Transcript East Asian Civilizations

East Asian Civilizations
Review Part 3 Section 6
Han Empire in China
 Han empire had existed for 400 years, advances in
trade and technology.
 Silk Road: first trade route between China and Europe.
 People traveled in caravans through deserts and
mountains.
Tang Dynasty takes over
 Armies force
neighboring countries to
acknowledge Chinese
superiority and pay
tribute.
 Tang’s most important
developments were
gunpowder and block
printing.
 Empire weakened 300
years later and a new
dynasty takes over.
Song dynasty
Ruled China for 300
years, Golden Age
Wealth and culture
expands across all of
East Asia.
China produces books,
better ships, paper
money, arts, and
literature.
Genghis Khan
 Leader of the Mongols,
wanted to take over
China.
 Known for brutality to
enemies, many allowed
him to take over out of
fear.
 Created large
multiethnic state in Asia
 Positive qualities:
encouraged arts,
literacy, united people
Mongols take over
 Mongols invade in 1279 and remove Song dynasty
 Establish peace, political stability, and expand
trade.
 Believed heaven gave them the right to rule
 Realized the Chinese were very advanced and did
not try to change their culture.
Kublai Khan
 Genghis Khan’s grandson and leader of
Mongolian rule in China.
 Improved everyday life for Chinese:
 Built roads and canals.
 Assisted with the poor
 Encouraged book making and observation of the
stars.
 Maintained a large military presence in China
Marco Polo
 European explorer who
traveled to China and
worked under Kublai
Khan
 Book: Travels of Marco
Polo
 Brought Chinese ideas
to Europe, inspired later
adventurers to explore
the world.
Ming takeover
 Ming dynasty takes over
after Mongols in 1368
 Restore Confucianism as
main beliefs, build up
industries and navy.
 Forced Mongols to marry
with ethnic Chinese or face
persecution.
Chinese Exploration
 Chinese begin to explore
Indian Ocean and East
Africa.
 Zheng He: led explorations
to expand empire, collect
tribute, and promote
trade.
 Showed military strength
of China and collected
treasures for empire.
Korea
 Koreans are influenced by Chinese
developments but try to maintain own culture
as well.
 Improve on block printing and create a
simpler alphabet than the Chinese.
 New alphabet made it easier for many
Koreans to read.
Japan rises
 Japan felt influence of Chinese but was not
conquered by them because of seas surrounding
Japan.
 Nobles are sent to China to study Chinese
government and technology.
 Eventually Japan’s society adopted some of these
ideas brought back.
Japanese
Feudalism
 Emperor is powerless, real power belongs to shogun.
 Shogun: supreme military commander.
 Shogun distribute lands to lords who help shogun by
supplying army when called upon
 Samurai: lesser lords who were warriors for shogun.
Tokugawa shogunate
 Brought central government control, peace, and
stability to Japan.
 Encourage trade and the development of samurai
culture.
 Committed to ancient ideas which brought conflict
when foreigners arrived.