Globalization and Its Impact on International Finance

During the Han Dynasty, Buddha’s teachings were introduced to China by Central-Asian traders and received little support from the Han dynasty rulers. However, after the collapse of the Han Dynasty, the country was fragmented. While northern China was dominated by invaders from the borderland and steppes, southern China was ruled by continuous “Chinese” dynasties. As a result, Buddhism appealed to people who felt baffled by the loss of an anticipated and durable society. Subsequently, in 581 CE, Sui emperor Wendi reunified China with this new religion and gained state support, therefore further spreading Buddhism. It was not until the Tang Dynasty did the Chinese rulers realize the threat Buddhism had posed on them. Consequently, during the

Compare and Contrast: The Spread of Christianity and Buddhism in the End of the Classical Period.

2. Thesis: Although both Han China and Gupta India’s political control directly correlated to religion, they differed in the centralization of their government, and what members of society became rulers.

After the rise and fall of the earliest civilizations, some of the very first ancient empires started to emerge over many centuries before the birth of Christ. Although there are many things that characterize these empires uniquely from each other, there are still resemblances between them. Despite the fact that both Persia and China were great empires in two different regions, their governing methods coincide in the systems of organization and basic infrastructures; but they differed greatly in the beliefs of both the government and people.

The Europeans who dreamt of conquering Asia were under the impression that Asia was a blank slate, isolated with no history and traditions. However, that is their misconception for Asia from 500-1500 CE “was a vast world of contrast… [and] bewildering variety” thriving with many empires, capital cities, religions, and cultures (Gordon, 177). Because of this, Asia then can be classified as a compilation of many key eras such as the Medieval Age in China and the Golden Age. Such prosperous times for Asian states and empires are to be accredited to the notable networking in Asia at this time period. People who utilized the establishment of fundamental institutions such as the religions of Islam and Buddhism and various modes of trading and traveling were able to facilitate the diffusion of ideas and cultures therefore indirectly contributing to the overall connection of Asian states and empires during 500-1500 CE.

On top of being advantageous for the justification of Wu’s throne, the adoption of Buddhism also benefitted the Chinese government. Wu’s openhanded policies towards Buddhism and her proclamation of an era of peace brought the empire economic stability and prosperity (Smarr Feb. 17 2012). The reciprocated correlation between religion and state is clearly identified by Wu’s unambiguous relationship with Buddhism: Wu accepts the previously rejected religion and becomes its primary fiscal source, which ultimately leads to the wide-spread of Buddhism throughout the country, while Buddhism, in return, legitimizes her reign and facilitates the trade routes on the silk roads to the western world, bringing countless advantages to China and significantly boosting the Chinese economy during a peaceful period.

According to Osterhammel and Petersson, globalization “summarizes a wide spectrum of experiences shared by many people” (2). I agree with this statement and would go on to claim that globalization is a group of processes and events, some beneficial and some harmful, that have resulted in the spread of networks across the world. However, this spread of networks did not happen over night. This is in part because not all interactions are transformed into networks, as these require a certain degree of longevity. In order for interactions to become networks, groups must consider the range between each other and their interactions must be important or impactful, intense, fast, durable, and frequent. For the reason that each of these characteristics must be present in order for networks to form, globalization has been in the works for many centuries and is still at work today. Therefore, while the historical events and processes of past centuries have provided the roots of globalization, the modernization of recent decades has built upon these roots to connect the world in a way

One of the consistent themes of history has been the increasing connectedness of humankind. From the first river-valley civilizations to today’s intertwined world, one of the hallmarks of the past — and one that continues to this day — has been increased globalization. While the 20th century represented one of the greatest advancements in human interaction, it was not a wholly new event. Examples of globalization can be seen throughout history, like in the movement of pastoralists, Indian Ocean trade, and the Columbian Exchange.

The movement of goods, people, and wealth in the late 17th and 18th centuries permanently changed societies across the continents of Europe, Africa, and North and South America, thereby increasing the reach of globalization in the modern age. Most influential to this movement was what is sometimes referred to as “The Atlantic Circuit”, a triangle of trade between Western Europe, western Africa, and the West Indies. Out of this circuit came the rapid growth of the Atlantic slave trade, which not only established multiple industries of agriculture, but significantly changed the economies of all countries involved. The

2. Albert M. Craig, William A. Graham, Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, Frank M. Turner. “China‘s First Empire”. The Heritage of World Civilizations. 1: 1152 (2007, 2005, 2002) Pearson Education, Inc. New

The empires of this time period had some innovative ideas and discoveries that permanently changed their nations and in some cases, the world. Both Rome and China had two unique and important cultural characteristics that completely changed their nations. For the Romans, their unique cultural characteristics were new ideas. The first of these new ideas, their unique Judicial System is the basis for many current judicial systems around the world, the other new idea, Christianity is now one of the worlds most practiced Religions. Whereas the unique cultural characteristics of China, namely the creation of paper and the formation of the “silk road” were more practical cultural characteristics, but no less impactful for both their

Globalization is the process by which different societies and cultures integrate through a worldwide network of political ideas through transportation, communication, and trade. Generally, globalization has affected many nations in various ways; economically, politically, and socially. It is a term that refers to the fast integration and interdependence of various nations, which shapes the world affairs on a global level. Simply put; globalization is the world coming together. In this essay I will discuss multiple perspectives on globalization through the analysis of these three sources.

Globalization: The process of social, political, economic, cultural, and technological integration among countries around the world (Luthans & Doh, 2012).

The effect of Buddhism in China was one of the most profound changes China ever had, as it affected their economy. This time, economy brought about religion; Buddhism came into China through international trade. As South Asian countries came into China, they spread their religion which at that time was majorly Buddhism. To gain favor from the foreign traders, the emperors showed frivolities towards them. “Tang emperors spent huge sums of money on Buddhism” (Dubois, 2011, p. 34). They constructed Buddhist monasteries, excluded monks from taxes and lavished them with other benefits. In one sentence, the emperors at that time, sought to seek the face of Buddhist he monks at the expense of the economy. On a lighter note however, the spread of Buddhism increased the economy of China as it created revenue in trade. “Up till the twentieth century, Tang dynasty was the most cosmopolitan period of China’s history. Politically, emperors had conflicts of interest and so alternatively chose Buddhism or Daoism in succession” (Dubois, p. 34).

The issues of globalization increasingly dominate the universe’s life. The concept of globalization according to Robertson (1992) refers to the narrowing of the world as incentives and increased our awareness of the world, namely the increasing global connections and our understanding of the connection. Globalization is a situation in which no boundaries between the people of the world and links communities in a country with people in another countries. Globalization departs from an idea to unite the nations which is expected to be a mutual agreement and guidelines for nations around the world. Globalization is able to waive the space and time constraints to get the interaction and communication between nations can be done