Key Facts• China expanded and grew rich under the powerful Tang

and Song dynasties.

• During the1200s and 1300s, the Mongols ruled much of Asia. After the fall of the Mongols, the Ming restored Chinese culture and later imposed a policy of isolation.

• During the 1100s, Japan created a feudal society ruled by powerful military.

Two golden Ages of ChinaThe Tang dynasty restored China to

its earlier glory

Tang armies forced countries around them to become tributary states independent states that yield power to China and send tributes.

Tang emperors restored bureaucracy, redistributed land and encouraged trade through building of canals.

The Tang dynasty collapsed in 907.

Government & SocietyGENTRY• Most scholar-officials were gentry, from the wealthy landowning class.• Song scholar-gentry supported a revival of Confucian thought.• The ideal Confucian official was a wise, virtuous scholar.

PEASANTS• Most Chinese were peasants who worked the land. • Peasants could move up in society through education and government service.

MERCHANTS• According to Confucian tradition, merchants were an even lower class than peasants because their

riches came from the labor of others. • Confucian attitudes toward merchants affected economic policy.

Under the Tang and Song dynasties, China was a well-ordered society.

Cultural Achievements

Artists sought balance and harmony through simple strokes and lines.

Landscape painters sought to capture the spiritual essence of the natural world.

Buddhist themes dominated sculpture and architecture.

The Chinese perfected skills in making porcelain.

Painting & Calligraphy were essential skills for the gentry.

Scholars produced works on philosophy, religion, and history.

The first short stories blended fantasy, romance, and adventure.

Among the gentry, poetry was the most respected form of literature.

The great Tang poet, Li Bo, wrote 2,000 poems.

ARTS LITERATURE

A prosperous economy supported the rich culture of Tang and Song China.

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The Mongol and Ming Empires

In the 1200s, Genghiz Khan united Mongol tribes and conquered a vast empire that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe.

Genghiz Khan imposed strict military discipline and demanded absolute loyalty. His highly trained armies contained some of the most skilled horsemen in the world.

In their conquest of China, the Mongol armies faced the problem of attacking walled cities. Mongol and Chinese armies used missile weapons against each other.

It took 150 years for the Mongols to complete their conquest of China.

Once a conquest was complete, the Mongols were not oppressive rulers. They often allowed conquered peoples to live much as they had — as long as they paid tribute to the Mongols.

The heirs of Genghiz Khan established peace and order within their domain. Historians today refer to this period as the Pax Mongolica, or Mongol Peace.

Under the Mongols, trade flourished along the Silk road and Eurasia

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Ming Dynasty

• Restored the civil service system and made the exams more rigorous than ever

• Revived Confucian learning• Repaired the canal system that linked regions and

made trade easier• Made Chinese cities home to many industries,

including porcelain, paper, and tools • Developed new technologies, which increased output

in manufacturing• Supported a revival of arts and literature

1368 rebellion pushed the Mongols back beyond the Great Wall. Early Ming rulers sought to reassert Chinese greatness after years of foreign rule. To accomplish this, they did the following:

Exploration

• Ming Rulers sent Chinese fleets to distant lands• Admiral Zheng He was in

charge of 100’s of ships carrying as many as 25,000 sailors

• The goal of his trip was to promote trade and collect tribute

• This expedition explored the eastern coast of Africa

Korea and Its Traditions

Koreans adapted and modified Chinese ideas. Examples:

• Koreans used the Chinese civil service examination, but adapted it to fit their own system of inherited ranks.• Koreans learned to make porcelain from China, but then perfected techniques of making celadon—a porcelain with an unusual blue-green glaze. • Koreans adapted wood block printing by inventing movable metal type• Koreans created an alphabet for spoken sounds that was much easier to use than Chinese characters, so there was a high literacy rate in Korea

As early as Han times, China extended its influence to Korea. Although Koreans absorbed many Chinese traditions, Korea was able to preserve its independence and maintain a separate and distinct culture.

Emergence of Japan• Japan is located on an archipelago, or

chain of islands, about 100 miles off the Asian mainland. Because four-fifths of Japan is mountainous, most people settled in narrow river valleys and along coastal plains.

• The surrounding seas have both protected and isolated Japan. Japan was close enough to the mainland to learn from Korea and China, but too far away for the Chinese to conquer. The seas also served as trade routes for Japan.

• By 500 the Yamoto dynasty [only Japanese dynasty] ruled Japan, they sent nobles to China to study culture and government

• Eventually the Japanese adopted some Chinese ideas but created their own Culture.

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Japan’s Feudal AgeAs the emperor presided over the splendid courts of Heian, rival clans battled for control of the countryside. Local warlords formed armed bands loyal to them rather than to the emperor. In this way, Japan evolved a feudal system.

In theory, the emperor stood at the head of Japanese feudal society. In fact, he was powerless. Real power lay in the hands of the shogun, or supreme military commander.

The shogun distributed land to vassal lords who agreed to protect them. These great warrior lords were called daimyo. They, in turn, granted land to lesser warriors called samurai meaning those who serve.

Samurai were the fighting aristocracy trying to gain power.

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Japan’s Feudal Age Cont.

• imposed central government control on all Japan

• created a unified, orderly society • required the daimyo to live in the shogun’s

capital every other year • created new laws that fixed the social order

rigidly in place and upheld a strict moral code• imposed restrictions on women • oversaw economic growth, the flourishing of

trade, and the emergence of a middle class

1603 Tokugawa Ieyasu founded the Tokugawa Shogunate

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The Commitment to ancient beliefs and samurai virtues increased problems with foreigners who had arrived in the 1500’s