Why Did the Tang and Song Dynasties and the Muslim's Flourished While Europe Did Not in the Time Period Ranging from 600-1000 CE?

The Tang and Song dynasties of China and the Muslims flourished between the year 600 and 1000 CE. However, during this time Europe was a place of turmoil due to the vulnerability of the lands due to geography, invasions by the Germanic tribes, language barriers, and a struggle for order in the church.

The Tang and Song dynasties flourished because they were incredibly stable. From the use of horses for military and trade purposes, to the invention of paper and printing which allowed for the implementation of written law, these all contributed to the Tang dynasties stability. The Tang dynasty was also stable due to exams that were instituted that selected officials to the bureaucracy. It was no longer a hereditary process, so the quality of administration was improved. Economic growth was another factor that contributed greatly to the Tang dynasties success. They developed a three field system that based taxes on per capita and not per acre. This led to the commercial tax becoming highly profitable allowing for trade and industry to grow. Monopolies that were held on tea, salt, iron and liquor also added to government profit. The most profitable economic growth that added to the Tang's stability was the increase of agricultural profit through the harvesting of rice. The stability of the Song dynasty can also be contributed to the examinations and also to the isolation of the land, that allowed for few threats from the outside also helped the dynasty remain secure. Nomads sometimes invaded the northern lands of the Song but the south was greatly protected by lakes and rivers. Finally, the Song remained stable through the establishment of ships and firearms. They invented the compass and also used catapults with explosive grenades. All of these factors helped the Tang and Song dynasties flourish.

The Muslims flourished because they were unified. Religion was the major force in this unification. The Muslims praised the same God as the Christians and Jews their religion had a different way of worshiping. They followed the Five Pillars of Faith and focused heavily on spreading their religion. The Muslims did not however focus on converting each other but rather focused their warfare on the "unbelievers". Their main holy book the Qur'an was not translated so the believers of Islam were essentially forced to learn Arabic, and this lead to the official language of business, government and literature to be Arabic. The official language and their faith further supported their unification. They were also unified because prayer and pilgrimage was common among all the people. Also focusing on the nonbelievers allowed for a synthesis of cultures throughout the lands that they conquered.

Europe did not flourish during this time because they were not stable. A first source of instability was that under Charlemagne's rule linguistic differences began to divide the lands. Also, due to war the economy became isolated, and long distance trade ended, and money was not in circulation. This led to the biggest blow to the stability of Europe; invaders from the north, south and east. Viking, Magyar and Muslim invasions further disrupted order in Europe. All the attention was being focused on the wars so learning was not taking place and the stability was threatened even further. Finally, the struggle between a pope and an emperor ruling England led to the deterioration of the power of the church. Without the church or an emperor there was no order in Europe and they could not flourish.

The Tang and Song dynasties along with the Muslim's show that for a society to flourish they must have order and stability. The order may come from the religion, bureaucracy or economic status of a society, and is ultimately important for its success. Between the years 600 and 1000 Europe was not successful and could not flourish, because they lacked the main characteristics that a society needs to survive.