The monsoon rains, and their cycle of wet and dry seasons, made its mark on the Asiatic agricultural societies in a way the European’s (predictable) summer/winter cycles did not. Not only did varying times of feast and famine via the monsoon create cultures more conservative in respect to risk taking (read: exploration, investment, colonization), but also fostered the interconnectedness of a highly dense population needed for rice …show more content…
The success or failure of any political decision often depended on the monarch’s whims. While the king may be a master giving orders to fulfill his will, the emperors of the east were often seen more as a fatherly figure, whose job was to guide the people, or at least act as a reassuring figurehead. The most telling example of this theme is Japan’s “emperor”, who although believed to be almost divine, exerted little influence on the civil wars and conflicts engulfing his islands. Similarly, although conquerors and dynasties would sweep through China and eventually meet their downfall, the bureaucratic underpinning of the administration would largely plug along barely