Analysis of the book First Globalization by Geoffrey C. Gunn Essay

Analysis of the book First Globalization by Geoffrey C. Gunn - Essay Example We will first focus on chapter seven of the book which is titled civilization encounters; this chapter focuses on civilization, Asia's first encounter with civilization was the arrival of missionaries and merchants. Although there was resistance to the Jesuit in china and the restriction of importing European text, there was a change in the people's way of life due to the western culture. People started to adopt the western culture and this can be termed as globalization. Catholic missionaries arrived in Japan in the year 1549, the missionaries were Portuguese and Spain sponsored Jesuits, religion was seen as an integral part of the state and also seen as having extra benefits other than spiritual benefits. Chapter six is entitled enlightenment views of Asian governance, this chapter focuses on the adoption of various forms of governments in Asia, there was high acceptance of forms of government which was influenced by earlier Jesuit writings, Baron however used travel literature to critique despotism in china and also Muslim courts, and it was Plato's idea that china be ruled by a king. The enlightenment of the whole of Asia through adoption of various forms of government also led to early ... Chapter eight is titled livelihoods, this chapter focuses on the introduction of records in Europe concerning Asia, and an example is Luis De Frois who wrote about the differences in early modernity between Japan and Europe, another example is the work of Marco Polo who wrote about the everyday life of china, this writings significantly changed the peoples way of life leading to people learning other languages and the emergence of the major European languages. Written literature worked as a way of popularizing the knowledge and ideas of a certain region, for example the invention of vital geographical knowledge by Europeans who also gained more information from the Arabs. This was aided by the invention of the print media in Europe leading to more and more regions being popularized. There was also the emergence of the alternative literature which was referred to as alternative due to the fact that it seemed to mock the real text, it was characterized by abstract scientific ideas and a good example is the well known book Gulliver travelers, this book however portrays a lot of Asian history and wisdom. Chapter nine is titled language, power and hegemony, the author describe the success of missionary in Asia as a result of mastering the Asian languages, the missionaries were the first lexicographers of the Asian languages while the Portuguese used their own language to their conquest or even worked with interpreters. European colonizers proclaimed the superiority of their language to their conquest and therefore through this there was the adoption of European languages. There was also the emergence of the translation of European literature that would as a result aid in scientific learning by various regions, this