First of all, Empress Wu, also known as Wu Zetian (624–705) was the only female emperor in China's history. She ruled the Tang Dynasty as empress (655–690), and then as Emperor for 15 years, in the seldom-mentioned Zhou Dynasty. During her long reign totaling 50 years, the empire became relatively stable, peaceful, powerful, and prosperous.
Secondly, There were four reasons leading to Tang's decline, among which the dominance of the eunuchs, the separatist regions of Fanzhen and clique conflicts were internal factors while peasants' uprising was the external factor. Moreover, as the dominance of eunuchs became serious, the military power of central regime was weakened.
Finally, printing, paper money, porcelain, tea, restaurants, gunpowder, the compass, and all of the things that Chinese of the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) gave to the world is AMAZING!
Religion (and other civic associations) provide an outlet for public opinion that is often critical of the nation-state.
Outlawing religion doesn't work unless there are no other civic institutions such as unions, political parties, and local governments.
Religion is always the way to speak out against the nation-state even if the leaders are chosen by the state because the prayers of groups of men can be done without leaders.
1.) East AsiaThe Silk Road due to China’s most important export allowed for the exchange of goods between Asia and the Middle East. The exchange of silks and spices and the spread of Buddhism along the Silk Roads are examples of cultural diffusion. The technology of paper-making traveled from China to Baghdad along the Silk Roads. Over time the trade route reached 4,000 miles. Most merchants never traveled the entire route, but instead traded their goods at one of the many markets established along the way.
2.) South AsiaThe Ramayana and the Mahabharata have had a large impact on the South and Southeast Asian continent. However, the Mahabharata has faded from the memory of many Southeast Asian nations and are not as widely known as the Ramayana. Also, one of the most tangible evidence of dharmic tradition commonality, probably is the widespread of Añjali Mudrā as the gesture of greeting and respect. It is demonstrated in Indian namasté, and similar gestures are known in Southeast Asia, as it cognate to the Cambodian sampeah, Indonesian sembah and Thai wai.
3.) Southeast AsiaThe Siam attempted to spread their culture, and especially religion to their neighboring countries. The Siam were successful, and influenced most of south-east Asia and spread their religion of Theravada Buddhism.
The prehistory of the Americas (North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean) begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an Ice Age. These groups are generally believed to have been isolated from peoples of the "Old World" until the coming of Europeans in the 10th century from Norway and with the voyages of Christopher Columbus in 1492.
The ancestors of today's American Indigenous peoples were the Paleo-Indians; they were hunter-gatherers who migrated into North America. The most popular theory asserts that migrants came to the Americas via Beringia, the land mass now covered by the ocean waters of the Bering Strait. Small lithic stage peoples followed megafauna like bison, mammoth (now extinct), and caribou, thus gaining the modern nickname "big-game hunters." Groups of people may also have traveled into North America on shelf or sheet ice along the northern Pacific coast.
Cultural traits brought by the first immigrants later evolved and spawned such cultures as Iroquois on North America and Pirahã of South America. These cultures later developed into civilizations. In many cases, these cultures expanded at a later date than their Old World counterparts. Cultures that may be considered[citation needed]advanced or civilized include Norte Chico, Cahokia, Zapotec, Toltec, Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Chimor, Mixtec, Moche, Mississippian, Puebloan, Totonac, Teotihuacan, Huastec people, Purépecha, Izapa, Mazatec, Muisca, and the Inca.
After the voyages of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Spanish, Portuguese and later English, French and Dutch colonial expeditions arrived in the New World, conquering and settling the discovered lands, which led to a transformation of the cultural and physical landscape in the Americas. Spain colonized most of the American continent from present-day Southwestern United States, Florida and the Caribbean to the southern tip of South America. Portugal settled in what is mostly present-day Brazil while England established colonies on the Eastern coast of the United States, as well as the North Pacific coast and in most of Canada. France settled in Quebec and other parts of Eastern Canada and claimed an area in what is today the central United States. The Netherlands settled New Netherland (administrative centre New Amsterdam - now New York), some Caribbean islands and parts of Northern South America.
European colonization of the Americas led to the rise of new cultures, civilizations and eventually states, which resulted from the fusion of Native American and European traditions, peoples and institutions. The transformation of American cultures through colonization is evident in architecture, religion, gastronomy, the arts and particularly languages, the most widespread being Spanish (376 million speakers), English (348 million) and Portuguese (201 million). The colonial period lasted approximately three centuries, from the early 16th to the early 19th centuries, when Brazil and the larger Hispanic American nations declared independence. The United States obtained independence from England much earlier, in 1776, while Canada formed a federal dominion in 1867. Others remained attached to their European parent state until the end of the 19th century, such as Cuba and Puerto Rico which were linked to Spain until 1898. Smaller territories such as Guyana obtained independence in the mid-20th century, while certain Caribbean islands remain part of a European power to this day.
