tang and song dynasties reunification and renaissance in chinese civilization
TRANSCRIPT
SUI ERA – 6TH CENTURY CE
• Marked return to strong dynastic control in China
• Wendi seized son-in-law’s throne– Supported by neighboring nomadic
commanders– Reunited core areas of China after
three and a half centuries– Won widespread support
• Yangdi seized the throne by murdering his father– extended father’s conquests– Pushed back northern invaders– legal and educational reforms– weakness for luxury– unpopular wars– Assassinated by his own ministers in
618
TANG DYNASTY
• Importance of Li Yuan: Founded Golden Age
• Expanded Chinese territory: larger than Han
• Rebuilt the bureaucracy– Revived the scholar-gentry– Confucian exams– Ideological basis for centralized
government
Religion in Tang and Song Empires
• Tang Dynasty and Buddhism– Buddhism had royal patronage and
widespread conversion– Emperors began limiting the flow of
land and resources to monasteries – Buddhists were persecuted
• Focus on Confucianism threatened old aristocratic families and Buddhism
Decline of the Tang
• Empress Wei tried to establish a second dynasty– Overthrown by a palace revolt led by another prince
• Emperor Xuanzong (713-756) marked the peak of Tang dynasty– Initially supported political and economic reforms– His later actions increased economic distress,
discontent, and military weakness– Rebellion against the Tang failed, but weakened the
dynasty• Tang made alliances with northern nomads
• Many provincial governors became independent rulers
• 9th century – Succession of revolts led by peasants
• 907 – Last Tang emperor was forced to resign
Founding of the Song Dynasty
• 960 – Strong military commander emerged to reunite China under a single dynasty– Emperor Taizu founded the Song, which
lasted for three centuries
• Never matches the Tang Dynasty in political or military strength– In part, this was because the Song
changed Chinese systems to ensure that they wouldn’t fall like the Tang had
• Promoted interests of scholar-gentry– Civil service exams were fully routinized– Bureaucracy soon had too many well-paid
officials with little to do
• Revival of Confucian ideas and values (Neo-Confucianism)– Reinforced class, age, and gender
distinctions– Hostility towards Buddhism– Stifled critical thinking and innovation
Song Decline
• Nomadic groups carved out kingdoms on the northern border
• Peasant taxation increased• Armies were large but commanders
weren’t the best possible leaders• 1070s and 1080s – Introduced sweeping
reforms in an effort to keep the empire from collapsing
• Neo-Confucianists came to power and reversed the previous policies
• Northern nomads began taking more Song land– Songs had to flee to the south
• Empire survived for another century and a half
Contributions of the Tang and Song
• Construction– Canal building (Grand Canal)
• Helped transport goods and collect taxes• 1200 miles long, 40 paces wide, with tree
lined highways on each side
• Commercial Expansion– Conquests and canals promoted commercial
expansion– Tang control in Asia helped reopen and protect
the Silk Roads between China and Persia• Increased international contacts• China imported luxury products and exported
manufactured goods
– Chinese merchants began taking goods to others instead of waiting for the goods to come to them• Chinese junks
– There were market quarters in every city
– Increase in forms of credit available– Use of paper money– Surge in urban growth
• Expanding agrarian production– People moved south to fertile river valleys– Supported by rulers of both dynasties– State created irrigation and embankment
systems– New seeds and methods increased
production
• Aristocratic lands were divided up amongst free farmers
Family and Society during the Tang and Song Era
• Position of women initially improved– Tang women could exercise considerable
power at the highest levels of Chinese society
• Patriarchal society encouraged by Confucius remained
• Elaborate system of arranged marriages– Divorce was allowed by mutual consent
• Position of women declined under the Song (neo-Confucians)
Inventions and the Arts
• New tools, production techniques, and weapons spread to other civilizations and fundamentally changed the course of human development
• Inventions– Banks and paper money– Dams, dikes, and bridges– Explosive powder and weapons– Compasses– Abacus– Printing with moveable type