Compare the Chinese, Islamic and Byzantine relationships with steppelanders. What were the costs and benefits of each policy?
What will be an ideal response?
A. Relationships with steppelanders
1. China striving to maintain the ancient sense of unity in times of
political dissolution
2. Chinese predicament also parallels those of the Islamic world and Byzantium
a. beset by nomadic migrants and invaders
3. China tried to fend off the "barbarians" by using Byzantine methods
a. diplomacy, bribery, intimidation, displays of cultural superiority
1. Song coped by opting for coexistence and peaceful
persuasion, bribing and coaxing the foreigners into
remaining quiet
b. benefits include keeping the invaders at bay, forming alliances
c. costs, like in China, include loss of land and shared economic base
4. followed Islamic methods
a. Chinese worked to convert invaders to their own culture,
usually successfully
b. benefits include the new resources brought by assimilated cultures
1. Barbarian invaders always did get seduced by Chinese
ways and adopt Chinese culture
c. cost of assimilation can be a diffusion of cultures and infusion of
new ideas that overshadow traditional cultural values
1. bloody defeats and costly destruction usually preceded
these cultural victories
5. reexploitation of internal resources
a. made an important contribution
b. benefits of new land and resources for growing population
c. cost of the overexploitation of land, deforestation and destruction
of wetlands
6. China, unity never seemed perfect or stable, but remained actively
pursued and ultimately recoverable
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Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).
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A) establishing the Second Bank of the United States. B) cooperating with state governments on internal improvements. C) shielding American products with tariffs. D) hiring Native American workers.
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a. Living models of true Islamic discipline. b. Soldiers to help conquer territories for new converts. c. Intellectuals and dedicated, successful missionaries. d. They stimulated changes that helped Islam become more accessible to the common man.