Sui – Tang – Song

Review Early Dynasties Shang Dynasty Zhou Dynasty –Last 400yrs - warring states Qin Dynasty BCE –Shi huangdi (1st emperor) –Legalist philosophy –First coinage, writing system, –Censorship –Lasts 15 years –China- in 2,000 years - 23 dynasties - 9 important ones

Han Dynasty (classical era) –Confucian based society –Merit system-bureaucrats –Paper & porcelain invented For 400 years after fall of Han - time of great troubles… –Buddhism becomes popular in this period

Sui Dynasty ( ) Sui unite China - rule for 30 years Wendi –Revival of Confucianism Yangdi Grand Canal

Tang Dynasty (618 – 907) Tang –Increased boundaries –Heavy dependence on Militarism Rise of Tang First emperor & minister (Wei Zheng)- model of good rule Imperial power and moral restraint in theory - in practice hard to maintain

Tang –Trade & commerce grow –Printing –Arts- focus on landscape/nature –Gun powder –Woodblock printing Capital city Chang’an (eternal peace) 24 mile walled city Artistic / commercial & invention continues in Song era

Empress Wu Ruled for 50 years –Biggest challenge deal with scholar/gentry and old aristocrats –Economy remained strong! Econ- equal land system Civil exam system –Blow to noble class –Social mobility Confucianism as official philosophy = cultural literacy uniting China Buddhism - why the backlash? –Around

Tang Xuanzong (The Profound Emperor) and Consort Yang

Decline of Tang - Losing the Mandate of Heaven Xuanzong –(Empress Wu’s grandson) –Patron of Arts –Decline due to lack of morality? –Blame consort - during rebellion, soldiers want her head - he gives it to them –He abdicates Overextension Rebellions –Chang’an overran (755 – 763) –Uighurs (nomadic) help Tang restore order, don’t leave and gain influence in China Northern nomads attacking, mass migration of Chinese to the sout Dynasty can not recover and ends in 907 Other reasons for decline –751 - loss to Arabs at Talas –Equal land system breaks down –Poor attention to canal & irrigation systems –Nomadic attacks Moral: China’s view –Centralization = unity = peace (stability) –Decentralization = civil war The years 907 – 960 saw the fragmentation of China into five northern dynasties and ten southern kingdoms until Song unify

Nomadic Relationships Two successor nomadic groups attempted to establish control Liao Empire (916 – 1121(decline)) –Relatives of Mongolians –Established rule in the north. –Khitan people –Linked China with societies to the north and west –They encouraged and allowed Chinese culture to remain in their region. –Buddhism flourished – rulers were seen as bodhisattvas or Buddhist kings Minyak (related to Tibetans) – established control in the west. Tried to relate to the Tang by calling themselves Tangguts.

13 Song Dynasty ( CE) Emphasis on administration, industry, education, the arts Military not emphasized Direction of first emperor, Song Taizu (r CE) –Former military leader –Made emperor by troops –Instituted policy of imperial favor for civil servants, expanded meritocracy

14 The Song dynasty, C.E.

Song Dynasty CHARACTERISTICS –Scholar-gentry class dominates abuses in civil service exam develop –Paper money –Arts & commerce –11C Needle compass (3rd century - South pointer)

Splintering of North and Southern Song Heavy dependence on growth of civilian government at expense of military –By 1127, the Song court could not push back the Northern nomadic invaders –Surrounded by north ‘empires’ (Jurchin’ ) Invasion of Mongols from North 1279 –Start of Yuan (Mongol Dynasty)

Splintering of North and Southern Song 1125 Jurchens take the last of the Liao and establish the Jin Empire in north China Jin lay siege to Song capital (Kaifeng) and forced the Song south of the Yellow River – Jurchen establish control of north and central China –Song make annual payments to Jin to avoid warfare –This period is known as the Southern Song (1127 – 1279)

Northern and Southern Song

19 Song Weaknesses Size of bureaucracy heavy drain on economy –Two peasant rebellions in 12 th c. –Internal inertia prevents reform of bureaucracy Civil service leadership of military –Lacked military training –Unable to contain nomadic attacks –Jurchen conquer, force Song dynasty to Hangzhou, southern China (Southern Song)

20 Agricultural Economies of the Tang and Song Dynasties Developed Vietnamese fast-ripening rice, 2 crops per year Technology: iron plows, use of draft animals Soil fertilization, improved irrigation –Water wheels, canals Terrace farming

21 Population Growth Result of increased agricultural production Effective food distribution system –Transportation networks built under Tang and Song dynasties

22 Urbanization Chang’an world’s most populous city: 2 million residents –Southern Song capital Hangzhou: over 1 million –Several cities over 100,000 By the end of the Song, 2/3 of the Chinese population is concentrated below the Yangtze.

Urbanization rise of mercantile class The Grand Canal, built during the Sui Dynasty, connects the Yangtze and the Yellow rivers, facilitating the transport of agricultural production from the south to the north and helping to unify the economy of China.

24 Patriarchal Social Structures Increased emphasis on ancestor worship –Elaborate grave rituals –Extended family gatherings in honor of deceased ancestors Footbinding gains popularity –Increased control by male family members

25 Footbinding

26 Technology and Industry Porcelain (“Chinaware”) Increase of iron production due to use of coke, not coal, in furnaces –Agricultural tools, weaponry Gunpowder invented Earlier printing techniques refined –Moveable type by mid-11 th century –Yet complex Chinese ideographs make wood block technique easier Naval technology

27 Emergence of a Market Economy “Flying cash:” letters of credit developed to deal with copper coin shortages –Promissory notes, checks also used Development of independently produced paper money –Not as stable, riots when not honored Government claims monopoly on money production in 11 th century

28 Persecution of Buddhists Daoist/Confucian persecution supported in late Tang dynasty 840s begins systematic closure of Buddhist temples, expulsions –Zoroastrians, Christians, Manicheans as well Economic motive: seizure of large monastic landholdings

Neo-Confucianism The Song Neo-Confucian philosophers, finding a certain purity in the originality of the ancient classical texts, wrote commentaries on them. The most influential of these philosophers was Zhu Xi ( b ), whose synthesis of Confucian thought and Buddhist, Taoist, and other ideas became the official imperial ideology from late Song times to the late nineteenth century. As incorporated into the examination system, Zhu Xi's philosophy evolved into a rigid official creed, which stressed the one-sided obligations of obedience and compliance of subject to ruler, child to father, wife to husband, and younger brother to elder brother. The effect was to inhibit the societal development of premodern China, resulting both in many generations of political, social, and spiritual stability and in a slowness of cultural and institutional change up to the nineteenth century. Neo-Confucian doctrines also came to play the dominant role in the intellectual life of Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. Army Area Handbook on China, written by Rinn-Sup Shinn and Robert L. Worden.

Tang and Song Influence on East Asia The influence of Chinese civilization spreads throughout East Asia as neighboring countries study and borrow from Chinese civilization – Korea, Japan, and what is today Vietnam Confucian thought and social and political values Buddhism Literary Chinese and its writing system which becomes the language of government and that used by the elites of these societies to communicate among themselves.

31 China and Korea Silla Dynasty: Tang armies withdraw, Korea recognizes Tang as emperor Technically a vassal state, but highly independent Chinese influence on Korean culture pervasive

32 China and Vietnam Vietnamese adaptation to Chinese culture, technology But ongoing resentment at political domination Assert independence when Tang dynasty falls in 10 th century

33 China and Early Japan Chinese armies never invade Japan Yet Chinese culture pervasive Imitation of Tang administration –Establishment of new capital at Nara, hence “Nara Japan” ( CE) Adoption of Confucian and Buddhist teachings Retention of Shinto religion

34 Heian Japan ( CE) Japanese emperor moves court to Heian (Kyoto) Emperor is a figurehead, real power in hands of Fujiwara clan –Pattern in Japanese history: weak emperor, power behind the throne (feudal society) –Helps explain longevity of the institution

35 Japanese Literature Influence of Chinese kanji characters –Classic curriculum dominated by Chinese Development of hiragana, katakana syllabic alphabet Court life: The Tale of Genji –Written by woman with weak command of Chinese, becomes classic of early Japanese literature

36 Institution of the Shogun Civil war between Taira and Minamoto clans in 12 th century Minamoto leader named shogun, 1185 CE Ruled from Kamakura, allowed imperial throne to continue in Kyoto

37 Medieval Japan Kamakura ( CE) and Muromachi ( CE) periods Decentralized power in hands of warlords Military authority in hands of samurai Professional warriors

38 China and the Hemispheric Economy Increasingly cosmopolitan nature of Chinese cities Chinese silk opens up trade routes, but increases local demands for imported luxury goods

39 Cultural Change in Tang and Song China Declining confidence in Confucianism after collapse of Han dynasty Increasing popularity of Buddhism Christianity, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Islam also appear Clientele primarily foreign merchant class

40 Dunhuang Mahayana Buddhism especially popular in western China (Gansu province), CE Buddhist temples, libraries Economic success as converts donate land holdings Increase popularity through donations of agricultural produce to the poor

41 Conflicts with Chinese Culture Buddhism: –Text-based (Buddhist teachings) Emphasis on Metaphysics Ascetic ideal –Celibacy –isolation Confucianism: –Text-based (Confucian teachings) –Daoism not text-based Emphasis on ethics, politics Family-centered –Procreation –Filial piety

42 Chan (Zen) Buddhism Buddhists adapt ideology to Chinese climate –Dharma translated as dao –Nirvana translated as wuwei Accommodated family lifestyle –“one son in monastery for ten generations of salvation” Limited empahsis on textual study, meditation instead