The Reemergence of Empire in East Asia

 Regional kingdoms succeed collapse of Han dynasty  Yang Jian consolidates control of all of China, initiates Sui dynasty  Massive building projects  Military labor  Conscripted labor

 Intended to promote trade between north and south China  Most Chinese rivers flow west-east  Linked network of earlier canals  2000 kilometers (1240 miles)  Roads on either bank

 Wide discontent over conscripted labor in Sui dynasty  Military failures in Korea prompt rebellion  Emperor assassinated in 618 C.E.  Tang dynasty initiated

 Transportation and communications  Extensive postal, courier services  Equal-field system  20% of land, hereditary ownership  80% redistributed according to formula  Family size, land fertility  Worked well until eighth century  Corruption, loss of land to Buddhist monasteries

 Imperial civil service examinations  Confucian educational curriculum  Most advance through merit  Educational opportunity widely available  Built loyalty to the dynasty  System remains strong until early twentieth century

 Manchuria, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet  One of the largest expansions of China in its history  Established tributary relationships

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 Governmental neglect  775 C.E. rebellion under An Lushan, former military commander  Tang decline continues, rebellions in ninth century, last emperor abdicates 907

 Emphasis on administration, industry, education, the arts  Military not emphasized  Direction of first emperor, Song Taizu (r C.E.)  Former military leader  Made emperor by troops  Instituted policy of imperial favor for civil servants, expanded meritocracy 10

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 Size of bureaucracy heavy drain on economy  Civil service leadership of military  Lacked military training  Unable to contain nomadic attacks

 Developed Vietnamese fast-ripening rice, two crops per year  Technology: iron plows, use of draft animals  Soil fertilization, improved irrigation  Water wheels, canals  Terrace farming

 Result of increased agricultural production  Effective food distribution system  Transportation networks built under Tang and Song dynasties

 Chang’an world’s most populous city: two million residents (5 times the size of Atlanta)  Southern Song capital Hangzhou: over one million

 Increased emphasis on ancestor worship  Elaborate grave rituals  Extended family gatherings in honor of deceased ancestors  Foot binding gains popularity  Increased control by male family members 16

 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-eleventh century  Yet complex Chinese ideographs make wood block technique easier  Naval technology 17

 Letters of credit developed to deal with copper coin shortages  Development of independently produced paper money  Not as stable, riots when not honored  Government claims monopoly on money production in eleventh century 18

 Increasingly cosmopolitan nature of Chinese cities  Chinese silk opens up trade routes, but increases local demands for imported luxury goods

 Declining confidence in Confucianism after collapse of Han dynasty  Increasing popularity of Buddhism  Christianity, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Islam also appear  Clientele primarily foreign merchant class 20

 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 21

 Song dynasty refrains from persecuting Buddhists, but favors Confucians  Neo-Confucians influenced by Buddhist thought  Philosopher Zhu Xi ( C.E.) 22

 Silla Dynasty: Tang armies withdraw, Korea recognizes Tang as emperor  Technically a vassal state, but highly independent  Chinese influence on Korean culture pervasive 23

 Vietnamese adaptation to Chinese culture, technology  But ongoing resentment at political domination  Assert independence when Tang dynasty falls in tenth century

 Chinese armies never invade Japan  Yet Chinese culture pervasive  Imitation of Tang administration  Establishment of new capital at Nara, hence “Nara Japan” ( C.E.)  Adoption of Confucian, Buddhist teachings  Yet retention of Shinto religion 25

 Japanese emperor moves court to Heian (Kyoto)  Yet emperor figurehead, real power in hands of Fujiwara clan  Pattern in Japanese history: weak emperor, proxy-power behind the throne  Helps explain longevity of the institution

 Civil war between Taira and Minamoto clans in twelfth century  Minamoto leader named shogun, 1185 C.E.  Ruled from Kamakura, allowed imperial throne to continue in Kyoto

Medieval Japan  Kamakura ( C.E.) and Muromachi ( C.E.) periods  Decentralized power in hands of warlords  Military authority in hands of samurai  Professional warriors 28

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