tang dynasty arose in china around 618 ad – may be the greatest period in chinese history founder...
Post on 01-Apr-2015
217 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
TANG DYNASTY
• Arose in China around 618 AD– May be the greatest period
in Chinese history
• Founder of the dynasty was Taizong– Considered to be greatest
emperor to rule China– Brilliant general and
government reformer
Divided government
functions between six ministries: state
revenue, public works, defense,
justice, personnel, and religious affairs
Reorganized local administration
Expanded civil service system
started by the Hans
Founded a university to
prepare students for civil service
exams
Implemented flexible new law code and restructured judicial system to include
courts of appeal
Expanded Chinese territory by conquering Tibet—
thereby opening door for trade with the West
Built new capital city at Chang’an and
engaged in many public
works projects
END OF THE TANG DYNASTY• After Taizong’s death in 649, a long
line of good emperors extended his work– But after 760, the Tang Dynasty
would produce no more great rulers• Chinese power steadily
declined as a result• Last Tang ruler and his family
were killed during a civil war and Chang’an was burnt to the ground– 907 AD
CHANG’AN• Planned city– 30 miles square– Held population of nearly one
million people• Another two million lived in
suburbs• Largest city in the world
• Crowded with markets and temples– But was a government center
before all else• Government buildings and
emperor’s palace complex occupied several square miles on the northern side of the city
TANG BUREAUCRACY• Bureaucracy was huge but performed its job
honestly and efficiently• Why?– Board of Censors• Spied on bureaucrats to make sure
everyone did their job correctly• Acted as court of appeals for anyone who
felt they had not been treated fairly– Educational system • Promotion based exclusively on merit• Weeded out the weak and mediocre• Only the best and brightest made it into
the bureaucracy– And only the best and brightest of
them were promoted
Tang bureaucrat
RESPONSIBLITY• Power of government was immense– Every urban neighborhood had its
gates locked at midnight• National urban curfew designed
to reduce crime– Peasants organized into “collective
guarantee groups”• Members had to police
themselves and make sure their neighbors behaved themselves–Or else whole group would
be punished• Responsibility, not freedom, was
keynote of Tang government
SONG DYNASTYSong Dynasty founded in
960 by Zhao Kuangyin
Would last until 1279
Did not accomplish anything noteworthy in the area of politics and military achievements
SONG SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS• During Song Dynasty the Chinese
invented– The compass
• Revolutionized navigation– The printing press
• Used block printing• Not movable type
– Gunpowder• Used primarily for entertainment
purposes– Fireworks
• Chinese doctors took the pulse of patients to aid them in their diagnosis and inoculated patients against smallpox
ACUPUNCTUREChinese doctors developed acupuncture
It is the practice of inserting needles in precise locations of the body to anesthetize patients for surgery
Western doctors are still not sure how it works
it might block transmission of pain signals to the brainit might also cause body to
manufacture its own anesthesia
PROBLEMS• Growing population– Over 100 million under the Songs– Combined with increased taxes
resulted in the impoverishment of peasantry
• Inflation– Provoked by deficit spending by
Songs– Military budget gobbled up 80%
of all revenue every year• Forcing government to
borrow to pay for other things• Used to support one million
man standing army
DECLINE IN THE STATUS OF WOMEN I
• Growth of concubinage among upper class– When married man’s
mistresses live under same roof as his legal wife• And their children
have the same rights as his legitimate children
DECLINE IN THE STATUS OF WOMEN II• Footbinding– Feet of young girls are tightly wrapped
in linen strips• Remained bound in this manner
for ten years– Result is the “lily foot”
– Men liked this• It showed off the fact that they
were so wealthy that their wives did have to work• They also saw the walk produced
by this mutilation as sexually exciting
• Women were mutilated to satisfy the egos and desires of men
GENGHIZ KHAN• Mongols were originally a
nomadic tribe of feuding clans from the Gobi Desert– Who united them was Genghiz
Khan (“Lord of All Men”)• Born Temujin in 1167– Son of a minor clan chieftain– Father was murdered and
Temujin and a few friends forced into the desert on their own
– But they returned after a few years, killed Temujin’s father murderers, and took control of clan
MONGOL EMPIRE
Genghis Khan then united all the Mongol tribes of the
Gobi Desert under his authority
He then forged them into a mighty horseback army and
used them to create an immense empire that stretched
from Chine in the east to Eastern Europe in the west
KEY TO GENGHIZ KHAN’S SUCCESS
• Mongols believed the key to his success was that he had supernatural powers
• More realistically, he had all the qualities common to Mongols and then some extra ones– Tremendous physical
strength, endurance, and courage
– He was also a natural politician, a military genius, and had a remarkable talent for organization
MONGOL ARMY• His army was strange-looking but
very powerful– Mongol warriors literally lived
backs of their shaggy ponies• Could travel for weeks
– Also used version of compound bow• Could kill a man from a
distance of ¼ of a mile• Most common tactic was to
encircle an enemy– Weaken him with volleys of
arrows– Then form into columns and
charge
GENGHIZ KHAN’S CONQUESTS
• First attacked Song China in 1206– Defeated Song’s million man
army and forced them into the south
– Did not follow but instead turned west and conquered everything up to and including Persia• Sent raiding parties into
Russia and Middle East• But died suddenly in 1227
CREATION OF AN EMPIRE
• Mongols returned to Gobi Desert to select new leader– And then continued their
conquests: Russia, Middle East, and parts of Eastern Europe (Hungary and Poland)
• In 1279, Genghiz Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan, returned to southern China, finished off the Songs, and took over the rest of the country
Kublai Khan
Following example of Genghiz Khan, the Mongols
divided their empire into four units, called khanates
Khanate of the Golden Horde
Khanate of the Great Khan
Chagatai Khanate
Ilkhanate
Largest and most important Khanate was the Khanate of
the Great Khan, which included the Gobi Desert, China and
Korea
First of ten rulers was Kublai Khan. Together, they were known as the Yuan Dynasty
KUBLAI KHAN’S CHINA
• We know quite a bit about the China of Kublai Khan thanks to the journal of Marco Polo– Italian traveler who lived there for
12 years• Mongols kept the Tang administrative
system– But suspended the civil service
exam system and gave top jobs to Mongols, Persians, and Europeans• Caused extreme resentment
among educated ChineseMarco Polo
MONGOLS VS CHINESE• Mongol rule was never popular in
China and the Mongols were never socially accepted by educated Chinese– Did not wear Chinese clothes– Ate mutton and drank mare’s
milk instead of Chinese cuisine– Generally illiterate and put no
value on education– Had no last names– Hated to bathe
• Mongols simply refused to assimilate into Chinese society
END OF THE YUAN DYNASTY• Only shrewd leadership and brute force
could keep the Mongols in power in China– Never lost the knack for brute force
but khans after Kublai Khan were lacking in shrewd leadership
– Mongols therefore fought losing battle to stay in power• Also began to increasingly fight
among themselves• Finally defeated and expelled by revolt
led by Zhu Yuanzhang– Who then founded Ming Dynasty
Zhu Yuanzhang
THE END• Same pattern appeared in other
khanates as well– Mongols gradually lost control– Started fighting among
themselves– Were ultimately defeated and
expelled– Returned to the Gobi Desert
and their old nomadic lifestyle• Did not leave much of a legacy
JAPAN
Japan was never a Chinese possession
but it did have contacts with the
mainland for a long time and it did copy Chinese
cultural models until around 900
AD
Japanese writing system was based on the Chinese
system and the island was
governed by a succession of dynasties, just
like China
AFTER 900 AD
• In the capital city of Kyoto, the aristocratic families who lived there and served at the emperor’s court cultivated a delicate and sensitive lifestyle– Emphasized refined
poetry, art, and graceful manners
BUSHIDO
• Out in the countryside, local strongmen (bushi or samurai) developed a more violent lifestyle known as bushido– Since they were
warriors, bushido stressed military virtues• Such a courage,
pride, and loyalty• And especially
stressed honor
HONOR
• Led hard and simple lives, rejected wealth and comfort, and were prepared for death at any time
• Samurai preferred death to any form of dishonor– Preferred execution on the
battlefield to the dishonor of living with defeat
– Even developed special suicide ritual to cleanse one’s name of dishonor• Called seppuku
SHOGUN• Shogun was expected to perfectly
embody bushido values• Shoguns were originally military
commanders appointed by the emperor from samurai clan leaders– But as the power of the emperor
weakened after 1200, shoguns became the real rulers of Japan• Long civil war erupted as
various samurai clan leaders struggled to seize and hold this powerful position– 1200-1600 AD
TOKUGAWA IEYASU
• Powerful samurai clan leader named Tokugawa Ieyasu seized position of shogun in 1603– Held it for the rest of his
life and then passed the position to his son• Founded the
Tokugawa Dynasty which controlled the position of shogun from 1603 to 1868
TOKUGAWA JAPAN• Tokugawa shoguns generally provided
just and efficient government– But they became increasingly
conservative and hostile to outside influences over time• Expelled all foreign merchants and
missionaries and cut Japan off from the rest of the world
• Distinctive Japanese temperament developed during this period of isolation– Combined artistic sensitivity and
ritualized manners of Kyoto aristocracy with bushido sense of honor and duty
top related