Transcript 500 400 300 200 100 * 100 200 300 400 500 600

Imperial China and the spread of
Buddhism.
Which land will be conquered over and over again?
This unit is very hard to grasp.
1. It highlights scattered parts of 15 centuries
in China.
2. It isn’t clear and cohesive.(Coherence: the
state of cohering or sticking together. )
3. Yet, 11 of the 20 questions on the
assessment are from this unit!!!!
4. Unfortunately, we are going to have to
memorize parts in order to pass the test.
5. Lets start by analyzing the timeline .
Raise your hand and take your best shot!
What was going on (politically) in China during the Middle Ages?
( Hint: The red lines are the pieces of history we have to know for
the test.)
500 400 300 200 100 * 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400
* Buddha
In India
*Confucius
in China
Don’t get scared! We Will take this
one step at a time.
• The timeline just helps us to put things in
perspective.
Han Dynasty
North and South
SUI
Dynasty
( Re-unified)
United into an Empire
Tang
Sung
The Mongols
Im-per-i-al China
Dynasty Dynasty
Attack
THE GOLDEN AGE
The land was split up
between warlords
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Buddhism
Spreads Quickly
Buddha
In India
Confucius
in China
Your turn!
Play connect the dots and fill in the
details.
• Let’s do things one step at a time.
1.
2.
3.
4.
First use a pencil.
Make sure you have it right.
Then add color.
Then add the words.
Terms in RED are on the assessment.
Please use RED if you have it.
China was ruled by a series of emperors from
different dynasties. A dynasty is a royal family.
Father
Relative
Relative
Relative
Some dynasties went on for many
generations and some lasted a short
time.
(You don’t have to write down their names. )
The Sui Dynasty
• Emperor Wen of Sui
• Emperor Yang of Sui
The Southern Sung
Dynasty
• Emperor Taizu Emperor
Taizong Emperor
Zhenzong Emperor
Renzong Emperor
Yingzong Emperor
Shenzong
This Unit is different because we don’t
really look at how the whole culture
changed over a 1500 year period.
LAUSD just wants us to focus on:
1. How they were organized (Their political
system).
2. How smart they were.
3. Their different belief systems and the merging
of Buddhism and Confucianism into something
called Neo- Confucianism.
We are going to use a graphic
organizer to help us with our notes.
What kind of info is on it?
Glue it in like Mr. Saisho tells you.
Medieval Dynasties
Han Civil War Sui
Golden Age
Tang Sung Yuan
Invasion Re-unification
206BCE220CE
220CE581CE
426 years
360 years
589 CE618 CE
AKA Song Mongol
Rule
618- 960CE- 1279CE907CE 1279CE 1368CE
29 years 289 Years 319 years
89 Years
The Han Empire was large, reaching all the
way down to Vietnam in the south and
Korea to the north.
(Find the Great Wall of China.)
Things the Han are remembered for:
1. During the Han Dynasty, China officially
became a Confucian state. (Governed by the
ideas of Confucius.)
These things were important in their culture:
• Hard work
• Loyalty
• Respect
Han Officials
2. The Han extended the Great Wall
of China towards the west to protect
the Silk Road.
The pink line indicates how far the
Han expanded the Great Wall.
Can you see how it follows the Silk
Road?
The Han Dynasty basically rose and began to
disintegrate about the same time as Rome did.
• Wars of conquest and the cost of maintaining
large armies to secure its borders put an
enormous burden on the economy.
Peasants
• The land became overpopulated, and thousands
were forced into stealing or even selling their
children as slaves.
• The people eventually rebelled.
This split up the empire into separate
sections with differing leaders.
The Empire was no longer “Unified”.
There was a 360 year period that was
filled with:
• Chaos
• Invasions from foreigners
• People battling for positions of power (Civil
War)
• Buddhism became appealing in this hostile
environment.
People who had endured the
sufferings of war were longing for the
unification of their land.
• Unify: not split apart
• Unification: Leadership comes from one
central location.
The Sui Dynasty (Sway)
• This Dynasty did not last long but it is famous
for “Re-uniting” the Southern Part with the
Northern Part. (The control of both mayor
river systems and the good farm land.)
They created a central government
once again.
• Central Government= running things from
one point of view. That is the opposite of
confusion and chaos.
• It may not be perfect but at least you know
what to expect.
Emperor Wen
These guys set out to build a massive
transportation system between the
Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.
This was a massive undertaking.
1100 miles of Canals to dig and
manage.
It allowed grain and soldiers to be
transported around the empire.
It Improved Communication.
( Information traveled faster by water
than by foot.)
They had to figure out a way to lift
the boats from one level of the river
to another.
• (Like climbing stairs on water.)
Review
Discussion questions:
• What 2 important changes happened during the
Han Dynasty?
• What 2 things is the Sui Dynasty known for?
• What do historians mean when they use the
term “the re-unification of China”?
The Tang Dynasty
This was a peaceful and prosperous
time for China.
They had extra $$ so they could
spend time :
•
•
•
•
•
•
Inventing
Painting
Writing
Studying
Sculpting
This will be the beginning of their Golden
Age.
During this period, they invented 2
significant items:
Block Printing
•
Gun Powder
1. Block printing is like working with
a page-size stamp.
Stamps
Images and print were carved into a
page size block of wood. This was an
easier (and cheaper) to way to make
books.
The second emperor during the Tang
Dynasty was Emperor Taizong.
He sent representatives to India to collect
Buddhist texts (writings).
These Sutras (Buddhist
Scriptures were
Translated into Chinese
And printed so that
Greater numbers of
People learned about
Buddhism.
A Medieval Buddhist Sutra:
2. Gunpowder was also invented
during the Tang Dynasty.
• In Chinese, gunpowder is called huo yao,
meaning flaming medicine.
• Unlike the inventions of paper and printing,
the birth of gunpowder was quite accidental.
It was first invented by chemists that were
attempting to make a flaming “elixir of
immorality”.
Fire had always been used as a weapon
that was delivered into enemy camps in
China.
Oxen with flaming straw on their tails.
A fire wagon.
But gun powder was more efficient.
A flame thrower
An hand cannon
This is what their earliest bombs
looked like.
These bombs could help to break
through a wall.
• A flower bomb
A ball Bomb
• Theoretically, any male adult in China,
regardless of his wealth or social status, could
become a high-ranking government official by
passing the imperial examination