Transcript TANG-SONG CHINA

Recovery &
Golden Age in
China: The Sui,
Tang, & Song
600-1450 Lesson 5
Main Ideas:
• The rise of the Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties
brought two important regions into the
Chinese realm
• Economic reform alleviated the corruption of
the Han and opened Chinese trade, but failed
to prevent new forms of corruption and
elitism
• Begun as a backlash to Buddhism, NeoConfucianism became the foundation of
modern East Asian philosophy
New Political Landscape
• Sui & Tang
– NW aristocracy
– Greater militarism
• expansion into
Turkic & Mongol
lands
• Song
– Yangtze Valley
aristocracy (SE)
– More urban, more
commercial
– “Scholar-Gentry”
Agricultural Reform
• Equal Fields System
– Purpose- ensure an equitable
distribution of land and to
avoid concentration that had
caused social problems during
Han
– Typical distribution
• 1/5 for hereditary
possession
• remainder for periodic
redistribution
• tax implications
– tax burden
– govt. interest
– Problems – rising population
place pressure on land
available, Buddhist monasteries
acquired land
The Buddhist Issue
• Buddhism in China
– intellectual
complexity &
spiritual purpose
attractive
– “Chinese” Buddhism
– Power of
monasteries
• Persecution &
Survival
Principles of Neo-Confucianism
• Attempt to apply Buddhist
metaphysics to Confucian sociopolitical theory through texts!
• Zhu Xi
– Two elements in all being
• li (principle [or mind])
• qi (material)
– Li elemental to all universe,
hence human nature
fundamentally good
– Qi can cloud purity of li, so
process of self-cultivation leads
to practical goodness
Importance of the Confucian Renaissance
• Provides a “richer
Confucianism”
– lasting ruling principle
– individual purpose
– social worth
• Tremendous influence
on Japan, Korea, & SE
Asia
• Gender implications
– “natural” male
dominance
– “cult of female
chastity”
Tang Empire, 618-907 C.E.
Song Empire,
960-1279 C.E.