Sui, Tang, Song Dynasties

Period of Disunion• 220-589 CE

• Period of disunion: the time of disorder that followed the collapse of the Han dynasty

Sui Dynasty• 589-618 • Conquered the south and unified

China• Known for harsh rule: forced

peasants who owed taxes to fight in the army

• Created a centralized and unified state and laid the foundation for the golden age that followed

Sui Dynasty-Achievements• Repaired and lengthened the Great Wall

• Provided security from Northern invaders which allowed cultural and economic growth

• Many died while building the wall

• Those who died were often buried among the walls bricks: giving the nickname “The world’s longest cemetery”

Tang Dynasty-Government• 618-907 CE: Golden Age of culture

• China was the richest most powerful country in the world

• Conquered Vietnam, Tibet, and Korea as tributary states

• Rebuilt bureaucracy

• Civil Service exams: ability not rank

Tang Dynasty-Government• Only dynasty to have a female emperor:

Empress Wu Chao

• After her husband died she decided her sons were not capable of ruling

• Ruled with an iron fist: if anyone threatened her, they risked being

killed

• Chose advisors based on ability

not rank

Tang Dynasty-Economics• After conquering the west, the Tang were

able to reopen the silk road- a system for trade, travel, communication, exchange of ideas

• Connected China to central Asia and the middle east• From China to west: silk, porcelain, jade, tea, paper,

printing, farming methods, weapons• From West to China: glass rugs, horses, silver, medicine, spices, Christianity, Islam

Tang Dynasty-Economics• Equal Field System- redistributed land to peasants• Citizens paid taxes on how much land they

received• Central Government strengthened: benefited from

increased number of taxpayers, limited power of wealthy landowners

• Benefited commoners and peasants by giving them a chance to gain wealth

Tang Dynasty-Achievements• Built the Grand Canal, which connected the

Yellow river in the north and the Yangzi river in the south

• Connected northern and southern China• Farmers and merchants in the south (rice)

used the canal • Government and military officials could travel and watch over citizens• Many died while building the canal

Song Dynasty-Government• 960-1279 CE• Song China was limited to

provinces south of the Great Wall

• Strengthened the system of meritocracy-jobs based on ability

• Stricter civil service exams

Song Dynasty-Economy• Chinese farming reached new

heights• Irrigation techniques• Dug underground wells• Dragon Backbone pump-light

portable pump that allowed farmers to scoop up water and pour it into a canal

• Amount of land under cultivation increased

• Discovery of fast ripening rice= 2 or 3 harvests a year

Tang and Song-Technology

• Mechanical Clock (700s)

• Gunpowder (850)

• Block Printing (700s)

• Moveable Type (1040s)

Tang and Song-Culture• Landscape paintings-

influenced by daoism• Pagodas: Temples• Porcelain• Li Bo and Du Fu- famous

Chinese poets and Wu Daozi- famous artist lived at this time

Ming (Brilliant) Dyansty• Tired of foreign

rule

• Reassert Chinese Greatness-restored civil service, Confucian learning, and bureaucracy Zhy Yuanzong: Peasant leader that

founded Ming dynasty

Ming-Economics

• Better fertilization=more crops

• Many new industries and technologies-led to increased output

• Created blue and white porcelain

• Better printing methods-led to more books

Zheng He 1405-1433• Chinese Admiral

• Led 7 expeditions: fleet had 62 ships and 25,000 sailors. One ship was 400 feet long

• Goal: Promote trade, collect tribute, show strength and power of China

Zheng He’s Travels

• Impressed the

Zheng He

• Brought back goods, exotic plants and animals, and prisoners of war (people that wouldn’t pay tribute)

• China opened Imperial Zoo where they kept all of the animals Zheng He brought back to China