Blog #3

“Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need. I say love, it is a flower, and you it's only seed” (Bette Midler - “The Rose”). The revolutionary Silk Roads, China’s powerful and innovative dynasty and the spread of Christianity, were formed by just a seed. They all blossomed from one small idea into a majestic flower, all in their own ways. But what does love and hunger and an aching need have to do with those three things? Which is the greater accomplishment? And which if the three; silk roads, china’s dynasty and the spread of Christianity is the most important? I guess that would remain in the eye of the beholder and perhaps in the impact that each one had on the world in its baby phases as well as today.

Strayer described the Silk Roads as “land-based trade routes that linked pastoral and agricultural peoples as well as the large civilization on the continent’s outer rim.” (Page 219) This meant that people could move about as they pleased a lot more efficiently and quickly. Trade between many different cultures and countries made a mark on the world. We could say that the Silk Roads were arguably the most impactful and extensive idea or expansion of a new idea and invention during the years 500-1500. We could say this and people would be satisfied with the argument. However we still have two other very important factors that impacted this particular time frame to consider.

Strayer says that a leading world historian described Tang dynasty as “the best ordered state in the world.” An “economic revolution” that made Song dynasty China “by far the richest, most skilled, and most populous country on earth.” (Page 244) Italian visitor Marco Polo described Hangzhou, China as “beyond dispute the finest and noblest city in the world.” (Page 245) These are pretty amazing observations or opinions about China, especially for their time. China was, and in some ways still is, an undisputed power in the world that helped revolutionize and really grow the trade industry and the exchange between people and cultures. I would also venture to say that they would not have been able to expand and trade as much as they had, if it were not for the roads that had been created to enable that trade. We see here already that the Silk Roads and the success of China are greatly intertwined and I am sure we will see that same concept with Christianity.

Christianity in the classical era took on many shapes and forms, much as it does today. It was adopted by many people and then dropped culturally by some. Different types of practices were created and spread throughout the world as people knew it; Judaism, Islam, Roman Catholic, and Greek Orthodox to name a few. Unlike any other religious or spiritual practices in the world at the time, Christianity was unique. One rule under one God, contrary to many other practices with multiple Gods, with the son of God Jesus Christ as the center of many of them. Strayer said that “nothing more dramatically revealed the European expansiveness and the religious passions that informed it that the Crusades, a series of “holy wars” that captured the imagination of Western Christendom for more than four centuries. (Page 286) This is a very big statement that urges me to want to stop right there and say that without a doubt the spread of Christianity was the most significant and impactful of its time. To say this however would be saying that the Silk Roads and routes built for travel would have been of no significance, which would not be fair to say. Without the Silk Roads the spread of Christianity would not have been what it was. It spread to more people in the world than any other practice or religion. Even today it is the most widely spread and un-segregated practice in all the world. In the year 500-1500, it was similar to trade and the power of China and it was just as important as the Silk Roads, in fact the Silk Roads created more freedom for the world to hear of the “good news” of Jesus Christ and God the Father since there was a clear path set forth for it to be brought to the masses.

You see, they don’t all necessarily link together in a completely distinct way, but Silk Roads, China’s powerful dynasty and the spread of Christianity are all just as impactful and in my opinion just cannot be compared. Each of the three had a very specific purpose and therefore are all on different playing fields. They each had a very high impact, especially for their time, and each brought a beautiful richness of its own to the culture and peoples in the world at its time. People believed and grew in their faith in the new concepts and innovation that each proved to be and each was just as important in building the foundations of our world today as the other. I can’t argue that one of these three big achievements or events or inventions, or really whatever else they can be called, really all were intertwined and in the powerful and beautiful flowers that they are if it were not for the other. Each one of their inventors or idea makers or believers, hungered for a new way a new life and a new world and made it all possible with the help of other and a little sun and water, and love of course for the seed to blossom in the ways that it did.