400 CE – 1280 CE

China & The Mongols

Sui DynastyWhen we left off with China, the Han dynasty had taken control and were solidifying their power. In 220 CE, the Han Dynasty ended and China fell into chaos and civil war.

In 581 CE, a new Chinese empire set up under the Sui Dynasty, which lasted around 40 years, until 618. However, it’s legacy was that it reunified China after years of war and strife.

Suy Yangdi, the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty, completed the Grand Canal, which linked the two great rivers of China, the Yangtze and the Huang He.

The two rivers flowed east to west, while the canal linked the north and south, enabling the Chinese to ship rice and other goods from north to south and vice versa.

Sui Yangdi was a cruel ruler who used forced labor to build the Grand Canal. He also imposed high taxes, lived a luxurious lifestyle, and was a poor military leaders. He was eventually murdered and the Sui Dynasty ended.

Tang DynastyThe Tang Dynasty, which lasted for 300 years, emerged after the fall of the Sui.

Early Tang rulers instituted reforms, like restoring the civil service exams to recruit bureaucratic officials. They also gave land to peasants and breaking up the power of the owners of large estates, a move meant to stabilize the economy.

Tang rulers were also concerned about the balance of power in East Asia. They brought peace to northwestern China and expanded their control to the borders of Tibet, north of the Himalayas.

Neighboring states like Korea to China, and the imperial court of China set up trade and diplomatic relations with the states of Southeast Asia.

Like the Han, the Tang eventually became corrupt (remember the dynastic cycle? ) and eventually the military revolted against the Tang rulers. By the 8th century, the Tang dynasty was weak and had to hire soldiers from outside the country to help them fend off rebellions. They hired the Uighurs, a northern tribal people, to fight for the dynasty. Their attempts were unsuccessful, and the dynasty collapsed in 907 CE.

Tang Dynasty

One of the greatest inventions from the Tang era was the invention of printing on paper. The Chinese invented a way of

using cut woodblocks to print text on paper, sometime between 704 and 751 CE.

Once developed, the Chinese were able to print multiple copies of important works, including the works of Confucius, poetry, Buddhist teachings, and other important documents.

By the 11th century, the Chinese invented moveable type, which enabled them to print works much faster by using iron frames and plates.

Invention of Printing

After the collapse of the Tang, a new Dynasty, the Song, rose to power in 960.

The Song led a period of economic prosperity and cultural achievement, from 960 to 1279.

The Song had to deal with invasions in northern China throughout their reign. The threat was strong enough that the Chinese

emperor moved his court to Hangzhou.The Song Dynasty was never able to overcome the

challenges from the north and were eventually overthrown by the Mongols, who invaded northern China and defeated the Song Dynasty’s forces

Song Dynasty

China was a monarchy during the three dynasties, with an emperor in charge of the country

The emperor used a bureaucracy full of government workers to enforce laws, collect taxes, and govern the provinces, districts, and villages

Confucian ideals were followed throughout China

Chinese Government under the Three Dynasties: Sui, Tang, & Song

Between the Sui and the Song dynasties, the Chinese economy grew in size and complexityAgriculture grewManufacturing grewTrade grew

China was still primarily a farming society; during the civil wars, aristocratic families took control of farmland and peasants became serfs or slavesThe Song government helped poor peasants

obtain their own landThis improved farming and led to an

abundance of food

Chinese Economics under the Three Dynasties: Sui, Tang, & Song

Chinese began making steel by mixing cast iron with wrought iron in a blast furnace heated by coal Used to make swords and sickles

Chinese began growing cotton, which made it possible to make new kinds of clothes

Gunpowder was invented and was used to make explosives and a flame-thrower called a fire-lance and was the precursor to guns

Trade expanded under the Tang dynasty, expanding the Silk Road and trade with local regions

Chinese exported tea, silk, and porcelainReceived exotic woods, precious stores, and tropical

goodsChangan became the wealthiest city in the world

during the Tang Era as a result of trade

Technology & Trade

Chinese Technology

Making Steel

Making Gunpowder

Chinese Fire-Lance

Economic changes throughout the three dynasties impacted societyWealthy city dwellers benefitted from

increased trade and prosperityHangzhou, the Song capital city, was one of the

largest and wealthiest cities on EarthNew forms of entertainment, such as cards

and chess (from India) and new literature resulting from increased printing were available to the wealthy

Wealth was concentrated in cities, not villages

Chinese Society

Majority of people still lived off the land in villages spread throughout the empire

A mix of wealthy landowners, free but poor peasants, sharecroppers (who shared their harvests with wealthy landowners in exchange for living on and working the landowners farm) and landless laborers – those who would be paid to work on the land, but did not own any – grew in China

There was a rise in the landed gentry, called the scholar-gentry, replaced the landed aristocracyThey controlled much of the land AND produced most

of the candidates for civil service jobs, because they were educated

Chinese Society

Few Chinese women had any powerThe exception was Empress Wu Zhao, who

became an empress and ruled China for a brief period

Female children were not as desirable as male children

Parents were expected to provide a dowry , a payment of money, goods and/or property to the husband, for their daughters when they married

Poor families would sell their daughters to wealthy families as servants or concubines

Role of Women

The Mongols were pastoral people from the region of modern-day Mongolia

They were organized into clans (family groups)

Temujin, born in the 1160s, gradually unified the Mongols In 1206, Temujin was elected

Genghis Khan (Strong Ruler) at a massive clan meeting in the Gobi desert

Genghis Khan devoted himself to conquest and expanding the Mongol empire

The Mongols

The Mongols conquered much of the Eurasian landmass under a single ruleThe Mongol Empire was the largest LAND

empire in historyGenghis Khan set up the capital city at

Karakorum Genghis Khan ruled until he died in 1227

Mongol custom divided the Khan’s territory among his heirs

The empire was split into separate territories called khanates, each under the rule of one of his sons

Genghis Khan & the Mongols

Mongol forces defeated Persia in 1231Mongol forces defeated the Abbasid Empire

at Baghdad in 1258Mongols defeated the Song dynasty in the

1260sWhen they attacked the Chinese, they faced

gunpowder and the fire-lanceThe Mongols adapted those technologies into

the handgun and cannonThe Mongols use of foreigners as employees

allowed these technologies to be introduced to Europe

Mongol Conquests

Extent of Mongol Empire

Mongol Dynasty of ChinaKublai Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, completed the conquest of the Song and established a new Chinese dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty in 1279.

Kublai Khan ruled China until he died in 1294Kublai Khan established his capital at Khanbaliq in northern China, now known as Beijing

Kublai Khan expanded the Mongol empire into Vietnam and launched fleets against Java, Sumatra, and Japan, but was only able to conquer Vietnam

The Yuan Dynasty used the same government as previous dynasties: a monarchy with an extensive bureaucracy

Kublai Khan lead over a prosperous period, with Khanbaliq becoming a wealthy city, described by Marco Polo as one of the glories of China

Emperor’s forces spread themselves too thin trying to conquer other lands

Corruption at the emperor’s courtInternal instability as a result of corruptionIn 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang, the son of a

peasant, put together an army and ended the Mongol DynastyZhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty

(we will learn more about them later!)

End of Mongol Dynasty

Confucianism was dominant at court and remained dominant under the Mongols

Buddhism was brought to China in the first century CE by merchants and missionaries from India

Buddhism and Daoism became more popular at the end of the Han Dynasty, as a result of the instability and civil wars of that period

The Tang Dynasty set up Buddhist temples throughout China during their reign Eventually, Buddhism was attacked as a “foreign religion” Buddhist monasteries had grown and were open to corruption During the later Tang period, the government destroyed

temples and monasteries and forced 260,000 monks and nuns to return to secular life

Religion

Neo-ConfucianismAfter purging China of Buddhists, official government support went instead to a revived Confucianism

Neo-Confucianism was a new form of Confucianism that taught:• The world is real, not an

illusion• Fulfillment comes from

participation in the world• The world is divided into

the material and spiritual• Humans live in the material

world, but is linked to the Supreme Ultimate

• Individuals should try to move beyond the material world to reach union with the Supreme Ulitmate through a careful examination of moral principles that rule the universe

The invention of printing during the Tang Dynasty helped to make literature more available and popular

Poetry became the highest form of literary expression in ChinaAt least 48,000 poems were written by over

2,200 authors during this periodChinese poetry celebrated beauty, nature,

friendship, sadness

Li-Bo and Duo Fu were two of the most popular poets during the Tang Era; Li Bo was light hearted, while Duo Fu was a serious Confucian poet

Golden Age of Literature

Golden Age of ArtLandscape paintings were a popular art form during the Song and Mongol dynasties

Chinese art reflected Daoism, in their search for the Way in nature

Artists tried to find the ideal in nature and left empty spaces in their paintings because one cannot know “the whole truth”.

Human beings were often painted as tiny figures, to represent the insignificance of humans in the midst of nature.

After painting, ceramics was one of the greatest accomplishments of the Chinese. Tang artists perfected porcelain, a ceramic of clay baked at extremely high temperatures.