the qin and tang dynasties
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Government, religion, geography, and accomplishments of the Qin and Tang DynastiesTRANSCRIPT
The Qin and Tang Dynasties of Ancient China
RM – ZO – LP –JW
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Centralization• Built 4000 miles of highway.• Set uniform standards for
writing, law, currency, weights and measures.
• Built irrigation projects that increased farm production.
• Trade blossomed.
The Great Wall of China• Unified 14000 miles of wall to
protect China from northern and western invaders.
• Hundreds of thousands of peasants died while others worked against their will. It was crushing labor.
• The wall is visible from space.
• Defeated invaders.
• Doubled China’s size.
• Crushed Political Opposition: Ordered noble families to move to the capital. Seized their lands. Divided China into 36 districts under his control.
• Silenced Criticism: Murdered hundreds of Confucian scholars. Ordered books burned. Established an autocracy.
• Ruled by legalist Ideas: Efficient and powerful government. Use of the law to end civil disobedience. Application of rewards and punishments. Controlled ideas and actions.
The Fall of The Qin Dynasty• Harsh taxes and repressive
government made the Qin dynasty unpopular.
• Scholars hated Shi Huangdi for his book burning.
• Poor people hated Shi Huangdi for establishing forced labor.
• The Qin Dynasty had made great social advances and unified China, but all the advances were made at the expense of human freedom.
• Peasants rebelled 3 years after the second Qin emperor took office.
• By 202 B. C. the Qin Dynasty gave way to the Han Dynasty.
• The Tang Dynasty ruled for 300 years (618 – 907) B.C.
• Tang Taizong lasted from 627 to 649• Under the Tang Dynasty the empire expanded.• Taizong’s army reconquered the lands China had
lost• By 668 China had expanded into Korea under the
rule of Empress Wu Zhao• In 690, Empress Wu assumed the title of
Emperor, the only woman ever to do in China
• Tang rulers increased the role of the government.• They expanded roads and canals.• Taizong lowered taxes and took lands from the wealthy to give to the peasants• Tang rulers promoted foreign trade and improved agriculture.• Tang China prospered.
• Tang rulers expanded the system of civil service to recruit good officials.
• They opened schools to train young scholars in Confucianism, poetry and other subjects covered in the exams.
• The few who passed became part of an elite group of scholar-officials.
• The exams were open to all men
• Only the wealthy could afford the years of education.
• Political connection could lead to good positions without taking the exams.
• The system created intelligent and capable governing class.
• Talent and education became more important than noble birth.
• Moderately wealthy families shared in China’s government.
• By mid 700s Tang rulers reimposed heavy taxes to pay for military expansion.
• People felt the hardship but government could not meet its costs.
• Starving peasants left the villages and roved the countryside in bandit gangs.
• The Tang could not control the empire.
• In 751, Arab armies defeated China on the western frontier at the Battle of Talas.
• Central Asia passed into foreign hands.
• Border attacks and internal rebellions chipped away at the power of the government.
• In 907, Chinese rebels sacked and burned the capital of Chang’an and murdered the last emperor, a child.
Scholar Officials The Tang Lose Power
• Founded by a scholar named Confucius (551 B.C. - 479 B.C.) during the period of the warring states (just before the Qin dynasty)
• Confucius taught that social order, harmony and good government could be restored if China followed 5 basic relationships based on a code of conduct
Qin DynastyReligion
Three Major Ways of Life Emerged During and Before the Qin Dynasty Confucianism - Daoism - Legalism
Confucianism
Confucius (551 B.C. – 479 B.C.)
1. Ruler and Subject2. Father and Son3. Husband and Wife4. Older Brother and younger brother5. Friend and friend
5 Relationships of Confucianism
• Confucius also believed in filial piety (respect for one’s elders) and that education was a key factor in a good society.
• With the emergence of Confucianism there also came the idea of bureaucracy (trained civil service).ZO
• Daoism was founded by a sage named Laozi (6th century B.C)
• Wrote the book Dao De Ching (The Way of Virtue)
• Believed and taught that natural order was most important
• Believed human beings should live in harmony with nature.Daoism was a “go with the flow” type of philosophy.
• Believed that a universal force guided all things
Daoism Legalism
• Founded by a large group of practical thinkers called Legalists.
• Believed that government should use law to control people.
• Believed in harsh punishment for the disobedient.
• Believed in controlling all ideas and actions of the people.
• During the Qin dynasty Legalists were the dominant group.
• Shi Huangdi, ruler of the Qin dynasty, favored the ideas of the Legalists.
• To silence any criticism or rebellion he ordered hundreds of Confucius scholars to be murdered and Confucian books to be burned.
ZO
Tang Dynasty
Buddhism: The Founder
ReligionThe Three Main Religions: Buddhism – Confucianism - Daoism
• Buddhism was founded by a Himalayan prince named Siddhartha Gautama.• A prophecy foretold that if Siddhartha stayed inside the palace he would become a world ruler, but if he left he would become a universal spiritual leader.•To make sure he would become a ruler, his father isolated him from the outside world.• When he was 29, however, he ventured outside the palace and saw an old man, a sick man, a dead man and a holy man.• After this he decided to seek spiritual enlightenment, where he wandered the forests of India for years.
ZO
Buddhist BeliefsThe Four Noble Truths• Everything in life is suffering and sorrow• The cause of all suffering is people’s selfish desire for the temporary pleasures of this world.• The way to end all suffering is to end all desires.• The way to overcome such desires and attain enlightenment is to follow the Eightfold path.
The Eightfold PathRight ViewsRight resolveRight SpeechRight ConductRight LivelihoodRight EffortRight MindfulnessRight Concentration
Buddhism and the Tang Dynasty
•It was the dominant religion.•Buddhism came to the Tang Dynasty through traders on the Silk Road •During the Tang Dynasty the monk Xuanzang traveled to India and brought back Buddhist ideas and sutras.•Buddhism Co-existed with Confucianism and Daoism.•Known as “The Three Teachings”.ZO
GeographyThe Qin Dynasty
• The Qin Dynasty stayed to the north of the Yellow Sea
• Its ruler at the time, Shi Huangdi had his armies attack the invaders to the north of the Yellow River.
• His victories increased the size of China.
• The Great Wall expanded 1,400 miles west to the empire causing any invaders to galoop halfway to Tibet in order to get around the wall.
• Wall expanded from east of Yellow Sea to West of Gobi Desert.
LP
GeographyThe Tang Dynasty
• The Tang Dynasty expanded more than the Qin.
• The Tang Dynasty expanded over the Taklamakan Desert and North China Plain.
• The Tang ruler at the time, Tang Taizong, led his armies to win back lands from the northern and western parts that had been lost due to the decline of the Han Dynasty
• The dynasty stretched from the Tarim Basin, to the Korean Peninsula and from Mongolia down to what is modern Vietnam. LP
Accomplishments:The Qin Dynasty
• Made many changes that were meant to unify china.
• The Qin put together a legalist form of government.
• The area was divided up into 36 districts and then were subdivided into counties.
• They had a civil governor, a military commander, and an imperial inspector.
• The state had absolute control over the people. It was run by rewards and punishment.
• The Qin standardized the language and writing of Chinese to have a consistent way of communicating across the country.
• The great wall of China was built in the north to protect against invasions.
• Roads and irrigation canals were built throughout the country too.
• A huge palace was built for Shi Huangdi.
• 6,000 Terracotta pottery soldiers were placed at his tomb to protect him.
The Terra Cotta Pottery Soldiers
The Great Wall
JW
Accomplishments:The Tang Dynasty
• In the Tang dynasty there were advances in agriculture and irrigation doubled harvests in some provinces.
• Increase in harvests made an increase in population.
• With a friendly foreign policy and use of the silk road trade with more than 70 countries flourished.
• It also brought new technology and ideas.
• Tang dominance in its politics, economic foreign relations and military power made it the greatest civilization of their time.
JW
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