Download The Sui, Tang and Song

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Chapter 10 (pp. 284 – 291)
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For most of the period 600 – 1450 C.E., Chinese dynasties
established regional hegemony over East Asia
o China became the strongest civilization in the world
o Dynasties like the Sui, Tang and Song reconstituted governments
that combined traditional sources of power & legitimacy with
innovations better suited to the current circumstances
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581 – 618 C.E.
Centralized imperial rule
Built the Grand Canal
o State-sponsored commercial
infrastructure
o Manmade waterways that
connected the major rivers in China
o Increased volume/variety of trade
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618 – 907
Li Shimin seized China’s capital Xi’an (Chang’an) and
proclaimed himself emperor of the Tang Dynasty

Strong
transportation/communi
cation systems
o Grand Canal
o Built/maintained an
advanced road system
o Continued to use Silk
Roads & Indian Ocean
Maritime System
• Cultural/technological
transfers between Tang
and Abbasids
• Chinese merchants
setup diasporic
communities through
Southeast Asia

Tribute System
o Existed in earlier
dynasties, but was
expanded/enhanced to
support the enormous
Tang dynasty
o Neighboring realms
were required to pay
tribute in forms of gifts
or money
• China acted as “the
Middle Kingdom”

Buddhism had been growing in China
since its Classical Period
o Mostly Mahayana Buddhism
• It allowed easier incorporation to
Chinese culture
o Empress Wu (690 – 705) was a strong
supporter of Buddhism
• Contributed huge sums to monasteries
and to commission paintings &
sculptures
• More than 50,000 temples were built
• Buddhist art, literature and cultural
traditions flourished
• Ex. Wu Daozi

Over time, tensions between
Confucianists & Buddhists grew
o Stemmed from ideological & economic
differences

In the 9th century, Confucian scholar
bureaucrats along with emperor
Wuzong conspired to end Buddhist
influence
o Burned thousands of monasteries &
forced Buddhist monks to flee

Results
o Confucianism reemerged as dominant
belief system
o Tang Dynasty weakened due to internal
turmoil and again China declined into a
period of decentralization


Chapter 10 (pp. 291 – 297)

Song reunited China in 960
o Emphasized civil administration, industry, education and art
• “Golden Era” in terms of finance & technology
o Strong centralized government
• Increased size of merit-based bureaucratic system (civil service)
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Finances
o Large bureaucratic system was
expensive, so taxes were raised
o Led to free peasant revolts

Military
o Led by scholar bureaucrats
• Little understanding of how to
direct armies
o Jurchens (northern nomads) &
other groups overran the northern
part of the Song Empire
o 1279, Mongols conquered the
southern Song
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Changes in economy began in Tang & were
refined in Song
Revolutions
o
Increased agricultural production to deal with
growing population
• Fast-ripening rice from Vietnam
• Improved irrigation techniques
o
Urbanization
• Tang capital Chang’an
•
Largest city in the world at the time
• Song capital Hangzhou
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Revolutions (continued)
o Technological innovations
•
•
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•
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Porcelain (chinaware)
Improved iron & steel metallurgy
Gunpowder
Movable type printing
Magnetic compass
o Financial inventions
• As trade grew, merchants
developed paper money
• Letters of credit called “flying
cash” allowed merchants to
move money (like a bank)
• Primitive checking

Neo-Confucianism
o Focused less on social & political order, and more on the soul &
spiritual relationships
o Reconciled relationship with Buddhism
o Influenced many civilizations throughout East & Southeast Asia
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Patriarchal structure grew more rigid
o Especially for the upper-classes
• Foot binding
• Demonstrated class & subservience to
males