Download Ch 15 Imperial China

CH. 15: IMPERIAL CHINA
P. 405
LESSON 1: CHINA REUNITES
P. 408
CHINA REBUILDS ITS EMPIRE: THE SUI

A.D. 581: Wendi becomes emperor; starts Sui
Dynasty
 Son:
Yangdi
 Repaired
Great Wall
 Rebuilt Han capital city of Changan
 Most ambitious project: building Grand Canal
 High taxes = farmers revolt, kill Yangdi (Sui Dynasty ends)
THE TANG DYNASTY
 A.D.
618: 1 of Yangdi’s generals becomes
new emperor, starts Tang Dynasty
 Tang
Dynasty: A.D. 618-907
 Restore
strong central gov.
 Emperor
Taizong: brought back civil service
exams; gave land to farmers; brought peace
to countryside
THE TANG DYNASTY (CONT.)
 Empress
Wu (A.D.
624-705)
1st
woman in
Chinese history to
rule on her own
Added more
officials to gov;
strengthened
military
THE TANG DYNASTY (CONT.)
 Tang
rulers conquer Tibet, Silk Road,
northern Vietnam
 Increase
trade; force neighboring countries
to pay tribute
 Changan
becomes largest city in world
 Mid-700s: Turkish nomads conquer Silk
Road
 Farmers revolt
THE SONG DYNASTY
A.D. 960-1279: Song Dynasty
 Economic prosperity, cultural achievements
 Capital moved to Hangzhou

BUDDHISM IN CHINA
 Tang
Dynasty: allowed Buddhist temples,
shrines, monasteries to be built
 Temples
& monasteries too rich?
 Monks & nuns weaken respect for family
life?
 Buddhism: seen as enemy of Confucianism
 A.D. 845: Gov. destroys many Buddhist
monasteries & temples
NEO-CONFUCIANISM
 Tang
& Song dynasties support neoConfucianism to stop Buddhism from
growing
 Worry about this world & the next
 Be
active in society, help others
 Included
some Buddhist & Daoist beliefs
 Find peace of mind if you follow
Confucius’ teachings
LESSON 2: CHINESE SOCIETY
P. 416
FARM IMPROVEMENTS
 Improved
irrigation methods
 New kinds of rice
 Begin to grow tea
 More food > population grows > ppl settle
in new areas > new cities
WHY DID CHINA’S TRADE GROW?
 Tang
build roads, waterways, seaports
 Silk Road reopens
 Chinese trade silk, tea, steel, paper,
porcelain for gold, silver, precious stones,
fine woods
COAL AND STEEL
 Use
coal instead of wood as fuel
 Coal-mining
becomes an industry
 Melt iron in a coal-heated furnace > melted
iron mixes w/ carbon from coal = steel
 Steel
used to make armor, swords,
helmets, stoves, farm tools, drills, nails,
sewing needles, etc.
THE INVENTION OF PRINTING
 Paper
invented under Han dynasty
 Tang: paper produced in large amounts
 Invent
method for printing books
 A.D.
600s: Chinese Buddhist monks begin
woodblock printing
 Earliest known printed book: Diamond
Sutra (A.D. 868)
 Buddhist
book
THE INVENTION OF PRINTING (CONT.)
 A.D.
1000s: Pi Sheng invents movable
type
 Pieces
 Paper
 A.D.
made of clay
currency invented
1024 (Song Dynasty): Chinese start to
print the world’s 1st paper money
GUNPOWDER AND SHIPS
 Gunpowder
 Ex:
used in explosives & weapons
fire lance, fireworks
 Inventions
that increased long-distance
trade:
 Large
ships w/ rudders & sails
 Magnetic compass
LITERATURE AND THE ARTS
 Tang
& Song dynasties: golden age of
Chinese culture
 Printing > literature more available &
popular
 Chinese rulers supported artists & writers
 Invited
them to live & work in Changan
AN AGE OF POETRY
 Tang
dynasty: great age of poetry in China
 Themes: beauty of nature, changes of the
seasons, joys of friendship, sadness at
the shortness of life
 Li Bo: wrote poems about nature
 Ex:
“Alone Looking at the Mountain”
AN AGE OF POETRY (CONT.)
 Du
Fu: poor civil servant
Wrote
about the problems of the poor,
unfairness of life, wastefulness of war
LANDSCAPE PAINTING
 Song
dynasty: artists paint landscapes
 Did
not try to show the exact appearance of
places
 Tried to portray “idea” of the place
 Empty spaces left on purpose
Daoist
belief: a person can’t know the whole
truth about something
LANDSCAPE PAINTING

Also Daoist: ppl are shown very small
 Ppl
are only one part of a much larger natural
setting

Poems often on paintings in calligraphy
QUIZ TOPICS
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What Emperor Yangdi did
China’s capital city during the Sui & Tang dynasties
Empress Wu
Why China’s trade increased during Tang dynasty
Why Tang rulers disliked Buddhism
What Neo-Confucianism was
How steel is made
Chinese poetry
Li Bo
Calligraphy