History of World Civilization The Middle Ages: Is it the Dark Age

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It is generally believed that the Middle Ages were Europe's "Dark Ages", a major setback in everything from politics and economy to science and technology. Is this perception accurate? Obviously this is inaccurate.

First of all, the real area of decline in the Middle Ages was only the original Latin-speaking area of Europe, that is, from Rome westward to Iberia, Gaul, Britain, and North Africa. The area in northern Europe where the Germanic people originally lived is actually more advanced than in the past. In the East, the areas controlled by Orthodox Christianity and Islamic civilization were also developing slowly. The Byzantine Empire, which believed in Orthodox Christianity, once became a large empire spanning Europe, Asia and Africa. The importance of the Middle Ages to world civilization is no less than that of the glorious classical civilization and the later Renaissance.

From the perspective of the history of civilization, the Middle Ages played a pivotal role in connecting the past and the future. In fact, most of the major European schools of thought and culture we see today were born in the Middle Ages. To understand the underlying logic of European civilization, you have to read the Middle Ages, and to understand world civilization, the Middle Ages is an indispensable piece of the puzzle.

The overall situation of this period in the Middle Ages

From a world perspective, although Western Europe entered a period of civilizational regression during this period, the Arab civilization in the Middle East and the Chinese civilization in East Asia entered their respective golden periods of development.

In the Mexican region on the American continent, the indigenous Aztecs built a magnificent city. The famous Pyramids of the Sun and Moon were buildings of that era. In the west of South America, residents have also entered a farming civilization and built breathtaking castles. In eastern and central North America, people transitioned from matrilineal clan societies to complex societies, and they have mastered relatively advanced farming techniques. Near the cold Arctic Circle, the Inuit also lived in permanent igloos, completing their settlement from migration. Even on islands in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, although people in different areas lived independently, they did not continue the Stone Age lifestyle unchanged. Instead, a social division of labour developed, and while gathering and hunting, farming and animal husbandry also began.

In the Middle Ages, world civilization as a whole was still developing, but the achievements of civilization were not as dazzling as the previous classical civilization period .

Development of East Asia in the Middle Ages

From a time perspective, the turmoil and decline of the Middle Ages did not last for thousands of years, but only the first few hundred years. Subsequently, a new order was established all over the world and preparations were made for the next great development of civilization and global trade.

Specifically, the development of East Asia in the Middle Ages can be divided into three stages: the initial period of division, the period of unification, and the subsequent period when multiple regimes coexisted, that is, the Liao, Song, Xia, Jin, and Yuan periods.

Classical civilization ended at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Since then, the Central Plains dynasty has fallen into a period of division. Although the Western Jin Dynasty briefly unified the Central Plains, it was quickly overthrown.

In fact, from the beginning of historical records to the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, there were two major war periods in the Central Plains. The first long-term split was the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period that we are all familiar with, and the second was the Wuhu Chaos in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The two splits were of different natures.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, different regimes shared the same culture, and their main regimes had a long continuity. The division of China in the Middle Ages was a conflict and collision of different cultures. The level of chaos far exceeded that of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The Sui Dynasty that finally unified China was also a mixed regime of Hu and Han. However, because of the mixing and integration of various ethnic groups over the past four centuries, a new main body of the Chinese nation, or the new Han ethnic group, has been formed.

The reunification of the Central Plains dynasty had to wait until 589 AD, by the Sui Dynasty, and East Asia also entered the second stage of the Middle Ages. Both the Sui Dynasty and the later Tang Dynasty unified the entire Central Plains farming area and grassland nomadic areas, which was the first time in Chinese history.

Although the surrounding regimes, including North Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, are independent, they all recognize the dominance of the Central Plains culture and the Central Plains regime. However, because the empire's territory was so large, it was difficult for the Sui and Tang Dynasties to effectively control all parts of the empire for a long time. Therefore, this second stage of unification lasted only about a hundred years. Afterwards, many independent regimes emerged in the grassland areas, while warlord separatism emerged in the Central Plains. Eventually, the Central Plains region split again.

In East Asia, the third stage of the Middle Ages was a relatively stable stage of coexistence of multiple regimes, with the Liao, Song, Xia, Jin, Yuan and other regimes appearing one after another. It should be pointed out that at the beginning, these regimes could maintain relative peace among themselves and their borders were relatively fixed. However, the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century broke this seemingly "peaceful" situation. The regime established by the Mongols launched a war of annihilation against the Jin and Southern Song Dynasties in the Central Plains, and reunified the Central Plains.

Developments in Persia and India during the Middle Ages

Looking from East Asia to the west, the Persian Empire and India were not much affected by the invasion of northern nomadic tribes in the Middle Ages, and their history has been well continued. Continuing westward from Persia, we come to the territory of the original Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages, the eastern and western sides of the Roman Empire took completely different historical directions.

In the early Middle Ages, the Eastern Roman Empire maintained strong economic and military power and could be called a powerful country with a vast territory. The Eastern Roman Empire was also the Byzantine Empire. In the western territories of the original Roman Empire, there was an era of war for about two centuries, which was the darkest period in Europe. In this process, some barbarians, such as the Goths and Franks, established their own political power and became the new masters of Europe; while other barbarians, such as the Vandals and Huns, may have achieved military success for a time. success, but was eventually phased out by history.

After the chaos of the Middle Ages, the situation in Western Europe began to become clearer. For most of the time, multiple regimes coexisted there, but they all believed in Christianity.

In the middle and late Middle Ages, the Arab Empire in the middle of the Eurasian continent rose, and Arab civilization entered its golden age. In Europe, the Byzantine Empire continued to weaken, and a large number of independent regimes emerged in Western Europe through feudalism. They sometimes merged through marriage, sometimes regained independence, and gradually emerged from the darkness.

In the western territories of the original Roman Empire, there was an era of war for about two centuries, which was the darkest period in Europe. In this process, some barbarians, such as the Goths and Franks, established their own political power and became the new masters of Europe; while other barbarians, such as the Vandals and Huns, may have achieved military success for a time. success, but was eventually phased out by history.

After the chaos of the Middle Ages, the situation in Western Europe began to become clearer. For most of the time, multiple regimes coexisted there, but they all believed in Christianity.

late middle ages

In the late Middle Ages, the Mongol Empire rose, and the Mongol army swept almost the entire Eurasian continent. In addition to the Central Plains dynasties, the most affected ones were the Arab civilization located at the junction of the Eurasian continent. In fact, Arab civilization also turned from prosperity to decline. In Europe, the Black Death caused by the war spread across Europe, killing a large number of people and directly changing the pattern of Europe.

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The rise of the Mongol Empire

Comparing Eastern and Western civilizations in the Middle Ages, it is not difficult to find that in the early days they both experienced wars and regimes. However, after a few hundred years, the East returned to the political trajectory of the original Qin and Han empires, not only reunifying , and has retained its original traditions and culture to a large extent. On the one hand, this is because the Sinicization reforms of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty and Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty allowed the political traditions of the Central Plains dynasties to continue; on the other hand, it is because in the Middle Ages, no new culture emerged in East Asia that could replace the original Han culture.

In Western Europe, the situation was different. Even after social stability and even after the integration of various ethnic groups was completed, a unified country like Rome never appeared again. This is mainly because the political system, military system and religious culture of the Roman Empire were replaced by the new feudal system and Christian culture .

Summarise

In the Middle Ages, the process of world civilization was not interrupted, but continued and developed. In the Arab region, the Middle Ages was its golden age, while in the East, the Central Plains Dynasty also gave rise to the two most influential dynasties in history - the Tang and Song Dynasties. As for Europe, the Byzantine Empire inherited the mantle of the Roman Empire and quickly developed into a great power. Western Europe inherited Christian civilization and started a new feudal tradition. Different political powers became independent, which directly affected the political and cultural structure of Western Europe for nearly a thousand years.

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