EAST ASIAN EMPIRES The Tang and Song The two Golden Ages of China

I. The Tang Dynasty reunifies China After the Han dynasty collapsed in 220 AD, China was divided into rival regions for nearly 400 years But it escaped the decay that Europe suffered after the fall of Rome...

1. Farm production was still good 2. Technology advanced 3. Buddhism spread 4. Learning/arts flourished 5. Cities survived 6.Invaders stormed north china, but? Invaders often adopted Chinese civilization rather than demolishing it!

A. Sui Dynasty ( ) Emperor Sui Wendi reunited the north & south B. The Tang Build An Empire Li Yuan – was a general in the Sui dynasty His 16-year-old son Li Shimin promotes a revolt against the Sui dynasty They win the revolt and establish the Tang Dynasty in 618! Li Shimin then takes over his father’s rule and takes the name Tang Taizong (ty dzung)

Tang Taizong was a brilliant general, government reformer, historian, and master of calligraphy He becomes China’s most admired emperor!! Later Tang rulers expand the Chinese empire in a major way—Central Asian and... Vietnam, Tibet, and Korea become tributary states. They remain self-governing, but rulers had to acknowledge Chinese supremacy and send tributes (money) to the Tang emperor.

Students from Korea and Japan traveled to China’s Tang capital to learn about Chinese government, art, and laws. C. Government and Economy Grow In the late 600s, Wu Zhao becomes the only WOMAN to rule China! She enthusiastically restored the Han system of unified government: Bureaucracy, civil service system to recruit talented officials trained with Confucian philosophy

Empress Wu Zhao also set up schools to prepare male students for the civil service exams Flexible law code Economics—The Land Reform system Broke up large land owners and redistricted land to peasants Strengthened the central government by weakening the power of large landowners Increased government’s money, because peasants who farmed their own land could pay taxes

D. Tang Dynasty Decline Later Tang emperors lost territory in Central Asia to Arabs Corruption—high taxes, drought, famine, rebellions lead to end of Tang In 907 a rebel general overthrew the Tang emperor

II. The Song Dynasty In 960 a scholarly general named Zhao Khangyin reunited much of China under the Song (sung) dynasty Song ruled 319 years, longer than Tang, but controlled less territory than Tang Constant threat of invaders in north In early 1100s, Song retreated south of Huang river and continued to rule for 150 years * But, in the late 1200s Mongols attack and overthrow the Song! We’ll get to that later...

A.Achievements of the Song Dynasty Song China’s economy expanded Rice grown and traded More money allowed more commerce, learning, and arts! Canals The Grand Canal (originally built during the Sui dynasty) linked Huang River to Chang River

And during Song Dynasty, the Grand Canal reached its peak! Thousands of tons of grain shipped from the southern region to northern china each year Tang and Song Economic Success! Foreign trade flourished and the Song actually made paper money.

III.China’s Ordered Society G E Emperor N Land-owning wealthy men T Court, Aristocratic families R Bureocracy – Officials all over Y China Peasants MERCHANTS WHAT?!

Wow, that’s an interesting and unusual social pyramid! Let’s look it over in detail... GENTRY – land owning wealthy men who pass the civil service exam, value education, revival of Confucian thought ranking people based on rank, duty, and PROPER BEHAVIOR. 1.Emperor – in charge OBVI 2.Courts and Bureocrats – Officials in charge of local regions

3. Peasants Work the Land Most Chinese were peasants working the land * Drought and famine a constant threat but new tools and crops improved the lived of many peasants * Lived in small, self-sufficient villages Famous quote: “Heaven is high and the emperor far away.” Peasants relied on each other rather than the government.

In disputes, peasants relied on one another to resolve it. Only if such efforts failed, did villages take their disputes to the emperors’ bureocratic representatives Peasants could move up in society through education and government service If a bright peasant boy got an education, and passed civil service exam, he and his family rose in status!

Lowest class? 4. Merchants! Many merchants were very rich, but because of Confucian tradition they had lower status. Why? Their wealth came from the labor of others. SNAP!

And what about the status of women? Women had higher status in Tang and early Song times than they did later. Ran the home and family affairs, managed servants and family finances. But? boys were still valued more than girls by their families, and When a young woman married she became part of her husband’s family

FOOT BINDING Foot binding started in the late Song times. Women’s feet were supposed to be small (½ normal size) Feet were bound with strips of cloth to limit their size—it was very painful but large feet were considered ugly and no one would marry someone with big feet.

Some peasant girls didn’t bind their feet because they had to work in the fields Women with bound feet often couldn’t walk without help, so foot binding reinforced the Confucian tradition that women should remain inside the home

IV.The Tang and Song develop a Rich Culture 1) Artists paint “Harmony”, the love of life. Poetry, painting and calligraphy were essential skills for the scholar gentry Chinese landscape painting—Daoist traditions Painters tried to capture spiritual essence of the natural world “When you are planning to paint, you must always create a harmonious relationship between heaven and earth.”

2) Architecture and Porcelain Buddhist themes dominated sculpture and architecture Indian Stupa evolved into the Chinese Pagoda, a temple with eaves that curve up the corners of the roof Chinese sculptors made statues of Buddhas Perfected techniques for making porcelain. Shiny, hard pottery considered finest in the world

Glazes, tea service (chinaware) Figures of camels, court ladies playing polo, bearded foreigners arriving on the Silk Road. HOMES All homes were built facing south so they received warmth from the sun in winter!

3. Chinese writing Prose and poetry by Tang/Song writers: philosophy, religion, and history Short stories—blended fantasy, romance and adventure The world’s first short stories were first started in Chinese literature!

More on literature? Gentry poetry was most respected, Confucian scholars had to master poetry Li Bo, the greatest Tang poet wrote 2000 poems celebrating harmony with nature or lamenting the passage of time Legend has it that he drowned trying to embrace the reflection of the moon in a lake. Awww...

Du Fu, a friend of Li Bo, wrote poetry about the horrors of war and criticizing the court system. Li Qingzhao, a female poet, wrote poetry about women who were left behind when loved ones went off to war, reflecting the time when invasions threatened to end the brilliant Song dynasty.

So THAT was the history of the Tang and Song Dynasties in China! What do you think were their biggest achievements? 1. Political? 2. Economic? 3. Social? 4. Cultural?

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE TANG & SONG DYNASTIES PoliticalEconomicSocialCultural Strong emperors Revival of bureaucracy & civil service system Emphasis on Confucianism Tang followed a policy of expansion – acquired tributary states (Korea, Vietnam, Tibet) Land reforms (Tang) Prosperity Agricultural improvements: land reform & double-crop rice (population  ) Foreign trade  Silk Roads  Ocean trade (compass) Colonies in Southeast Asia (tea) Women: foot-binding (Song) Peasants’ work highly valued=influence of Confucianism Technological Advancements  Moveable type  Compass  Clock  Porcelain  Gunpowder  Paper money Buddhism=cultural diffusion (Japan) Art & architecture  Poetry (Li Bo)  Calligraphy  Pagodas  Landscape painting (influence of Daoism) Peasants Merchants & Soldiers Scholar-Gentry