Dr. Afxendiou

Sachem North High School

Sui – Tang - Song

Political turmoil followed the fall of the Han during the "period of the Six Dynasties" (220-589 C.E.) and the empire's bureaucratic apparatus collapsed.

a foreign religion, Buddhism, replaced Confucianism as a primary force in cultural life

Wendi founder. Won popularity by lowering taxes and establishing granaries to ensure a stable, cheap food supplyGreatest accomplishment: the completion of the Grand Canal

The Grand Canal connected the Huang He and the Chang Jiang : was vital for trade. Connected the northern cities to the southern rice-producing region

Sui Dynasty 581-618

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfNR_jYIbUw

Due to the endless labor of peasants on state projects like the Grand Canal and the Great Wall, peasants revolted and killed the second Sui Emperor in 618

End of the Sui Dynasty

China: Tang and Song DynastiesTang Dynasty, 618-907Song Dynasty, 960-1127Both had major achievements which diffused

along trade routesBoth effected Japan, Korea, Vietnam,

Europe….. AND THE WORLD

extended the empire's reach to the borders of Afghanistan, stretched into Tibet, Vietnam, Manchuria, and Korea.

A restored scholar-gentry elite and reworked Confucian ideology helped the Tang to maintain imperial unity

extended the examination system, and civil service advancement patterns were regularized

Tang Dynasty

Confucian revival threatened Buddhism’s place in Chinese life

Many previous rulers had been strong Buddhist supporters

Mahayana Buddhism won wide mass acceptance during the era of war and turmoil

Elite Chinese accepted Chan Buddhism, or Zen, which stressed meditation and appreciation of natural and artistic beauty

Early Tang rulers continued to patronize Buddhism, especially Empress Wu (690-705). She endowed monasteries, commissioned colossal statues of Buddha, and sought to make Buddhism the state religion

Tang Dynasty and Buddhism

Confucians and Daoists opposed Buddhist growth, castigating it as an alien faith

Confucian scholar-administrators worked to convince the Tang that untaxed Buddhist monasteries posed an economic threat to the empire

persecution under Emperor Wuzong (841-847). Thousands of monasteries and shrines were destroyed; hundreds of thousands of monks and nuns had to return to secular life

Confucianism emerged as the enduring central ideology of Chinese civilization

Tang Dynasty and Buddhism

Tang Dynasty Achievements1. Block Printing

Letters carved on wooden boards, covered with ink, & printed on paper

Replaced word of mouth and handwritten books 868- first printed book was made in China -

(Buddhist teachings) Effect: ideas spread quickly because

books were printed quickly Printing technology spread to Japan,

Korea, Vietnam

Tang Dynasty Achievements2. Gunpowder

Used for fireworks/ celebrations/ parades

Effect: potential for new weapons of war

Trade flourished along the Silk Road

Tang Dynasty Achievements

Tang Dynasty revived and expanded civil service examinations

Those who pass became part of an elite group of scholar-officials

Tang Dynasty Achievements

Much smaller territory and militarily weaker than the Tang. Could not defeat northern nomads.

Confucian ideas and values dominated intellectual life

Song paid many northern peoples tribute, and maintained a large army to protect against invasion, thus draining state resources and burdening the peasantry

emphasis on scholar-gentry concerns contributed to military decline

Song Dynasty

neo-Confucianism- produced differing interpretations of Confucianism and Daoism, and aim was to prove the superiority of indigenous thought - cultivation of personal morality was the highest human goal

Hostility to foreign thought prevented the entry of innovations from other societies, while the stress on tradition stifled critical thinking within China.

emphasis on rank, obligation, deference, and performance of rituals reinforced class, gender, and age distinctions

authority of the patriarchal family head was strengthened

Song Dynasty and neo-Confucianism

The Song fled south after nomadic invasions and established a capital at Hangzhou in the Yangtze River basin.

The small southern Song dynasty ruled from 1127 to 1279.

Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty Achievements

1. Moveable type Separate letters carved into clay blocks and

baked covered with ink, & printed on paper

Effect: quicker way to print booksprinting technology diffused to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam

Paper and printing reached Europe by 1100

Song Dynasty Achievements

2. Gunpowder Used for warfare in Song Dynasty New weapons: grenades, bombs, canons,

flame throwers

Effect: China dominated Japan, Korea, and

Vietnam with superior weapons nature of warfare changed: “whoever has

guns wins”

Song Dynasty Achievements

3. Porcelain Pottery that is almost unbreakable Rose to high art form in Song

Effect: expensive art that was highly prized in Asia and Europe

- became a symbol of wealth, especially in Western Europe

Song Dynasty Achievements

4. Improved Agricultural Production • New type or rice can offer two harvests per

year• Increased food, increased population,

increased trade

Effect: more trade with Northern Chinaincreased population

Song Dynasty Achievements

5. Increased Ocean trade - Advances in sailing technology• Chinese merchants went directly to foreign

ports;• Chinese junks were among the best ships in

the world

Effect: more trade with Korea, Japan and even as far as the Middle East and East Africa

Song Dynasty Achievements

6. first paper money system• Credit vouchers, called flying money,

assisted transactions in distant markets

Effect: easier to conduct business

Women’s statusstatus of women was improving under the Tang and

early Song, but steadily declined during the late Song – empresses Wu and Wei, and royal concubine Yang

Guifei, exercised considerable powerindependence and legal rights of elite minority of

women worsened under the influence of Neo-Confucian thinkers

New laws favored males in inheritance and divorce, and females were excluded from the educational system.

The painful, mobility-restricting practice of foot binding exemplifies the lowly position imposed upon women in late Song times

Tang and Song, the big picture…Chinese achievements & belief systems

spread to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam along established trade routes

For centuries, China was the dominant culture in East Asia

Chinese achievements spread to European culture during the Middle Ages

Technological innovations: moveable type and gunpowder.

Advances in mathematics-arithmetic and algebra

Agriculture improvements: cultivation of rice (faster ripening rice) produced more food

Trade Flourished: Silk Road (until end of Tang Dynasty)

Increased Ocean Trade-advances in sailing technology

Golden Age of Poetry and Art

Achievements during Tang and Song Dynasty

Tang OnlyExpanded the Empire, had

woman emperor, adopted

Buddhism

Song OnlyRuled smaller

empire, developed

into a great sea power,

created paper money and movable

type

Both: Prospered through trade, improved agriculture, created great art and literature