Francis D. K. Ching Mark Jarzombek Vikramaditya Prakash 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 400 CE The decline of Europe culturally and In China, the Han dynasty collapsed in 220 CE; economically paralleled the shift of the Roman it was superseded by the Sixteen Kingdoms, power base toByzantium and western Asia. with the Chinese religious world impacted by The other main centers of power were the the arrival ofBuddhism brought in by traders Sassanian Empire in Central Asia, the Gupta and monks from India. At Dunhuang, located Empire in India, and the Han dynasty in China. at the western end of the Great Wall-where The Sassanians, who replaced the Parthians and the Silk Route splits into its northern and reduced the reach of the Kushites, established southern arms, winding around the Taklamakan their capital in Firuzabad, in present-day Desert-Buddhist monks built one of the largest Iran; they ruled from the Mediterranean to cave complexes in the world. Hundreds of caves, the borders of China. Eurasia finds itself in a canved out of the sheer cliff face, functioned as a moment of adjustment in 400 CE, as the South publishing house, where thousands of copies of Asian, Chinese, and Roman worlds were all the sutras from India were copied for distribution being transformed by new religious ideas. South throughout China. Japan, during this time, had Asia experienced the rebirth of Hinduism, China its first encounter with centralized government, came under the sway ofBuddhism, and the following the ascent of the Yamato clan. In a Roman world was in the process of coming related development, Southeast Asia was on to terms with Christianity. Aksum, in northern the verge of rapid expansion, with Indian and Ethiopia, was also still a force to be reckoned Chinese traders plowing the waters in search with, although it was by then in decline. of markets. The Puy inBurma (modern-day In Central Asia, the most impressive Myanmar), who adoptedBuddhism, were the first buildings were made by the Sassanians in Iraq in the region to develop large fortified cities built and Iran, where Zoroastrianism still prevailed. in conjunction with the extensive irrigation of local Little remains of the Zoroastrian fire temples, streams. however, creating a gap in how the history In Rome, Emperor Constantine issued the of architectural development of that time is Edict of Milan in 313 CE, which decreed religious understood. Farther east, in South Asia, the tolerance towards Christians. The foundation of Gupta rulers had built an empire that by 400 CE Constantinople, Constantine's city, was, however, controlled all of north India. They saw it as a hybrid of Christian and pagan motifs. The their mission to revive old Aryan theologies, Christianization of the empire continued after but they did so in a manner that incorporated his death, as "heathen" altars and temples Buddhist practices. In the process, they created were destroyed and new forms of architecture, a new religion that we now call Hinduism. The suitable for the religious needs of Christianity, emergence of Hinduism under the Gupta was, were established. Architecture centered to a great in fact, simultaneous with an efflorescence of extent on great martyr cities such as Rome and Buddhist practice in places such as Ajanta Jerusalem. At the same time, invasions from the and Nalanda. Alongside the Gupta's first brick Russian steppes were taking their toll on the unity Hindu temples, some of the earliestBuddhist of the empire, which was now split into different brick temples were also being constructed, such jurisdictions. However, cities in the eastern as atBodh Gaya, the place of theBuddha's provinces, like Antioch and Constantinople, enlightenment. MahayanaBuddhism continued with their strong Hellenistic traditions, remained to flourish in the remnants of the Kushan relatively wealthy and would become, for a while, Empire, which was located at the intersection of the key to the survival of European learning. the Eurasian trade routes. There, colossal rock­ Climate seems to have played an important cutBuddha figures were built that were to have role in the developments of this period. The a profound influence on the development of volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 416 CE created Chinese, Korean, and JapaneseBuddhism. years of famine and disruption around the globe. In 600 CE, on the eve of Teotihuacan's mediating between East and West. Especially collapse, the civilizations of Central and in architecture, it played an important role South America were at their zenith. With of cultural transmission by preserving the Monte Alban still a powerful statefarther ancient Greek and Hellenistic traditions of north, a host of Mayan city-states-Tikal, fine masonry craftsmanship (in contrast to Calakmul, Copan, Tonina, Palenque, and the Byzantine workmen, who had reverted Yaxchilan-arose in the Yucatan. Although to brick). Otherwise, architecture in the bound by trade, family ties, and a common European West was usually made of roughly culture, these states competed ferociously hewn stones. In the area that is now northern for dominance. The main achievement Syria, eastern Turkey, Georgia, and Armenia of the Mayas was the development of the itself, precision-built stone churches arose, most advanced calendar in the world. In with important implications for Islamic the Andes, around Lake Titicaca, Tiwanaku and Christian architecture in the following emerged at the center of an extensive centuries. empire. The South Asian dynasties were In Eurasia, this period was a time of accelerating their transformation of Buddhism consolidation during which the newly arising into Hinduism and engaging in experimental world religions were changing and being temple design in response to the liturgical tested. The Byzantines, for example, were demands of Hinduism. The Kalcuris, and in the process of adapting Christianity to then the Chalukyas in the Deccan Plateau establish the basis from which imperial power and the Pallavas in the south, developed could draw its authority. New architectural a range of rock-cut and structural stone forms, such as the brick dome, were temples. But while Buddhism was slowly developed, concrete by this time having disappearing from India, it was emerging been forgotten. The Hagia Sophia was the as a powerful force in China, Korea, and most ambitious and splendid architectural Japan. The T'ang emperors invested heavily accomplishment of the age. in large public works projects such as roads Ruling from Constantinople, the and canals aimed at enabling trade. As a Byzantines were the dominant force in consequence, engineering skills matured. the Mediterranean, but even they had to New monasteries were built, and a new negotiate with hordes of invaders from the building form, the ta, or pagoda, emerged north and deal as best they could with out of the Indian stupa. Meanwhile, in Japan, the Ostrogoth rulers of Italy. The plains Buddhism, which had entered from Korea, and deserts of Syria and Persia, though fused with preexisting Shinto concepts still nominally under the control of the to produce a unique brand of Buddhism Sassanians, were in a state of unrest. that, from the start, was allied with high Muhammed founded the last of the great architectural accomplishment, such as the modern religions, Islam, taking Mecca in Horyu-ji Temple in Nara. The first building of 630 CE. With the Syrian heartland in turmoil, lse Jingu, Japan's holiest Shinto shrine, also Armenia experienced a moment of growth, dates from this time. In 800 CE, China's T'ang dynasty (618- kingdom with a capital called Hariharalaya, 906 CE) was one of the largest powers in the on the floodplain of the Tonie Sap Lake, the 800 CE world, and the city Chang'an, at the eastern largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. end of the Silk Route, was not only Eurasia's The city, a perfect square about 3 kilometers economic engine but also home to a large on a side, with a temple at its geometric and varied populace of different intellectual center, rivaled the circular city of Baghdad persuasions and religions. T'ang buildings, as an urban enterprise. With an economy however, having mainly been of wood, have organized around rice production, the Khmer all but disappeared but for a few surviving were to rule over Cambodia for six hundred monastic halls that provide a glimpse of their years, their achievement largely due to their architecture. Parallel in global importance sophisticated irrigation technology. was the new Islamic kingdom that stretched Compared to the massive amounts of from Persia to the western Mediterranean as wealth that flowed from East to West and far as Cordoba in Spain. The architectural that filtered its way through Southeast Asia, expression of Islam was the mosque, which the situation in Europe, after the collapse of in the early days of the new religion was a Rome, was still rather tenuous. Europe was simple hypostyle hall oriented toward Mecca. only coming into its own when Charlemagne But soon elaborate palaces and gardens was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope arose, competing with the glamour and Leo Ill on Christmas night of 800 CE. His display of the Byzantine Empire. On the ca pa city to organize the kingdom brought Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which had seen Europe back onto the global horizon. His two Jewish temples and a Roman temple, architectural accomplishments, however, a new structure was built, the unequaled were relatively slight, as technology and the Dome of the Rock, venerating the spot where philosophical arts were still in serious decline. Muhammed is said to have ascended to Nonetheless, Charlemagne, though himself heaven. The Umayyad caliphs occupying barely literate, admired and sponsored the old Roman and Visigoth city of Cordoba learning and supported monasteries, which in AI-Andalus on the Spanish peninsula were the repositories of ancient texts and developed a splendid and tolerant court, with the only source of literacy north of the Alps.