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11. The East

Whilst the onset of the Dark Ages, as the Roman Empire collapsed, plunged Europe into social and economic depression and chaos, it did not materially affect countries in the East, although historically there had been trade and economic contact between the two regions.

China

It is interesting how China always pops up in the forefront of developing technology, whatever the era. Its relative backwardness during most of the 20th century seems to be an aberration when viewed against the backdrop of recorded human history and the current revival in China’s economic power could be viewed as a reversion to the norm.

So it was that as our Middle Ages period started in the 11th century and Europe was showing signs of having left the Dark Ages behind, China was way ahead. Its development of the coal firing of blast furnaces in the 10th century led to an annual iron output of perhaps as much as 125,000 tonnes in the first three quarters of the next century (though some estimates put the figure even higher), a rate of output that Europe did not achieve for almost another 500 years when blast furnace technology was finally mastered by European ironworks. It was also an early example of green environmental action as it ended the wholesale destruction of forests needed for the manufacture of charcoal, which had been the old fuel of choice.

We have earlier seen the problems that stalked Europe’s recovering economies in the Middle Ages when supplies of silver became restricted leading to liquidity problems in trade settlements. This was a problem also in China around the end of the 10th century and it was at this time that the Chinese introduced paper money to try and address the liquidity issue. Up until that time China’s silver and gold production, and that of its Central Asian neighbours, had been sufficient to finance trade flows in the broad region. But as the Middle Ages loomed many of these silver and gold mines – suffering from old age – experienced a sharp fall in output.