Transcript East Asia - Watertown City School District

East Asia
After the Han Dynasty
• After the Han dynasty collapsed in 220
CE, no emperor was strong enough to
hold China together
• 581 CE- Sui Dynasty
• Only lasted for two emperors
• Grand Canal- connected North and
South China
• Increased trade- cities developed
along the route
Tang and Song Dynasties
• Two of the most influential of the
Chinese Dynasties were the Tang
and Song Dynasties
• These dynasties were important in
developing China’s culture prior to
the Mongol invasions.
Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE)
• Founded by Li Yuan and Li ShiMin (father and son)
• Li ShiMin takes on the name Tang Taizong
• Strong military expanded the empire- forced
neighboring lands of Vietnam, Tibet, and Korea to
become tributary states
• While they remained self-governing, they
had to acknowledge Chinese supremacy and
send regular tribute ($) to the emperor
• Brings wealth to
China, expands
trade and cultural
diffusion, but
increases Chinese
ethnocentrism
Tang Dynasty
• Restored uniform government throughout China
• Rebuilt bureaucracy and established a flexible
new law code
• Expanded civil service system (based on
Confucian teachings), built schools to prepare
male students for the exams
• Land Reforms- broke up large land holdings and
redistributed land to peasants
• Strengthened the governmentweakened the power of large landowners, brought in more money
via taxes
• Expanded network of roads and canals
• Decline- corruption, high taxes, drought,
famine, rebellion, border attacks
Empress Wu
• Wu Zetian originally came to the court of Tang Taizong to
become one of the emperor’s secondary wives
• After his death, she became the favored wife of his son
and successor
• Rose above rival wives to become the empress
• Virtually ruled China for many years on behalf of her sick husband
• Created a secret police to spy on her opposition
• Was declared emperor of China in 690- the only woman in China to be
declared so
• Found the best people to help her run the government (scholars rather
than wealthy military men), lowered taxes for peasants, increased
agricultural production, strengthened public works
Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE)
• Established by a scholarly general
named Zhao Kuangyin
• Ruled for slightly longer than the
Tang, but controlled less territory
• Faced constant threat of invaders in the
north
Together, the Tang and Song
Dynasties are thought of as a
Golden Age in China- time of
wealth and prosperity with
achievements in math, science, and
technology
Well Ordered Society
• Society was rigid during these dynastiesvery strict social system
• At top of society was the emperor, whose
court was filled with aristocratic families
• Huge bureaucracy oversaw China’s huge
population
• Officials came from scholar gentry
• Departments included tax collecting,
government revenue, medicine,
astronomy, mathematics
• Gentry- wealthy landowners who valued
scholarship over physical labor
• Supported a revival of Confucian
thought
Confucianism and Civil Service
• Confucianism developed in China around 500 BCE
• Philosophy of ideas concerning social order and
good government
• Harmony occurs when people accept their place in
society
• Filial piety- respect for one’s father, elders, and
ancestors
• It is a ruler’s responsibility to provide good
government, and in return the people will be loyal
subjects
• Confucianism preached the value of education, and
influenced the development of the civil service
exam which gave government jobs based on merit
rather than family ties
Peasants, then Merchants?
• Majority of Chinese society were peasants
• Worked the land, living on what they produced
• Lived in small, self-sufficient villages
• Could move up in society through education
and government service
• Although merchants could be wealthy, they sat at
the bottom of the social hierarchy
• Confucian tradition- lowest status because
their wealth came from the labor of
others
Status of Women
• Chinese society was patriarchal- valued boys
more than girls
• Women “became a part” of husband’s
family- never allowed to remarry, had no
access to dowry
• Women had power in household by managing
the home- servants and family finances
• Subordinate position of women reinforced by
custom of foot binding during the Song
dynasty
• Small feet were a symbol of beauty and a
sign of wealth/status
• Extremely painful, led to crippled-style of
walking
• Peasants who needed their daughters to
work in fields rejected the practice, but
most women did have their feet bound
Buddhism in the Tang and Song
• Buddhist merchants visited China as early as the second century B.C.
• Found a popular following in Tang and Song China
• Emphasized high standards of morality, intellectual sophistication,
and a promise of salvation
• Not taxed by government
• Monks free of labor and taxes
Review- Buddhism
Goal is to reach Nirvana
Life is suffering because of
desire
End desire by following the
Eight-fold Path
Reincarnation to keep
trying to get to Nirvana
Buddhist Persecution
• Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution (840’s-900 CE)
• Initiated in an effort to gain war funding by
stripping Buddhism of its wealth and drive
foreign influences from China (other religions
persecuted as well)
Persecution- hostility and
ill-treatment, especially
because of race or political
or religious beliefs.
• Buddhist land and monks not taxed
• Daoists: opposed to “foreign” religion
• Nirvana = spiritual death
• Wanted only native Chinese
religions to rule
• Confucians: Had government power
• Buddhist equality opposed Five
Relationships
• Ascetic life destroyed marital bonds & family
Economic Prosperity
• Improved farming methods
• New form of fast-growing rice imported from
Vietnam allowed farmers to harvest two
crops per year rather than one
• New heavy iron plows, enriched soil with
manure and compost, extensive irrigation
systems
• Increased trade with foreign countriesIndia, Persia, and the Middle East
• Via both land (Silk Road) and sea
• Tea introduced to China from Southeast Asia
• Government issues paper money to improve
trade (1st in the world)
• Lighter, easier and safer to carry
• Increase in food production and increase in
trade lead to population increase in cities
Advances in Science & Technology
• Using earlier advances, close observation, and
analysis, the Chinese made many
breakthroughs in astronomy, medicine, and
military technology
• Astronomy- accurate star maps and calendars
• Improved acupuncture
• Gunpowder- invented during the Tang and
expanded in use during Song
• Initially used in fireworks
• Weapons- canons, “fire-lances” and other
firearms
• Porcelain- lighter, thinner, and adaptable to
more uses than earlier pottery, also
aesthetically pleasing
• Song porcelain found as far away as East Africa
The Printed Word
• First wood-block printing press (Tang)
• Carved a reverse image of an entire
page into a wooden block, inked the
block, then pressed a sheet of paper on
top of it
• Song create movable-type printing press
• Fashioned dies in the shape of
ideographs, arranged them in a frame,
inked them, and pressed the frame over
paper sheets
• Books faster/easier to make
• Cheaper- More people can buy/afford
• Literacy rates increase
• Knowledge expands and new ideas
circulate- Buddhist and Confucian texts,
calendars, agricultural and medical texts
Culture in the Tang and Song
• Art- painting and calligraphy were essential skills
for scholar-gentry
• Simple strokes and lines creating balance and
harmony
• Landscapes become popular
• Sculptures of Buddha
• Architecture- influenced by Buddhist themes
• Pagoda- multistoried temple with eaves turned up
• Literature- poetry was most respected form of
literature
• Confucian scholars were expected to master poetry
as a skill
• Buddhist and Daoist themes, social issues,
shortness of life and immensity of the universe
• Li Bo- harmony with nature
• Du Fu- more realistic
Fall of the Song Dynasty
• The Song Dynasty falls due to a variety of
reasons
• Weaker later rulers
• Too many Scholar-Gentry and
Government officials
• Paid by taxes
• Too expensive to maintain
• Weaker military
• Invaded and defeated by Mongols in 1279 CE
Korea
• Korea is located Northeast of China- separated
by mountains and the Yalu River
• Peninsula with many mountains
• The peninsula points towards Japan, making it
the perfect cultural bridge to spread culture
from China and Korea to Japan.
Korea and China
• Korea sees itself as the ‘younger brother’ to
China and accepted help in its development.
• Many ideas passed to Korea from China,
such as Buddhism and the Civil Service
exams
• Though the Koreans adopted many ideas
from China they rejected the complicated
Chinese writing style. They developed their
own writing called hangul- the Korean
phonetic alphabet that uses symbols to
represent the sounds of spoken Korean.
• Because it was so much easier to learn
and use, Korea’s literacy rate soared
Chinese….Korean
Japan- Geography
• Archipelago east of Korea- 4 main islands
and 3,000 smaller ones
• 73% of Japan is mountainous terrain
• Difficult to farm terrace farming
• Can limit political unification
• Seas protect and isolate Japan
• Korea serves as a cultural bridge, but
Japan still creates a unique and distinct
culture
The Ring of Fire
• Japan is part of the Ring of Fire- a region in
the Pacific effected by earthquakes and
volcanoes
• Seismic activity can cause underground/
underwater earthquakes, leading to tidal
waves called tsunamis
• In 2011, a large earthquake occurred off
the coast of Japan. That earthquake
resulted in a tsunami that killed thousands
of people in Japan
Ancient Japan
• Japan’s mountains made it difficult to
unite (think Greece)
• Uji (clan system) develops
• Decentralized, patrilineal
• Each family had and maintained
own warriors
• There was no unifying force in Japan,
politically or religiously
• Most Japanese practiced a form of
Shinto
Review- Shinto
• Shinto is based on worship of Nature.
The Japanese believe in harmony
between living spirits.
• Polytheistic- nature spirits are known
as Kami
• Unlike other religions, Shinto never
spread beyond Japan, but can be
compared to animism.
• Shinto declines when Buddhism
arrives in Japan around 500 CE
Cultural Bridge
Japan owes much of its development to cultural diffusion from China,
which passed through Korea, the Cultural Bridge. Though Japan receives
many ideas from China, they will adapt them to their own needs.
600-700 CE
800 CE
-Japanese traveled to China The Tang dynasty
to study Chinese
begins to decline,
Civilization
Japanese stop traveling
-Japanese capital modeled to China
after China’s
-Adopt the food, dress and
language from China
-Tea ceremony, music,
dance styles, etc. are
adopted
900-1200 CE
-Keep some Chinese ideas
-Japanese artists develop art
that focus on nature’s force
-Change the Chinese writing
system to make it easier
Cultural Diffusion & Selective Borrowing
• Examples of cultural diffusion:
• Pagodas
• Buddhism
• Writing (but added kana- phonetic
symbols representing syllables)
• Wood block prints
• Despite the many ideas, beliefs and
technologies that the Japanese adopted
from China, there were several items
they did not adopt
• Civil Service Exam- instead
continued to give important
government position based on
family connections
Heian Court- 794-1185 CE
• Imperial period of Japanese history
when many aspects of Chinese culture
are imported
• Period of elegant and sophisticated
culture- art, writing, clothing
• World’s first novel written by a
woman- Tales of Genji by Murasaki
Shikibu
Japanese Feudalism
• In the countrysides of Japan, rival clans battled for control
• Emperor ruled in name, but Shoguns (military governors)
held real power
• Powerful clans and families fought for the title of Shogun
from 1100s to 1603
• A feudal system developed to provide protection and
stability during the chaos
• Very similar to Europe’s- rigid social structures,
created social order, and was a form of protection
Japan’s Feudal Classes
• Emperor- little actual power
• Shogun- powerful military leaders
• Daimyo- nobles/lords who had large
armies and large land holdings
• Samurai- warrior class
• Peasants- largest class
• Merchants- at the bottom
because they made $ off
the work of others
Samurai
• Samurai were the fighting aristocracy
• Trained from birth to fight- true
samurai had no fear of death
• Given land by daimyo, built and
maintained manors/castles
• Protected the serfs living under them,
took 40% of rice crop as payment
• Followed the code of Bushido- “way of the
warrior”
• Emphasized honor, bravery, and
absolute loyalty to one’s lord
• If they violated Bushido, they were
expected to commit Seppuku, a ritual
suicide
Bushido and Chivalry
• Bushido and Chivalry were both codes of
moral conduct for the warrior class.
• Bushido stressed honor, loyalty and
bravery
• Chivalry stressed loyalty, respect for
women and proper fighting
• The Code of Bushido was more
successful in controlling the Samurai
than the code of Chivalry for the
European Knights
Mongol “fail”-boats
• In the 1200s the Mongols had taken
China, and quickly spread to their other
territories.
• However, on their attempts to take over
the Mongols encountered typhoons. The
typhoons destroyed the Mongol fleets.
• The Japanese said the Kamikaze (divine
winds) saved them from the Mongols
Tokugawa Shogunate
• 1603- Tokugawa Ieyasu gained control over most
of the Japanese archipelago
• This marks the first unified Japan
• Kept outward forms of feudal society, but imposed
centralized government control  centralized
feudalism
• Forced daimyo to live in the capital city of
Edo every other year, but wives and children
had to live there permanently
• Also could not repair castles or marry without
permission from the shogun
• Passed laws to keep the social order rigid
and unchanging
• Only samurai could hold gov’t jobs, peasants
had to remain on the land, lower classes
couldn’t wear luxuries like silk clothing
Economic Prosperity
• Despite strict social order, Japan’s economy grew massively under the
Tokugawa Shogunate
• Fewer feudal conflicts meant that agriculture improved and expanded
• Food surpluses led to rapid population growth
• Internal trade increased- new roads link Edo to daimyo castles
• Wealthy merchant class emerges
• Despite low status under Confucian tradition (why?) gained
influence by lending $ to daimyo and samurai
Tokugawa Isolation
• The most important act taken by the Tokugawa Shogunate was the
isolation of Japan- Closed Country Edict in 1636
• Japan cut itself off from trade with other people and cultures (limited
trade for supplies with China and Korea), prohibits travel abroad
• Japan would be isolated for over 300 years
Positive effects:
● Internal trade grows
● Peace and stability in
Japan
● Uniformity of
Japanese culture
maintained
● Japan not imperialized
by Europeans
Negative effects:
● Lack of cultural
diffusion
● Technology falls behind
(esp. military tech)
● Christianity outlawed
and persecuted
Review
Korea greatly influenced the development of early
Japan by
1) Acting as a bridge for ideas from China
2) Providing Japan with the technology for
industrialization
3) Serving as a barrier against Chinese aggression
4) Protecting Japan from early foreign invasions.
Review
The code of Bushido of the Japanese Samurai is the
most similar to
1) Belief in reincarnation and karma of Hindus
2) Practice of chivalry by European knights
3) Teachings of Judaism
4) Theory of natural rights of the Enlightenment
writers
Review
Which is a characteristic of a Feudal Society?
1) Rapid social change
2) High literacy rate
3) Industrial-based economy
4) Rigid class structure
Review
A valid generalization about early Japanese culture is
that Japan
1) Had a strong influence on the development of
culture in Korea
2) Spread Shinto throughout Asia
3) Maintained a uniquely individual culture while
borrowing much from other cultures
4) Imported almost all of its cultural ideas from
China, resulting in nearly identical cultures
Review
In Japan between 1603 and 1868 the most notable
action taken by the Tokugawa Shogunate was the
1) Military conquest of China
2) Development of extensive trade with the
Americas
3) Formation of cultural links with Europe
4) Virtual isolation of the country from the outside
world