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Tang Dynasty
~320-~550
Sui Dynasty (581-617)
~618-~907
~960-~1279
Rise – Tang - ~618-~907
• Han disintegrated
into Three
Kingdoms Period
• Three Kingdoms
united into shortlived Sui Dynasty
(581-617)
• Li Shimin
consolidated
unification his
father started
Rise - Tang
• Stability leads to
population growth
and wealth
• 690 - Wu Zetian –
only woman ever
to rule in China –
brief Dynasty
within a Dynasty
(“Zhou”)
Tang Dynasty c. 700 CE
Similarities
1. Leaders use military force to eliminate
rivals
2. Economic problems lay groundwork for
new power
3. Leaders establish new rule supported by
old definition of legitimacy – restoration
of old values, territories, traditions, etc.
4. Started stable, long-lasting stable empires
with prosperous periods
Achievements - Tang
• Trade! Economy
flourished – farflung trade
networks
• Social order
– Registry of families
– Confucianism &
exams
• Literature and
poetry
Achievements - Tang
• gunpowder
– by combining
saltpeter, sulfur,
and charcoal.
• block printing
• Other inventions
include mechanical
clocks that kept
very accurate time
Achievements - Tang
• established a law code,
• renovated the canal system to encourage
trade and communication inside of China.
Achievements - Tang
• strict social structure
• system consisted of
three main social
classes, which
included the gentry,
the peasantry, and
the merchants.
• Each class had its own
rights and duties, and
social mobility was
possible from one
class to another.
Achievements - Tang
• Tang physicians
developed a small pox
vaccine in the 10th
century.
• This idea eventually
spread west, and was
introduced in Europe
in the 1600’s.
Achievements - Tang
• Most populous region
of its time in world
• Buddhism = heavy
influence (however,
late Tang = resurgence
of Confucianism)
• Cartography
Role of Belief Systems: Tang
• Buddhism
• Confucianism
Fall - Tang
• Military strongmen
clashed among
themselves over
dominance at court.
• Eunuchs gained
increasing power
over the day-to-day
operations of the
central government.
• Great aristocratic
families schemed
against each other
for influence over
the emperors.
Fall of the Tang
• In the 880s, a civil
war between rival
military leaders
caused major
economic damage.
• Peasant rebellions
against exploitation
by desperate
landlords broke out
with increasing
frequency and
violence.
Fall of the Tang
• Finally, the armies
entered the capital
and massacred the
eunuchs, imposing
military oversight
on the last Tang
emperors.