State-Building Through Trade

Fueled by increased trade, cross-cultural exchanges of technology and innovation increased. Innovations in crop production, such as Champa rice that spread from Vietnam to China, helped the Song Dynasty feed and sustain a growing population. The resulting effect, a larger and more urban citizenry, supported the development of China’s manufacturing capability—the largest in the world at the time. Porcelain, silk, steel, and iron production all increased during this time. Together, these changes built the Song into the strongest state in China since the time of the Han a millennium earlier.

Paper manufacturing, invented in China in the 2nd century B.C.E., made its way across Eurasia, reaching Europe around the 13th century. The resulting printed material led to increased literacy rates across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. The focus on intellectual thought and learning led to advances in mathematics and medicine, especially in Islamic centers of learning such as the House of Wisdom in Bagdad.

Europe benefited from exchanges with the Middle East, and through it with the rest of Asia. Not all contact between Europe and Asia was peaceful. Muslims had conquered Spain by force in the 8th century and Christian crusaders attempted to seize lands they considered holy in the Middle East beginning around 1100. The Mongols fostered the transfer of knowledge, but only after they carried out brutal conquests. All of these contacts with Asia contributed to state-building in Europe. Between 1200 and 1450, the process was small and slow, held back by the manorial system and serfdom, but it was noticeable. After 1450, state-building would increase in speed and significance in Europe.