Guangzhou seems to be a key node in maritime Silk Road trade. This shows China wasn’t only dependent on overland routes and also contradicts what I learnt in another class. China wasn't exactly 'landlocked' and it was connected to the world through maritime routes, just like India.

Did Buddhist ritual uses increase saffron’s importance in China, making it more than just an imported good? Also, what was the extent of use of saffron among commoners? Since it was an important imported item, it must've been expensive, as it is today. Does that also tell us something about the relationship between Chinese people with their religion?

This reminds me of James Scott’s idea of ‘seeing like a state’. When governments try to simplify messy local environments to fit their own plans. The Song tried to make Hebei ‘legible’ by planting rice and building ponds, but it didn't fit really well with the ecology. Instead of stability, they got floods, bad harvests, and higher costs. Was this a case where the state’s logic actually weakened local resilience?

Since the King's legitimacy was mostly connected to Mandate of Heaven, did such incidents of state-engineered floods result in any uprisings against the king?