Chapter 9 sequence

The classical civilizations of Eurasia differed from the ancient civilizations of the past in several fundamental ways.One is scope.With the continuous development of technology, the scope of Eurasian classical civilization expanded from the large river basins to entire regions such as China, the Indian peninsula and the Mediterranean region.Now, instead of the great river civilizations surrounded by a sea of ​​barbarism, the regional civilizations spread steadily outward until they joined each other to form an almost uninterrupted belt of civilization across Eurasia. All classical civilizations have their own characteristics not only in scope, but also in content.Like ancient civilizations, each classical civilization has its own unique style.During the centuries of the classical era, each classical civilization gradually developed social, religious, and philosophical systems that lasted until modern times.How the unique styles of the classical civilizations are different can be clearly seen from the following comparison table of differences between Chinese civilization and Indian Buddhist civilization.

Confucianism, Hinduism, Christianity, hierarchical organization, and democratic government all arose from the extraordinary creativity of the classical age.It should be pointed out here that this kind of creativity is different from the situation in ancient civilizations and is not limited to a certain place.During ancient civilizations, the Middle East was the center of creativity from which major inventions such as agriculture, metallurgy, writing, and urban life spread.And during these centuries of the classical age, the Eurasian civilizations were in equilibrium with each other, they interacted equally.If there is a slight difference, the Middle East is now lagging behind, while Europe, India and China, once marginal civilizations, now produce most of the inventions that characterize the classical era.