Transcript Reunification and Renaissance in China

Reunification and
Renaissance in China
Chapter 12
Lecture and Review
The Sui-Tang Eras
• Wendi, had support of nomadic military
leadership, able to become dynasty leader
• Did not favor the scholar-gentry class
• Won support by lowering taxes and establishing
granaries
• Wendi was killed by his son Yangdi
• Yangdi expanded territories
• Huge building projects on the backs of peasant
class, then tried to have them take new
territories which led to revolt and unrest
The Tang Restore the Empire
• Li Yuan, an official of Yangdi, takes over and
leads to more military conquests
• Conquered lands into present day Afghanistan,
other nomadic military officers were taken to the
Chinese capitol to be instructed in Chinese
ways.
• Boundaries of China became greater than even
the Han dynasty… and a golden age began
• Rebuilding the bureaucracy was a major
accomplishment and necessity, all working in
association with the new capitol in Changan
Bureaucracy and Examinations
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Ministry of Rites
Title of Jinshi, transformed people
Buddy-buddy system
State and Religion
– Confucian learning stressed, Buddhist persecuted
– Buddhism in China (pure land strain of Mahayana
Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, monasteries become very
commonplace
– Emperor Wuzong began persecution of Buddhists
Tang ends, Song begins…
• Xuanzong becomes emperor after women conspire
• He begins reign with strong focus on political and
economic reforms, then becomes infatuated with Yang
Guifei
• Everything falls apart by his lack of leadership, and
military leadership must step in
• She is killed, he cannot rule any longer, and China’s
territories are up for grabs again
• Zhao Kuangyin takes over because of able military
leadership and takes control of territories, except the
northern Liao dynasty (highly sinified, or influenced by
Chinese)
Revival of Confucianism
• Bureaucracy supported Confucian ways of thinking
• Became so bloated the you had highly educated, wellpaid bureaucrats who did very little
• Neo-Confucians left their mark, including Zhu Xi who
stressed applying philosophical principles in everyday
life
• Money also being paid out to tribute for nomadic
militaries along the boarders, Xi Xia is an example
• Wang Anshi tried to institute reforms, but too little too
late and the dynasty falls to the Jurchens, and the Song
retreat to the south to create the Southern Song
Why the Golden Age?
• The Grand Canal: huge engineering feat that connects
China to itself and land trade
• Junks are used to ship in the sea, drastically expanding
the trade of China
• Huge cities being created with magnificent buildings,
gardens, hunting parks, canals, zoos, ect.
• Marco Polo loves Hangzhou, “Venice of China”
• Agrarian expansion: breaking up the lands of the old
aristocracies, redistributing to peasant classes
• Households still ran by the men, FOOTBINDING!
• Artwork, literature, and poetry reflect the focus on the
arts from the scholar-gentry class
Artwork