China is the civilization that would have been the greatest to live in during the Middle Ages due to their amazing economy, which led to incredible achievements in culture.
The Sung Dynasty, which was the dynasty that ruled China during part of the Middle Ages, was called a "Golden age unsurpassed in history" by Mike Wood, a renowned world historian. This is because of the remarkable culture, or Wen, of the Dynasty. These advances were made possible by the new, extremely fast growing rice crop discovered in China around this time. These surpluses led to the allowance of more people to focus on the pursuit of culture, due to the satisfaction of their basic needs. Another thing that boosted the economy was the Grand Canal. It reached its height during the Sung Dynasty, and that led to an advancement of trade. This, plus the silk road, led to an unshakable economy. The trade was internal and external. The trade is the main reason the economy was so great, thus leading to the amazing cultural advances.
Taking one’s pleasure must last until spring.
I sing — the moon wavers back and forth.
I dance — my shadow flickers and scatter.
Above is a poem by Li Bo. He was an extremely famous poet of his time. He lived in the Tang Dynasty, one of the two heightened cultures of China (The other one was the Song Dynasty.) This excerpt speaks of one of the most important things in China's culture at the time: pleasure. Because of their unshakable economy, almost all citizens of China were able to experience pleasure and enjoy things such as dancing, singing, and enjoying the weather. China's culture was heightened by this pleasure, as it inspire great artists such as Li Bo to create amazing works of art and literature that are still remembered today.
".... (China) Has such a multitude of houses, and such a vast population inside the walls and outside, that it seems quite past all possibility. There is a suburb outside each of the gates, which are 12 in number, and these suburbs are so great that they contain more people than in the city itself. In those suburbs live foreign merchants and travelers, of whom there are always great numbers who have come to bring presents to the emperor, to sell articles at court, or because the city affords so good a market to attract traders. And thus there are as many good houses outside the city as inside, without counting those that belong to the great lords and barons, which are very numerous."
- Marco Polo
This quote from Marco Polo when he traveled to China for the first time in the middle Ages shows how amazed he was while comparing China to other places around the world, such as Europe. China was such an outstanding civilization in this time period because of their culture. Their culture is what separated them from the rest of the world in these dark ages when no one else had pleasure, education and cuisine. They could focus so much on the pleasurable things in life because they were producing a surplus of food because of the newly discovered rice that could grow twice as fast. In the cities, there was entertainment of singing and dancing, in the streets there were amazing restaurants that people went to eat the culture of China, and there were many different ethnic groups that made their culture much more sophisticated. One of the greatest cities in the China during the time was Chang'an, which was abundant in culture and entertainment. China's culture was the main reason why China was the greatest civilization during the middle Ages.
Taking one’s pleasure must last until spring.
I sing — the moon wavers back and forth.
I dance — my shadow flickers and scatter.
Above is a poem by Li Bo. He was an extremely famous poet of his time. He lived in the Tang Dynasty, one of the two heightened cultures of China (The other one was the Song Dynasty.) This excerpt speaks of one of the most important things in China's culture at the time: pleasure. Because of their unshakable economy, almost all citizens of China were able to experience pleasure and enjoy things such as dancing, singing, and enjoying the weather. China's culture was heightened by this pleasure, as it inspire great artists such as Li Bo to create amazing works of art and literature that are still remembered today.
".... (China) Has such a multitude of houses, and such a vast population inside the walls and outside, that it seems quite past all possibility. There is a suburb outside each of the gates, which are 12 in number, and these suburbs are so great that they contain more people than in the city itself. In those suburbs live foreign merchants and travelers, of whom there are always great numbers who have come to bring presents to the emperor, to sell articles at court, or because the city affords so good a market to attract traders. And thus there are as many good houses outside the city as inside, without counting those that belong to the great lords and barons, which are very numerous."
- Marco Polo
This quote from Marco Polo when he traveled to China for the first time in the middle Ages shows how amazed he was while comparing China to other places around the world, such as Europe. China was such an outstanding civilization in this time period because of their culture. Their culture is what separated them from the rest of the world in these dark ages when no one else had pleasure, education and cuisine. They could focus so much on the pleasurable things in life because they were producing a surplus of food because of the newly discovered rice that could grow twice as fast. In the cities, there was entertainment of singing and dancing, in the streets there were amazing restaurants that people went to eat the culture of China, and there were many different ethnic groups that made their culture much more sophisticated. One of the greatest cities in the China during the time was Chang'an, which was abundant in culture and entertainment. China's culture was the main reason why China was the greatest civilization during the middle Ages.