What happened to the Han Dynasty?

• Most of the advances from the Qin-Han Era seem to have been lost– Bureaucracy– Importance of the scholars– Reminded many of the time

of the Warring States– Non-Chinese nomads ruled– A foreign religion,

Buddhism, found many followers

– Trade, city life and technology declined

Enter the Sui

• Seemed at first to be just more warring factions

• General Yang Jian – who becomes emperor Wen Di – conquers the Northern Wei and the Southern Chen and is able to reunite the core areas of Chinese civilization for the first time in 3+ centuries

How did the Sui govern?

• Emperors Wen Di and son Yang Di are remembered for their harsh rule

• Forced many peasants to fight in the army or to work on public works projects to pay off debts

Belief systems under the Sui

• Wen Di, although Buddhist, encouraged the practice of Confucianism and Daoism as well.

• Erected thousands of stupas across China to encourage Buddhism, yet understood the Chinese importance of Confucianism.– Respect for elders and

traditions– Scholarship– Government trained

officials

How did the Sui affect daily life?

• Built the Grand Canal which promoted trade by connecting the Yellow and Yangtze rivers

• Helped rebuild the Great Wall that provided security from Northern raiders

• Rice will replace millet as the staple food in China

• Merchants in the South will use the canal to extent their business and influence into the North

How did the Sui unite China?

• Undertook extensive public works projects which reinvigorated the populous

• Extended military control over large stretches of China

• Sense of Nationalism

Fall of the Sui• Yang Di pretty tyrannical

– Murdered his father to take the throne

– Overly fond of luxury and had thousands of peasant build palaces and canals

– Built and extensive game park, but had to bring in the trees

– Unsuccessful wars against Korea that almost defeats against the Turks force revolts against him

• Assassinated by his own ministers in 618

Enter the Tang

• Rise to power:– 618, Li shi Min captured

Changan and Luoyang

– Will make himself emperor Dai Zong in 626

– Conquers deep into Asia and to Afghanistan; recruited Turkic soldiers; extended west into the Tibet, south to Vietnam, north to Korea

How did the Tang govern China?

• Under Wu Zhao, China’s only empress, the Tang ruled one of the most geographically extensive empires in Chinese history

• Organized the government into departments, each with its own area

• The Bureaucrats upheld Confucian ideals by acting as artists and politicians

• Under Xuan Zong (713-756) Chinese painting and poetry reached a peak, but this will lead to the downfall

Belief systems under the Tang

• Empress Wu (690-705) supported Buddhism to the point of wanting to make it the state religion

• Elites tend towards Zen (chan) Buddhism

• Confucianism will still be encouraged due to the examination system

• Emperor Wu Zong will suppress Buddhism (economic issues) to the point of open persecution.

How did the Tang effect daily life?

• Created the equal field system which limited the power of the rural aristocracy

• Scholar class become the new ruling class

• Land reforms gave some peasants a chance to gain wealth

How did the Tang help unite China?

• Emperors directly controlled the army and extended the boundaries

• The equal field system benefited both the government and commoners

The decline of the Tang

• Xuan Zong became too interested in the arts, especially music.

• After the death of his wife, became infatuated with a concubine, Yang Guifei.

• She will put many members of her family into powerful positions – angers many of the elite.

• Rebellion will occur, and outside forces will become threats.

The Song Dynasty

• Rise to Power:– Tai Zu emerged after 50

years of Civil War to found the Song Dynasty at Kaifeng

– Will only rule on China’s provinces south of the Great wall

– Will have to contain the many hostile ethnic groups clustered on China’s borders (Mongolians, Jurchens, Khitans)

– Power will shift from the north to the south

How did the Song govern China?• Mongolians and Manchurians

harassed China’s southern border for 200 years

• Song royal family was forced by Jurchen to establish a new capital at Hangzhou

• Government officials came from southern China because the north was under foreign rule

• Bureaucrats were selected according to their scores on the civil service exam despite economic status

Belief systems under the Song

• Revival of Confucianism ideas and values: Neo-Confucians

• Believed that personal morality was the highest goal for humans

• Virtue can be attained through book knowledge and observation as well as through wise men

• Great emphasis on rank, obligation, deference and traditional rituals

• This will reinforce class, age and gender distinctions

How did the Song affect daily life?

• Power of the merchant class rose as large-scale trade thrived

• Cambodian strain of rice allowed farmers to double output

• Technological advances produced new products

How did the Song help unite China?

• Moved the center of Chinese culture south to Kaifeng

• Used meritocracy to make government efficient and reliable

The Yuan Dynasty

• Rise to Power:– Dynasty founded by

Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan

– Fought the Song for 40 years before founding China’s only foreign-ruled dynasty

How did the Yuan dynasty govern China?

• The Civil service system was maintained and staffed by Turks and Persians

• A strict hierarchy of social service classes developed:– 1. Tax-free Mongols– 2. Non-Chinese civil

servants– 3. Northern Chinese– 4. Southern Chinese

Beliefs systems under the Yuan

• Kublai Khan retained shamanism– Good and Evil spirits pervade

the world and can be summoned and heard only through Shamans

• The traditional Chinese belief systems were largely unaffected by Yuan rule

• Under Kublai Khan’s encouragement the number of Buddhist monasteries increased

How was daily life affected under the Yuan?

• Yuan dynasty’s bloody wars of conquest led to the destruction of farmland

• Also seized land for pastures – many Chinese starved and died

• Kublai Khan maintained China’s roads and canals, but later Yuan emperors let them deteriorate

How did the Yuan help unite China?

• Retained civil service, but staffed it with foreigners

• Allowed Chinese belief system to coexist with Mongol shamanism

• Brought in more from the West due to the travels and stories of Marco Polo

Homework

• Read the chapter and add to your chart• Answer the following:

– How did the examination system change from the Tang to the Song? The economy?

– How did trade improve and change over time in China?– Describe the family unit and gender roles.– What can Neo-Confucianism be blamed for?– Describe the different forms of literature throughout the

dynasties.– Describe Chinese painting.