1. Postclassical China 581-1279 AD…leading up to the Mongol takeover

2. Quick review of Chinese concepts
Confucianism
Buddhism
Mandate of Heaven
Dynastic Cycle
Filial piety
Ancestor worship
How do all these cultural terms “fit together”?

3. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!
Review with me why Han fell:
Weak rulers
Too big!
Power of government declined
Nobles took more land
Peasant unrest
Nomadic raiders from the North (Xiongnu)
Capital of Lyoyang sacked (can anyone say, “Rome”?)

4. How long between dynasties?
Han dynasty falls apart in 221 CE…
…Sui dynasty doesn’t come to power until 581…
Are there governments during this time?

5. ANARCHY IN CHINA Three Kingdoms 220-280 Jin Dynasty 265-420
Shu Han 221 – 263
Wei
Most powerful, eventually conquered Shu
Built an army of Chinese infantry and nomadic cavalry as mounted bowmen
These assimilated nomads later overthrew Wei and founded own dynasties
Wu 222 – 280
Jin Dynasty
Western Jin 265 – 316 and Eastern Jin 317 – 420
Only time during interregnum when China was united
Intermixture of nomads and Chinese accelerated
Sixteen Kingdoms 304 – 420
Southern and Northern Dynasties
Southern Dynasties
Liu Song 420 – 479
Southern Qi 479 – 502
Liang
Chen 557 ~589
Northern Dynasties
Later [Northern] Wei 386 – 534
Eastern Wei
Western Wei 535 – 556
Northern Qi 550 – 577
Northern Zhou 557 ~581
Period Resembled Western European history after the collapse of the Romans
Disunity and civil war between nomads and Chinese warlords
Rival states, dynasties, each controlling a part of the old Han state
Aristocrats, provincial nobles held land and real influence
Many of the northern dynasties were nomadic, both Turkish and Mongol
Confucianism in decline, Buddhism in ascendancy due to its relationship with the nomads
Confucian trained bureaucrats still held much influence
Common Chinese subject to taxes, warfare, drafting into army, frequent invasions, bandits

7. Sui
Followed by 400 years of nothingness…..civil war and fear spread
Finally, in 581, the Sui (SWEE) Dynasty formed
Grand Canal (used forced labor)
Cruel…emperor Sui was murdered
Confucianism regained popularity

9. Fall of the Sui
High taxes
Rebellions
Military defeats

11. Tang 618-907 (sounds like Tong)…like what you use to scoop salad
Formed by a rebel leader
Stabilize the economy!- give land to peasants
Reintroduced civil service exam

12. Tang Expansion
Westward!
Where conquest isn’t practical: tribute

13. TANG CHINA

15. Fall of the Tang But very wasteful of empire funds
Revolts led to collapse in 907

16. TANG ART

18. Sing me a Song! 960-1279 (sounds like “Soong”)
Great advances were made in the areas of technology and material production:
gunpowder as a weapon
steel
Chinese had the best ships in the world
the famous blue and white porcelain was created
Woodblock printing

20. Fall of the Song
Problems with Northern neighbors…Mongolian barbeque anyone?
By the late 1200s, the Mongols had taken over China and then some

22. THE SONG ARTISTIC WORLD

25. Common themes in postclassical China

26. Life after the fall of the Han
Still based on Confucius
Still a monarchy (Mandate of Heaven)
Still a large and strong economy
Still farmers (mostly)
NOT like Europe’s economy (no feudalism…the govt. fought against large landowners…but like feudalism in that few people ever left their village)
Where would you have rather lived? Feudal Europe, or in China? Why?

27. A MARKET ECONOMY Merchants in Charge Financial instruments
Only period in China where merchants socially superior to aristocrats
Merchants attempted to intermarry with aristocrats, become landowners
Merchants attempted to have sons admitted as Confucian bureaucratsMost large cities had large merchant communities
Financial instruments
Banking and credit institution
“Flying money " were letters of credit
Paper money backed by state, treasury
A cosmopolitan society
Foreign merchants in large cities of China
Mostly Arab (Muslim), Indian, S.E. Asian
Chinese merchants journeyed throughout region
Economic surge in China
An economic revolution in China
Made China the wealthiest nation in the world at time
Promoted economic growth in the eastern hemisphere

28. TECHNOLOGY & INDUSTRY Porcelain Metallurgy Gunpowder Printing
High quality porcelain since the Tang, known as chinaware
Technology diffused to other societies, especially to Abbasid Arabia
Exported vast quantities to southeast Asia, India, Persia, and Africa
Metallurgy
Improvement: used coke instead of coal in furnaces to make iron, steel
Iron production increased tenfold between the early 9th and 12th century
Gunpowder
Discovered by Daoist alchemists during the Tang
Bamboo "fire lances," a kind of flame thrower, and primitive bombs
Gunpowder chemistry diffused throughout Eurasia
Printing
Became common during the Tang
From block-printing to movable type
Books became widespread
Naval technology
"South-pointing needle" - the magnetic compass
Double hulled junks with rudder, water-tight compartments

29. Marco? Polo!!
Marco Polo, an Italian merchant, visited Hangzhou in the 1200s, and was really impressed-called it “paradise”
How did Marco Polo lead to more trade in Europe?

30. Marco Polo and his travels
I am amazing.
Look at all the
Places I’ve been!

31. Confucianism
Confucianism did not recognize the military as being part of the four official classes of occupations
So: the military consisted of either the poor, uneducated peasants, mercenaries or allies.
It emphasized self-cultivation as a path not only to self-fulfillment but to the formation of a virtuous and harmonious society and state.
How is this different than religion in Europe after the fall of Rome?
New form: neo-Confucianism (STING)

32. Buddhism Came from India originally
Buddhism was widespread among both commoners and the elite
Criticized as a “foreign religion”

33. Summary of government structure
Monarch
Provinces
Districts
Villages
Confucian ideals held it all together

35. Foot Binding Began by the 12th century
It was done to women by women, with tools made by women
Seen as a sign of beauty and also as a status symbol, also used to impress men
Girls began foot binding when
boys went to school, socialization
Separated men and women
Like Yin and Yang
Confined women to the home

36. Other signs of patriarchy
Female infanticide
Selling girls to rich families