Tang & Song China

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Transcript Tang & Song China

China:
Tang and Song
Dynasties
Post-Classical Era
Han Dynasty
When does it fall?
 What is it known for?
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Period of the Six
Dynasties
220-589 CE
 Scholar-Gentry class declined
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– Coming from a family of educated, high
social status, esp. land owners
Non-Chinese nomads rule
 Buddhism replaced Confucianism
 Economic, technological, intellectual,
urban decline
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Sui Dynasty
Late 500s unites the north and south
under strong leadership
 Wen’ti (Wendi)
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– Took control of northern China
– Lowered taxes and established granaries
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His son, Yan’ti (Yangdi)
Yang’ti
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Reformed the legal code, reinstituted
Confucianism
Build the Grand Canal
– Connected over 1200 miles, from the Yangtze to
the Yellow Rivers
– Established political and economic unity (610615)
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Tried to conquer Korea (unsuccessful)
Hated by people: overworked and overtaxed
Peasant revolts
Tang Dynasty
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618-907
Known for wealth and power
Rebuilt the Great Wall—Turkic invasions
Military conquests in: Central Asia (Turks)
and Northeast Asia (Korea)Tibet,
Vietnam, Manchuria, Korea
Lowered taxes
More Tang Dynasty
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Examination System
– Highest offices in government went to
individuals who passed exams based on
Confucian classics and Chinese literature
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Scholar officials
– System for choosing was through the 3
Confucian exams (favored wealthy men)
Tang Dynasty
Dynasty most progressive
 Land distribution included widows
 Mutual divorce acceptable - women
could remarry
 Access to broadening education
system
 Military skills
 Social restrictions lifted
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Empress Wu
You read about her…More coming
later
 690-705
 Encouraged spread of
Buddhismtried to make it the state
religion
 Lowered taxes
 Military conquest of Korea
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Confucian Exam
Confucian Exam System
Exam 1
Pass
budding scholars
Fail
Exam 2
Fail
Pass
given in Provincial Capital
Exam 3
Fail
Pass
China's elite
* No taxes; no military;
no manual labor
Confucian Exam con’d
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Faults:
– Corruption
– Confucian thoughtdid not judge ability
to lead military or collect taxes
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Benefits:
– Gave China an intelligent governing class
– No longer ruled by few…
Tang Decline/Rise of
the Song
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Emperor Xuanzong (713-756)
– Initially advanced political & economic
reform
– Patronized arts
– Downfall? A harem girl named Yang
Guifei
– Revolt in 755
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Nomadic peoples/regional governors
fed off the disorder
Song Dynasty
960-1279
 First emperor: Zhao Kuangyin (Taizu)
 Failed to defeat the Liao Dynasty in
Manchuria, establishing a precedent
for weakness in dealing with nomadic
peoples
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Song
Military subordinated to the scholargentry
 Confucian scholar-gentry ideals over
Buddhist rivals
 Increased salaries, civil service exams,
etc.
 Revival of Confucian thought: neoConfucianism
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Song again: Neo
Confucianism
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Cultivation of personal morality is highest
human goal
Produced superior men to govern/teach
Emphasis on rank, obligation, deference,
performance of rituals
Authority of patriarchal head of family was
strengthened
“Social harmony and prosperity is
maintained when men and women
performed the tasks appropriate to their
status.”
Roots of Decline
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Nomads began to carve out kingdoms on
northern borders
Paid tribute to nomads to protect against
invasion
Emphasis on scholar-gentry concerns
contributed to military declinesoon the
northern borders fell
The Song fled south (1115) and established
a capital at Hangzhou (Yangtze River Basin)
Industrial Revolution?
Canal system
 Re-opened Silk Roads
 Rice-growing dominated area
 Chinese junks allowed for Chinese to
dominate the seas
 Money economy: deposit shops, paper
money, credit vouchers
 Agricultural expansion
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You say you want a
revolution…
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Explosive powder
– Tang: fireworks; Song: military use
Flame-throwers, poisonous gas, rocket
launchers
 Chairs, tea drinking, coal fuel
 Compasses, abacuses
 Movable type printing (Bi Sheng)
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Chinese Cities
China’s estimated urban population
(10%) exceeded that of all other
civilizations
 Allowed traders and artisans to
prosper
 Largest: Changan: 200,000,000
people
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Women’s Roles (more
coming up)
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Independence:
– Wealthy urban women could have lovers
– Women’s rights in divorce
– Partners of similar ages
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Restriction:
– Housemaker, mother, wifely fidelity, widow
chastity (neo-Confucian ideals)
– Excluded from education
– Foot-binding
Legacy:
Centralized administration
 Scholar-gentry elite
 Civilization expanded as south was
integrated into the north
 Economyworld leader until 18th C.
 Chinese inventions
 Outside influences incorporated into
existing patterns
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Old Trees, Level
Distance
Seeking
the Tao in
the Autumn
Mountains
Finches and Bamboo
Scholar Viewing a
Waterfall
Women in China
Tang and On
Patriarchical
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Traditional Guides
– Ruler guides subject
– Father guides son
– Husband guides wife
Confucianism order
 Women must obey father, husband,
and sons
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Rights
Could not pick spouse
 Could not divorce or remarry
 Husband could divorce her
 Could not inherit property or wealth
 Concubines
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Empress Wu Zetian, 624-705
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The only female Empress in China’s
history who ruled alone. 
Searched for outstanding individuals
to attract to her court.
Construction of new irrigation
systems.
Buddhism was the favored state
religion.
 Financed the building of many
Buddhist temples.
She appointed cruel and sadistic
ministers to seek out her enemies.
Footbinding
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Origins unknown several legends
Began in Tang, fully
accepted in Song
Small feet = beauty
Footbinding in Tang China
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Broken toes by 3 years of age.
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Size 5 ½ shoe
on the right
Footbinding in Tang China
Mothers bound their daughters’ feet.
Footbinding in Tang China
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For upper-class girls,
it became a new
custom.
Women With Bound Feet
The Results of Footbinding
Footbinding Results
1997 UCSF Study
 Findings: more likely to fall, less able
to stand from a chair, less able to
squat, lower bone density
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Questions
Footbinding started with the upper
classes, why did it become widespread
across classes?
 Where else in history do we see
similar practices?
 Does modern society have equivalent
practices?
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