Decline in China

1. Decline in China 100 CE- Han China begins a serious decline; Confucian activity becomes less prevalent Central gvmt loses control, bureaucrats become corrupt, and local landlords rule according to their own wishes Free peasants burdened with taxes and landlord’s wishes; most lost their farms and became day laborers; some sold their children into service

2. Daoist Rebellion • Daoist leaders (Yellow Turbans) promise relief through divine magic • Yellow Turbans attack the weakness of the emperor and also the self-indulgence of the bureaucracy • 30,000 students protest; the rebellion failed and Chinese growth spiraled downhill • The split in the population made invasions from Asiatic Huns very easy

3. Other Factors • Spread of devastating new epidemics kill ½ pop. • As Buddhism spread, China’s cultural unity was threatened • Weak regional rulers rise and fall • Sui and Tang Dynasty • Native rulers in N. China drive out the invaders (Sui) • Tang follow the Sui dynasty and revive bureaucracy and Confucianism

4. Summary: China • The structures in China were too strong to be overturned, even during period of weak emperors and invasions • Invaders simply assimilated into Chinese traditions

5. Decline in India • Hun invaders begin as early as 500 CE • Many invaders integrate into the warrior caste, forming a new group of regional princes • Regional princes (Rajput) emphasize military conquest • Buddhism further declines, and Hinduism rises • Indian economy prosperity peaks

6. Other threats • Islam threatens Hinduism around 600 CE • Hindu texts begin being published in Hindi instead of Sanskrit, which hindered mathematics & science • Arab traders take control of I.O. Trade Network, which hinders India • REMAINDERS: regional political structures, the caste system, and Hinduism survived the general decline in India

7. Decline and Fall of Rome • After 180 CE, Rome faced difficulties in founding an army due to decline in population • Tax collection became an issue because Roman residents hit economic hard times • A general deflation of the Roman spirit • Series of weak emperors send Rome into depression; army intervenes and selects emperors which deteriorates rule from the top • Series of plagues emerge from intl. trade (750,000 ppl), further crippling the economy in Rome

8. w/ less Romans, the gvmthires mercenaries …Overall the plagues decimated the population, which led to other issues • Rome’s upper class becomes more materialistic, straying from Roman culture • Upper classes stop reproducing because it’s incompatible with “pleasure-seeking” • Plot farmers surrender their land to estate owners for military and judicial protection; in the long run this weakens the power of the emperor • Cities shrank as estates try self-reliance and stray from trade; this causes a cycle in which Roman cities would all but disappear

9. None of the measures by Diocletian or Constantine revived the empire (moving the capital, claiming divine rule, etc.) • Dividing the empire between the West and East caused decline in West • Germanic invasions in 400 CE meet little resistance from lower classes; first German kingdom in 425 CE • Rome is left in three pieces; would later make up three distinct civilizations • In the East, the Byzantine Empire emerges with roots from the classical Roman Empire • Byzantines have Greek language but Roman traditions • Byzantine emperor Justinian tries to recapture Roman heritage