Missed BLOG


The diseases that were transmitted during the growth of the silk, sand, and sea roads were incredibly deadly with the Black Death accounting for the deaths of half the population of Europe.  It was interesting to read that some Europeans gained an advantage because of the diseases in transit.  The text mentioned that, the exposure the Europeans had to the diseases over time caused them to develop some degree of immunity to Eurasian diseases.  When the Europeans confronted the Native Peoples societies which had no exposure to domesticated animals and diseases, they didn’t have any kind of immunity that the Europeans had.  The Native peoples had little to no defense against the diseases, so their societies quick died out in horrendous numbers.  I really enjoyed the picture on page 309 because it is so incredible to see a path that was made so long ago! 

I enjoyed the zooming in section of the text that talks about the Japanese poet and loved named Izumi Shikibu.  I think I was shocked to see that she wasn’t murdered for the way she lived her life.  If she were to have lived that same life now, it would still be “scandalous.”  I wonder if her first marriage was arranged… I’m just impressed with how brave she seemed to be at a time when women were inferior to men.  The comment about Izumi that was made by Lady Murasaki was something I expected to see but it made me sad because its someone judging someone else’s person choices for themselves.  Obviously its not right to see someone else especially if you’re married but I liked the idea of her just doing what she needed to do to feed her desire for spiritual enlightenment.

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