1. Mali Empire
1.1. Strong Government and Military
1.1.1. Empire lasted from 1200 C.E. to the early 1600s C.E.
1.1.2. Taxes collected from Mali’s citizens caused it to prosper.
1.1.3. Mali’s founder, Sundiata, established himself as a strong leader and claimed to have a strong link to the spirits of the land.
1.1.4. Mansa Musa, one of Mali’s most prominent rulers, was well known for his commission of some of the greatest buildings in Timbuktu.
1.2. Religion
1.2.1. Mali is dominated by a Muslim population, and their main religion is Islam.
1.2.2. Christianity peacefully coexists in the Mali Empire.
1.2.3. Muslims make up 90% of the Mali Empire’s religious groups.
1.2.4. Christianity and ethnic faith make up the remaining 10% of religious groups.
1.3. Geography and Agriculture
1.3.1. Mali is mainly flat and arid.
1.3.2. The niger river flows directly through the empire of Mali, which aids as a trading and transport hub, and makes the soil fertile for agriculture and livestock.
1.3.3. The soils along the Niger Valley are rich and fertile due to the rich soil in the central delta.
1.3.4. The soil outside of the Niger Valley are poor, and form a hard, red crust because of intense evaporation from the heat.
1.4. Social Structure and Family Life
1.4.1. In the Mali empire, the top of the social structure were rulers, or Mansas, who held the utmost respect and power in the empire.
1.4.2. The group who was at the bottom of Mali’s social structure were slaves, who were owned by higher ranking nobles or judges. They had no control over their lives since birth, but sometimes they would be freed after serving for many years.
1.4.3. Nobles ranked second behind rulers in Mali. These people were wealthy, intelligent people who worked in different kinds of business, such as trade.
1.4.4. Judges and administrators ranked behind the nobles in the Mali Empire. They kept law and order in place and made sure that everything ran smoothly in the empire.
1.5. Economy and Trade
1.5.1. The Mali empire’s economy thrived off of their gold trade and developing resources near the Niger River.
1.5.2. The Mali empire’s economy thrived off of their gold trade and developing resources near the Niger River.
1.5.3. A large amount of gold was traded from the Mali Empire, through the Sahara Desert, and was delivered to North African countries along the coast.
1.5.4. The traders would travel in caravans on camels to deliver goods.
1.6. Science and Technology
1.6.1. The empire of Mali boasted impressive cities, such as Timbuktu, along with grand palaces, universities, and mosques.
1.6.2. Mali had built boats that could carry up to 80 tons, and were 100 feet long and 13 feet wide.
1.6.3. The Dogon people of the Mali empire knew of Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s moons, and the spiral structure of the Milky Way.
1.6.4. The Dogon people’s discoveries are so advanced that some modern scholars credit their discoveries to aliens or unknown European travelers.
1.7. Arts and Education
1.7.1. Art in the Mali Empire was scarce, since most artworks were made out of perishable items, therefore leaving very little historical records.
1.7.2. Most art in the empire of Mali is located in a city which runs along the Nile River, called Djenne. There are clay terracotta warriors which date back to the 13th century.
1.7.3. Dogon dancers wore masks that measured 10 feet in height to act out their conception of the world's progress.
1.7.4. The most popular form of music in the Mali Empire, formed by artists such as Oumou Sangaré, is a combination of modern day rock and roll and indigenous traditions.
2. Ming Dynasty
2.1. Religion
2.1.1. The Ming empire believed in three teachings, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.
2.1.2. Communication with Heaven was through ancestors in rites or rituals.
2.1.3. Emperors in Ming supported the religion "Daoism".
2.1.4. The first Protestant missionary to reach China was Robert Morrison.
2.2. Strong Government and Military
2.2.1. The Ming dynasties capital was Nanjing.
2.2.2. The Ming Dynasty ruled China from 1368 to 1644.
2.2.3. The civil administration of China didn't change for 2000 years.
2.2.4. The ming dynasty's army was formed in 1368 during the red turban rebellion.
2.3. Economy and Trade
2.3.1. The Ming dynasty's economy was the biggest in its time period, Mings were also known for their trade expansion. (1368–1644).
2.3.2. Increasing political beliefs among merchants arose during the time period of 1368-1644).
2.3.3. The army of the Ming dynasty was the primary military of China.
2.3.4. The Ming military was founded in 1368 during the Red Turban Rebellion by the Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang.
2.4. Geography and Agriculture
2.4.1. The first capital (jingshi) of Ming Dynasty was located in modern day Nanjing.
2.4.2. To stop northern nomad raids on Chinese soil and territory, the Great Wall was rebuilt.
2.4.3. The Ming expanded cash crops, and expanded markets.
2.4.4. The early Ming dynasty used paper currency.
2.5. Science and Technology
2.5.1. At the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), China was a world leader in the use of gunpowder-based weapons, and navigation,.
2.5.2. Many of the developments did not contiue further into ming rule, Confusionism didnt support commerce, which cause them to stop accepting foreign items/people.
2.5.3. The Mings invented woodblock color printing, paper, and the two-color printing process. It surpassed all the printing techniques of the previous dynasties.
2.5.4. The bristle toothbrush was invented around 1498, during the reign of the Hongzhi Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
2.6. Social Structure and Family Life
2.6.1. There were four broad classifications in Ming society and they were: Shi, Nong, Gong, and Shang.
2.6.2. The Nong were considered the producers of food which sustained the empire and they contributed to state revenue by way of taxes. The Nong were vital and productive, essential to the empire.
2.6.3. The Gong were artisans who made objects of everyday use. They were producers like farmers, but since they were landless, they did not generate revenue for the state. But, they were more respected than merchants.
2.6.4. The Shang were merchants and traders, since they did not produce anything they were frowned upon by society as those who lived off the labor of others. They only traded and transported the food and goods made by the Nong and the Gong.
2.6.5. The Shi originally came from the warrior caste. Over the years the Shi slowly started to include aristocratic scholars and an educated bureaucracy.
2.7. Arts and Education
2.7.1. Ming emperors sought artists working in Song styles and themes to decorate their palaces and provide a visual link to the earlier dynasty’s traditions.
2.7.2. The impact of Confucian teachings can be seen in the choice of themes for arts patronized by the court and in civil service recruitment and training methods.
2.7.3. Many government officials chose to retire early to take up poetry, calligraphy, or painting.
2.7.4. Central government managed to found schools called "guozijian", which was the only way people could take the exams.