HISA04H3 Lecture 3: Themes In World History Lecture Notes 3
Document Summary
A subsistence economy is predominant - most people are growing just enough food to survive on the land. Not free to innovate, they can"t choose what food to grow or animals to tend, etc. Cracks in the feudal system (recap) - ecology/demography, peasant revolts, rise of towns. Prefigurative elements - merchants and trade, urban handicrafts. Capital investment was not a huge factor in this era, but it does begin to change. This dynasty saw the export of fine goods such as porcelain, paper, silk, tea, metals and the import of horses, spices, medicines, precious stones, cotton fabrics. The main textile exchanges (silk, cotton, etc) were between the middle east and the far east. Capitalist features were suppressed due to a strong authoritarian central state (mongols, There is movement from merchant capitalism (trade) to full on capitalism. This region was free from christian restriction on the lending and charging of interest of money, which led to the use of credit thriving.
