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Sui, Tang and Song
Dynasties
AP World History
Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE)
Wendi ( a noble)
wins support of nomads
and wins control of
northern China
 589 – Defeats the Chen
kingdom (southern
China)
 Wins popularity by
lowering taxes and
establishes granaries
Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE)
Yangdi (Wendi’s son)






strengthens state by military
conquest & victories over
nomads
Reforms legal code and
Confucian educational system
Undertook expensive
construction projects (Great
Canal)
Scholar gentry brought back
into imperial administration
Moves capital to Loyang
Unsuccessful in attempt to
conquer Korea & defeated by
Turkic nomads – revolts
followed
Assassinated in 618
Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.)
 Established by Chinese general
Taizong
 Considered one of the greatest
dynasties of China
 Strengthened central government;
influenced by scholar-gentry
 Restored the civil service; civil
service exam strengthened
 Population in south (rice)
surpassed north (wheat & millet)
 Created a more stable economy;
paper money & flying money
introduced
 Broke up power of large land
owners - urban areas increased
in size
Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.)
 Expanded control of China to
NW & SW (Tibet), Bactria
(Afghanistan), Manchuria, &
 South Vietnam (tea & fast
growing rice imported)
 Chinese junks – Chinese
merchants dominated Indian
Ocean trade
 Trade and travel along Silk Road
increased; diplomatic relations
increased;
 Strengthened Great Wall; canals
and irrigation systems increased
agricultural prod.
 High point of culture; short
stories, poetry & painting
 Empress Wu Zhao – only woman
to hold title of emperor
Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.)
 Chang’an becomes seat of
the empire again (pop. of 2
million)
 Military superior to scholar
gentry
 Emphasized Confucian
principles, but Buddhism
gains acceptance
 Buddhist monasteries
increase wealth & power, but
Tang reacts by placing
restrictions on gifts - weakens
 Uighurs (Turkic speaking
mercenaries) overthrew govt.
in 907 (civil war followed)
 Decline: corruption, internal
rebellions & invasions of
northern nomads
Pre-Mongols
Song Dynasty (960-1269 A.D.)
•Moved capital to Hangzhou; overseas
trade continued
•Could not control the Khitan people
(northern nomads) (Liao Dynasty);
Chinese paid tribute – burdened
economy
•Civil service exams emphasized
•Scholar gentry gains higher status
over military
•Neo-Confucianism emerges - respect
for family and authority, but Chinese
elite withdraw from society; hostility to
foreign thought prevents entry of
innovations while stressing tradition
(stifles critical thinking)
Song Dynasty (960-1269 A.D.)
• Problems: Uighurs, lost
control of Tibet, paid tribute
to Jurchen peoples from
Manchuria
 Warfare technology:
catapults w/bombs &
grenades; flame throwers and
rocket launchers
 Innovations: printing with
moveable type, compass,
abacus (for taxes)
 Footbinding catches on with
upper class - spreads to
lower class
 Alliance with Mongols
backfired (Mongols defeated
Jurchen and overthrew Song
dynasty)
Economy/Society
 Farming society –
aristocrats owned most
of the land
 New technologies: steel,
gunpowder, porcelain,
mechanical clock, &
magnetic compass
 Guilds (association of
merchants) formed
 Money economy instead
of barter
 Paper money & coal (for
fuel) is used
 Long distance trade (Silk
Road) w/ Arabs &
Romans
Economy/Society
 Women – status
improved under the Tang
and early Song
(especially upper class),
but steadily declined
during late Song
(Confucianism, NeoConfucianism marriage
alliances, foot-binding)
 Islam & Christianity
spread to China
 Gentry class emerges
(well-to-do people from
education and civil
service
Tang-Song Rankings
Woman
Buddhist
Merchant
Farmer
Nomadic Invader
(Khitan or Jurchen)
Construction worker
Bureaucrat/scholar
gentry
Military
Neo-Confucian/
Confucian
 Entertainer –
acrobat or singing
girl