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Ian Morris is an archaeologist, historian, university professor, and co-founder of the Stanford Archaeology Center. His book Why the West Rules – For Now won the 2011 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Creative Nonfiction. He holds honorary degrees from DePauw University and Birmingham University.
Marco Polo’s vivid accounts of the East in the early 1300s highlighted China’s unmatched social progress, wealth, and grandeur, which far surpassed the West at the time. However, by the late 1200s, relentless Mongol invasions devastated China, dismantling its infrastructure and plunging it into famine and disease. By the time Polo documented his travels, the flourishing society he described had already faded. In contrast, the West, spared from such destruction, experienced a cultural revival with the Renaissance around 1300, fueled by rediscovered knowledge from Ancient Greece and Rome preserved by Arab scholars. This intellectual awakening spurred Western exploration, epitomized by Columbus’s 1492 voyage, which transformed oceans into trade networks and solidified the West’s dominance. Geography played a crucial role in this disparity, with the Atlantic crossing favoring Europe over China’s more challenging Pacific route. Despite the West’s advancements, China’s historical lead in social development remained a significant benchmark, reflecting the complex interplay of progress and decline across civilizations.
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