
would lead them. These dynasties included Umayyad dynasty,
Abbasid dynasty, the Reign of Harun al-Rashid. Then there was
the establishment of the Seljuq control over the dynasty of
Abbasid then the last two lives of al-Ghazali and IbnRushd.
This led to the division of Muslim to groups lime the Shia and
the Sunni as a result of succession disagreements. New crops
emerged in the region through various experiments of
agriculture that led to industrial crops, and this subsequently led
to the growth and development of urban centers. Agriculture
and abundance of food contributed to the trade in the region to a
great extent and in the long run resulted in the formation of
Hemispheric Trading Zone. The trades included the Overland
Trade, Camels, and Caravans as well as Maritime Trade. Trade
was organized efficiently and banks too developed. This made
the Muslims prosper in trade, and this prosperity was referred to
as al-Andalus.
Women in the previous times were not highly regarded and
respected in the society as it was patriarchal in nature although
this state of affairs slowly changed. Women were able to own
property, divorce as well as take part in business ventures. For
example, Khadija who was the first wife of the Prophet was a

successful woman in business. The Quran encouraged men to
treat women with respect and allowed men to marry up to four
wives. The women were also supposed to wear veils. The
Quran, therefore, served as the pillar stone of the Islamic faith.
The culture of Islam was formed as a mixture and influence of
various cultures which include the Persian culture, Indian
culture, and the Greek culture. This is due to their interactions
with the various cultures, and they learned various languages
during their interaction with the other traditions and cultures.
1

Chapter 13
The Byzantine Empire was the predominantly Greek-speaking
continuation of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and
the Middle Ages. Its capital city was Constantinople (modern-
day Istanbul), originally known as Byzantium. Initially the
eastern half of the Roman Empire (often called the Eastern
Roman Empire in this context), it survived the 5th century
fragmentation and collapse of the Western Roman Empire and
continued to thrive, existing for an additional thousand years
until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its
existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural,
and military force in Europe. Both "Byzantine Empire" and
"Eastern Roman Empire" are historiographical terms applied in
later centuries; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as
the Roman Empire.
Several events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the
transitional period during which the Roman Empire's east and
west divided. In 285, the emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305)
partitioned the Roman Empire's administration into eastern and
western halves. Between 324 and 330, Constantine I (r. 306-
337) transferred the main capital from Rome to Byzantium, later
known as Constantinople "City of Constantine" and Nova Roma
"New Rome". Under Theodosius I (r. 379-395), Christianity
became the Empire's official state religion and others such as
Roman polytheism were proscribed. And finally, under the reign

of Heraclius (r. 610-641), the Empire's military and
administration were restructured and adopted Greek for official
use instead of Latin. In summation, Byzantium is distinguished
from ancient Rome proper insofar as it was oriented towards
Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterised by Orthodox
Christianity rather than Roman polytheism.
The Emperor of the Eastern Roman empire, Justinian, looked at
his empire and saw that the laws were a mess. Because they
weren't written down, the laws in one part of the empire might
be different than the laws in another part of the empire.
Justinian wanted all of his people to be treated the same way, so
Justinian had his judges and lawyers get together and write
down all the laws of the land. They also wanted to write down
the laws that began in ancient Rome, the laws called the Twelve
Tables. Once they had written down all the laws and made sure
that laws did not conflict with each other, they gave this body
of law a name. They called it the Justinian Code.
In around the year 330, Constantine moved the political capital
of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople. From there,
he managed to rule the entire empire. However, this was no easy
task, and soon the empire broke down into Western and Eastern
Empires, each with their own emperors. In fact, Theodosius,
who died in 395 CE, was the last emperor to rule over both
halves. With their own emperors, and being separated by
geography, the two halves grew further and further apart.

Making matters worse, the Western Empire (Rome and its
surrounding areas) were continually invaded by the barbarians
from the North, while the Eastern Empire (now known as the
Byzantine Empire) thrived.
Adding to the disunity, the Church cultures of the East and
West had become vastly different. While the Western Empire
clung to Latin, the Eastern Church adopted Greek. Before long,
even the Eastern Bishops no longer spoke Latin, and the
Western Church had never used Greek in its ceremony. As the
language barrier grew, so did the differences in church
practices. For instance, the two couldn't agree on which type of
bread to use in communion.
1
Chapter 9 Summary
The Aryans migrated to India after 1500 B.C.E and formed
small kingdoms throughout the subcontinent. The kingdoms
continuously fought each other to expand and absorb the
conquered territory. The wars caused consolidation of kingdoms
into two major actions, the Mauryan and Gupta dynasties in 600
B.C.E. Neither dynasty survived long enough to establish
absolute control and politically unify India. However, in 520

B.C.E Darius I of the Persian Empire conquered northwest India
and brought the subcontinent under Achaemenid authority,
which introduced the local rulers to Persian administrative
techniques. When Alexander of Macedon conquered Persia in
327 B.C.E, he ruled Northern India region of Punjab for a short
while but left a political vacuum in northwestern India.
In 500 B.C.E, King of Magadha filled the political vacuum of
the northwestern India. The inhabitants of Ganges plains had
benefited commercially from trade and agriculture that brought
wealth and enabled Magadha to conquer neighboring kingdoms
and establish authority in northwestern India. Chandragupta
Maurya established the Mauryan Empire in 320 B.C.E in an
attempt to spread a centralized and unified authority in India.
He conquered the Greek of Bactria and the kingdoms of the
Seleucid era.
The Chandragupta government used the Arthashastra form of
government that was developed by Kautalya, who was the
system advisor for Chandragupta. The government system
oversaw trade, taxation, agriculture, order, and foreign
relations. Similar to the Chinese and Persian emperors,
Chandragupta’s government was bureaucratic. Ashoka Maurya,
the grandson of Chandragupta, ruled the empire from 297 B.C.E
and expanded the Mauryan Empire to Kalinga that was once an
independent region of the subcontinent. The sound policies of
Ashoka stabilized and unified India. They led to the

establishment of irrigation systems that expanded the Indian
agricultural sector. The death of Ashoka in 232 B.C.E and
economic challenges due to the large size of the Mauryan
administrative structure led to the decline of the Mauryan
Empire by 185 B.C.E.
After the fall of the Mauryan Empire, Northern India came
under the rule of Greek-speaking rulers that were heirs of the
Alexander of Macedonia. The rulers were from Bactria and
mingled with Greeks to form a Greco-Bactrian kingdom in 250
B.C.E. Bactria benefited from being the commercial hub of the
trade between the Mediterranean and China and conquered
northern India in 182 B.C.E. Groups of Nomadic conquerors
from central Asia fought the Bactrian empire and collapsed the
Greco-Bactrian kingdom. Kushans were one of the successful
nomad conquerors and formed the Kushan Empire that is
modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northern Parts of
Northern India. The Kushan Empire conquered Persia and China
and facilitated the development of the Silk Road network to
promote trade. Since Kushan emperors were Buddhists, they
commissioned artists to create depictions of Buddha that
boosted the spread of Buddhism to East and Central Asia.
The Gupta had also attempted to unify India like the Mauryan
Empire. The Gupta dynasty was based in Magadha and created
the kingdom in 320 C.E. Unlike the Mauryans whose emperors
were actively involved in policy formulation; the Guptas left

policy making to the allies of the regions of the empire. The
political stability of the Gupta kingdom facilitated advancement
in philosophy and science and led to the development of a
flexible numerical system that introduced the place value
notation. The Indians were also good in astronomy and
established 365.3586805 days as the length of a solar year.
Attacks from nomad conquerors called White Hun from Central
Asia caused the decline of the Gupta Empire.
India grew due to the adoption of iron metallurgy by the Aryans
that enabled them to manufacture iron axes that were used to
access remote regions and for agriculture. Farming provided
food surpluses to the Mauryan and Gupta kingdom and led to
the emergence of towns and the caste system. Manufacturing
towns developed in India due in 600 B.C.E due to the growth of
pottery. The long-distance links that Indians kept introduced
India to long distance trade. Indian merchants during the
Mauryan era traded in the Indian Ocean basin by sailing with
the help of the monsoon winds. Indians embraced a patriarchal
family system, and most people lived in nuclear families. The
Indian society was divided into a caste that included Brahmins
(priests), Vaishyas (peasants and merchants), Kshatriyas
(warriors and aristocrats), and Shudras (serfs). Industrialization
led to the emergence of guilds that were social unions of
artisans and craftspersons that opposed the oppressive caste
system in 600 B.C.E.

Brahmins priests practiced the religion of salvation during the
caste system to thank gods for harvest. However, in the fifth
century, atheistic materialism gained popularity and Brahmanist
religions and converted to Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism.
These religions opposed the caste system and embraced an
ascetic lifestyle that did not recognize governments or social
classes. Ashoka, the emperor of the Mauryan Empire, officially
supported Buddhism. Hinduism also gained popularity in India
and evolved into a religion of salvation. The classical Indians
had epic poems such as Ramayan and Mahabharata that
documented the Hindu values. Moralist Indians developed
Hindu ethics that embraced detachment from the world to
escape incarnation. The spread of devotional Hinduism and
Islam almost led to the decline of Buddhism in classical India.
In such of political and social order
The period of warring states reminiscent to the Chinese history
and dating as far back as 403 -321 B.C.E was because of the
political confusion in the Zhou dynasty. It was at this time that
philosophers arose in order to try and redefine the political and
social order. Generally three schools of thought appeared
during this time. These included Confucianism, Daoism, and
legalism.

Confucianism was introduced by Confucius who was the first
Chinese thinker who during this time tried to address the social
and political disorder. Confucius who lived between 551- 479
B.C.E was a strong willed thinker who did not always agree
with other thinkers in his time. He is known for bitter
propositions and was unwilling to compromise on his beliefs.
Confucius eventual set his course of searching for knowledge
from courts since he focused more on principles that were
always in opposition to state policy.
Confucius’ intention was to become a powerful minister who
was never to be and instead he became an educator and political
advisor. Analects represent a collection of Confucius sayings
compiled by his students. Confucius’ point of view was moral,
ethical and had political connotations. Most importantly
Confucius didn’t look at the structure of the state. His
understanding was that social and political harmony was
because of human relationships as opposed to establishments of
state offices.
Confucius focused on the formation of the ‘junzi’ depicting
‘superior individuals who had greater say on public affairs from
a more impartial view. Among Confucius’ ideals was the need
for a public officer to have a strong sense of moral integrity and
capacity to deliver impartial judgments.
The ‘ren’ became Confucius’ creed enumerating a number of
values that he stood for. The characteristic implication of the

‘ren’ focused on an attitude of kindness and benevolence. The
‘li’ was another of Confucius values that highlights a sense of
propriety. Confucius also emphasized ‘xiao’ representing the
significance of family in Chinese society.
Ren, li and xiao became important reference points for
Confucius because these qualities were desirable for anyone
who intended to become a public figure in the society at that
time. Confucius stressed through these values that self control
was the key to power meaning that the person was obliged to
lead by example.
Since Confucius’ assertions were general, his followers were
able to adapt them in diverse settings. Mencius and Xunzi
became some of the notable disciples of Confucius. Mencius
became Confucius’ spokesman and travelled widely throughout
China.
Mencius proposed the ‘ren’ and advocated government by
humanity and benevolence. Xunzi was equally learned and
served as a government administrator. Xunzi believed that
human beings were selfishly pursuing their own interests.
Hence Xunzi unlike Mencius laid more emphasis on ‘li’ one of
Confucius’ values. Generally Confucians laid a greater
emphasis on education and public behaviour.
Daoists emerged as the greatest critic of Confucius and most
devoted their energies to introspection and reflection. Laozi
was considered as founder of Daoism. This point of view

attempted to understand the fundamental character of the world
and nature. Daodejing looked at dao as a passive force acting
harmoniously with the principles of nature.
Daoists based their thinking on the core virtue as a trait called
‘wuwei’. This principle advocated simple and selfless living.
This virtue also proposed less government that according to
daoists meant better. Daodejing proposed a tiny world
consisting of self sufficient communities.
While Confucius promoted activism and extroversion, daoists
saw themselves as offering a counterbalance through reflective
and introspective consciousness. Apparently Daoism and
Confucianism didn’t restore the much sought after order in the
society at that time. This inadequacy gave rise to legalism that
was characterized by a practical and ruthless efficient approach
to statecraft.
Shang Yang was among the legalist of this time as he also was
the duke of Qin state in western China. Power and ruthlessness
that were typical of Shang Yang brewed much discontent that
led to his murder. Another legalist was Han Feizi considered to
be among the most systematic legalists of his time. In trying to
carry forth his views and serving as an advisor in the Qin court,
Feizi also met considerable resistance that caused him to take
poison.
Shang Yang and Han Feizi believed that state strength was
founded on the army and agriculture. These became the values

of the legalist doctrine. The legalist doctrine became pivotal in
the establishment of the Qin dynasty in western China. This
dynasty thrived on the values proposed by the legalists and
advanced a unification structure in China at that time. Even as
the Qin dynasty grew in prosperity, Confucians and daoists
became its greatest critics. The emperor of Qin at that time
ruthlessly dealt with the emerging opposition. Later revolts
against the Qin dynasty would emerge that eventually plunged it
into chaos and resulted in its disintegration in 207 B.C.E.
This marked the end of imperialism in China until the
emergence of the Han dynasty by Liu Bang. The Han dynasty
this became the longest and most influential in Chinese history.
Han dynasty was based on a blending between the Zhou dynasty
decentralized networks and Qin dynasty’s imperialism.
Generally the Han dynasty propagated increased authority and
prestige for the central government. This would later lead to
the Han imperial expansion that also expanded beyond the
borders of China into Korea and Vietnam. The Han dynasty
drew on the legalists and Confucian doctrines and this coupled
with a largely agricultural economy.
The imperialistic adventures of the Han dynasty would later
bring about tremendous economic strain on China. This was
occasioned by the military escapades that Han Wudi initiated
beyond the borders of China. By raising tax and repossessing
land, Han Wudi was able to sustain the foreign imperial policy

that the Han dynasty had initiated. However during this reign
the social inequality became the result of growing tension where
the rich owned the large tracts of land on which the poor
worked in servitude. The serious land issues that arose during
the Han dynasty were never effectively addressed and this led to
the yellow turban uprising. The rebellion by the yellow turbans
eventually resulted in the collapse of the Han dynasty.

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