Byzantine Empire also played the role of "Golden Bridge" between the East and the West in international economic and cultural exchanges. Historian Prokopius's Gothic War contains the introduction of China silkworm eggs into Byzantium. Since the 4th century (Wei and Jin Dynasties), China and Byzantium have had trade and cultural ties. China's imports from Byzantium include coloured glaze, coral and agate. Byzantine folk illusion was introduced into China, and combined with China's traditional skills, it developed into today's acrobatic art in China. In addition, Byzantine religion was introduced into China (Nestorianism), which was the first time that European religion was introduced into China. Byzantines firmly believed that Christianity was the foundation of the empire. Since the Roman Empire, Christian theology in the eastern part of the empire has been influenced by Jewish theology and classical Greek philosophy. From May 25th to August 25th, 325, the first Nicaean religious conference was held in Nicaea, East Rome, which established the basic creed of Byzantine Christianity, namely Nicaean creed. Four religious conferences, 38 1 (religious conference in Constantinople (Istanbul)), 43 1 (religious conference in Ephesus), 45 1 (religious conference in Charleston) and 553 (religious conference in Constantinople (Istanbul)), further affirmed the status of Christianity as the state religion. After the rise of Islam, influenced by its doctrine of "no idolatry", the Byzantine Empire witnessed a movement to destroy icons. The seventh religious conference held in Nicea in 787 explained the difference between idolatry and idolatry, and the theological system of Byzantine Christian church was formally established, and no major changes have taken place since then. This religious school later developed into the Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church (Greek Orthodox Church). In addition to orthodox sects, the Byzantine Empire also includes Greek, Egyptian, Syrian, Armenian and other territories of different cultures, so various heretical ideas have emerged in these places, including arius Sect (rising in the eastern part of the empire), nestorius Sect (Nestorianism, also known as Nestorianism, rising in Syria), Macedonian Sect, monotheism, monotheism, Paul Sect (rising in Asia Minor and Armenia) and Bogey Sect.
The relationship between religious power and secular power in Byzantine Empire is very complicated. When the interests of the empire are threatened, the church and the emperor can unite, but when there is a conflict of interest, the church and the emperor have a fierce struggle. Generally speaking, before the 9th century, due to the strict laws and efficient centralized administration of the Byzantine Empire, the Byzantine Church was deprived of the space to participate in state affairs, and church affairs became a part of the imperial state affairs, while the Byzantine Emperor became the protector of the Church, controlling the appointment and dismissal of bishops and archbishops in Rome and Constantinople, the two largest parishes. During the period from Constantine I to Justinian I, many bishops were dismissed by the emperor, and the bishop of Rome (who later became pope) had to obey the Byzantine emperor before the middle of the 8th century. At the same time, no faculty member has the right to expel the emperor's religious beliefs.
After the 9th century, the power of the imperial emperor gradually weakened, while the power of the church gradually increased. The church began to intervene in the management of the empire, including hearing any cases handled by secular courts, as well as tax and judicial privileges. But unlike the Roman church, the Byzantine church never got rid of the emperor's control and always existed as a tool of state power. Byzantine literature includes novels, stories and poems. Byzantine satirical prose and miscellaneous notes originated from ancient Greek literature, and their satirical prose contains serious themes with humorous narrative style. Friends of the Motherland in 10 century, Mazaris in 12 century and Manor Master are all representative works of Byzantine satirical prose. Contemporary medical and philosophical works also imitate this satirical prose style. The masterpiece of Byzantine Miscellanies is Scenery of a Christian Country by Limace, a businessman in the 6th century. The novel mainly translates ancient Indian stories.
Byzantine poetry is mainly religious poetry used in liturgy, emphasizing rhythm, and developing the musical form of duet from poetry responding to duet. Byzantine music originated from ancient Greek and Roman music, and it should be used to create a warm atmosphere in court ceremonies, major ceremonies, holiday celebrations, folk wedding banquets and other occasions. However, there are few complete scores left by secular music, so little is known about its music theory, scale, melody and tone. The Byzantine music preserved is mainly the religious music of the Orthodox Church, especially the religious music of Mount Athos (Holy Mountain Peninsula) in Greece. This kind of music is mainly polyphonic music, with repeated homophony, tone sandhi and harmony, which is divided into high-pitched and gorgeous parts and soothing and peaceful parts. Every lyric pays attention to rhythm, not rhythm. The greatest characteristics of Byzantine art are decorative, abstract and religious. The existing Byzantine works of art are mostly mosaics, murals and paintings in churches, with themes including Jesus, the Virgin and the Son, angels and archangels, saints, emperors and bishops, as well as heaven and hell. Mosaic Mosaics are mostly decorative, and the plane composition is formulaic, making good use of dazzling colors, with gold and blue as the main colors and white, purple, blue, yellow, pink, green, red and black as the intervals.
Most Byzantine icons are made of wood, with patterns made of pony, seck or pigment, decorated with gold, silver, enamel and ivory, and inlaid with jewels. The art of Byzantine icons had a great influence on the religious art of later Orthodox countries such as Russia and Greece, and Sasambos' fine painting technique also came from the fine mosaic technique of Byzantine icons.
In addition to religious themes, there are some Byzantine paintings that reflect military, combat, daily life, animals and plants.
Byzantines believed that the power of heaven was manifested in the gold and silver jewelry of emperors and churches. The more luxurious the palace and St. Sofia's cathedral are, the more they can prove the nobleness of the afterlife that every Christian expects. Therefore, the palace and the cathedral in Sofia have become a huge treasure house. 1204, Crusaders and Venetians discovered 1700 small altars made of gold, pearls, precious stones and enamel, more than 40,000 gold and silver incense burners and sacred boxes, and other treasures piled up in the cathedral of St. Sofia. Among the existing Byzantine handicrafts, the most exquisite one is the PalaD'Oro in Parado, which is now hidden in Saint Kyle's Church in Venice. It is made of gold, enamel, pearls and precious stones. In 976, the Governor of Venice commissioned Byzantine craftsmen to make the central panel of the altar, and in 2005,1/kloc-0 ordered more enamel panels. During the Fourth Crusade, the Venetian army plundered St Sofia's Cathedral and many monasteries to Venice and added them to the altar.
Byzantine silk products are also one of the most valuable commodities of the empire. The primitive silkworm eggs and sericulture techniques of Byzantine Empire were smuggled from China during Justinian the Great, and then the national nutritional sericulture was established in southern Greece. Silk production and textile are strictly controlled by the government, and it is strictly forbidden to speculate on prices or export purplish red dyes special for silk abroad. Purple silk clothing and carpets are exclusively for royalty, while other silk fabrics are embroidered with exquisite patterns. Charlemagne was buried in a shroud made of Byzantine silk. In the14th century, with the further improvement of textile processing, tapestries with more complicated patterns appeared, which were woven into dresses, altar covers, curtains, tapestries and carpets with gold and silver threads, and became an important tribute in the foreign policy of Byzantine Empire. Byzantine architecture can be divided into three stages, namely, early (4th to 6th century), middle (7th to12nd century) and late (13rd to15th century). Early Byzantine architecture flourished, and most of its architectural works were modeled after ancient Rome. The main buildings include city walls, gates, palaces, squares, arches, elevated waterways, public bathrooms and reservoirs, and churches in Constantinople. After Christianity became the state religion, the church buildings in Byzantium became bigger and more luxurious. In the 6th century, the unprecedented and spectacular St. Sofia Cathedral finally appeared.
Byzantine architecture in the middle period reflects the national characteristics of this period, that is, barbarian foreign enemies invaded one after another, the territory shrank and the national strength declined. The buildings in this period have shrunk and the scale is not as good as before. Byzantine church buildings in this period are characterized by occupying less land and developing into the air. The central dome like St. Sofia's Cathedral was cancelled and replaced by several small domes, and the interior decoration was emphasized. The representative buildings in this period include the Akata Leptos Monastery and Chola Monastery in Constantinople, and the Venetian Saint-Kyle Church and Kiev Saint-Sofia Church outside the empire.
After several invasions by Crusaders, the Byzantine Empire suffered heavy losses and was unable to build large-scale public buildings and churches. The number of Byzantine buildings built in this period was small and there was no innovation. Most of them were destroyed after the Byzantine Empire was destroyed by the Turks. St Mary's Church in Constantinople is a masterpiece of late Byzantine architecture. Byzantium inherited the ancient Greek custom of attaching importance to science and education. Arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy are regarded as "four arts" by Byzantines, and philosophy, rhetoric and ancient Greek are also compulsory subjects for school children. Theology belongs to the category of higher education, but ordinary people pay great attention to theology, and they often see fierce theological debates between traffickers and pawn. In applied science, civil engineering related to fortification, metallurgy and geography related to military affairs, and chemical knowledge needed for making Greek kindling have all been highly developed, but this kind of knowledge has not been popularized to the public, but has been taught to specific students as a confidential subject.
Byzantine medicine was developed on the basis of ancient Greek medical system. Hippocrates' constitutional theory was widely accepted by Byzantines. It is considered that blood, mucus, yellow bile and black bile are the basis of pathological classification of human constitution, and all diseases are caused by the imbalance of dry, wet, cold and heat. Diagnostics written by Olivier Bass, the personal doctor of Emperor Julian in the 4th century, gynecology, toxicology and prescription written by Paul in the 7th century, and food and health handbook written by Simeon in the 1 1 century are all based on Hippocratic theory. Byzantine herbalism is very developed, and patients are also treated by bloodletting, massage, massage and cauterization. In the Byzantine army, there were military medical teams, and monasteries usually had hospitals to receive and treat civilian patients. Bathing habits and regular street washing are the main public health measures in the city. The Byzantine Empire is located in the warm and humid Mediterranean climate zone, and the climate largely determines the Byzantine diet and clothing habits. According to On Food by an anonymous Byzantine writer, Byzantines in different regions have slightly different diets, but the staple food is basically bread and beans (added to soup or vegetables). In the capital Constantinople, due to the high price of meat, the staple foods of ordinary people are bread, olives, onions, lentils, cheese and fish. In other places, cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, chickens, ducks and geese are widely eaten. People in Constantinople like to eat marine fish, and freshwater fish are usually used to feed cats and dogs. Other vegetables mentioned in Byzantine historical materials include radish, cabbage, garlic, onion, pumpkin, lettuce, leek and cucumber, spices include sesame, coriander, pepper and clove, and fruits mainly include apples, figs, watermelons, apricots and grapes. The drinks are home-brewed wine and beer. Olive oil is added to almost all foods. The grain produced in various places mainly meets local demand, while the capital and big cities like Thessaloniki and Antioch rely on imported grain and government granaries for allocation. After the Byzantine Empire lost Egypt, Africa and Syria in the 7th century, grain production decreased and meat consumption began to increase. Wool and flax have also replaced the raw cotton produced in Egypt and become the main raw materials of textiles.
Byzantine costumes also vary from region to region. In the cold and rainy winter, the clothing style in the border area between Macedonia and Danube is completely different from that in the dry and hot Egypt. Silk is a raw material monopolized by the royal family. Silk production is concentrated in southern Greece, and silk sales are also strictly controlled by government businessmen. Civilians are not allowed to wear silk clothes at will without the permission of the royal family. Purple silk robes are the special clothes of emperors and queens, while members of senior churches wear brocade robes and vestments embroidered with gold and silver. Ordinary people's clothes are mostly made of cotton and linen. Judging from the existing Byzantine paintings, in the imperial history of 1 100 years, the clothing style was basically light and thin Mediterranean style, and the main clothing styles were robes, shawls, waist cloth and leather boots.
The main entertainment of the Byzantines was watching horse races and racing cars. However, due to the influence of Christian teachings, the Colosseum and the cruel performances of slaves in ancient Rome at the expense of participants' lives have disappeared. Other forms of entertainment include gambling, music, outings, watching comedies and burlesque. Justinian I's queen, odola, was once a burlesque actress, and her father was a bear trainer. However, according to Christian teachings, the Byzantine Empire generally strictly practiced monogamy, with the minimum marriage age of 14 for men and 12 for women.
In Byzantine culture, there is a remarkable feature different from other Christian countries at that time, which is superstition of astrology, astrology and prophecy. This also fully reflects the extent to which the Byzantine Empire was influenced by eastern cultures such as ancient Greece, West Asia, ancient India and Egypt. An ancient Byzantine prophecy was widely spread and verified when the empire collapsed: Constantine, the son of Helena, was the founding emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, and Constantine, the son of Helena, would be the emperor when the empire collapsed (the mother of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine Xi was Helena Dragas). In addition, astronomical phenomena are also used to explain the change of the throne and the rise and fall of the national fortune. 1453 In May, during the siege of Constantinople by Turkish troops, astrologers predicted that Constantine the Great would not be defeated unless the full moon warned him. On May 22nd, an eclipse appeared in the night sky, and the shape of the full moon became a new moon (a symbol of Islam). At sunset the next evening, the huge dome of St. Sofia's Cathedral flashed red, as if it were full of rising blood waves. All these phenomena are interpreted as a sign that the empire is about to perish, which leads to the decline of the morale of the soldiers and civilians guarding the city.