Cross cultural exchanges

 As a keen learner of archaeology and history,i remembered the times i studied Far East,Greek n Roman n China n indian history and became fascinated in how trading expanded interactions between people in far flung regions of the globe.

The Silk route was a land route connecting China in Far East to the Middle East and Europe

so that products like fine porcelain,silk,even botanical flora n fauna flourished in European culture.

Equally  important but much underrated was the Maritime silk route that brought civilizations together.so Arabian traders spread their culture to SouthEast Asia and the Chinese admiral Cheng He stopped in India ,South East Asia,East Africa and Middle East and Malaysia.the British set up the East India trading company to trade in spices from india,sri lanka and southeast asia.look at the ancient stone mortar n pestle n how it evolve to current one used to grind spices.

Its fascinating the history of botanical flora like roses originated in Chou dynasty in Confucious era.later it was cultivated in India which develop sweets using rose water n essence n spread to Middle Eastern sweetmeats.so i could only find rose water for sale in ethnic Indian grocery stores

The culinary history is a story of exchange of ideas and cuisine as well as a bridge between people from far flung nations.i remembered dad had a few pieces of blue and white china porcelain with arabic inscriptions so the pottety kilns in China adapted their wares to sell to foreign nations.the China ware became a symbol of refined culture of dining in European royal households.So globalization and glocalization were not new business concepts but existed from a long time ago in ancient history.such interactions saw the spread of foreign religion,clothing,cuisine and even languages.i was intrigued when i visited Portugal and sang a few lines from a Kristang song my Eurasian friends taught me.the local tour guide  recognised it instantly as a childhood nursery rhyme in ancient Portugese.so history is a fascinating subject of how civilizations evolve,adapt and borrow from each other when there is open exchange of ideas without prejudice and biasness.so what the hell is intellectual property rights when  ideas cant be imprisoned.dont monetise information as it should be a free flow of information that benefits all.rip Aaron Swartz for fighting for free access to public knowledge.thank you internet warrior