Download China - Korea - Japan

East Asia
China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan
China 600-1200 CE
 Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties
 During this period, Chinese dynasties
brought about significant improvements
in food production and distribution,
which resulted in an increase in
population, rise of urbanization, and
specialization in various technologies.
Background
 220 CE: Collapse of Han dynasty
 During last two centuries of Han rule, large
landowners gained influence in the
government. They reduced their own taxes
and raised the taxes of the peasants. There
was massive discontent and rebellion.
 Han military generals took power, aligning
themselves with regional landowners as war
lords.
 Han dynasty dissolved in region ruled by war
lords.
Decline of Confucianism
 During Han dynasty, elites and
intellectuals embraced Confucian
traditions.
Confucian traditions were believed to
ensure social order and stability.
 With collapse of Han dynasty and
disintegration of China into warring
states, interest in Confucianism
lessened.
Sui
 Founded by Yang Jian, who had established
himself as a powerful regional warlord.
 Conquered other warlords and reunited
China.
 Sui dynasty established power using
legalistic means similar to those of Qin Shi
Huang Di  Strong central government,
harsh rules, forced labor.
Sui Dynasty innovations
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Transportation and communications network
Distribution of land: equal field system
Government bureaucracy based on merit.
Grand Canal: to facilitate trade between
northern and southern China and to make
abundant food supplies in south available to
north
Tang
 627-907 CE: Expanded territory
 Tried to establish a Confucian, beneficent
government  Stressed Confucian
education and civil service.
 Improved on developments during Sui
dynasty:
 Transportation and communications network
 Distribution of land - equal field system:
 problems: rise in population, bribery by wealthy, land
given to Buddhist monasteries.
 Government bureaucracy based on merit.
TANG CHINA
Tang Foreign Relations
 Tributary relationship with neighboring
lands.
 Neighbor recognized Chinese emperors as
overlords.
 Paid tribute in form of gifts
 Kowtow: ritual prostration before emperor.
 Chinese gave gifts and recognition in return.
End of Tang Dynasty
 Tang dynasty declined in power due to
ineffective leadership by later emperors.
 Rebellions occurred and emperors gradually
gave over control to regional war lords.
 War lords controlled separate regions until
Song dynasty reestablished centralized rule.
Song Taizu (r.960-976)
 Junior military officer of one of the most
powerful war lords in China.
 Song had a reputation for honesty and
effectiveness
 In 960 his troops proclaimed him
emperor.
 Song and his troops subdued the other
war lords.
Song Dynasty
 960-1279 CE
 Did not develop into a powerful state.
 Emperors kept military in a subordinate
position.
 Did not develop into a powerful militaristic state.
 Focused on civil administration, industry,
education, and the arts instead of military.
 Created a large bureaucracy.
End of Song Dynasty
 Massive bureaucracy created strain on
economy, raised taxes, and angered
the peasants.
 Lack of strong military allowed nomadic
peoples to gain power.
 Nomadic Mongol tribes invaded,
ending dynasty in 1279.
Social aspects of Tang and Song periods
 Agricultural advancements
 Population growth
 Division of labor
 Specialization of crafts
 Innovations in techniques and new
inventions.
 Changes in religion.
Agricultural development in
Tang and Song Periods
 Improvements in farming:
Heavy iron plows
Oxen and water buffaloes
Fertilized fields
Irrigation systems
 Well organized food distribution system
Populations Expansion
 Increased food supply resulted in rapid
rise in population.
 Growth of cities
 Chang’an believed to be the world’s
largest city with estimated population of
two million during Tang dynasty.
 By Song Dynasty, China most
urbanized area in the world.
Economy
 Abundant food supply allowed division
of labor.
 Specialization in technological areas
 Improved existing technologies and
invented new products.
Innovations in China
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Paper
Printing
Letters of credit/ cash
Gunpowder/ explosives
The magnetic compass
Porcelain, fine china.
Improvements in production of iron and steel
Religious/Philosophical Traditions
 Sects honoring family ancestors.
 Legalist, Confucian, Daoist philosophies.
 Confucianism had declined with collapse
of Han dynasty but saw a come back
during this period.
New Religions in China
 Mahayana Buddhism  Tibet
 Nestorian Christianity  Assyrian Church of
Persia
 Islam from Islamic Empire
 Zoroastrianism from Persia
Buddhism
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Bodhisatvas and multiple protector deities.
Silk Road 1st or 2nd century CE
Monastic communities
Attraction:
 alternative view of the world that related to chaos
after Han dynasty
 dealt with metaphysical issues that were
neglected in Confucianism
 strong moral and intellectual dimensions.
Buddhism Adaptations
 Use Daoist terms to express Buddhist
concepts:
 Dharma (teachings of the Buddha) is called dao
“the way”
 Recognized validity of Chinese family life.
 Provided a means for Chinese families to
gain religious merit: supporting monks and
giving one son to monastery.
 For one son to become a monk would guarantee
salvation for ten generations of his family.
Chan Buddhism (Zen)
 Influence of Daoism on Buddhism:
Rejected Buddhist emphasis on texts,
logic, and intellectual rigor.
Believed that spiritual awakening is
found through insight, awareness,
meditation.
Critics of Buddhism
 Buddhist asceticism and monasticism
went against Confucian values.
 Support for Buddhism took away
sources of funding for Daoism.
 Buddhism seen as a superstition
 Monasteries seen as leeches upon
society.
Assyrian Church
 Adopted a version of Nestorianism  a form
of early Christianity that was rejected by the
Byzantine church.
 Assyrian Church believed that Christ had two
separate essences: human and divine.
 Brought to China in 635 by missionaries.
 This was the first form of Christianity to be
introduced to China.
Foreign religions suppressed
 Emperor Wuzang of Tang (840-846)
suppressed all foreign religions,
including Buddhism and Christianity,
which declined sharply in China.
Neo-Confucianism
 Adapted Buddhist themes and logical
reasoning to Confucian interests and
values.
 Added a metaphysical dimension to
Confucianism
 Supported by Song Dynasty
Korea
 In the 600s Tang dynasty conquered
much of Korea.
 Korea remained independent by
recognizing and paying tribute to the
Chinese emperors.
 China had significant influence upon
Korea.
Korean Distinctiveness
 Korea never established a bureaucracy
based on merit.
 Aristocrats and royalty dominated
Korean society.
Vietnam
 Tang dynasty invaded Vietnam.
 Viet elites adopted Chinese
administrative and agricultural
methods, and studied Confucianism.
 Viet people resented Chinese
domination, though won independence
with the fall of the Tang dynasty.
Japan
 China did not invade Japan, but China
had significant influence upon Japan.
Central administration
Writing and literature
Confucianism and Buddhism
Japan’s Distinctiveness
 Shinto religion
 From the Heian period (794-1185 CE)
Japanese emperors did not rule, but
served as figure heads.
 In medieval period, war lords rejected
influence of Confucianism for emphasis
on military strength- time of the
samurai.