Sui, Tang, and Song

Sui  Wendi unites N and S China  Restores strong central gov’t  China enters Golden Age

Sui Dynasty ( )  Wendi = 1 st Emporer  Completed Grand Canal  Connects Huang He and Chang Jiang  Trade b/w N and S  1 million peasants worked on  1/2 died

Sui  Continued work on Great Wall  These labor projects  Make peasants mad  Overworked, overtaxed   Revolted

Tang Dynasty ( )  Tang Taizong  Empire expanded  Reconquered Lands  N and W (Lands they lost)  Extended to Korea

Wu Zhao (Tang)  After Taizong  Empress that held real power  Took title of Emperor  Only woman to do so in China

Tang  Extend roads  Promoted foreign trade  Improved agriculture

Tang restore Bureaucracy  Expanded civil service testing system  Few who passed became elites  Only wealthy could afford education  If connected politically  Didn’t need to take tests  Despite that…Still good governing class  Edu  Even more important

Tang Lose Power  Raised taxes in mid 700’s  Struggle to control huge empire  Muslims defeat in West  China loses Central Asia  907- Chinese rebels sacked and burned Tang capital

Song Dynasty ( )  Taizu reunites China  Remained powerful, stable and prosperous  Try to buy peace with neighbors  1100’s – Manchurians (Jurchen) establish Jin Empire in North  Force Song to retreat south across Huang He

Song (Economic Growth)  Trade with Chinese in North  Trade with Central Asia  Trade with Western Asia and Europe

Prosperity and Innovation (Tang and Song)  Pop = 100 million  10 cities with 1 million  Now, about 1.3 Billion  Now, USA has 9 cities over 1 million

Science (Tang and Song)  Movable Type  Leads to…  More EDUCATION

Other Inventions (Tang and Song)  Gunpowder  Porcelain  Mechanical Clocks  Paper Money  Magnetic Compasses  Math

Trade Improves (Tang and Song)  Ocean Trade  Sailing technology  Up and down Chinese Coast  India  Persian Gulf  Africa

Culture (Religions) Spreads  Buddhism  Islam  Christianity

Changes in Society  More Mobile  Moved to cities  Civil Service System increases even more

Levels of Society  Larger Upper Class emerges  Scholar officials  Gentry – Well to do people attained status through education and civil service positions  Below Gentry  Urban Middle Class  Merchants, Artisans, Shopkeepers

Society (Cont’d)  Below Urban Middle Class  Bottom of Society  Laborers, Soldiers, servants  Countryside = Peasants

Women (Tang and Song)  Status further declined  Ex. Binding feet of upper-class girls  Crippled for life, but beautiful  “Lily-foot”