The Dark Ages...How Dark Were They, Really?: Crash Course World History #14

Logic with the wonderful title: The meaning of the confusing. The English title is of

course

translated, because the original text was written... in Arabic. Meanwhile, China was also experiencing its golden age. The Tang Dynasty established a meritocratic government in China, ruling over 80 million people living over an area of ​​over 1 million square kilometers. They would have occupied all of Central Asia had it not been for the Abbasids, who fought them in the most important battle that most of the West had never heard of: the Battle of the Talas River. It was the battle of the 8th century.

The Abbasids won it, and this decided the dominant position between the Abbasids, who ruled west of the river, and China, whose rule extended to the east. The Tang also created art that was exported throughout Asia. Many Tang Dynasty sculptures were of non-Chinese figures, indicating the pluralism of this empire. Poetry also flourished under Tang rule, and prominent poets such as Du Fu and Li Bu created works and were encouraged by the official government. Even the Song Dynasty, which ruled from 960 to 1258 AD, was growing. In the 11th century, Chinese blacksmiths made with iron what Europe did not make until the 18th century.

This iron was used to make new plows, which led to the development of agriculture, which caused population growth. The porcelain was of such high quality that it was exported all over the

world

, which is why we called it “Chinese.” Trade was so booming that China ran out of metals used to make coins, so

they

invented paper money. In the 11th century, the Chinese had written a recipe for a mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal, which was gunpowder. It became extremely important in

history

, paving the way for modern warfare, Arena Rock technology, and... now you know why!

They were not very

dark

times. Thanks for following us, see you next time. Our show was directed and produced by Stan Mueller and script supervised by Danica Johnson. The graphics were prepared by Thought Bubble and the text was written by Raoul Meyer, a high school

history

teacher, in collaboration with me. Last week's quote was also useful advice: "Stop smoking!" If you want to suggest phrases for the coming weeks or guess this week's phrase, do so in the comments where you can also ask questions that the team of historians will answer. If you liked today's episode, hit the like button.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @the

crash

course

and the links are below the video. Our writer and historian Raoul Meyer asks great questions on his Twitter account, and the link to his account is there too, as is the link to mine, because I'm a narcissist. “Europe is a continent, even if it is not.”