Transcript Empire in China and Asia

Empire in China
200 B.C.E. to 800 C.E.
Qin Dynasty
• 221 B.C.E. Qin defeat the last of their
enemies
• Establish Legalist empire (first to call king
“emperor”)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUJr1Y
2PNPI [“The First Emperor” Discovery
Channel production]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYCM64
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Qin Government
• Centralization
• Nobles forced to move to capital
(Xianyang)
• Officials administered territory, controlled
by regulations, reporting requirements,
and penalties for poor performance
• No hereditary rule; officials only served at
the pleasure of the emperor
Qin Population Management
• Census allowed Qin rulers to know how
much to tax, how many people were
available for public works projects and
military service
• Script was standardized
• Weights, measures, coins, and axles were
standardized
• Personal weapons outlawed
• Roads and canals built
Great Wall
Defensive structure on
Northern border to
divide the Qin territory
and the Xiongnu
(Huns)
Signature Accomplishments
• Burning of all written records except for
technical materials (such as manuals on
agriculture)
• Tomb with terra cotta soldiers
• Died in 210 B.C.E.
Han Dynasty
206 B.C.E to 220 C.E.
• Emperor Gaozu was first in this dynasty
• Minimized the harshness of legalist
system
• Han territory under direct imperial control
• Peace and prosperity caused population to
grow
• Promoted Confucianism-national
university to train government officials
Emperor Wu (Han)
• Military campaigns to fight off the Xiongnu
• Financed by confiscating land, engaging in
government controlled trade, high taxes on
merchants, minting money, tributary
system to build allies
Han Succession
• Hereditary: father to son
• Problems with this system?
– Competition among mothers
– Regents (Wang Mang caused economic
turmoil, exacerbated by flooding of Yellow
River)
– Child emperors
Silk Road
• Han fighting against Xiongnu caused Han to
come into contact with civilizations in Central
Asia
• Chinese provided “protection” for these
communities
• China received horses, gold, glass beads and
cups, walnuts, pomegranates, sesame, and
coriander
• China exported silk and eventually spices that
were grown in China
Han Accomplishments
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fnHe19
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• Recovery of Confucian classics, value
placed on study of them
• Philosophical theories about divine link
between heaven and earth through
emperor
• Development of historical writing
• Invention of paper (105 C.E. by Cai Lun)
Han Economy
• Indirectly promoted trade through building
roads
• Government competed with merchants in
grain, salt (nationalized) and iron
• Iron and bronze used
• Crossbow developed
• Lacquer used to finish surfaces
Han People
• Independent peasants made up bulk of
population
• Government wanted peasants free so they could
contribute taxes and labor
• Government kept taxes on peasants low,
provided relief, aided migration, and promoted
advances in agriculture, to help peasants stay
free
• Han people pushed outward through migration,
dominating other ethnic groups
Han Technology
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Double plowshare plow
Waterpowered hammers for milling grain
Pump system for water
Advanced metalworking techniques
(liquefied iron and used molds)
Family Structure in Han era
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Patriarchal
Arranged marriages
Wives joined husbands’ families
Land divided equally among sons
Emphasis placed on filial piety
Fall of Han
• Palace infighting caused collapse of
leadership
• Result was three warlords ruling over
north, southeast, and southwest
• 220 C.E. the last Han emperor was forced
to abdicate
Age of Division
(220-589)
Non-Chinese ruled in the North
• South ruled by four separate short-lived
dynasties (capital was Nanjing)
• Agricultural lands were base of taxes
– South came to be dominated by aristocracy
– Preserved and promoted Han culture as
superior
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jraO9UIQmj
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Spread of Buddhism
• Spread to Central Asia
• Monks and scholars in Central Asia
translated Indian Buddhist texts
• Adopted in China because political
instability left people open to new ideas
• Emphasis on kindness and equality were
attractive
• Central Asia buddhist designs affected art
in China
Sui Dynasty (581-618)
• Yang Jian reunited North and South
• Power over North Vietnam, Korea, and
Turks on steppes of Central Asia
• Instituted competitive written exams for
government jobs
• Grand Canal linked Yellow and Yangzi
Rivers
• Projects exhausted Chinese people
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
• Founded by Li Yuan
• Capital Chang’an was cultural center of
East Asia
• Most cosmopolitan era before 20th century
• 630 Chinese conquered territory from
Turks, made emperor a Khan
Tang Administration
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Created departments in government
Schools prepared men for civil service
Empress Wu and Consort Yang Guifei
Tax distribution and land reduction caused
peasants to flee land
• Military districts created along border;
professional army
• Devastating rebellion of An Lushan
Korea
• Mythology reflects links to China
• 194 B.C.E.Han rebel established state of
Choson
• 108 B.C.E. Han dynasty conquered
Choson; four colonies created
• Korean names use Chinese characters
• First century B.C.E. Koguryo Korean
kindgom established
Korean Government
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Three Kingdoms Period (313-668 C.E.)
Silla, Paekche, Koguryo
Chinese was language of government
Hereditary elites and kings
Sui and Tang empires tried to dominate
Korea, Tang by allying with Silla against
others
• Buddhism caused cultural links to China
Vietnam
• Originally had trade ties with China
• Ruled by tribal chiefs
• Government organized by Qin dynasty
general (Zhao Tuo/Trieu Da) who was
stranded at collapse of Qin dynasty;
founded kindgom called Nam Viet
• Nam Viet conquered by Chinese in 111
B.C.E.
Chinese Rule over Vietnam
• Chinese rulers brought in
• Confucianism taught
• Chinese language of government and
literature
• Chinese built infrastructure
• 39 C.E. Trung sisters uprising; they were
queens for three years, until Han reestablished Chinese rule
• Vietnam part of China through Tang era
Japan
• Mythological history tells of brother and sister
who created two conflicting families, ruling family
from Amaterasu line
• Anthropologists find that Jomon people arrived
10,000 B.C.E. and practice hunting, fishing,
made clay pots
• Yayoi brought agriculture (300 B.C.E. to 300
C.E.)
• Trade with China and Korea in archeological
findings
• China called Japan “Wa”
4th – 6th Centuries
• Migrants from Korea brought language
that would become Japanese
• Yamato and Izumo states in Japan
involved in Korean 3-Kingdom power
struggle
• Warrior aristocracy divided into clans
became power structure
• Each clan had chieftain, rallied men for
battle and served as priest
Yamato rulers
• Chief clan with Great King or Queen
(claimed to be descended from Sun
goddess)
• Subordinated gods of rivals
• Shinto became dominant religion
(emphasized ritual cleanliness)
• Buddhism introduced by Koreans in 538
• Pro-Buddhist faction dominated,
introduced Chinese bureaucracy
Prince Shotoku
• Seventeen Principles drew on Confucian
and Buddhist teachings
• Built Horyuji Temple
• Developed relations with Sui empire
Japan after Prince Shotoku
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Copied Tang bureaucracy
710 capital established at Nara
Cultural exchange with China and Korea
(Exchange of disease as well)
Japanese began writing their own books