By definition, a renaissance is a name given to the "rebirth" of classical knowledge, art and learning. The Renaissance was a period of European history that occurred between the years 1300 and 1600. The Renaissance was started by many rich Italian cities, such as Florence, Ferrara, Milan, and Venice. It was born of the tragedies and hardships of the Middle Ages when it seemed that life was just a short interval until death. The Renaissance in Europe gave people hope for the future.
Many great achievements were realized during China’s Greatest Age. There were considerable technological innovations. Pit coal was substituted for charcoal in metallurgy, water-driven machinery was used for working bellows, and explosives were used in the mines. The quantity of iron produced exceeded 114,000 tons in 1078. It only reached 68,000 tons in England in the late 1700’s. Gunpowder was in use by 1044, which was 240 years before it was first mentioned in Europe. By the 11th century moveable type existed, although it was not used for large-scale printing until the 15th century. In any case, China possessed printed books half a millennium before Europe. The Grand Canal was also built during this period of rebirth. This era saw enormous projects of construction, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall. While the Great Wall was built mainly to protect the Chinese Empire from the Mongolians and other invaders, it also kept China secluded from the rest of the world. At the same time the West was pioneering ways to explore new lands.
The Renaissance in Europe was drastically different from the Middle Ages. It began in the rich northern Italian cities and ultimately stretched across Europe. The Renaissance generated
three ideas that have been and still are central to Western Civilization: secularism, humanism, and individualism. Secularism comes from the word secular, meaning of this world. During the Renaissance, because the people lacked faith in the...