Download 15 - The Resurgence of Empires in East Asia

The Sui Dynasty (589-618 CE)
• Regional kingdoms succeed collapse of
Han dynasty
• Yang Jian consolidates control of all of
China, initiates Sui Dynasty
• Massive building projects
– Military labor
– Conscripted labor
The Grand Canal
• Intended to promote trade between north and
south China
– Most Chinese rivers flow west-east
• Linked network of earlier canals
– 1240 miles
– Roads on either bank
• Succeeded only by railroad traffic in 20th century
• Longest canal or artificial river in the world
today!
The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE)
• Wide discontent over conscripted labor in
Sui dynasty
• Military failures in Korea prompt rebellion
• Emperor assassinated in 618
– Tang Dynasty initiated
The Sui and Tang dynasties, 589-907 CE
.
Tang Taizong
• Second emperor of Tang
dynasty (r. 627-649 CE)
• Murdered two brothers, thrust
father aside to take throne
• Strong ruler
– Built capital at Chang’an
– Law and order
– Taxes, prices low
– More effective implementation of
earlier Sui policies
Major Achievements of
Tang Dynasty
• Transportation and communications
– Extensive postal, courier services
• Became the golden age of literature in China.
• Equal-field System
– 20% of land hereditary ownership
– 80% redistributed according to formula
• Family size, land fertility
– Worked well until 8th century
• Corruption, loss of land to Buddhist monasteries, aristocratic
land accumulation
Bureaucracy of Merit
• Imperial civil service examinations
– Confucian educational curriculum
• Some bribery, nepotism
• But most advance through merit
– Built loyalty to the dynasty
– System remains strong until early 20th century
Tang Military Expansion and
Foreign Relations
• Manchuria, Korea, Vietnam,
Tibet
• One of the largest
expansions of China in its
history
• Established tributary
relationships
– Gifts
• China as “Middle Kingdom”
– The kowtow ritual
Tang Decline
• Governmental neglect: Emperor obsessed with
music, favorite concubine
• 775 rebellion under An Lushan, former military
commander
• Captures Chang’an, but rebellion crushed by
763
• Nomadic Turkish Uighur (WEE-goor)
mercenaries invited to suppress rebellion,
sacked Chang’an and Luoyang as payment
• Tang decline continues, rebellions in 9th century,
last emperor abdicates 907
The Song Dynasty, 960-1279 C.E.
Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE)
• Emphasis on administration, industry,
education, the arts
• Military not emphasized
• Direction of first emperor, Song Taizu (r.
960-976 CE)
– Former military leader
– Made emperor by troops
– Instituted policy of imperial favor for civil
servants, expanded meritocracy
Song Weaknesses
• Size of bureaucracy heavy drain on economy
– Two peasant rebellions in 12th c.
– Internal inertia prevents reform of bureaucracy
• Civil service leadership of military
– Lacked military training
– Unable to contain nomadic attacks
– Jurchen (a Tungusic people (Siberian) who inhabited
the region of Manchuria) conquer, founding the Jin
Empire, forcing Song dynasty to Hangzhou, southern
China (Southern Song)
The Song Dynasty, 960-1279 C.E.
Agricultural Economies of the
Tang and Song Dynasties
• Developed Vietnamese fast-ripening rice,
2 crops per year
• Technology: iron plows, use of draft
animals (North - Oxen, South – Water
Buffaloes)
• Soil fertilization, improved irrigation
– Water wheels, canals
• Terrace farming
Population Growth
• Result of increased
agricultural production
• Effective food
distribution system
120
100
80
60
Millions
40
20
0
600
CE
1000
– Transportation
networks built under
Tang and Song
dynasties
Strict Social Hierarchy
Gentry: Wealthy landowners, focused on
Confucian ideals, focus on civil service
Peasants: Majority population
who were predominantly
farmers living in small villages
Merchants: Could acquire wealth
but always held low social status
due to their wealth coming from the
work of others. Could own land and
educate sons to enter the Gentry
Urbanization
• Chang’an (currently
Xi'an) world’s most
populous city: 2 million
residents
– Southern Song capital
Hangzhou: over 1
million
Patriarchal Social Structures
• Increased emphasis on ancestor worship
– Elaborate grave rituals
– Extended family gatherings in honor of
deceased ancestors
• Footbinding gains popularity
– Increased control by male family members
Footbinding
A typical junk ship from
Technology and Industry
the Song Dynasty
• Porcelain (“Chinaware”)
• Increase of iron production due to use of coke,
not coal, in furnaces
– Agricultural tools, weaponry
• Gunpowder invented
• Earlier printing techniques refined
– Moveable type by mid-11th century
– Yet complex Chinese ideographs make wood block
technique easier
• Naval technology
– compass
Emergence of a Market
Economy
• Letters of credit developed to deal with
copper coin shortages
– Promissory notes, checks also used
• Development of independently produced
paper money
– Not as stable, riots when not honored
• Government claims monopoly on money
production in 11th century
China and the Hemispheric
Economy
• Increasingly cosmopolitan nature of
Chinese cities
• Chinese silk opens up trade routes, but
increases local demands for imported
luxury goods
Cultural Change in Tang and
Song China
• Declining confidence in Confucianism after
collapse of Han dynasty
• Increasing popularity of Buddhism
• Christianity, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism,
Islam also appear
• Clientele primarily foreign merchant class
Dunhuang
• Mahayana Buddhism especially popular at
Dunhuang in western China (Gansu
province), 600-1000 CE
– Cave temples
• Buddhist temples, libraries
• Economic success as converts donate
land holdings
• Increase popularity through donations of
agricultural produce to the poor
Conflicts with Chinese Culture
• Buddhism:
– Text-based
(Buddhist
teachings)
• Emphasis on
Metaphysics
• Ascetic ideal
– Celibacy
– Isolation
• Confucianism:
– Text-based
(Confucian
teachings)
– Daoism not textbased
• Emphasis on
ethics, politics
• Family-centered
– Procreation
– Filial piety
Chan (Zen) Buddhism
• Buddhists adapt ideology to Chinese
climate
– Dharma translated as dao
– Nirvana translated as wuwei
• Accommodated family lifestyle
– “one son in monastery for ten generations of
salvation”
• Limited emphasis on textual study,
meditation instead
Persecution of Buddhists
• Daoist/Confucian persecution supported in
late Tang dynasty
• 840s begins systematic closure of
Buddhist temples, expulsions
– Zoroastrians, Christians, Manicheans as well
• Economic motive: seizure of large
monastic landholdings
• Limits growth but does not eradicate faiths
Neo-Confucianism
• Song dynasty refrains from persecuting
Buddhists, but favors Confucians
• Neo-Confucians influenced by Buddhist
thought
– Syncretic blend of both faiths
China and Korea
• Silla Dynasty: Tang armies
withdraw, Korea
recognizes Tang as
emperor
• Technically a vassal
statue, but highly
independent
• Chinese influence on
Korean culture pervasive
China and Vietnam
• Vietnamese adaptation to Chinese culture,
technology
• But ongoing resentment at political
domination
• Assert independence when Tang dynasty
falls in 10th century
China and Early Japan
• Chinese armies never invade Japan
• Yet Chinese culture pervasive
• Imitation of Tang administration
– Establishment of new capital at Nara, hence
“Nara Japan” (710-794 CE)
• Adoption of Confucian, Buddhist teachings
• Yet retention of Shinto religion
Japan and the United States
Hokkaido
Islands
Honshu
Shikuku
Kyushu
Okinawa
Cities
Sapporo
Kyoto
Kobe
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Tokyo
Yokohama
Nagoya
Osaka
Mt. Fuji
Global Tectonic Plates
Japan -- On the “Fire Rim
of the Pacific”
Japanese Earthquakes: 1961-1994
Rice Farmer’s Farmhouse:
Okutsu Town, Okayama Prefecture
Terrace Rice Farming
Yamato Period: 300-710
Began promoting the adoption of
Chinese culture:





Confucianism.
Language (kanji characters).
Buddhist sects.
Chinese art & architecture.
Government structure.
“Great Kings” era
Heian Japan (794-1185 CE)
• Japanese emperor moves court to Heian
(Kyoto)
• Yet emperor figurehead, real power in
hands of Fujiwara clan
– Pattern in Japanese history: weak emperor,
power behind the throne
– Helps explain longevity of the institution
Heian Period: Cultural Borrowing
1.Chinese writing.
2.Chinese artistic styles.
3.Zen Buddhism
4.BUT, not the Chinese civil
service system!
Japanese Literature
• Influence of Chinese kanji characters
– Classic curriculum dominated by Chinese
• The Tale of Genji
– One of rare Japanese language works of
fiction written by a woman.
Institution of the Shogun
• Civil war between Taira and Minamoto
clans in 12th century
• Minamoto leader named shogun, 1185 CE
• Ruled from Kamakura, allowed imperial
throne to continue in Kyoto
Medieval Japan
• Kamakura (1185-1333 CE) and
Muromachi (1336-1573 CE) periods
• Decentralized power in hands of warlords
• Military authority in hands of samurai
• Professional warriors
The emperor
reigned, but did
not always rule!
Feudal
Society
Feudalism
A political, economic, and social system
based on loyalty, the holding of land, and
military service.
Japan:
Shogun
Land
Daimyo
Land
Protection
Samurai
Peasant
Loyalty
Daimyo
Samurai
Peasant
Loyalty
Samurai
Peasant
Food
Peasant
Code of Bushido
* Fidelity
* Politeness
* Virility
* Simplicity
Seppuku:
Ritual Suicide
It is honorable to
die in this way.
Kaishaku – his
“seconds”
Full Samurai Attire
Samurai Sword
Medieval Warriors
vs.
European Knight
Samurai Warrior
Medieval Warriors
vs.
Knight’s Armor
Samurai Armor
Zen Buddhism
 A Japanese
variation of the
Mahayana form of
Buddhism, which
came from India
through China.
 It reinforced
the Bushido values
of mental and selfdiscipline.
Osaka Castle
Caernorfon Castle,
Wales
Polytheism
Shinto
Minimize
sin &
guilt
Torii Gate, Miyajima Island
Torii Gate in Winter
A Tunnel of Torii Gates
Inari Mt., Kyoto
Kabuki Theater
An interior of a Kabuki theater.
Chanoyu : Tea Ceremony
Origami : The Art of
Japanese Paper Folding
Calligraphy
Haiku : 17-syllable poem
Spring departs.
Birds cry
Fishes' eyes are
filled with tears.
Matsuo Basho, Master of Haiku
Japanese Garden for
Meditation
Japanese Zen Garden
Japanese Sand Garden