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Reunification and Renaissance in
Chinese Civilization: The Era of
the Tang and Song Dynasties
Overview
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=chinese+dynasty+song&qpvt=Chinese+Dynasty+song&FORM=VDRE#view=detail&mid=7AD84998333F852F50717AD84998333F852F5071
• With the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 CE, China alternates
between periods of political unity and fragmentation
– Not as traumatic as the fall of Rome for Western Europe
• Between 589 and 906 CE, China enjoyed a political revival
under the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
• China will also be rocked by the advances of the Mongol
armies in the 1200s.
The Sui Dynasty
• The first strong
dynasty to
emerge after
the fall of the
Han was the Sui
Dynasty (589618 CE).
• Reunified China
• Expanded
China’s borders
as a result of
military
conquest
Homework!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9hU6PdEgEs
Tang Dynasty
• Under the Tang (618-906 CE), China became larger than ever
before.
– Rulers extend China’s influence to parts of Central Asia, Mongolia,
Manchuria, Tibet, and to the south, the Pacific Coast.
• Like the Han Dynasty, the Tang forced many of its neighbors
into a Tributary System, whereas Korea, Vietnam, Japan and
others had to make regular payments to avoid punishment.
Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
• Tang economy was very strong due to advanced infrastructure
(roads, waterways, canals)
– Grand Canal: Begun in the Sui Dynasty to link the Yellow and Yangzi
Rivers.
• Increased trade stimulated the Tang economy
– Silk industry made China exceptionally wealthy
Means of Trade/Exchange
• Indian Ocean Trade Network: China’s control of the southern
coast allowed participation in the Indian Ocean Trade Network.
• China also traded along the 5000 mile Silk Road with the
Middle East.
Homework!
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQsZe-wNN8Q
Culture in Tang China
• Tang rulers were cultural patrons
– Emperor Xuanzong sponsored the creation of the Han Lin Academy of
Letters, a key institution of learning
• The Tang exerted a strong artistic and religious influence over
Korea and Japan.
• Tang monarchs expanded and reworked the imperial
bureaucracy
– Revived Scholar-gentry elite reworked Confucian ideology
Tang Examination System
• Tang emperors patronized academies to train state officials and
educate them in Confucian classics.
– Examination system was greatly expanded.
– Patterns of advancement were regularized
• While most bureaucrats won their position through success in
the Civil Service Examination system, birth and family
connections still played a role in securing office.
State and Religion
• Buddhism thrived in the time before the Sui and Tang
dynasties (Pg. 401 making Buddhism Chinese)
– Many pre-Tang rulers from nomadic origins were devout Buddhists
• Chan variant of Buddhism (Zen) stressed meditation and appreciation of
natural beauty. Zen had great appeal to Chinese educated classes.
• Tang support of Confucianism threatened to undercut Buddhist
success…however, Tang Emperors and Empresses supported
the Buddhist establishment (Empress Wu r. 690-705 CE).
State and Religion
• Support of Buddhist aroused the envy of Confucian and Daoist
rivals (pg. 400-401)
– Confucian leaders stress the economic impact of not taxing Buddhist
monasteries, and losing out on labor because they couldn’t conscript
peasants who worked on monastic estates.
– Under Wuzong (r. 841-847) China openly persecuted Buddhists.
• Never again would Buddhism gain the strength it had in the earlyTang era…however, it would survive in China
– Confucianism becomes dominant ideology of Chinese civilization from the
9th to early 20th century.
Homework!
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI8ymLN5da8
Tang Decline
• During the 800’s, a series of
peasant rebellions and military
disasters weakened the Tang.
• In 906, the Tang Dynasty
collapsed and several decades of
disunity will follow.
China after the Tang
• Following the Tang breakdown, China fragmented into
separate states until the late 1200s.
• The largest and longest lasting was the Song Empire.
– Song empire will last until 1279.
• Until 1121, the primary threat to the Song was the Liao empire
to the north.
China after the Tang
• The Song paid tribute to the Liao via silk and cash, but then
destroyed them with the help of Jurchen tribes from the North
(even farther north).
• However, the Jurchen then proclaimed their own Empire, the
Jin, and turned on the Song.
• The Song gave up territory and retreated to the South. The
smaller Song state, the Southern Song Dynasty, will survive
until the Mongol Conquests of the 1270s.
Northern and Southern Song
Song Characteristics
• Culturally and economically impressive
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Steady population growth
World’s largest urbanized society
Largest cities on earth at the time (population over 1 million)
Trade contacts lessened, but still active.
More involvement with the Pacific coast and Southeast Asia.
Port of Canton (Guangzhou) became the world’s busiest and most
cosmopolitan trading centers.
• Large trading vessels, known as junks, cruised the eastern seas and Indian Ocean
carrying goods for trade.
Homework!
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5LzyOAWVfo
Song Culture and Religion
• With the exception of the Abbasid
Caliphate, Song China was of the
most scientifically and technically
advanced societies in the world.
– Excellent mathematicians and
astronomers.
– Accurate clocks, compasses (used at
sea in 1090).
– Su-Song’s celestial clock was built in
1088 CE
• 80 feet tall
• Time of day, day of month, positions of
the sun, moon, planets, and major stars.
• First device in world history to use a
chain-driven mechanism powered by
flowing water.
Chinese Inventions of the Song Era
• Gunpowder
• Paper Currency (flying money)
• Made use of Block Printing (adopted from the Koreans)
Religion
• Great revival of Confucius’ teachings, known as NeoConfucianism.
– Reinforced Chinese culture’s tendency toward hierarchy and
obedience.
– Put a premium on education and cultured behavior
– Civil Service Examination system
Homework!
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwrdEXXtz-4
Women in Chinese Society
• Neo-Confucianism was used to justify the greater
subordination of women.
– Earlier, a husband’s family had to produce a dowry for a new bride,
but during this time period, it reversed…Marriages were arranged for
the groom’s benefit.
• Chinese subjugation of women was most obvious in footbinding.
– Kept women’s feet tiny and dainty, but crippled them.
– Established in the 1200’s, and continued to the 1900’s.
Women in Chinese Society
• Women of lower classes were
freer than those in the upper
classes, but still occupied a
secondary status to that of men.
• Women of all classes had
property inheritance rights, and
retained control of their dowry
after death or divorce of
husband.
Beijing Olympic Opening
Ceremony
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsDY1Ha83M8