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Macro-Historical Paralellism and the China “Puzzle” nations have to go through). From now on, there was a key factor unifying all the civilizations, including the Hellenic civilization, that is, iron. In fact the widespread use of iron played a role very similar to that played by energy-intensive industries in our era, that is to say, from the mid-18 th century to the present time. As we know, Karl Jaspers the philosopher put forward in The Origins of History (1949 ) his famous thesis of the Axial Age. It refers to a specific period of time, roughly from the 8 th to 2 nd centuries BC, in which parallel intellectual phenomena like Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Hebrew prophetic teachings and Greek philosophy flourish and the moral teachings of intellectual leaders begin to be canonized. All these happen simultaneously, apart from each other and in totally unconnected cultural milieus. Jaspers particularly highlights the ‘philosophical breakthroughs’ that occur synchronously in the hitherto unconnected regions. Yet in his argument, he leaves out an extremely important point: how is this parallelism possible? Obviously, simultaneous Enlightenment in the different regions cannot have happened by chance. It must have had a material basis which the civilizations somehow have all acquired in the period he generalizes about. This material basis might be multifaceted, but iron here is of paramount importance. With iron, more agricultural surpluses become available and the alphabet and coin are invented. As individuals can now reclaim land much more easily, they become less dependent on the powerful few or the state. Free market begins to grow. Equally worth noting is that with the use of iron, the building of roads, canals, irrigation ditches, etc are greatly facilitated. Enhanced efficiency of tools and reduced transport cost leads to a universal increase in productivity. Populations explode, waves of urbanization sweep across Eurasia, and great empires emerge. All these developments will in one way or another find expression in the spiritual domains, be it religious, philosophical, literary or artistic. Hence Jaspers’ Axial Age. It should be noted here that towards the latter half of this phase, China was probably doing better than other regions in terms of a huge population, massive infrastructure projects (broad roads, long canals and the 382
Ruan Wei, Shenzhen University (China) Great Wall), standardized weights and measures and a sophisticated government, which is so conspicuous in Max Weber’s rationality discourse on the civilizations. Though Jaspers does not explain why ‘Enlightenment’ or ‘Philosophical Breakthroughs’ appear synchronously in the hitherto unconnected regions in the 8 th – 2 nd centuries BC, that he draws attention to this very fact itself is worth noticing. It suggests that until about 1800, a major characteristic of the civilizations was their essentially equivalent development. In plain words, no region was fundamentally more (or less) advanced than any other regions. This would mean that the parallel intellectual advance of the different regions noticed by Jaspers and superbly captured in his Axial-Age thesis applies not only to the 8 th to 2 nd centuries BC, but also to the two thousand years that lapsed between then and 1800. His argument has other implications as well: it applies not only to the spiritual domain but to the material advance of the civilizations, as it is the socio-economic nature of their material development that determines the rationality level of their intellectual progress. Now the question is: why are there after all such parallelisms in the material growth of the civilizations? We have mentioned iron, upon which the simultaneous ‘breakthroughs’ in the different regions depends and which makes a polycentric ancient world possible. This would suggest that the different regions by the Axial Age have all acquired the technology of separating and removing iron from iron ores. The Mesopotamia may be the first area to have it, and then it is Asia Minor’s turn. Exactly when the Greeks, Persians, Indians and Chinese come to know the secret is uncertain, but up to the Axial Age, iron has been widely available in most parts of Eurasia. After all, the continent is one single geographical plate. Whatever meaningful innovations occur here in this corner will soon disperse elsewhere. Although in contemporary times new ideas and technology will quickly spread, say in a couple of months or even days, whereas in antiquity, due to obstacles in transportation and communications, it could be a matter of years or even decades, yet in macro-historical terms this 383
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Ruan Wei, Shenzhen University (China)<br />
Great Wall), standardized weights and measures and a<br />
sophisticated government, which is so conspicuous in Max<br />
Weber’s rationality discourse on the civilizations.<br />
Though Jaspers does not explain why ‘Enlightenment’ or<br />
‘Philosophical Breakthroughs’ appear synchronously in the<br />
hitherto unconnected regions in the 8 th – 2 nd centuries BC,<br />
that he draws attention to this very fact itself is worth<br />
noticing. It suggests that until about 1800, a major<br />
characteristic of the civilizations was their essentially<br />
equivalent development. In plain words, no region was<br />
fundamentally more (or less) advanced than any other<br />
regions. This would mean that the parallel intellectual<br />
advance of the different regions noticed by Jaspers and<br />
superbly captured in his Axial-Age thesis applies not only to<br />
the 8 th to 2 nd centuries BC, but also to the two thousand<br />
years that lapsed between then and 1800. His argument has<br />
other implications as well: it applies not only to the spiritual<br />
domain but to the material advance of the civilizations, as it<br />
is the socio-economic nature of their material development<br />
that determines the rationality level of their intellectual<br />
progress.<br />
Now the question is: why are there after all such<br />
parallelisms in the material growth of the civilizations? We<br />
have mentioned iron, upon which the simultaneous<br />
‘breakthroughs’ in the different regions depends and which<br />
makes a polycentric ancient world possible. This would<br />
suggest that the different regions by the Axial Age have all<br />
acquired the technology of separating and removing iron<br />
from iron ores. The Mesopotamia may be the first area to<br />
have it, and then it is Asia Minor’s turn. Exactly when the<br />
Greeks, Persians, Indians and Chinese come to know the<br />
secret is uncertain, but up to the Axial Age, iron has been<br />
widely available in most parts of Eurasia. After all, the<br />
continent is one single geographical plate. Whatever<br />
meaningful innovations occur here in this corner will soon<br />
disperse elsewhere.<br />
Although in contemporary times new ideas and<br />
technology will quickly spread, say in a couple of months or<br />
even days, whereas in antiquity, due to obstacles in<br />
transportation and communications, it could be a matter of<br />
years or even decades, yet in macro-historical terms this<br />
383
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