Tang and Song Achievements By Olivia Gennaro

Achievements Advances in Agriculture Advances in Agriculture Cities and Trade Cities and Trade Arts and Inventions Arts and Inventions

Advances in Agriculture Chinese farming had gotten better and better during the Song dynasty. Most of the improvement happened because of new artificial watering techniques. One of these new techniques was that some farmers dug underground wells. A new irrigation invention was the dragon pump. This invention made it possible for one person to do the work of several people. The dragon pump was a light moveable pump that helped farmers scoop water and put it into a irrigation canal. With these new inventions and ideas farmers made more complex irrigations systems. home

Advances in Agriculture (continued) During the Song dynasty farming elevated. Wild land that ran along next to the Chang Jiang River converted into farm land. Farms also started to produce more because of the discovery of a new type of fast-ripening rice. This new type of rice made it possible for farmers to grow twice the amount of rice in the time that they would normally grow one crop of the other type of rice. home

Advances in Agriculture (continued) Chinese farmers also learned haw to grow other crops like cotton easily. They used cotton so that they could make clothing and other textiles. home

Cities and Trade The cities in China were cramped and active. The capital and the largest city in China during the tang dynasty was Chang’an, a colossal flowing trade center. This community was filled with more than one million people, it was the largest city in the world at the time. Chang’an had a mixture of different cultures like, China, Korea, Persia, Arabia, and Europe. Not only was it known for its mixture of many different cultures, but for its religious and philosophical center, not just for Buddhists and Daoists but also for Asian Christians to. During the song dynasty cities kept on growing. A bunch of cities, along with the northern Song dynasty’s capital, Kaifeng, contained about one million and a dozen more cities had about half a million people in them. home

Cities and Trade (continued) Trade just went along with China’s cities, this trade put together with China’s agricultural base gave china more money than ever. Most of the trade went on in china itself. Traders used rivers to ship goods on ships and barges. The Grand Canal was a bunch of waterways linked to major cities, carried a large amount of trade goods, mostly farm articles. Developments started being made during the Sui dynasty, but during the Tang dynasty it was renovated and extended. The Grand Canal helped the Chinese to move materials and crops from distant farmland into cities. home

Cities and Trade (continued) The Chinese people also passed on trade to other lands and to other people. During the Tang dynasty they mostly passed trade onto India and southwest Asia but, traders from china also went to Korea and Japan in the east. The Chinese gave things like tea, spices, rice, silk, and jade. The one that they gave that was the most important was the silk. Silk was so important to the Chinese people that they tried to keep the way they made it a secret. They took in different kinds of food, plants, wool, glass, gold, and silver. silver glass silk gold wool home

Cities and Trade (continued) During the Song dynasty sea trade became more important because china open their ports to foreign traders. The sea trade routes connected china to many other countries. Also during this time china also formulated another beneficial product called porcelain, a thin beautiful type of pottery. All this going on helped create a strong economy. Because of the strong economy merchants started to become members of the Chinese society during the song dynasty. Also because of the large amount of trade and wealth the song dynasty invented the worlds first system of paper money in the 900s. home

Arts and Inventions This poem is by Li Bo. It is about what you might feel like at night when you are home sick. It is call “Quiet Night Thoughts” “ Before my bed There is bright moonlight So that it seems Like frost on the ground: Lifting my head I watch the bright moon, Lowering my head I dream that I’m home” When China’s economy was getting richer, culture got richer too. By culture I mean in literature, art, and in science. The Tang dynasty had some of Chinas greatest artists and poets. O ne of those was Wu Daozi, who painted murals that famed Buddhism and nature. Li Bo and Du Fu wrote poetry that readers enjoy for their beauty. During the song dynasty there was a man named Li Qinghai and she was probably Chinas greatest female poet. She once said that the purpose of poetry was to capture a single moment in time. both the tang and song dynasty made outstanding figures in clay. In the Tang dynasty they made figure of horses showing that they are very strong. In the Song dynasty artists made porcelain items covered In a light green glaze that was called celadon. home

Arts and Inventions (continued) During the Song and Tang dynasty some of the most important inventions in history were created. Some of these inventions from the Tang and Song dynasties motivated events around the world. The invention of paper spurred another invention, Woodblock printing. It was a form of printing in which the whole page is craved into a block of wood. The printer puts the ink to the block and pushes paper against the block. The first printed book in the world was made in china and it was printed like this, in 868. home

Arts and Inventions (continued) The Tang dynasty had another great invention and that was gunpowder, a mixture of powders use in guns and explosives. The first thing it was used for was fireworks, but later it grew into being used for small bombs and rockets. Farther in time gunpowder was used to make explosives, firearms and cannons. This invention changed how wars were fought and altered the coarse of history for human beings. home

Arts and Inventions (continued) One of the best inventions of all from the tang dynasty would be the magnetic compass. It is an instrument that uses the earths magnetic field to snow direction which made traveling easier and better. This invention made it easier to find direction than ever before. People like explorers, navigators of trading ships and warships used it. It has help change the coarse of history by helping some of the most important sailors survive their long voyage across the ocean and discover new places. home

Arts and Inventions (continued) During the song dynasty also came up with many vital inventions. Like, movable type which is a set of letter of characters used to print books. This is not like block printing because it does not use blocks. Movable type can be rearranged to make new lines of text and different pages. The song dynasty also introduced the idea of paper money. People were used to using coins made from bronze, silver, and gold. Paper money was far lighter and easier to use. As trade got more popular and a lot of people in china got richer paper money became more important.

The End I hope you actually learned something.