The High Caliphate, including the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, and the Golden Age of the Tang and Song dynasties had numerous similarities. Both strongly influenced foreign lands, while being influenced by others. However, the many differences in the more individual achievements of the High Caliphate and Golden Age of Tang and Song are what set the two ages apart and make them singular pieces to a larger whole in history, proving them worthy of closer study and comparison.
             First of all, there is the fact that both eras included two dynasties apiece. The Umayyad and Abbasid and the Tang and Song dynasties were called dynasties because a succession of the rule was passed along the ruling bloodline. This was more of a forced and reluctantly accepted trait in the Umayyad dynasty that continued throughout the Abbasid dynasty, whereas in the Chinese dynasties it was an integral part of the rule, according to the mandate of heaven that defined the rulers as divinely chosen for the task. Both the High Caliphate and the Golden Age of Tang and Song also had a period of transition and political fragmentation between dynasties as well.
             Both of these periods produced dynasties with extensive empires in different regions of the world. The Golden Age dynasties controlled a large part of the East, while the High Caliphate dynasties controlled a region to the West that spanned from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. The reason so much land came under the rule of these dynasties was their extensive military forces. The army during the Abbasid dynasty was the most impressive in the world at the time. The only significant difference in the two armies was society's view of soldiers, as soldiers were thoroughly looked down upon by the people of the Golden Age dynasties.
             The two ages of dynasties produced effective, though different models of government and foreign affairs. The High Caliphate adopted and mixed some foreign governme...