Transcript 15.2 Chinese Society Under the Tang Dynasty, China`s economy

Under the Tang Dynasty, China’s
economy recovered and prospered.
The Tang gave land to
farmers.
Farmers improved
irrigation methods which
increased the growth of
their crops. More rice and
tea, a popular drink, were
grown.
China’s population grew
and people started to
develop cities.
Tang rulers built roads and waterways. Now,
travel within and outside of China was easier.
The Silk Road reopened and thrived.
In addition to silk, China traded tea, steal, paper,
and porcelain.
In return, countries traded goods such as gold,
silver, precious stones, and fine woods with
China.
During the Tang and
Song Dynasties, new
discoveries and
inventions brought
change to Chinese
society.
It was discovered that coal could be used as a fuel.
This led to the development of a coal mining
industry.
The Chinese used coal to heat furnaces to high
temperatures. This led to another discovery. Melted
iron mixed with carbon from coal to produce steel.
Steel was used to make armor, swords, and helmets
for armies and to make other useful tools.
The invention of paper led to another
important Chinese invention: a method for
printing books.
In woodblock printing, printers used a
wooden block for each page that needed to
print. Each wooded block could be used to
make thousands of copies.
Eventually, Pi Sheng invented a moveable
type so that each character had an individual
piece.
Printing led to inventions of paper currency
that benefited traders. It had the same value
as coin money but was lighter to carry. This
helped the economy and cities to grow.
The invention of
gunpowder allowed the
Chinese to create
explosives and weapons
such as the fire lance. They
also used it to make
fireworks.
The Chinese built large
ships with rudders and
sails that helped with
steering.
Chinese inventors also
perfected the magnetic
compass that helped
sailors navigate their ships
locations and sail farther
from land. Now, the
Chinese were able to sail to
South East Asia, India and
other places to the west.
The Tang and Song
Dynasties were a golden
age of Chinese culture.
Art flourished during
this period.
The Tang Dynasty is regarded as the great age of
poetry in China.
Li Bo was one of the most popular poets, known for
leading a carefree life and writing about nature.
Another poet, Du Fu was a poor civil servant who
faced many hardships. He often wrote about issues
such as the problems of the poor, the unfairness of
life, and the wastefulness of war.
During the Song Dynasty,
Chinese artists painted
landscapes, but didn’t show
the exact appearance of
places. Instead they tried to
portray the “idea” of
mountains, lakes, etc.
Artists left empty spaces in
their paintings to reflect the
Daoist belief that a person
can not know the whole
truth about something.
Humans were also shown as very small figures
in a natural landscape to express the idea that
people are only one part of a much larger
natural setting
Painters also wrote poems using calligraphy
(beautiful characters).
During the Tang dynasty,
artisans became skilled
in making Porcelain.
Because this later came
from China to the West,
people today sometimes
call porcelain “China”
Porcelain can be made
into figurines, vases,
cups, and plates.