medieval china sui, tang, & song dynasties

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Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

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Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties. Looking Back & Looking Forward. Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han (Ancient-Classical China) With the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 CE, China alternates between periods of political unity and fragmentation. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Medieval ChinaSui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Page 2: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Looking Back & Looking Forward

• Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han (Ancient-Classical China)• With the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 CE, China

alternates between periods of political unity and fragmentation. – Not as traumatic (or permanent) as the fall of Rome

for Western Europe• Between 589 and 906 CE, China enjoyed a

political revival under the Sui and Tang Dynasties.• China will also be rocked by the advances of the

Mongol armies in the 1200s.

Page 3: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties
Page 4: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

The Sui Dynasty• Period btwn. Fall

of the Han & rise of Sui is 6 Dynasties period or 3 Kingdoms period.

• The first strong dynasty to emerge after the fall of the Han was the Sui Dynasty (589-618 CE).

• Reunified China• Expanded

China’s borders as a result of military conquest

Page 5: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Sui- Wendi

• Wendi seized the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Although he was Chinese, he secured his power base by winning support of nomadic military commanders.

• Lowered taxes and est. granaries. • Wendi’s son Yangdi murdered him & seized

the throne.

Page 6: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Sui- Yangdi

• Upgraded Confucian edu. • Restored the civil service exam.

BUT• Forcibly conscripted peasants to build sumptuous

palaces. • Led a series of unsuccessful military campaigns to gain

Korea. • Was assassinated by his own ministers in 618. Looked

like China would spiral into chaos again, but wait….

Page 7: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Tang Dynasty• Dissolution of imperial order was averted by one of Yangdi’s

military officials, Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang. Thus begins the next dynasty.

• Under the Tang (618-906 CE), China became larger than ever before.– Rulers extend China’s influence to parts of Central Asia,

Mongolia, Manchuria, Tibet, and to the south, the Pacific Coast.

• Like the Han Dynasty, the Tang forced many of its neighbors into a Tributary System, whereas Korea, Vietnam, Japan and others had to make regular payments to avoid punishment.

Page 8: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

I am Li Yuan. I love the citrusy taste of Tang so much, I named my dynasty after it! Yummmmmmmm.

Page 9: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Tang Dynasty

Page 10: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Tang (& Song) Dynasty• Tang economy was very strong due to advanced

infrastructure (roads, waterways, canals) and trade. – Grand Canal: Begun in the Sui Dynasty to link the Yellow

and Yangzi Rivers.• Increased trade stimulated the Tang economy

– Silk industry made China exceptionally wealthy– Horses, Persians rugs, and tapestries came to China

along Silk Road. Silk, textiles, porcelain, & paper were exported from China to the Islamic world via the 5,000 mile Silk Road.

Page 11: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Trade & Commercial Expansion

• In addition to overland trade, maritime trade expanded during Tang & Song era. Indian Ocean Trade Network: China’s control of the southern coast allowed participation in the Indian Ocean Trade Network.

• Along with Arab dhows, Chinese junks were the best ships in the world at this time. Were equipped with gunpowder propelled rockets.

Page 12: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Dhow + Junk = Caravel

Page 13: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties
Page 14: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Trade, Commerce, & Urbanization

• Guild system• Deposit shops = early form of bank. • 1st use of paper money occurred during the Tang Dynasty. • Merchants deposited their profits in their hometown deposit

shops. They were then given credit vouchers called “flying money,” which they could redeem in their city of destination.

• Urban centers grew steadily. The number of people living in large cities in China (10%) was greater than that found in any civilization until the Industrial Revolution.

Page 15: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Culture & Politics in Tang China• Tang rulers were cultural patrons- Golden Age of China

– Emperor Xuanzong sponsored the creation of the Han Lin Academy of Letters, a key institution of learning

• The Tang exerted a strong artistic and religious influence over Korea and Japan.

• Tang monarchs expanded and reworked the imperial bureaucracy– Revived Scholar-gentry elite & reworked Confucian ideology – Diminished power of aristocratic families. – Bureaucracy reached from imperial palace down to

subprefecture, or district level. – Executive dept was divided into 6 ministries- war, justice, public

works, etc.

Page 16: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Tang Examination System• Tang emperors patronized academies to train

state officials and educate them in Confucian classics.– Examination system was greatly expanded under Tang

& Song. Administered by Ministry of Rites. – Highest offices could only be gained by those who

were able to pass exams on the philosophical or legal classics, and Chinese lit.

• While many bureaucrats won their position through success in the Civil Service Examination system, birth and family connections still played a major role in securing office.

Page 17: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

State and Religion

• Buddhism thrived in the time before the Sui and Tang dynasties– Many pre-Tang rulers from nomadic origins were

devout Buddhists• Mahayana (Pure Land). Chan variant of Buddhism (Zen)

stressed meditation and appreciation of natural beauty. Zen had great appeal to Chinese educated classes.

• Some early Tang Emperors and Empresses patronized Buddhism (Empress Wu r. 690-705 CE) while also promoting education in Confucian classics.

Page 18: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

State and Religion• Empress Wu tried to

elevate Buddhism to status of state religion.

• Commissioned colossal statues of the Buddha. 2-3 stories high.

• Some carved in rocks near Loyang, others in pagoda temples she commissioned.

Page 19: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties
Page 20: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

State and Religion• Support of Buddhism aroused the envy of Confucian and

Daoist rivals.– Confucian leaders stress the economic impact of not taxing

Buddhist monasteries, and losing out on labor because they couldn’t conscript peasants who worked on monastic estates.

– Some attacked the religion as alien & barbaric. – Emperor Wuzong (r. 841-847) began the outright persecution of

Buddhists. Destroyed monasteries, shrines, and forced monks and nuns to return to civilian lives.

Page 21: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Tang Decline• Weakening imperial control after attacks on Buddhism.

Political intrigue would plague the remainder of the dynasty.

• Empress Wei poisoned her hubby (the son of Empress Wu), and placed her son on the throne, but her attempt to seize power was thwarted by another prince, who led a palace revolt & seized the throne.

• Xuanzong became the last great Tang emperor, but his doomed love affair with Yang Guifei would lead to the empire’s collapse.

• See the movie- trailer for Lady Yang

Page 22: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Tang Decline• During the 800’s, a

series of peasant rebellions and military disasters weakened the Tang, & the heart-broken Yang Guifei was incapable of maintaining order.

Page 23: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

China after the Tang• By the end of the 8th c, little remained of the Tang Empire. By 907, the last

Tang emperor was forced to resign and China appeared to be entering another phase of nomadic dominance.

• But in 960 military commander Zhao Kuangyin emerged to reunite China under a single dynasty.

• He was one of the most honest & able generals of the 5 dynasty period after the fall of the Tang. Though a fierce warrior, he collected books rather than booty on military campaigns.

• Zhao’s subordinates insisted that he proclaim himself emperor. • Zhao, renamed Emperor Taizu, founded the Song dynasty, which ruled

China for the next 3 centuries• Until 1121, the primary threat to the Song was the Liao empire to the

north.

Page 24: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Books NOT Booty!

Page 25: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Song Politics

• Song never matched the Tang in terms of political or military strength.

• Military weakened- commanders were rotated to prevent building up a power base in the areas they were stationed.

• Promoted the interests of the Confucian scholar-gentry.

• Civil service exams given every 3 years at district, provincial, and imperial levels.

Page 26: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Song Decline• Funds for defense spending were re-allocated to cover

the scholarly pursuits and entertainments of the imperial court.

• Though Song armies were large, their commanders were rarely well trained.

• Neglect of military would be the source of their undoing. An unprepared military was no match for the threat from beyond the empire’s northern borders.

• The Song gradually lost territory and retreated to the South. The smaller Song state, the Southern Song Dynasty, will survive until the Mongol Conquests of the 1270s.

Page 27: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Song Econ & Society• Culturally and economically impressive

– Steady population growth– Contd urbanization– Largest cities on earth at the time (population over 1

million)– Trade contacts lessened, but still active.– Port of Canton (Guangzhou) became the world’s busiest

and most cosmopolitan trading centers.– Contd Tang agrarian expansion. State-regulated irrigation.

Encouraged peasant migration to uncultivated areas. – Broke up estates of the old aristocracy and distributed

land more equitably among the peasantry. – Bolstered the position of peasants- balanced social order.

Page 28: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Song Technology & Innovation• With the exception of the Abbasid

Caliphate, Song China was of the most scientifically and technically advanced societies in the world at that time. – Excellent mathematicians and

astronomers. – Compasses: Had been around since

last c. BCE, but used for the first time in maritime navigation in 1090.

– Su-Song’s celestial clock was built in 1088 CE

• 80 feet tall• Time of day, day of month, positions of

the sun, moon, planets, and major stars.• First device in world history to use a

chain-driven mechanism powered by flowing water.

Page 29: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Song Technology & Innovation• Gunpowder: at 1st had little impact on warfare. For centuries, the

Chinese used it mainly for fireworks. Used in grenades by the late Song dynasty.

• Paper Currency, banking (flying money)• Abacus: ancestor of the modern calculator. Invented to help

merchants to count profits and tax collectors keep track of revenues.

• Bi Sheng invented movable type in the mid 11th c. Advance over block printing that had been invented in the Han.

• Moveable type and paper (Han invention), advanced the production of written records. Printing made it possible for Song China to attain a level of literacy above that of any preindustrial civ.

Page 30: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Song Art & Lit• A well-educated man was expected to excel in many fields. After a

day of work at the Ministry of Public Works, an accomplished official was expected to spend his evenings composing songs and poems.

• Confucian scholar-gentry supplanted Buddhists as the main producers of art and lit.

• Art became more secular and celebrated the beauty of the natural world.

• Poetry was the main art form of the Tang (Li Bo), and landscape painting for the Song.

• Song landscapes were painted on scrolls that could be read as the viewer unfolded them. And you’re going to make one!

Page 31: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties
Page 32: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Religion• Great revival of Confucius’ teachings, known as Neo-

Confucianism.– Sought to prove the superiority of indigenous thought

systems over foreign ones (Buddhism). – Its hostility toward outside influences would eventually

stifle innovation. – Reinforced Chinese culture’s tendency toward hierarchy,

patriarchy, and obedience.– Thought that social harmony was preserved by keeping

people in their proper place. – Put a premium on education and cultured behavior.

Page 33: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Women in Chinese Society• Neo-Confucianism was used to justify the greater subordination

of women. Reinforced virginity for young brides, fidelity for wives, and chastity for widows.

• Men, however, could have pre-marital sex, and take concubines without scandal.

• Neo-Confucians attacked Buddhists for promoting monastic careers for women.

• Empress Wu, Wei, and Yang Guifei were exceptions. Conditions worsened under the Song.

• Women excluded from education. • Chinese subjugation of women was most obvious in foot-

binding. Counterpart of the veil and the harem in the Islamic world. – May have started with a Tang emperor who had a developed a fetish

for tiny dancer feet.– Upper-class men developed a taste for small feet, and successful

marriage negotiations often hinged on male demands for small feet.

Page 34: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Women in Chinese Society• Families began binding

girl’s feet @ age 5. • Toes turned under and

bound with silk which was tightened as she grew.

• By the time she reached marriageable age, a girl’s foot had been transformed into the “lotus petal” form.

• One woman's story of foot binding

Page 35: Medieval China Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties

Resources

• Adas, M., Gilbert, M.J., Schwartz, S.B., & Stearns, P.N. (2007). World civilizations: The global experience. (5th ed.). New York: Pearson Education.

• Neater, B. (2009). www.bneater.com• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ouA5xC87j8• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?

storyId=8966942