1. Golden Ages in China

2. Character What makes a person have “good character”?
Character Trait – a unique quality or characteristic
What makes a person “who they are”
What character traits do good leaders have? (Justinian)
Is it possible to “teach” good character?

3. Character Traits Honesty Integrity Kindness Honor Responsibility
Determination

4. Confucius Ancient Chinese teacher and philosopher
Believed if all people treated each other with respect, society would be peaceful.
Leaders of the Tang Dynasty followed his teachings

5. Confucius’ Teachings
Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.
It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do
What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others

6. Tang Dynasty Dynasty lasted from 618 - 907 Tang Taizong 626-649 a.d.
Followed teachings of Confucius and empire expanded
Fighting from within the empire brought the empire down (just like the previous empires we spoke about)
Order was restored by the Song Dynasty

7. Song Dynasty Ruled from 960 – 1279 Also followed Confucius teachings
Tang and Song Dynasty’s were China’s Golden Ages
Great political. Military, and cultural achievements

8. Merit System
One of the most important reasons that China had a Golden Age
Best person for the job
Before Tang Dynasty officials came from wealthy families and kept positions for life
Performance did not matter, bad officials remained in power

9. Merit System
Hiring people based on their ability to do the job improved the government and the peoples faith in their leaders

10. Trade Chinese leaders built a large, profitable trade empire
Goods were highly prized in Asia and Europe
A system of roads and canals helped make trade easier

11. Trade Goods Silk, Porcelain, Tea Silk was the biggest item
Only the Chinese knew how to make silk
People were willing to pay high prices for Chinese silk
Porcelain – also called “China” – used to make pottery, plates, cups, artwork – high value in Europe

12. Trade Goods Tea – Originally used as a medicine
Largest trade export in China
Shipped to Japan and Europe
Became the most common drink in the world (England)

13. Trade Routes The Silk Road
A series of roads/trails stretching across China towards Europe
Over 4,000 miles long, it ended at Constantinople
Very difficult and dangerous route crossing mountains and deserts

14. Trade Routes Grand Canal
Large amounts of farm goods (grain) were produced for sale
Used rivers to move goods
The Grand Canal connected Northern and Southern China – increased amount of trade
Over 1,000 miles long – took humdreds of years to build

15. Advancements Printing Began printing in the 500’s a.d.
Used wood blocks with characters carved into them – still took a long time to print
1045 – Bi Sheng developed moveable type
Made separate characters that can be reused

16. Advancements Chinese alphabet had too many characters to be effective
Printing helped spread knowledge and increased literacy