Transcript Dynastic Rule in China From the Sui to the Yuan

What happened to the Han
Dynasty?
• Most of the advances from
the Qin-Han Era seem to
have been lost
– Bureaucracy
– Importance of the scholars
– Reminded many of the time
of the Warring States
– Non-Chinese nomads ruled
– A foreign religion,
Buddhism, found many
followers
– Trade, city life and
technology declined
Enter the Sui
• Seemed at first to be just
more warring factions
• General Yang Jian – who
becomes emperor Wen Di
– conquers the Northern
Wei and the Southern
Chen and is able to reunite
the core areas of Chinese
civilization for the first
time in 3+ centuries
How did the Sui govern?
• Emperors Wen Di and
son Yang Di are
remembered for their
harsh rule
• Forced many peasants
to fight in the army or
to work on public
works projects to pay
off debts
Belief systems under the Sui
• Wen Di, although Buddhist,
encouraged the practice of
Confucianism and Daoism as
well.
• Erected thousands of stupas
across China to encourage
Buddhism, yet understood the
Chinese importance of
Confucianism.
– Respect for elders and
traditions
– Scholarship
– Government trained
officials
How did the Sui affect daily life?
• Built the Grand Canal which
promoted trade by connecting
the Yellow and Yangtze rivers
• Helped rebuild the Great Wall
that provided security from
Northern raiders
• Rice will replace millet as the
staple food in China
• Merchants in the South will use
the canal to extent their
business and influence into the
North
How did the Sui unite China?
• Undertook extensive
public works projects
which reinvigorated
the populous
• Extended military
control over large
stretches of China
• Sense of Nationalism
Fall of the Sui
• Yang Di pretty tyrannical
– Murdered his father to take
the throne
– Overly fond of luxury and
had thousands of peasant
build palaces and canals
– Built and extensive game
park, but had to bring in the
trees
– Unsuccessful wars against
Korea that almost defeats
against the Turks force
revolts against him
• Assassinated by his own
ministers in 618
Enter the Tang
• Rise to power:
– 618, Li shi Min captured
Changan and Luoyang
– Will make himself emperor
Dai Zong in 626
– Conquers deep into Asia
and to Afghanistan;
recruited Turkic soldiers;
extended west into the
Tibet, south to Vietnam,
north to Korea
How did the Tang govern China?
• Under Wu Zhao, China’s only
empress, the Tang ruled one of
the most geographically
extensive empires in Chinese
history
• Organized the government into
departments, each with its own
area
• The Bureaucrats upheld
Confucian ideals by acting as
artists and politicians
• Under Xuan Zong (713-756)
Chinese painting and poetry
reached a peak, but this will
lead to the downfall
Belief systems under the Tang
• Empress Wu (690-705)
supported Buddhism to
the point of wanting to
make it the state religion
• Elites tend towards Zen
(chan) Buddhism
• Confucianism will still be
encouraged due to the
examination system
• Emperor Wu Zong will
suppress Buddhism
(economic issues) to the
point of open persecution.
How did the Tang effect daily
life?
• Created the equal field
system which limited
the power of the rural
aristocracy
• Scholar class become
the new ruling class
• Land reforms gave
some peasants a
chance to gain wealth
How did the Tang help unite
China?
• Emperors directly
controlled the army
and extended the
boundaries
• The equal field system
benefited both the
government and
commoners
The decline of the Tang
• Xuan Zong became too
interested in the arts,
especially music.
• After the death of his wife,
became infatuated with a
concubine, Yang Guifei.
• She will put many
members of her family
into powerful positions –
angers many of the elite.
• Rebellion will occur, and
outside forces will become
threats.
The Song Dynasty
• Rise to Power:
– Tai Zu emerged after 50
years of Civil War to found
the Song Dynasty at
Kaifeng
– Will only rule on China’s
provinces south of the Great
wall
– Will have to contain the
many hostile ethnic groups
clustered on China’s
borders (Mongolians,
Jurchens, Khitans)
– Power will shift from the
north to the south
How did the Song govern China?
• Mongolians and
Manchurians harassed
China’s southern border
for 200 years
• Song royal family was
forced by Jurchen to
establish a new capital at
Hangzhou
• Government officials
came from southern China
because the north was
under foreign rule
• Bureaucrats were selected
according to their scores
on the civil service exam
despite economic status
Belief systems under the Song
• Revival of Confucianism ideas
and values: Neo-Confucians
• Believed that personal morality
was the highest goal for humans
• Virtue can be attained through
book knowledge and
observation as well as through
wise men
• Great emphasis on rank,
obligation, deference and
traditional rituals
• This will reinforce class, age
and gender distinctions
How did the Song affect daily
life?
• Power of the merchant
class rose as largescale trade thrived
• Cambodian strain of
rice allowed farmers
to double output
• Technological
advances produced
new products
How did the Song help unite
China?
• Moved the center of
Chinese culture south
to Kaifeng
• Used meritocracy to
make government
efficient and reliable
The Yuan Dynasty
• Rise to Power:
– Dynasty founded by
Kublai Khan, grandson
of Genghis Khan
– Fought the Song for 40
years before founding
China’s only foreignruled dynasty
How did the Yuan dynasty
govern China?
• The Civil service system
was maintained and
staffed by Turks and
Persians
• A strict hierarchy of social
service classes developed:
– 1. Tax-free Mongols
– 2. Non-Chinese civil
servants
– 3. Northern Chinese
– 4. Southern Chinese
Beliefs systems under the Yuan
• Kublai Khan retained
shamanism
– Good and Evil spirits
pervade the world and can
be summoned and heard
only through Shamans
• The traditional Chinese
belief systems were
largely unaffected by
Yuan rule
• Under Kublai Khan’s
encouragement the
number of Buddhist
monasteries increased
How was daily life affected under
the Yuan?
• Yuan dynasty’s bloody
wars of conquest led to the
destruction of farmland
• Also seized land for
pastures – many Chinese
starved and died
• Kublai Khan maintained
China’s roads and canals,
but later Yuan emperors
let them deteriorate
How did the Yuan help unite
China?
• Retained civil service, but
staffed it with foreigners
• Allowed Chinese belief
system to coexist with
Mongol shamanism
• Brought in more from the
West due to the travels
and stories of Marco Polo
Homework
• Read the chapter and add to your chart
• Answer the following:
– How did the examination system change from the Tang
to the Song? The economy?
– How did trade improve and change over time in China?
– Describe the family unit and gender roles.
– What can Neo-Confucianism be blamed for?
– Describe the different forms of literature throughout the
dynasties.
– Describe Chinese painting.