Introduction to Asian History - Essay Example

Section/# Chapter One: A Discussion and Analysis Regardless of the interpretation of Asian history that one has, reading specific primary texts and integrating with new interpretations of societal development and personal belief throughout Asia can have a powerful impact with respect to the underlying understanding that a particular practitioner can come to accept. As a function of this, the following analysis will discuss three distinct chapters from the text and relate how they are relevant to a more informed and realistic interpretation of Asian history. Although it is true that a thorough and close reading of the text could represent many thousands of different truths, such an interpretation and discussion would be too broad for the scope of this particular assignment. In this way, the following discussion will be mainly concentric upon three core interpretations that this author has determined to be of the greatest overall worth with regard to understanding Asian history. These are: the impact of religion upon the norms of society, the degree and extent to which international interaction took place within Asia, and the formative impact that non-violence played in determining social and political order within the ancient societies of Asia. Through such an analysis, it is the hope of this author that the reader will gain a more informed understanding of the relevance that this particular chapter has to Asian history as well as a more specific interpretation of the actual events that culminated in the period in question. Further, although the impacts of nonviolent movements have been powerfully felt within the 20th and 21st centuries, this particular form of expression was not something that was unique to individual such as Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King. By much the same token, the nonviolent resistance was not something that was initially “thought up” near Walden Pond. Instead, the chapter helps to denote the fact that nonviolent protest play a powerful role in affecting a political change within ancient Chinese culture. Naturally, it would be foolish to assume that the text in question provides one of the first historical accounts of nonviolent resistance. However, notwithstanding this fact, it must not be ignored that nonviolent resistance in such a period was something that far exceeded the norm that could have been found elsewhere throughout the world. Says the text: “Seeing that he would be obtained by force and opposition to his original design, [Xuanzang] declared with an oath that he would eat nothing, in order to affect the King’s heart. So he sat in a grave posture, and during three days key neither a nor drank; on the fourth day the king seeing that the master was becoming fainter and fainter, overcome with shame and sorrow, thou down to the ground before him and said ‘the Master of Law has free permission to go to the West’” (Gordon 9). Although this can be understood in terms of a simple story, the broader implication that can be defined is the fact that nonviolent resistance was a concept and integration that Buddhism provided the Asian world that has had a formative and profound impact with regards to the way in which it has developed and the manner through which subsequent levels of power have ingested to the reality of the people’s will. By means of contrast in comparison, the history of the Western world is oftentimes defined in terms of violent revolution, terrorism, and the manner through which force can be applied to encourage a particular ruling power to bend their will to the masses. Whereas this is most certainly noted in many key examples of Asian history, the fundamental tenets of Buddhism create a requirement to perform no harm to others. This passive level of resistance is definitively proven within the text as having a profound impact with regards to the way in which decision-making was ordered and the ability to become more Metropolitan and educated was affected. Chapter 7 helps to relate the fact that Asia was experiencing a complex level of interaction during the 14th century. Whereas many individuals might be led to believe that the era of global exploration and trade began in earnest with the voyage of Christopher Columbus, the reality of the fact is that complex diplomatic agreements, trade, and interaction between foreign nations existed in Asian dating back hundreds of years prior to Columbus voyage. The case in point that is referenced in chapter 7 is contingent upon the high level of trade that was taking place in and around Nanking during the 14th century. Rather than merely serving as a conduit around the Asian world, Nanking was also a metropolitan city that employed a litany of translators, diplomats, tradesmen, and individuals involved in importation and exportation of rare/exotic goods. Within such an understanding and interpretation, the impact of subsequent Asian history and the manner through which certain nations have easily acclimated to the era of a globalized trade network can partially be understood in terms of the historical level of integration that these regions had many centuries ago. Naturally, such a broad stereotype is somewhat dangerous; however, in the understanding of this author, it is beneficial in helping to explicate the manner and relationships that are continually evolving within the Asian world of today. In terms of chapter 10, the reader is presented with the reality of how Asian empires and societies ultimately evolved. Naturally, there are a litany of factors that must be considered; however, the authors promote these as contingent namely upon the elements of interaction, culture, trade, and religion. As has briefly been discussed within the first part of this analysis, the impact of religion has been profound with regards to serving as a conduit through which diverse parts of Asia interacted with one another and became to see themselves as part of a larger entity. Obviously, the second part of the analysis was contingent upon the manner through which trade routes help to develop a cultural interpretation and wide reaching economy that has helped to define Asia in the way that it is today. Similarly, the impact of culture and the ethnic groups that are represented throughout Asia, as discussed within chapter 10, also have had a profound impact with regards to delineating what particular groups interact and in what way. Naturally, a discussion of culture and ethnic relationships cannot be had without a further analysis of geography and the manner through which natural barriers such as the barrier of the Indian Ocean within the subcontinent of India and/or the barrier of the analyze acting as a means of separating the Chinese dynasties from the Indian subcontinent cannot and should not be ignored. Moreover, these natural geographic barriers continue to have a profound impact with regards to the relationship between groups of people and the manner through which identity is predicated. A thorough understanding of the impacts of Asian history cannot be had without at least a cursory analysis of the devastating impact that European colonization had. Ultimately, at a point in time in which the Asian empires work at a very weak point, European colonization served to even further diminish the level of independence or interaction that these respective nations were able to stay. Ultimately, as with colonization in any other part of the world, the colonization of took part in Asia was one that has impacted upon the development and self-determination of Asia much more than many individuals would like to admit. Within such an understanding, the overall importance and power that colonization of had is something that truly cannot be understated. It is obviously true that a complete and thorough interpretation of history is not something that will ever be agreed upon categorically by all historians. Yet, from the information that is been provided, the reader can come to understand why key differentials in Asian history are impactful with regards to the way it is understood and continues to be represented within the cultures, ethnic groups, and levels of interaction that are exhibited within/throughout Asia today. The information that has been represented within the chapters of the text helps to denote the key differentials that exist within Asian history; as compared to many other geographical representations of history throughout the world. Whereas it is most certainly true that Asian history has a unique level of comparison with regards to other representations of social interaction and societal development, the approach, the impact of religion, role of the individual, and understanding of the outside world is something that is all too often glossed over and/or misunderstood by historians and stakeholders throughout society. By integrating with these factors in the format that has been briefly represented, the reader can come to a more informed interpretation of the way in which Asian history has been represented. Through such an understanding, the chapters presented are able to bring the reader to the realization that although Asia is inherently different than other regions throughout the world, it nonetheless has a level of corresponding comparison to the West; even if the occurrences that have been discussed took place at different rates and at different times. Work Cited Gordon, Stewart. When Asia was the world. Cambridge, Mass: Da Capo Press, 2008. Print. Read More

 

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