Download PAP World History Notes – Chapter 12 12.1 Two Great

PAP World History
Notes – Chapter 12
12.1
Two Great Dynasties of China
 By 589, Emperor Sui Wendi united northern and southern China
 Restored central government
 Golden age under next 2 dynasties: Tang and Song
 Became most advanced, richest, powerful country in the world
The Tang Dynasty Expands China
 Sui Dynasty
o Lasted only 2 emperors
o Greatest accomplishment – finished Great Canal
 Connected the Huang He and Yangtze Rivers
 Provided trade between north and south
 To dig 1000 mile waterway
 Used peasants – men and women
 Took 5 years
 Half died on job
 Thousands more died on rebuilding Great Wall
 This (and fact they were overtaxed and overworked) caused them to
revolt
 In 618, a member of the court strangled the 2nd Sui emperor
Tang Rulers Create a Powerful Empire
 Sui dynasty was short but laid a good foundation
 Tang Dynasty was next – first emperor: Tang Taizong
o Expanded empire
o Took Korea
 During the Korean campaign – the ruler was Wu Zhao (woo jow)
 She held real power while others sat the throne
 Assumed title of emperor herself in 690 – only woman in China to ever
do so
o Tang emperors
 Strengthened central government
 Expanded networks of roads and canals
 Lowered taxes for peasants and took land from wealthy and gave it to the poor
 Promoted foreign trade
 Improvements in agriculture
 Tank China prospered
Scholar Officials
 Needed to revive the bureaucracy started in the Han Dynasty
o Civil Service system was in disarray
o Wanted to recruit good officials
o
o
 Began to educate candidates
 Those who passed the hard exam became part of the scholar officials
In theory the exams were open to all males
 Only wealthy could education needed to take the exams
 Some who had political connections were appointed without the exams
System worked well
 As exam grew in importance talent and education became more important than
noble birth
 Many moderately wealthy shared in government as a result
The Tang Lose Power
 Had to raise taxes to support expanding military
o This still did not offset the needs of government
o During famine, peasants roamed country in gangs
 They could not maintain control over the vastness of the empire
 Outside invasions and internal rebellions broke the dynasty apart
The Song Dynasty Restores China
 After fall of Tang, Chinese warlords divided China into kingdoms
 Was united again by Song Taizu
 Never as large as was under Han and Tang
o But stable, powerful and prosperous
 Tried to buy peace with enemies with tributes of silver, silk and tea
o Failed to stop threat
o By 1100’s Manchurians called Jurchens conquered northern China
 Set up Jin Empire
 Forced Song south of the Huang He
 Then Song only ruled southern China
 After Song fled south
o They set up new capitol Hangzhou
o Southern Song saw record economic growth
o Becomes economic heartland of China
o Merchants in south grew rich from trade
An Era of Prosperity and Innovation
 During the Song Dynasty – population of China was 100 million
 Most populous and advanced country in the world
Science and Technology
 Movable type – could move blocks around to make type to print
 Gunpowder – explosive weapons: bombs, grenades, rockets, cannons
 Porcelain
 Mechanical clock
 Paper money
 Magnetic compass for sailing
 Developed algebra
 Used the zero

Used negative numbers
Agriculture
 Improved rice cultivation
 Imported new fast ripening rice from Vietnam
o Allowed 2 rice harvests per year per farmer
o Allowed more food to feed growing population
Trade and Foreign Contacts
 During Tang and Song, foreign trade flourished
 Guarded silk roads until fall of Tang
 Turned to sea for trade
 Became greatest sea power in the world
 Had largest port cities in world
 International trade
 Helped spread Buddhism
 Tea, Islam and Christianity came to China
The Golden Age of Art
 Prosperity nurtured art
 Wealth, education and urbanism fostered art
 Scholar officials were to write poetry and own at least piece of good art
 Painting show Daoist influence
o Beauty of natural landscapes
o Single branch or flower
o Did not use bright colors
o Black ink was favorite
Changes in Chinese Society
 People moved to the cities in large numbers
 Growing cities offered opportunities for managers, professionals and skilled workers
 Greatest achievement was civil service system
Levels of Society
 Upper class (gentry) – scholar officials and their families; attained by education and civil service
positions (this replaced land owners on top); many gained enough wealth to own land
 Urban Middle Class – merchants, shopkeepers, skilled artisans, minor officials
 Lower class – laborers, soldiers, servants
 Peasant class – largest class
Status of Women
 Had always been subservient to men
 Status further declined during Tang and Song
 Status declined most upper class women in cities
o Their work was considered even less important in the family scheme of things
 Peasant women not affected as much by changing attitudes – they still worked in the fields to
produce food – nothing changed

One sign of changing status was foot binding – practice continued through 20th century
o Young girls feet were bound with cloth
o Eventually broke the arch and it wrapped under – except for big toe
o Called a “lily foot”
o Crippled for life
o Sign of wealth and prosperity – husband could afford such a beautiful but impractical
wife
11.2
The Mongol Conquests
 Mongols to the north prided themselves
o Skill on horseback
o Discipline
o Ruthlessness
o Courage in battle
 They wanted wealth and glory that they could get from conquering great empires
Nomads of the Asian Steppe
 Mongols
 Steppe – in Eurasia
o Dry grassland
o Served as a land trade route between east and west
o And home to nomadic Mongols
Geography of the Steppe
 Eastern steppe occupied by Huns, Turks and Mongols
 Very little rain
 Dry air does support short hardy grasses
 Temperature extremes
 Western areas rain more plentiful and milder climate – where most people of the steppe live
 Where the steppe ended is where cultivated fields began
The Nomadic Way of Life
 Nomad were pastoralists
 Constantly on the move looking for pasture land
 Did not wander but followed seasonal pattern – same pattern yearly
 Often fought over land areas that they came back to occupy after being gone
 The depended on their animals for
o Food
o Clothing
o Housing
 Traveled in kinship groups called clans
o Member so each clan had common ancestors
o Relied on leaders to make good decisions
 Where to pasture
 Military strategies
o
Different clans sometimes came together to fight against an enemy
Steppe Nomads and Settled Societies
 Nomads and settled people lived among each other
o Often the traded peacefully
o Nomads traded horses for things they needed: grain, metal, cloth and tea
o Nomads were use to hardship and prided themselves on toughness
o Often tempted by what wealthy had and sometimes took by force
 Settled people lived in fear of raids
 The settled people of the steppe tried to keep out nomadic peoples
o Built and rebuilt Great Wall
o But during times of weakened states the raids increased
o Sometimes strong groups like Genghis Khan and his Mongols would take over whole
empires
 Often would become a part of the civilization they conquered
The Rise of the Mongols
Genghis Khan Unites the Mongols
 Temujin – clan leader
o Wanted to unite the Mongols
o He began to defeat enemies ruthlessly
o Accepted title Genghis Khan with means “universal ruler” – lead all Mongol clans
o Ruled 21 years
o Wanted to conquer all of Asia
 Started with China
 Then turned to Islamic regions because he was angry about the murder of
Mongol traders by Muslims
 Ruthless in his pursuit of Muslims
Genghis the Conqueror
 Why he was so successful
o Great organizer
 Organized his military into units led by able commanders
o Gifted strategist
 Used tricks
 Send in small unit; then have them retreat; once chased the enemy
would ride right into a larger army and be slaughtered
 Make the army look larger than it was – would dress prisoners or lifelike
dummies in Mongol clothing
 Used spies
o Adopted new weapons and technologies from others
 Captured Chinese engineers to make catapults and gunpowder for them and
then used it to conquer the Chinese
o Used cruelty as a weapon
 The terror they inflicted would precede them and groups would surrender
without a fight
The Mongol Empire
 He died in 1227 from illness
o his successors continued to expand from China to Poland
o created the largest empire in history
The Khanates
 Great Khan was Genghis’ son and continued to expand
 By 1260 the empire was divided into Khanates – each ruled by a descendant of Genghis
 Was called the “Khanate of the Great Khan”
The Mongols as Rulers
 Many areas invaded by the Mongols never recovered
o Sometimes whole populations were destroyed
o Land was destroyed, irrigation system destroyed, etc
 This could no longer sustain populations
The Mongol Peace
 The Mongols imposed stability, law and order across Eurasia
o Period sometimes called “Mongol Peace”
o They guaranteed safe passage of trade caravans, travelers and missionaries all over the
empire
o Trade had never been more active
o New ideas, inventions and innovations flourished during this time
o They probably spread the first bubonic plague in Europe
11.3
Empire of the Great Khan
 Kublai Khan – grandson of Genghis Khan
o Titled – Great Khan
 Ruled all of Mongol Empire in theory
o Actually ruled one of 4 khanates
 Other descendants of Genghis ruled the other 3
o He expanded his khanate over
 Mongolia
 Korea
 Tibet
 N. China
 Had to fulfill his father’s goal to rule all of China – so he focused on expanding
his own khanate
Kublai Khan Conquers China
 Took 3 generations of Mongols to rule all of China
 Kublai Khan was successful
Beginning of a New Dynasty
 Kublai Khan
o
o




Founded Yuan (yoo-AHN) Dynasty
Dynasty important because
 United China (considered him Greatest Chinese Emperor)
 Mongol rule opened greater foreign contacts and trade
 Tolerated Chinese culture and made few changes to the government system
Kublai spent most of his life in China – unlike ancestors
He did not hate civilization like ancestors
Liked luxury
Built square walled capitol at what is now Beijing (this moved the capital from Mongolia to
China)
o Palace impressed Marco Polo – a traveling European
Failure to Conquer Japan
 Almost destroyed Korean economy by forcing them to build, sail and provide provisions for fleet
to attack Japan
 Second Attempt: Largest seaborne invasion in history until WWII
o a typhoon destroyed Mongol fleet
o Japan referred to it as “kamikaze” or “divine wind”
Mongol Rule in China
 Mongol Rule (barbaric and backwards) could not rule sophisticated China
 Also few Mongols compared to Chinese population
 Kublai had to use existing Chinese institutions and non-Mongol officials to rule successfully
The Mongols and the Chinese
 Little in common with the Chinese
o So they lived apart from them
o Followed different laws
o Did not trust them so only kept officials at local level
o Gave high posts to Mongols and foreigners (they had no local loyalties)
 Muslims
 Marco Polo – Venice – Christian
 Able leader
o Restored Grand Canal and extended it to Beijing
o Built paved highway along its banks to improve trade
Encouragement of Foreign Trade
 Mongol Peace kept trade routes safe
 Created post roads or mail routes – improved trade
 Invited merchants to visit China
 Chinese trade items
o Silk
o Porcelain
o Printed items
o Gun powder
o Compass
o Paper currency
o
Playing cards
Marco Polo at the Mongol Court
 Venetian trade
 Came to Kublai court in 1275 – worked for him for 17 years
 Had learned several Asian languages along Silk Roads
 Went on government missions for Kublai
 Went back to Venice 2 years before Kublai died
 Later during a war in Venice, Marco Polo was imprisoned
o He wrote of his adventures in China
 Their opulence
 Coal burning in homes
 Wealth etc
 A fellow prisoner put it into a book
 Read throughout Europe
 No one believed the stories – thought they were tall tales
The End of Mongol Rule
 Problems in the Mongol rule began 1 year before Kublai’s death
 He continued to expand
o Had several defeats that were costly
o Heavy spending on wars and military were debilitating the empire
o Spending on public works and luxuries for the high court burdened the treasury
o All created resentment
Yuan Dynasty Overthrown
 Kublai died in 1294 at age 80
 Family members struggled for control
 Rebellions by Chinese broke out
o They resented Mongol rule
o Tired of humiliation
o Rebellions were also fueled by
 Famine
 Flood
 Disease
 Economic problems
 Official corruption
o In 1398 Chinese finally overthrew the Mongols and established the Ming Dynasty
o Some Mongols stayed in China to be cavalrymen; others returned the Mongolian Steppe
– their home
12.4
Feudal Powers in Japan
 Japan lies east of China
 Japan comes from Chinese words ri ben = origin of the sun

Borrowed ideas, institutions and culture from China – took in ideas but made them their own
The Growth of Japanese Civilization
 Island location shaped its civilization
 Separated by enough water to benefit from other Asian cultures, but far enough to be safe from
invasion
The Geography of Japan
 4,000 islands – Japanese archipelago (island group)
 Most lived on 4 biggest islands
o Hokkaido (hah-Ky-doh)
o Honshu (HAHN-shoo)
o Shikoku (shih-KOH-koo)
o Kyushu (kee-OO-shoo)
 Mild climate with plenty of rain
 So mountainous only 15 suitable for farming
 Coal, oil and iron in short supply
 Typhoons, earthquakes and tidal waves are a threat
Early Japan
 First historic mention – from China – 300 AD
o Not united
o 100’s of clans controlled territories
o Worshipped own nature gods and goddesses – local deities
 Forms into first Japanese religion – Shinto – means “way of the gods”
o No rituals
 Based on respect of nature and worship of ancestors
 Believed in Kami – divine spirits that lived in nature
 Anything beautiful (rock, tree, waterfall, etc.) was the home of a kami
The Yamato Emperors
 The leading clan
 Claimed they descended from the sun goddess – amaterasu
 By 7th century called themselves emperors of Japan
o But didn’t really rule
o They lacked real power
The Japanese Adopt Chinese Ideas
 By 500 AD Japan began to have more contact with mainland – this spread culture both ways
Buddhism in Japan
 Korea brought Buddhism to Japan
 It spread and blended with Shinto
Cultural Borrowing From China
 Spreading Buddhism raised interest in Chinese ways



Sent mission groups (during Tang Dynasty) to China to study it ways and bring back cultural
ideas
o Adopted Chinese system of writing
o Chinese painting styles
o Chinese: cooking, gardening, tea and hair
For a time Japan modeled government after Chinese – civil service exams
o Failed to catch on – Japan continued to follow noble birth in powerful ruling positions
Even though they adopted many Chinese ideas and ways, the retained their own traditions as
well
Life in the Heian Period
 794 – the Imperial Court moved to Heian (now Kyoto)
o Many upper class moved there as well in order to attend court
 Court consisted of rituals, artistic pursuits and rules of etiquette – it dictated life
o Length of swords
o Color of robes
o Forms of address
o Number of skirts a woman could ware
o No loud laughter
o No mismatched clothes
o Women wore hair to their ankles
o Women blackened their teeth
o Dyed clothes to match seasons
o Required to write poetry and paint
o To not follow the rules meant embarrassment
o Nobles looked down on the poor because they could not participate at court
Feudalism Erodes Imperial Authority
Decline of Central Power
 Fujiwara family held power in Japan during the Heian Period
 Court families began to grow more interested in luxury than governing
 Large landowners
o Set up private armies
o Countryside became
 Lawless
 Dangerous
 Armies preyed on travelers and farmers
o Pirates took control of the seas
 For protection
o Small landowners and farmers traded parts of their land to warlords for protection
o Lords gained power with the more land they were gaining
 Start of feudalism
Samurai Warriors
 Because of rivals between lands
o Set up bodyguards called samurai (means “one who serves”)
o
o
Samurai lived by strict code called bushido (means “way of the warrior”)
Samurai
 Showed reckless courage
 Reverence for the gods
 Fairness
 Generosity to the weaker
 Dying an honorable death was more important than a long life
The Kamakura Shogunate
 Late 1100’s there was a power struggle
o Minamoto family emerged victorious
o Yoritomo, their leader, was titled Shogun (means “supreme general of emperors army”)
by the emperor
o Shogun was a military dictator and they governed
 Officials
 Judges
 Taxes
 Armies
 Roads
 Emperor still reigned from Kyoto (built at Heian after it was destroyed by war)
o Real center of power was at the military headquarters in Kamakura
o This implied that the emperors were puppet emperors
o Shoguns ruled
 Local lords maintained power of their province if they served the shogun
 Shoguns assigned governors called daimyo (DY-mee-OH) or “great lords” to
maintain peace and order in the province
 Kamakura Shoguns
o Strong enough to stop 2 attempts by the Mongols to invade
o But it drained the treasury
o Local samurai were angry when the government couldn’t pay them
 Kamakura shoguns lost their prestige and power as samurai’s became loyal to
the local lords
12.5
Kingdoms of Southeast Asia and Korea
 Southeast Asia lies south of China
 Includes modern countries of
o Myanmar (Burma)
o Laos
o Cambodia
o Vietnam
o Malaysia
o Indonesia
o Thailand
o Singapore
o Brunei
o Phillipines

To China’s northeast
o Korean Peninsula
 Divided into north and south
Kingdoms of Southeast Asia
 Kingdoms rose around rivers and deltas
Geography of Southeast Asia
 Indian to Pacific Ocean; Asia to Australia
 Consists of 2 main parts
o Mainland
o Islands
 Climate
o Warm, humid tropics
o Monsoon winds
o Long annual winds
 Never been united politically or culturally
 Mountains made communication difficult
 Lots of variety in language and cultures
 Key to power
o Control trade routes and harbors
 Local lords
o Charged fee to use waterways and fees for protection from pirates
Influence of India and China
 Indian merchants arrived in China
o Brought Hindu and Buddhist missionaries that spread the faith
o Kingdoms arose that followed these religions and modeled Indian government
o Hindu culture spread
 Many followed Hindu practices
 Poets wrote in Indian language – Sanskrit
The Khmer Empire
 What is now Cambodia
 For centuries was main power of mainland
 Kingdom called Funan dominated trade between China and India
 Improved rice growing methods helped them be prosperous
o Built irrigation systems
o Built waterways
o 3 or 4 rice crops a year
 Capitol Angkor
o Built city-temple complexes
 Angkor Wat – strong Indian influence
 One of world’s greatest architectural achievements
 Covers a square mile
 Built as a symbolic mountain to Hindu god Vishnu

It was also used as an observatory
Island Trading Kingdoms
 Sailendra – ruled agricultural kingdom on the island Java
 Built another of world’s great architectural achievements
o Buddhist temple at Borobudur (strong Indian influence)
o Had terrace levels – like a pyramid
 Overthrown by Srivijaya
o Controlled waters around Sumatra, Borneo and Java
o Grew wealthy by taxing trade through waters
o Its capitol, Palembang, became Buddhist learning center
Vietnam
 Least influenced by India
 Controlled by China until it broke away in 939
 Absorbed much Chinese culture; including Buddhism
o But also maintained their own independence and identity
 For example: Vietnamese women had more freedoms than Chinese women
 Established capitol at Hanoi
o On the Red River delta
 Mongols tried 3 times to conquer them but failed
Korean Dynasties
 Korean legend:
o First Korean state founded by Hero Tan’gun
 Father was a god and mother was a bear
 Another legend:
o 2 sides of the development of Korean culture
 Koreans were distinct people who developed their own native traditions
 Other side: culture was shaped by Chinese influences
 Reality: borrowed what they wanted from other cultures but maintained their
own distinct way of life
Geography of Korea
 On a peninsula
 Size of Utah
 Climate
o Hot in summer; very cold in winter
 Mountainous
 Limited area can be farmed
 Isolated because of natural barriers
o Mountains in north separated Korea from Manchuria
o Seas
Early History
 In early Korea, clans and tribes controlled territories



Chinese Han empire conquered much of Korea
o From this Koreans learned about
 Centralized government
 Confucianism
 Buddhism
 Writing
During the Han period
o Clans and tribes began to gather into federations
 Which then developed into 3 rival kingdoms
 Silla – defeated the other 2 and chased out the Chinese
Silla took control of entire peninsula
o Built Buddhist monasteries
o Produced stone and bronze sculptures
o Developed a writing system
 Suitable for writing Korean phonetically
 But kept Chinese characters
The Koryu Dynasty
 When Silla rule weakened
o Rebel office took over and became king – Wang Kon
o Name is an abbreviation of Koguryo
 Origin of modern name Korea
 Modeled government after Chinese
o Adopted civil service system and exams
o Established a university to teach for the exams
o Did not provide the social mobility that it had for the Chinese
 Their society was sharply divided between
o Landed nobility
o And everyone else: military, commoners and slaves
 Despite the exam system
o Sons of nobles gained the best positions – which became hereditary
 Landed nobles kept acquiring land which left everyone else with very little
 This spurred rebellions – but the Koryu Dynasty managed to hold onto the power
 Then the Mongols came
o They demanded crushing tribute
 20,000 horses
 Clothing for 1 millions soldiers
 Children and artisans for slaves
 Oppression and taxation of the people by the wealthy landlords led to new revolts
o Group of scholar officials and military overthrew the Koryu Dynasty and instituted land
reforms
o Established new Dynasty – Choson Dynasty
Koryu Culture
 Song porcelain artists – produced celadon pottery – milky green glaze
 Writers produced poetry and history books
 Produced wooden blocks for printing scriptures