Dynastic China:Sui to the Song

Review• Shang

• Oracle bones• Zhou

• Mandate of heaven• Qin

• 14 years• China named for

them • Great Wall

• Han• Golden Age

Hmmm… let’s see…Xia then Shang, Zhou,

Qin…then Han. Dude! this is

hard to remember!

Sui Dynasty: 589-618• Rise to Power

• 589 Emperor Wen Di conquered Chen kingdom and unified China for the first time in 400 years by

• Extensive public works projects (grand canal and Great Wall)

• Extended military control over China

• Government• Emperors Wen Di and Yang Di

• harsh rulers• Peasants forced into army or public

works• Wen Di encouraged Buddhism,

Confucianism, and Daoism

• Accomplishments• Built Grand Canal, connected Huang He

and Yangtze rivers• Rebuilt Great Wall to protect North Sui Wen-Di

Tang: Renaissance of China• 618-907• Rise to Power

• 618, Li Shi Min captured Changan and Luoyang and made himself emperor Dai Zong in 626

• Government• Under Empress Wu, Tang ruled one of

the most extensive empires in Chinese history

• Confucian Civil Service Exams reinstated

• Bureaucracy: government composed of departments, each with own area

• Scholar-gentry: bureaucrats upheld Confucian ideals by acting as artists and politicians, became new ruling elite

Chinese Scholars waiting for the exam results to be posted

Even Tangier• Achievements of the Tang

• Characterized by trade and agricultural expansion

• Trade• Silk Road protected• Islamic contacts increased• Ocean trade, Junks among world’s

best ships, Chinese dominated Indian ocean

• Paper money and flying money, letters of credit

• Agriculture• Canals and irrigations systems• Large estates broken up, land

redistributed• Tea and fast growing rice from

Vietnam• population growth• urban growth

Flying Money and Junk?

More Tangy achievements• Cultural

• Buddhism spread (Conf. remained dominant b/c restrictions on gifts to Buddhism)

• Gunpowder invented• Abacus to help count and

record taxes• Short stories and poetry

popular • Decline

• Internal strife and northern invasions Leshan Buddha

71 meters tall, completed in 803

Tang ArtSpring Outing at the Tang Court

Tang Ladies Playing

Ball

Beautiful Tang Ladies

Song: 960-1279• Rise to Power

• Tai Zu took over after 50 years of Civil War

• Government• Mongolians and Manchurians harassed

Northern borders for 200 years• paid tribute to the Mongols

• Forced to establish new capital at Hangzhou• Government officials came from south

because north was under Manchurian control

• Meritocracy: bureaucrats selected according to scores received on civil-service exams

Chinese Traditions under the Song• Neo-Confucianism

• official state religion• Blend of Buddhism and Confucianism and

some Daoism• reinforced gender and class divisions

• Civil service exams emphasized• Scholar gentry received more prestige

became known as Mandarins• considered more important than military

Achievements of Song• Trade

• Kept trade going• Power of Merchant class rose as

large-scale trade thrived

• Culture• Art: Landscapes• Footbinding among wealthy elite• patriarchal family

• Significant technological advances• catapults, rocket launchers, • Moveable type printing• compasses

Dailies: Sui, Tang, Song• What rivers did the Grand Canal connect?• Describe Flying money?• What two effects did fast growing rice have

on China?• Who were the Mandarins?• Describe the Civil-Service Exams.