The Chinese Golden Age Ms. Carmelitano

End of the HanIn 220 AD The Han Dynasty collapsed,

splitting into three rival kingdoms◦Over the next 350 years 30 dynasties that

rose and fellIn 589 AD Wendi unified northern

China and restored a central government◦Sui Dynasty (581AD-618AD)◦Built the Grand Canal

Connects the Huang He and Chang Jiang

The Tang Dynasty618AD the peasants revolted

◦Overworked and overtaxedThe Tang family took control

◦618AD- 907 AD (300 years)Most important emperor: Tang Taizong

626-649 AD◦He seized the throne after killing his brothers◦Military campaigns expanded China from

Manchuria to Vietnam to the Aral Sea◦He created a unified code of laws for all of

eastern Asia

Empress Wu ZhaoBy 668 AD China defeated Korea in

military campaigns, The ruler at the time was Empress

Wu ZhaoShe held power as Regent from

660AD until 705ADIn 690 she declared herself the

official emperor◦She was the only woman to ever be

emperor in Chinese history

Tang GovernmentRe-instituted civil service

positions◦This restored a functional

bureaucracy Although the positions were

opened to all men, only the wealthy could afford the schooling necessary to perform well

Tang Loses powerTang emperors had to raise taxes

during the 700’s to cover the costs of expansion

751 Muslim armies defeated the Chinese at the Battle of Talas

907 AD the last Tang child emperor was murdered

The Song Empire 960-1279 ADChina was again divided into

separate kingdoms960 AD General Taizu reunited China

and became the first Song Emperor◦Paid tributes of silver, silk and tea to

northern invaders to keep peaceIn1127:

◦The Jurchen people conquered northern China establishing the Jin in North and Song in South

Golden AgePopulation doubled, to 100 million peopleScience and Technology

◦ Moveable type Printers could arrange blocks of individual characters to

make a page for printing◦ Gunpowder

Used for fireworks later for guns and bombsPaper Money, Porcelain, mechanical clocks,

magnetic compassAgriculture

◦ Imported a new type of rice that could be harvested twice a year

◦ Production of more food to feed population

Golden AgeArt: Paintings reflected beauty

and balance and nature Poetry

◦Li Bo who wrote about life’s pleasure◦Tu Fu who praised Confucian virtues

and was critical about hardships of war

Changes in SocietyPeople moved to cities and had more

social mobility (Urbanization)Aristocratic power fadedA new class of scholar officials called

gentry emerged ◦Attained status through education and civil

service rather than land ownership◦Middleclass under them – merchants,

shopkeepers, artisans◦Lowest class: laborers, soldiers, servants◦Countryside- peasants

WomenWomen were subservient to Men

◦Especially among upper-classPeasant women worked in the fieldsFoot binding:

◦A sign of wealth for women◦As a child, girls feet were bound in tight

cloth◦This resulted in the bones breaking, and

the toes being forced under the foot◦Women were immobile for life

The MongolsNomads living on the Asian Steppe – North

of China and Asia◦It is very dry and has harsh temperature

changes◦The Nomads were pastoralists: nomadic herders

Genghis Kahn◦United the Mongols (One of the nomadic ethnic

groups)◦For 21 years he lead them to conquer much of

Asia◦1211 conquered the Jin Empire, and then went

into the Muslim world

The MongolsKublai Khan

◦Genghis Khan’s grandson◦1279 invaded and took over China◦Established the Yuan Dynasty

United China after 300 years of separation

Considered one of China’s Great Emperors