AP World HistoryTang and Song Dynasties

Presentation Outline

1. Sui Dynasty2. Tang Dynasty3. Uyghur Empire4. Tibetan Empire5. Song Dynasty

1. Sui Dynasty

Reunification Under The Sui

• Sui Empire reunified China• Established a government based on

Confucianism, but heavily influenced by Buddhism

• Sui’s rapid decline and fall may have been due to large amounts of resources spent on:– Construction– Canal and irrigation projects– Military

Grand Canal

2. Tang Dynasty

Tang Empire - Introduction

• Established in 618.• Carried out a program of territorial

expansion• Avoided over-centralization• Combined Turkic influence with

Chinese Confucian traditions

Buddhism and the Tang Empire

• Tang legitimized control by using Buddhist idea that kings are spiritual agents who bring subjects into Buddhist realm.

• Buddhist monasteries were important allies of early Tang emperors.– Received tax exemptions, land, and gifts

for cooperation.

Mahayana Buddhism

• Most important school of Buddhism in Central and East Asia.

• Beliefs were flexible• Encouraged adoption of local deities

into Mahayana pantheon• Encouraged translation of Buddhist

texts into local languages.

Spread of Buddhism

• Spread through trade routes that converged on Chang’an.

• Trade routes brought other peoples and cultural influences to Chang’an– This made it a cosmopolitan city.

Chang’an – Capital City

• Destination of ambassadors from other states sent to China under the tributary system.

• City had over 1,000,000 residents– Most lived outside city walls

• Foreigners lived in special compounds

• Residents in walled, gated quarters

Land and Sea

• Roads and canals brought people and goods to city.

• Islamic and Jewish merchants from Western Asia came to China via the Indian Ocean trade routes.

• Chinese commercial ships carried goods and the Bubonic Plague.

Cultural Diffusion:Remnants of a Jewish synagogue in Kaifeng, Henan province

Descendants of Jewish traders who settled in Kaifeng during Tang period

Trade and Cultural Exchange

• Exports– Grape wine– Tea– Spices

• In trade, China lost monopoly on silk, but began to make its own cotton, tea, and sugar.

Upheavals

• Late ninth century– Tang Empire broke power of Buddhist

monasteries– Confucian ideology was reasserted

• Reason for crackdown:– Buddhism was seen as undermining the

family system and eroding the tax base

End of Tang Empire

• As territory expanded and faced internal rebellions, Tang dynasty depended on powerful military governors to maintain peace.

• 907 – Tang state ended and military governors established own kingdoms.– No kingdoms were able to integrate

territory on the scale of the Tang.– East Asia was cut off from rest of world.

New States

• After fall of Tang, new states emerge:– Liao– Jin– Chinese Song

• Liao and Jin cut the Chinese off from Central Asia

• Song strengthened contacts with Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

3. Uyghur Empire

• Built empire in Central Asia in mid-eighth century.

• Known as merchants and scribes.– Developed own script.

• Strong ties to Islam and China.• Lasted for about 50 years.

Uigur Script

4. Tibetan Empire

• Large empire with access to Southeast Asia, China, South and Central Asia,/

• Open to Indian, Chinese, Islamic, and Greek culture.

• In early Tang, China and Tibet were friendly. – Tibetan king received a Chinese princess

and Mahayana Buddhism brought to Tibet.

5. The Song Dynasty

• Song helped Jurchens of northeast Asia to defeat the Liao.

• Jurchens established Jin Empire, turned on Song, and drove them out of north and central Asia in 1127.

• Song reigned in South Asia as the Southern Song Empire (1127-1279).

Song Empire

Song Industries

• Made a number of technological inventions.– Mathematics, astronomy, calendar

making.• 1088 – Su Song constructed a

mechanical clock that told time, day of month, and indicated movements of the moon, some stars, and planets.

Recreation of Su Song’s Clock

Shipbuilding

• Song introduced:– Sternpost rudder– Watertight bulkheads– Improved compass for seafaring– Made possible for building larger ships

Sternpost Rudder

rudder

Military

• Had standing professionally trained and paid military.

• Iron and coal were important strategic resource for Song military.

• Song produced large amounts of high-grade iron and steel for:– Weapons– Armor– Defensive works

• Developed gunpowder weapons

Chinese Cannon

Society in Song China

• Dominated by civilian officials• Put higher value on civil pursuits

than on military affairs• Song thinkers developed a Neo-

Confucian philosophy.– Zen Buddhism continued to be popular.

Civil Service Examination System

• Introduced in the Tang• Broke domination of the hereditary

aristocracy by allowing men to be chosen for service based on merit.– Men from poor families were unlikely to

devote time and resources to studying for the exam.

Moveable Type

• Allowed Song government to mass-produce authorized preparation texts for examination-takers.

• Printing also allowed for the spread of new agricultural technology.– Helped to increase agricultural

production.– Spurred population growth.

Earliest Printed Book

Population Growth

• During Song period, population rose to 100 million.

• Population and economic growth fed the large, crowded, but well-managed cities like Hangzhou.

Money

• Created Interregional Credit System called “flying money.”

• Introduced government-issued paper money.– Caused inflation – Later withdrawn

Song Dynasty Paper Money

Market Economy

• Song not able to control it as previous governments did.

• Tax collection was privatized• New merchant elite thrived in cities

– Wealth was derived from trade, not land

Women in the Song Period

• Entirely subordinated to men• Lost rights to own and manage

property• Remarriage was forbidden• Bound feet became status symbol for

elite women• Working class women and women

from non-Han peoples did not bind feet and had more independence.

Bound Feet