SUI AND TANG CHINA SUI ACHIEVEMENTS Built a new capital city – Chang’an (in honor of Han capital) Made improvements to the Great Wall and irrigation systems Waged massive military campaigns against Korea and Vietnam

SUI ACHIEVEMENTS (cont.) SUI AND TANG CHINA SUI ACHIEVEMENTS (cont.) Grand Canal Construction: Linked the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers Facilitated Communication and trade between Northern and Southern China

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES ON TANG SUI AND TANG CHINA EXTERNAL INFLUENCES ON TANG Chang’an was the destination of ambassadors from other states who were sent to China under the tributary system. Roads and canals, including the Grand Canal, brought people and goods to the city. With Chinese control over South China firmly established, Islamic and Jewish merchants from Western Asia came to China via the Indian Ocean trade routes.

EXT. INFLUENCES ON TANG (cont.) SUI AND TANG CHINA EXT. INFLUENCES ON TANG (cont.) Trade & Cultural Exchange: Tang China combined Central Asian influences, transmitted mostly by Turkic peoples, with Chinese culture, bringing polo, grape wine, tea, sugar, and spices. Facilitated by China’s excellent transportation systems, the magnitude of exports from Tang territories increase significantly

DYNAMICS AND ROLE OF BUDDHISM SUI AND TANG CHINA DYNAMICS AND ROLE OF BUDDHISM The Tang emperors legitimized their control by using the Buddhist idea that kings are spiritual agents who bring their subjects into a Buddhist realm. Buddhist monasteries were important allies of the early Tang emperors; in return for their assistance, they received tax exemptions, land, and gifts

DYNAMICS & ROLE OF BUDDHISM (cont.) SUI AND TANG CHINA DYNAMICS & ROLE OF BUDDHISM (cont.) Mahayana Buddhism predominated. Mahayana beliefs fostered faith in bodhisattvas, permitted the adaptation of local deities into a Mahayana pantheon, and encouraged the translation of Buddhist texts into local languages.

DYNAMICS & ROLE OF BUDDHISM (cont.) SUI AND TANG CHINA DYNAMICS & ROLE OF BUDDHISM (cont.) Buddhism spread through Central and East Asia. Chang’an, the Tang capital, became the center of a continent-wide system of communication. Though Buddhism and Confucianism proved attractive to many different peoples, regional cultures and identities remained strong; thus, many historians characterize the Tang Empire as cosmopolitan because of its breadth and diversity.

HOSTILITY TOWARD BUDDHISM SUI AND TANG CHINA HOSTILITY TOWARD BUDDHISM In the late ninth century, the Tang Empire broke the power of the Buddhist monasteries and Confucian ideology was reasserted. Buddhism was seen as undermining the family system Eroded the tax base by accumulating tax-free land and attracting hundreds of thousands of people to become monks and nuns.

HOSTILITY TOWARD BUDDHISM (cont.) SUI AND TANG CHINA HOSTILITY TOWARD BUDDHISM (cont.) Buddhism also had been used to legitimize women’s participation in politics. The most significant example of this is the career of Wu Zhao, who took control of the government; she made herself emperor and based her legitimacy on claiming to be a bodhisattva.

HOSTILITY TOWARD BUDDHISM (cont.) SUI AND TANG CHINA HOSTILITY TOWARD BUDDHISM (cont.) RESULTS: When Buddhism was repressed, Confucian scholars concocted accounts that painted highly critical portraits of Wu Zhao and other influential women in Chinese history. The crackdown on Buddhism also brought the destruction of many Buddhist cultural artifacts.

DIPLOMATIC CHALLENGES TO TANG SUI AND TANG CHINA DIPLOMATIC CHALLENGES TO TANG UIGURS: In the mid-eighth century, a Turkic group, the Uigurs, built an empire in Central Asia. The Uigurs were known as merchants and scribes, had strong ties to both Islam and China, and developed their own script. The Uigur Empire lasted for about fifty years.

DIPLOMATIC CHALLENGES TO TANG SUI AND TANG CHINA DIPLOMATIC CHALLENGES TO TANG TIBET: Open to Indian, Chinese, Islamic, and even (via Iran) Greek culture. In 634, Mahayana Buddhism was brought to Tibet and combined with the local religion to create a distinctive form of Buddhism. By the late 600s, Tibet and China’s relationship deteriorated, and the Tang emperor and the Tibetan king were rivals for religious leadership and political dominance in Inner Asia.