Chapter 12- The world of the Fifteen Century
To me, the most interesting part in chapter 12 is the comparison of different civilizations during the 15th century. China: When the Mongols left China after ruling the world`s superpower nearly a century, China was a mess. In the 15th century, China entered the Ming dynasty. During this period of time, China started to recover from all the damage that caused by the Mongols. They try to “ eliminate all signs of foreign rule, discouraging the use of Mongo; names and dress, while promoting Confucian learning and orthodox gender roles.”(567) Politically, they also reintroduced the examination system which got terminated under Mogo rule. Then they created a highly centralized government. Europe: Europe also experienced a similar recovery process during the 15th century. Politically, “Europe joined China in continuing earlier patterns of state building.” (569) Unlike the highly unitary and centralized Chinese government, the system in Europe including many separate, independent,...