Download Ancient China

China
600-1450 Review
Review previous dynasties
• Shang Dynasty 1766-1122
• Zhou Dynasty 1122-221
– Last 400yrs - warring states
• Qin Dynasty 221 -206 BCE
– Shi Huangdi (1st emperor)
– Legalist philosophy
– First coinage, writing system, censorship
• Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE
– Confucianism
– Paper & Porcelain main products
China: Reunification &
Renaissance
Recall Political Developments:
• Sui Dynasty (589-618)
– Reunification
– Completion of Grand Canal connecting
northern & southern China
• Tang Dynasty (618-907)
- Continuation of Sui, with large expansion
China during the Tang & Song Dynasties
Song Dynasty (960-1279)
• Founded by Song Taizu
• Threat of nomads to north
Confucian Civil Service System
• Reintroduced during Sui Dynasty;
expanded in Tang & Song era
• Exams based on Confucian classics
• Jinshi = highest title
Economic Revolution
• Population doubled
during Song era
• Agricultural prosperity
– New variety of rice
– New cash crops – e.g.
tea, sugar
– Dikes, reservoirs, &
dams
– Water pumps
Terraced rice paddies in southern China
Economic Revolution Cont.
• Commercial growth
– Internal trade, facilitated by canals & paper $
– Overseas maritime trade facilitated by
magnetic compass & junks
• Growth in industry
– Esp. silk fabric, porcelain & paper
– Water powered mills & bellows
– Iron & steel
• Urbanization (growth of cities)
– E.g. Kaifeng & Hangzhou
Other Technological Achievements
• Gunpowder
• Mechanical clock
• Moveable type
(printing)
“Thunderbolt ball”
Social Developments
• Growth of scholar-elite
• Declining status of women
– Increasing legal restrictions
– Demand in cities for domestic servants &
concubines
– Foot binding
Ideal woman’s
foot = 3” long!
Cultural Developments
• Women poets as
exception
• Refined pastimes
of the elite
• Landscape
painting
• Neo-Confucianism
– New emphasis of Confucian scholars was on
“investigation of things,” including workings of
universe
– Zhu Xi (1120-1200)
– Li = pattern; Qi = vital energy