Transcript Achievements of Tang Dynasty

Cultures of East Asia
618-1644 C.E.
The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE)
Wide discontent over conscripted labor in Sui dynasty
 Military failures in Korea prompt rebellion
 Emperor assassinated in 618
 Tang Taizong takes throne as second emperor
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Built capital at Chang’an
Law and order
Taxes, prices low
More effective implementation of earlier Sui policies
Achievements of Tang Dynasty
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Transportation and communications
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Extensive postal, courier services
Equal-field System
20% of land hereditary ownership
 80% redistributed according to formula
 Family size, land fertility
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 Worked
well until 8th century
 Corruption,
loss of land to Buddhist monasteries
Bureaucracy of Merit
Imperial civil service examinations
 Confucian educational curriculum
 Some bribery, nepotism
 But most advance through merit
 Built loyalty to the dynasty
 System remains strong until early 20th century
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Tang Military Expansion and
Foreign Relations
Manchuria, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet
 One of the largest expansions of China in its
history
 Established tributary relationships
 Gifts
 China as “Middle Kingdom”
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Tang Dynasty, 618-906 C.E.
Tang Decline
Governmental neglect: Emperor obsessed with
self pleasure/satisfaction
 Several internal rebellions and external warfare
during the 8th and 9th c. C.E.
 Tang decline continues, rebellions in 9th century,
last emperor assassinated (907)
 China is divided until 960 C.E.
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Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE)
Emphasis on administration, industry, education, arts
 Military not emphasized
 Direction of first emperor, Song Taizu (r. 960-976 CE)
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Former military leader
 Made emperor by troops
 Instituted policy of imperial favor for civil servants,
expanded meritocracy
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The Song dynasty, 960-1279 C.E.
Song Weaknesses
Size of bureaucracy heavy drain on economy
 Two peasant rebellions in 12th c.
 Internal inertia prevents reform of bureaucracy
 Civil service leadership of military
 Lacked military training
 Unable to contain nomadic attacks
 Jurchen conquer, force Song dynasty to
Hangzhou, southern China (Southern Song)
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Growth of the Tang & Song Dynasties
Developed fast-ripening rice (Vietnam), 2 crops/ year
 Technology: iron plows, use of draft animals
 Soil fertilization, improved irrigation
 Terrace farming
 Urbanization
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Chang’an world’s most populous city: 2 million residents
Southern Song capital Hangzhou: over 1 million
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Cosmopolitan nature of cities linked to silk/spice trade
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Population Growth
Result of increased
agricultural production
 Effective food
distribution system
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120
100
80
60
Millions
40
20
0
600
CE
1000
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Transportation networks
built under Tang and
Song dynasties
Patriarchal Social Structures
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Increased emphasis on ancestor worship
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Elaborate grave rituals
Extended family gatherings in honor of deceased ancestors
Footbinding gains popularity
Technology and Industry
Porcelain (“Chinaware”)
 Increase of iron production
 Gunpowder invented
 Earlier printing techniques refined
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Woodblock printing during the Tang
Moveable type by mid-11th century
Development of independently produced paper money
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Not as stable, not honored during periods of unrest
Govt. claims monopoly on money production in 11th c.
Cultural Change in Tang & Song China
Declining confidence in Confucianism after collapse
of Han dynasty
 Increasing popularity of Buddhism
 Christianity, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Islam also
appear
 Clientele primarily foreign merchant class
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Chan (Zen) Buddhism
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Buddhists adapt ideology to Chinese climate
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Accommodated family lifestyle
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Dharma translated as dao
Nirvana translated as wuwei
“one son in monastery for ten generations of salvation”
Limited emphasis on textual study, meditation instead
Persecution of Buddhists
Daoist/Confucian persecution supported in late
Tang dynasty
 840s closure of Buddhist temples, expulsions
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Zoroastrians, Christians, Manicheans as well
 Economic motive: seizure of large monastic
landholdings
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Neo-Confucianism
Song dynasty refrains from persecuting Buddhists,
but favors Confucians
 Neo-Confucians influenced by Buddhist thought
 Zhu Xi (1130-1200 CE) important synthesizer
 Popular to 20th century
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China and Southeast Asia
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Korea
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Silla Dynasty: Tang armies withdraw, Korea recognizes
Tang as emperor
Technically a vassal statue, but highly independent
Strong influence of China on Korean culture (Buddhism)
Vietnam
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Vietnamese adaptation to Chinese culture, technology
But ongoing resentment of political domination
Assert independence when Tang dynasty falls in 10th c.
The Mongols: Nomads of Asia
1206-1370
Nomadic Economy and Society
Rainfall in central Asia too little to support largescale agriculture
 Grazing animals thrive, central Asians turn to animal
herding
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Food
Clothing
Shelter (yurts)
Migratory patterns to follow pastureland
 Small-scale farming, rudimentary artisanry
 Trade links between nomadic and sedentary peoples
 Nomads engage in long-distance travel
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Nomadic Society
Governance basically clan-based
 Charismatic individuals become nobles, occasionally
assert authority
 Unusually fluid status for nobility
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Hereditary, but could be lost through incompetence
Advancement for meritorious non-nobles
Nomadic Religion
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Appeal of Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Islam,
Manichaeism from 6th c. CE
Turkish script developed in part to record religious teachings
Conversion to Islam in 10th century due to Abbasid influence
Military Organization
Large confederations under a khan
 Authority extended through tribal elders
 Exceptionally strong cavalries
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Mobility
Speed
Chinggis Khan (1167-1227)
The Making of the Mongol Empire
Temüjin, b. 1167
 Father prominent warrior, poisoned c. 1177, forced
into poverty
 Mastered steppe diplomacy, elimination of enemies
 Brought all Mongol tribes into one confederation
 1206 proclaimed Chinggis Khan: “Universal Ruler”
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Mongol Political Organization
Broke up tribal organization
 Formed military units from men of different tribes
 Promoted officials on basis of merit and loyalty
 Established distinctly non-nomadic capital at
Karakorum
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Mongol Arms
Mongol population only 1 million (less than 1% of
Chinese population)
 Strengths:
 Cavalry
 Short bows
 Rewarded enemies who surrender, cruel to enemies
who fight
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Mongol Conquests
Conquest of China by 1220
 Conquest of Afghanistan, Persia
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emissaries murdered, following year Chinggis Khan
destroys ruler
Ravaged lands to prevent future rebellions
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Large-scale, long-term devastation
The Mongol Empires after Chinggis Khan
Khubilai Khan (r. 1264-1294)
Grandson of Chinggis Khan
 Rule of China
 Ruthless warrior, but religiously tolerant
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Hosted Marco Polo
Established Yuan dynasty (to 1368)
 Unsuccessful forays into Vietnam, Cambodia,
Burma, Java
 Two attempted invasions of Japan (1274, 1281)
turned back by typhoons
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Mongol Rule in China
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Strove to maintain strict separation from Chinese
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Intermarriage forbidden
Chinese forbidden to study Mongol language
Imported administrators from other areas
 Tolerated religious freedoms
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The Mongols and Buddhism
Shamanism remains popular
 Lamaist school of Buddhism (Tibet) gains strength
among Mongols
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Large element of magic, similar to shamanism
Ingratiating attitude to Mongols: khans as incarnations of
Buddha
Decline of the Yuan Dynasty in China
Mongols spend bullion that supported paper currency
 Public loses confidence in paper money, prices rise
 From 1320s, major power struggles
 Bubonic plague spreads 1330-1340s
 1368 Mongols flee peasant rebellion
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The Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
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Ming (“Brilliant”) dynasty comes to power after
Mongol Yuan dynasty driven out
Founded by Emperor Hongwu (r. 1368-1398)
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Used traveling officials called Mandarins and large
number of eunuchs to maintain control
Emperor Yongle (r. 1403-1424) experiments
with sea expeditions, moves capital north to
Beijing to deter Mongol attacks
Ming emperors encourage abandonment of
Mongol names, dress
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Support study of Confucian classics
Civil service examinations renewed
The Great Wall of China
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Origins before 4th century BCE, ruins from Qin
dynasty in 3rd century BCE
Rebuilt under Ming rule, 15th-16th centuries
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1,550 miles, 33-49 feet high
Guard towers; Room for housing soldiers
Ming Decline and Collapse
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Decline
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16th century maritime pirates harm coastal trade
Navy, government unable to respond effectively
Emperors secluded in Forbidden City, palace
compound in Beijing
Emperor Wanli (r. 1572-1620) abandons imperial
activity to eunuchs
Collapse
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Rebels take Beijing in 1644
Manchu fighters enter from the north and retake
city
Manchus refuse to allow reestablishment of Ming
Medieval Japan
Japan’s Warrior Society
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12th c. CE – government had lost power - local
clans began to fight for control
Shoguns rule Japan, 12th-16th centuries
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Large landholders with private armies (samurai)
Emperor merely a figurehead
Constant civil war: 16th century sengoku, “country at
war”
Control of Daimyo (Great Names)
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Approx. 260 independent territorial lords
Shogun requires leaders alt. attendance (every other
year)
Beginning 1630s, shoguns restrict foreign relations
Tokugawa Shogunate
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Tokugawa Ieyasu (r. 1600-1616) est.
military govt.
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Relations with the West
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Bakufu: “tent government” – pyramid hierarchy
Establishes Tokugawa dynasty (1600-1867)
Increased trade with Europeans (esp. Portuguese)
By 1650 allowed only trade with the Dutch
Feudal Culture
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Haiku poetry – 3 lines, 17 syllables
Kabuki drama – could last all day (stylized dance &
song)
China and Early Japan
Chinese armies never invade Japan
 Yet Chinese culture pervasive
 Imitation of Tang administration
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Establishment of new capital at Nara, hence “Nara
Japan” (710-794 CE)
Adoption of Confucian, Buddhist teachings
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Retention of Shinto (the way of the kami) religion
Heian Japan (794-1185 CE)
Japanese emperor moves court to Heian (Kyoto)
 Yet emperor figurehead, real power in hands of
Fujiwara clan
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Pattern in Japanese history: weak emperor, power
behind the throne
 Helps explain longevity of the institution
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Japanese Literature
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Influence of Chinese characters
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Classic curriculum dominated by Chinese
Development of syllabic alphabet
 Court life: The Tale of Genji
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Written by Murasaki Shikibu (woman with weak command
of Chinese), becomes classic of early Japanese literature
Institution of the Shogun
Civil war between Taira and Minamoto clans in 12th
century
 Minamoto leader named shogun, 1185 CE
 Ruled from Kamakura, allowed imperial throne to
continue in Kyoto
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