Sui -Tang – Song

(Han)-Sui-Tang-Song• Block printing• Porcelain• Mechanical clock (water)• Movable Type• Gunpowder• Paper money• Magnetic compass• Rice (champas or wet rice)• bridges

Early Dynasties• Shang Dynasty1766-1122• Zhou Dynasty1122-221

– Last 400yrs - warring states• Qin Dynasty 221 -206 BCE

– Shi huangdi (1st emperor)– Legalist philosophy– First coinage, writing system,– Censorship– Lasts 15 years

• China- in 2,000 years - 23 dynasties - 9 important ones

Han Dynasty

• Classical period– Confucian based society (five

relationships)– Merit system-bureaucrats

(meritocracy)– Paper & porcelain invented

• For 400 years after fall of Han - time of great troubles…– Buddhism becomes popular in

this period – Why?

Post-Han China• Period of the Six Dynasties (220-589CE)

– Bureaucracy collapsed– Buddhism gained strength, replacing

Confucianism– Non-Chinese nomads rule much Chinese

territory

Era of Division vs. Sui-Tang

• Era of Division: – Small warring states– period of Buddhist dominance– loss of imperial centralization– loss of dominance of scholar-gentry in favor

of militarized aristocracy

• Sui-Tang: – return to centralized administration – unified empire– reconstruction of bureaucracy– reconstruction of Confucian scholar-

gentry at expense of both Buddhists and aristocracy

– restoration of Confucianism as central ideology of state

Sui Dynasty (589-618CE)

• Sui dynasty established by Wendi– Lowered taxes– Established granaries – stable, cheap food

supply• Yangdi replaced his father, Wendi

– Brought scholar-gentry back into the administration– Built the Grand Canal

• How do you think the canal impacted life in China? Economically? Politically? Socially? Militarily?

Tang Dynasty (618-918)

• Tang– Increased

boundaries– Heavy

dependence on militarism

Tang Dynasty (618-907CE)• First emperor & minister (Wei Zheng)- model

of good rule• Imperial power and moral restraint in theory - in

practice hard to maintain• Trade & commerce grow• Printing develops• Arts- focus on landscape/nature• Gun powder• Woodblock printing• Capital city Chang’an (eternal peace) -walled

city• Artistic / commercial & invention continues in

Song era

Empress Wu

• Ruled for 50 years - 705– Biggest challenge deal with scholar/gentry

and old aristocrats– Economy remained strong!

• Reform of land system• Civil exam system

– Blow to noble class– Social mobility

• Confucianism as official philosophy = cultural literacy uniting China

• Buddhism – Wu spreads

Tang Xuanzong (The Profound Emperor) and Consort Yang

Decline of Tang - Losing the Mandate of Heaven

• Xuanzong– (Empress Wu’s grandson)

– Patron of arts– Decline due to lack

of morality?• Other reasons for decline

- Equal land system breaks down

– Poor attention to canal & irrigation systems

– Nomadic attacks

Moral: China’s view(long lasting)

Centralization = unity = peace (stability)

VS.

Decentralization = civil war

Song Dynasty (969-1279CE)

• Taizu reunited China under the Song– Failed to defeat border nomads – sets legacy of weakness

• Politics– Not as strong politically or militarily as the Tang– Strong support of Confucian values

• Neo-Confucianism – emphasis on high morality, hostility to foreign influence, stress on tradition (stifled innovation), authority of men

• CHARACTERISTICS/ACHIEVEMENTS:– Scholar-gentry class dominates

• abuses in civil service exam develop– Paper money– Arts & commerce– 11C Needle compass (3rd century - South pointer)

Song Dynasty 960-1279 CE

• Northern Song (960-1127)Based in Kaifeng

• Southern Song (1127-1279)Based in Hangzhou

Move South due to barbarian pressure from the North

Status of Women• Tang Dynasty

– More influence on family affairs

– Wives/mothers-in-law = managed homes/servants

– BUT – still subordinate in accordance to Confucian tradition

• Song Dynasty-Less active in politics/public -Footbinding emerges – What

impact do you think this had on women’s status?

BUT – retained (kept) property rights

Footbinding: indicator of change of role of women

Regional and age differences in role of women

• The emergence of a new ideal of the "willow-waisted woman," a stronger advocacy against widow remarriage, the presence of some bound feet in Southern Song all suggest a decline in status of women.

• However, the control women gained over property, their ability to inherit, their control of family budgets, and of their children's education show that older women were not without authority.

Culture

• Made refinements in the ideal of the universal man– combined the qualities of scholar,

poet, painter, and statesman– Song intellectuals sought answers

to all philosophical and political questions in the Confucian Classics.

– This renewed interest in the Confucianism coincided with the decline of Buddhism

• Seen as offering few practical guidelines for the solution of political and other mundane problems.

End of Song Dynasty/Beginning of Yuan Dynasty:

Mongol Empire (1271 – 1368)

• Heavy dependence on growth of civilian government at expense of military

– By 1127, the Song court could not push back the

Northern nomadic invaders – Surrounded by north ‘empires’

• Invasion of Mongols from North

• What impact do you think foreign rule might have on China’s society?