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?
Period of the Six
Dynasties
220-589 CE
Scholar-Gentry class declined
– Coming from a family of educated, high
social status, esp. land owners
Non-Chinese nomads rule
Buddhism replaced Confucianism
Economic, technological, intellectual,
urban decline
Sui Dynasty
Late 500s unites the north and south
under strong leadership
Wen’ti (Wendi)
– Took control of northern China
– Lowered taxes and established granaries
His son, Yan’ti (Yangdi)
Yang’ti
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)
Tried to conquer Korea (unsuccessful)
Hated by people: overworked and overtaxed
Peasant revolts
Tang Dynasty
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
Examination System
– Highest offices in government went to
individuals who passed exams based on
Confucian classics and Chinese literature
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
Empress Wu
You read about her…More coming
later
690-705
Encouraged spread of
Buddhismtried to make it the state
religion
Lowered taxes
Military conquest of Korea
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
Faults:
– Corruption
– Confucian thoughtdid not judge ability
to lead military or collect taxes
Benefits:
– Gave China an intelligent governing class
– No longer ruled by few…
Tang Decline/Rise of
the Song
Emperor Xuanzong (713-756)
– Initially advanced political & economic
reform
– Patronized arts
– Downfall? A harem girl named Yang
Guifei
– Revolt in 755
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
Song
Military subordinated to the scholargentry
Confucian scholar-gentry ideals over
Buddhist rivals
Increased salaries, civil service exams,
etc.
Revival of Confucian thought: neoConfucianism
Song again: Neo
Confucianism
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
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 declinesoon 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
You say you want a
revolution…
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)
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
Women’s Roles (more
coming up)
Independence:
– Wealthy urban women could have lovers
– Women’s rights in divorce
– Partners of similar ages
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
Economyworld leader until 18th C.
Chinese inventions
Outside influences incorporated into
existing patterns
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
Traditional Guides
– Ruler guides subject
– Father guides son
– Husband guides wife
Confucianism order
Women must obey father, husband,
and sons
Rights
Could not pick spouse
Could not divorce or remarry
Husband could divorce her
Could not inherit property or wealth
Concubines
Empress Wu Zetian, 624-705
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
Origins unknown several legends
Began in Tang, fully
accepted in Song
Small feet = beauty
Footbinding in Tang China
Broken toes by 3 years of age.
Size 5 ½ shoe
on the right
Footbinding in Tang China
Mothers bound their daughters’ feet.
Footbinding in Tang China
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
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?