Transcript TANG AND SONG DYNASTIES OF CHINA

TANG AND SONG
DYNASTIES OF CHINA
CHAPTER 12, SECTION 1
TANG-RISE
• 618-907
• First Tang emperor, Li
Yuan
• Li Shimin, Li Yuan’s son,
would become China’s
most admired emperor.
• Li Shimin called himself,
Tang Taizong
• Expanded the empire by
conquering the lands of
Vietnam, Tibet, and
Korea
• Tributary States:
conquered states
remained independent
but the rulers had to
acknowledge Tang
supremacy and send
tribute payments to the
Tang emperor.
• Students from Korea and
Japan came to the Tang
capital to study Chinese
gov., law and art
TANG-GOVERNMENT AND
ECONOMY
• Rebuilt bureaucracy
• Enlarged the civil service system
• Recruited talented officials trained in Confucian
philosophy
• Land Reform
– Broke up large agricultural holdings and redistributed
the land to peasants
– Strengthened the central gov. by weakening the
power of large landowners.
– Increased gov. revenues because the peasants who
farmed their own land would be able to pay taxes.
TANG-GOVERNMENT AND
ECONOMY
• The Canal System
– Encouraged international trade and
transportation
– Grand Canal: linked the Huang He river to the
Yangzi river
• At the time this was the longest water way ever
dug by human labor
• Food could now be shipped from the south to the
capital in the north
TANG-DECLINE
• Rebellion in 907, end of the Tang dynasty
• Later Tang emperors lost territories in Central
Asia
• Also…
–
–
–
–
–
Corruption
High taxes
Drought
Famine
Rebellions
• Which lead to the downward swing of the dynastic cycle.
SONG DYNASTY
• 900, China is reunited and the Song Dynasty is
founded
• Song ruled for 319 yrs, a little longer than the
Tang…controlled less territory
• Golden Age-wealth and culture flourished
• Economic expansion
• Foreign trade also expanded
– Creation of paper money
– Cities which were once centers of gov. became
centers of trade
CHINESE SOCIETY UNDER THE
TANG AND SONG
• SOCIAL
HIERARCHY: Central
to society, well
ordered.
EMPEROR AND COURT
GENTRY: SCHOLAR OFFICIALS
WEALTHY LANDOWING CLASS
PEASANTS
MERCHANTS
SOCIETY, CONTD.
• Status of Women
– Higher status during the times of the Tang and Song
– In charge of family affairs…great authority managing
servants and finances
– When a woman married she became apart of her
husbands family and could never remarry.
– Footbinding
• Later Song times, large feet were seen as unattractive
• Tiny feet became a sign of nobility and beauty
• Extremely painful, women could not walk without assistance,
reinforced women staying at home and out of the public
sphere.
ART AND LITERATURE DURING
THE TANG AND SONG
DYNASTIES
• Landscape Painting
– Balance and harmony…spiritual essence of
the natural world
• Other Arts-Dominated by Buddhist themes
– Sculpture
– Porcelain making
• Literature
– Prose and poetry
– Li Bo and Du Fu
SUMMARY OF THE TANG AND
SONG DYNASTIES
• Under the Tang and the Song, China
enjoyed political stability, efficient
government, thriving agriculture, and
expanding trade.
• Confucian traditions
• Stable social hierarchy