Transcript Chapter 10
Inner & East Asia: Sui, Tang, Song
600-1200 CE
Sui Dynasty: Reunification & Military Expansion
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Government based on
Confucianism-heavily
influenced by Buddhism
Resources spent on
infrastructure, military
Capital at Chang’an
Grand canal-military,
communication & trade
Irrigation systems
Improved
Great Wall
Militarily ambitious
Tang Empire, 618 -755
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Territorial expansion
Avoided over-centralization
Combined Turkic influence w/ Chinese Confucian traditions
Influx of cosmopolitan culture,
Tang Military
Buddhism & Tang Empire
• Emperors used
Buddhism to
legitimized power
• kings promoted
themselves as spiritual
agents-provided
access to Buddhist
realm
• Monasteries allied w/
Emperors
• Received tax
exemptions, land gifts
Mahayana Buddhism
• Followed trade
routes to Chang’an
– Cosmopolitan city
• Flexible
– adaptable
– Buddhist texts
translated into local
languages
Chang’an
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Ambassadors-tributary
system
• Over a million residents
• Foreigners lived in
special compounds
• walled gated quarters
• Roads/canals (Grand
Canal)
• Islamic & Jewish
merchants
• Large commercial ships
• Bubonic plague arrived
Combined Central Asian
influences (Turkic) &
Chinese culture
• Roads, rivers, & canals
facilitated trade
• Exports exceeded
imports
Foreign trade caravan
Power Rivals: Uighur & Tibetan Empires
Power Rivals: Uighur
• Mid-eighth century
Turkic group
• Empire in Central
Asia
• Merchants & scribes
• Strong ties to Islam
& China
• Own script
• Lasted 50 years
Power Rivals: Tibet
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Large empire with access to
SE Asia, China, & South &
Central Asia
Open to Indian, Chinese,
Islamic, & even (via Iran)
Greek culture
In early Tang, relations were
friendly
– Tibetan king received a
Chinese princess
Mahayana Buddhism
brought to Tibet-combined w
local religion
By late 600’s military rivalry
began
– Tibet allied w/ Tang
rival
9th century, Tibetan king
failed to eliminate Buddhism
Tibet entered long period of
monastic rule & isolation
Tang: Upheavals & Repression, 750–879
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Conflict w/ Tibetans & Turkic
Uighurs-backlash against
“foreigners”
Confucian ideology reasserted
Buddhism undermined family
values- many became monks
& nuns-deprived families of
marriage alliances &
descendants
Buddhism eroded tax base &
legitimized women’s
participation in politics
Wu Zhao-seized control
w/Buddhist support
Claimed to be bodhisattva
Favored Buddhists & Daoists
Confucian elites characterized
unorthodox rulers & powerful
women as “evil”
Buddhism associated w/
barbarians & social ills
End of Tang
879-907
• Territory expanded-many internal
rebellions
• 907- Tang state collapsed
• Regional military governors established
own kingdoms
• None able to integrate territory on same
scale
• East Asia cut off from communication w/
Islamic world & Europe
New States Emerge in East Asia, to 1200:
• Liao, Jin, &
Chinese Song
• Song cut off
from Central
Asia so it
turned to sea
– strengthened
contacts with
Korea, Japan
and SE Asia
Southern Song: 1127-1279
Song Innovation
• Technological
innovations
based on info
brought from
West Asia during
Tang era
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Mathematics
Astronomy
calendar making
Mechanical clock
Improved
compass
– Sternpost rudder,
watertight
bulkheads
Song Industries
• Standing army
– professionally trained
– regularly paid
• Iron and coal
– high–grade iron and
steel
• weapons, armor,
defensive works
• Gunpowder weapons
Song Economy & Society
• Confucian-elite
officials dominated
• Neo-Confucian
philosophy
developed
• Chan (Zen)
Buddhism became
popular
• Civil Service Exam
matured
• Hereditary system
broke down
• Meritocracy
improved
government
efficiency & reliability
Song Economy & Society
• Moveable type = massproduced government
authorized exam prep
materials
• New agricultural
technology = increased
agricultural productivity =
increased population in
South China
Song Economy and Society
• China’s population grew to 100
million
• Large crowed, well-managed
cities like Hangzhou
• “Flying money”-interregional credit
system
• Government issued paper money
• Caused inflation and later
withdrawn
• Difficulty controlling market
economy
• Tax collection was privatized
• Burgeoning new merchant elite
Song Economy & Society
• Women’s status declined
• Totally subordinated to
men
• Lost rights to own and
manage property
• Remarriage forbidden
• Bound feet became
mandatory status symbol
for elite women
• Working-class women,
and non-Han more
independent
New Kingdoms in South Asia:
• Korea, Japan,
Vietnam all rice
economies
• labor needs fit well
w/ Confucian
concepts of
hierarchy,
obedience, &
discipline
• all adopted aspects
of Chinese culture
but political
ideologies remained
different
New Kingdoms in South Asia: Korea
• Cultural bridge
• Hereditary elite
absorbed Confucianism
& Buddhism from
China-passed to Japan
• Kingdoms first united by
Silla in 668 then Koryo
early 900’s
• Used woodblock
printing as early as
700’s
• later invented moveable
type- passed on to Song
New Kingdoms in South
Asia: Japan
• Mountainous terrain created
hundreds of small states unified in about 4th-5th century
• Government established at
Yamato on Honshu Island
• Mid-7th century political
reforms established
centralized government legal
code, national histories,
architecture, city planning
based on Tang cities
• Modeled on China but adapted
to their own needs
• Maintained emperorship
• Shinto survived alongside
Buddhism
New Kingdoms in South Asia: Japan
• Women enjoyed a
relatively strong position
• Aristocratic women
became royal consortslinked court w/ own
kinsmen
• Siuko, became empress
when her husband died
in 592
• Prince Shotuku, her
nephew & regent,
developed Constitution
based on Confucian &
Buddhist approaches to
statecraft
New Kingdoms in South Asia: Japan
• Heian Period – 794-1185
• Fujiwara dominated Japanese
government
• Aesthetic refinement of
aristocracy
• Elevated civil officials above
warriors
• By late 1000’s, some warrior
clans became wealthy &
powerful
• Kamakura Shoganate took
control
• Established capital at
Kamakura in eastern Honshu
New Kingdoms in South Asia: Vietnam
• Geographical proximity &
similar wet-rice agriculture
made it suitable for
integration w/ south China
• Economic & cultural
assimilation took place
during Tang & Song periods
• Northern Vietnam elite
(Annam) modeled their
culture on Chinese
• When Tang fell, Annam
established itself as an
independent state under the
name Dai Viet
New Kingdoms in South Asia:
Vietnam
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Southern Vietnam, kingdom of
Champa influenced by Malay and
Indian as well as by China
During Song, Champa cultivated
and exported fast-maturing
Champa rice to China
Strong common Confucian
interest in hierarchy
Status of women varied
Foot-binding not common outside
China
Before Confucianism, women had
higher status in Annam than
Chinese women
Education of women was not
valued or desirable anywhere