1. 12.1 – Tang & Song China

2. Setting the Stage Han Dynasty collapses in A.D. 220
Next 350 Years – 30 dynasties rise & fall
589: Emperor Wendi unites Northern & Southern China
China will experience a “golden age” under the next two dynasties: The Tang & Song

3. The Grand Canal & Labor Grand Canal completed by the Sui
Connects Huang He & Chiang Jang
Creates trade network b/w north & south
Took 5 years & 1m+ people to construct
Thousands die from labor on canal & the Great Wall
618: Peasants assassinate the Sui emperor

5. Tang Expansion
Re-conquer northern & western lands lost by the Han, gain Korea
Wu Zhao – becomes 1st & only female emperor of China
Promote foreign trade & farming advances
Use scholar-officials to manage large empire
System of intelligent & capable governing class in China
Wider experience in government

7. Tang Decline Huge empire & government = need for money
Mid-700s: Tang issue high taxes
Hard on people & don’t covered needed costs
751: Muslims defeat Chinese at Talas = loss of Central Asia
907: rebels sack & burn Ch’ang-an & murder the emperor
Tang Decline

8. Restoration: Song 960: Taizu re-unites China & starts Song dynasty
Maintain a stable, powerful empire
1100s: Lose Manchuria to the Jin & only control southern China
Capital at Hangzhou
Fail militarily, but flourish economically
Strong trade center

9. Prosperity China’s population nearly doubles to 100m Inventions
10 cities of 1m+
Inventions
Moveable Type – easier to print – WHY?
Gunpowder – bombs, grenades, cannons, etc
Others – porcelain, paper money, magnetic compass, etc
Arithmetic & algebra advances – use of negative numbers

10. Innovation Agriculture Trade & Foreign Contact
Faster-ripening rice = two crops/years
Production allows rapid population expansion
Trade & Foreign Contact
Imperial armies guard the Silk Road
Lose the road = ocean trade
Ports flourish & advances (i.e. compass) = international trade
Chinese wealth & culture spreads throughout East Asia, Islamic lands, & the West
Cultural Diffusion

12. Poetry & Art Prosperity allows learning & the arts to explode
Poets Li Bo & Tu Fu become popular
Pleasures of life & Confucian virtues
Art emphasized beauty of landscapes
Utilized black ink, not many colors

13. Changes in Society Society became more mobile
People move to the cities
Development of scholar-officials created a wealthy class (gentry)
Middle Class: merchants, artisans, etc
Lower Class: Laborers, soldiers, & servants

14. Women subservient to men; further decline under the Tang & Song
Peasant women faced most equality – worked to provide for the family
Upper-class women had feet bound at a young age = crippled for life
Role of Women