Download RESURGENCE OF EMPIRE IN EAST ASIA

RESURGENCE OF
EMPIRE IN EAST
ASIA
CHINA UNDER THE SUI,
TANG, AND SONG
ANARCHY IN CHINA
• Three Kingdoms 220-280
– Shu Han 221 – 263
– Wei 220 - 265
• Most powerful, eventually conquered Shu
• Built an army of Chinese infantry and nomadic
cavalry as mounted bowmen
• These assimilated nomads later overthrew Wei and
founded own dynasties
– Wu 222 – 280
• Jin Dynasty 265-420
– Western Jin 265 – 316 and Eastern Jin 317 – 420
• Only time during interregnum when China was united
• Intermixture of nomads and Chinese accelerated
– Sixteen Kingdoms 304 – 420
• Southern and Northern Dynasties 420-589
– Southern Dynasties
• Liu Song 420 – 479
• Southern Qi 479 – 502
• Liang 502 - 557
• Chen 557 ~589
– Northern Dynasties
• Later [Northern] Wei 386 – 534
• Eastern Wei 534 -550
• Western Wei 535 – 556
• Northern Qi 550 – 577
• Northern Zhou 557 ~581
• Period Resembled Western European history after the
collapse of the Romans
– Disunity and civil war between nomads and Chinese
warlords
• Rival states, dynasties, each controlling a part of the
old Han state
• Aristocrats, provincial nobles held land and real
influence
• Many of the northern dynasties were nomadic, both
Turkish and Mongol
• Confucianism in decline, Buddhism in ascendancy
due to its relationship with the nomads
• Confucian trained bureaucrats still held much
influence
– Common Chinese subject to taxes, warfare, drafting into
army, frequent invasions, bandits
BUDDHISM ARRIVES IN CHINA
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Foreign religions in China: Nestorian, Muslim,
Buddhist merchant communities
– Oases on the Silk Road were very mixed
– Became location for foreign settlements,
transmission of foreign faiths to China
Buddhism in China
– Attraction: moral standards, intellectual
sophistication, salvation, appeal to women,
poor
– Monasteries became large landowners, helped
the poor and needy
– Posed a challenge to Chinese cultural traditions
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Hostility to Buddhism
– Resistance from Daoists and Confucians
– Popular criticism focused on celibacy, alien
origin,
– Governmental criticism: unproductive land,
could not tax
Persecution
– Critics of Buddhism found allies in the
imperial court
– Tang emperor ordered closure of
monasteries in 840s
– Buddhism survived because of popular
support
THE TANG DYNASTY
• Founding of the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 CE)
– A rebel leader seized Chang'an, proclaimed a new
dynasty, the Tang
– Tang Taizong
• 2nd Tang emperor, a ruthless but extremely
competent ruler
• China enjoyed an era of unusual stability and
prosperity
• Extensive networks of transportation and
communications
• Adopted the equal-field system
• Bureaucracy of merit
– Recruited government officials through civil
service examinations
– Career bureaucrats relied on central
government, loyal to the dynasty
– Restored Confucianism as state ideology,
training for bureaucrats
• Foreign relations
– Political theory: China was the Middle
Kingdom, or the center of civilization
– Tributary system became diplomatic policy
• Tang decline
– Casual and careless leadership led to dynastic
crisis
– Rebellion of An Lushan in 755, weakened the
dynasty
– The Uighurs became de facto rulers
– The equal-field system deteriorated
– A large scale peasant rebellion led by Huang
Chao lasted from 875 to 884
– Regional commanders gained power, beyond
control of the emperor
– The last Tang emperor abdicated his throne in
907
TANG CHINA
TANG ART
SONG DYNASTY (960-1279 C.E.)
• Song Taizu
– Reigned 960-976 C.E.
– Founder of the Song dynasty
• Song weaknesses
– Song never had military, diplomatic strength of
Sui, Tang
– Financial problems
• Enormous bureaucracy with high salary
devoured surplus
• Forced to pay large tribute to nomads to
avoid war
– Military problems
• Civil bureaucrats in charge of military
forces
• Military was largely foot soldiers at war with
cavalry nomads
– External pressures
• Semi-nomadic Khitan, nomadic Jurchen
attacked in north
• Constant drain on treasury to pay tribute to
nomads
– The Song moved to the south, ruled south
China until 1279
• Nomads invaded, overran northern Song
lands
• Song retreated to the South along Yangtze,
moved capital
• After defeat, constantly forced to pay tribute
THE SONG WORLD
NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN
DYNASTIES
THE SONG ARTISTIC WORLD
DEMOGRAPHIC AND
ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENTS
• An agricultural revolution
– Twice flowering, fast-ripening rice increased food
supplies
– New agricultural techniques increased production
– Population growth
• 45 to 115 million inhabitants
• Between 600 and 1200 C.E.
• Urbanization: China most urbanized country in
period
– Chang'an had about 2 million residents
– Hangzhou had about 1 million residents
– Many cities boasted population of 100,000 or more
• Commercialized agriculture
– Some regions depended on other regions for food
– Extreme surplus of southern rice allowed cities to
flourish
– Necessitate vast grain shipments to cities
CH’ANG-AN & HANGZHOU
NEO-CONFUCIANISM
• Taoist, Buddhist Synthesis with Confucianism
– Early Confucianism focused on practical
issues
• Politics, Public Morality, Social
Relationships
– Confucians drew inspiration
• From Buddhism Spirituality
– Logical thought
– Argumentation of Buddhism
• From Taoism Cosmology
– Metaphysical issues: nature of soul
– Man's relation with cosmos
• Xenophobia Contributes, too
– Invasions by nomads, Turks and Mongols
threatened state
– Foreign ideas began to circulate
– Too many threats to society, traditions
• Zhu Xi (1130-1200 C.E.), most prominent NeoConfucian scholar
• Neo-Confucian influence
– Adapted Buddhist, Taoist themes, reasoning to
Confucian interests
– Made Buddhism Chinese but stressed Chinese
roots, values
– Influenced East Asian thought
• In China, it was an officially recognized
creed
• Influenced Korea, Vietnam, and Japan for
half a millennium
PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY
•
Developments reinforced patriarchal society
–
Chinese reaction to foreign ideas
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Reaction to Buddhist’s gender equality
Neo-Confucianism emphasized patriarchy
Ancestor worship revived
Preserving of family
Family wealth became paramount
Results
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Tightening of patriarchal structure
Reinforcing of male domination
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Foot binding gained popularity during the Song
–
Emphasized dependence of women on men, home
• Wealthy, aristocrats could afford practice, hire
servants to do work
• Feet of women broken, reformed around stilts
• Women could not walk without pain but had to
shuffle
• Forced women to remain at home, dependent on
others
–
Male sense of beauty at women’s expense
Poor, peasant women not subject to footbinding
–
Women had to work with men to support family
–
Men could not afford to have women at home, idle
TECHNOLOGY & INDUSTRY
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Porcelain
– High quality porcelain since the Tang, known as
chinaware
– Technology diffused to other societies,
especially to Abbasid Arabia
– Exported vast quantities to southeast Asia, India,
Persia, and Africa
Metallurgy
– Improvement: used coke instead of coal in
furnaces to make iron, steel
– Iron production increased tenfold between the
early 9th and 12th century
•
•
Gunpowder
– Discovered by Daoist alchemists during the
Tang
– Bamboo "fire lances," a kind of flame
thrower, and primitive bombs
– Gunpowder chemistry diffused throughout
Eurasia
Printing
– Became common during the Tang
– From block-printing to movable type
– Books became widespread
•
Naval technology
– "South-pointing needle" - the magnetic
compass
– Double hulled junks with rudder, water-tight
compartments
SONG LIFE
A MARKET ECONOMY
•
Merchants in Charge
– Only period in China where merchants socially
superior to aristocrats
– Merchants attempted to intermarry with
aristocrats, become landowners
– Merchants attempted to have sons admitted as
Confucian bureaucrats
– Merchants tended to espouse Confucianism as
way into traditional elites
– Most large cities had large merchant
communities
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Financial instruments
– Banking and credit institution
– “Flying money " were letters of credit
– Paper money backed by state, treasury
A cosmopolitan society
– Foreign merchants in large cities of China
– Mostly Arab (Muslim), Indian, S.E. Asian
– Chinese merchants journeyed throughout
region
•
Economic surge in China
– An economic revolution in China
– Made China the wealthiest nation in the world
at time
– Promoted economic growth in the eastern
hemisphere