Download Imperial China

Mr. Millhouse
AP World History
Hebron High School
 End of the Han Dynasty was followed by a long
period of disunity and civil war
 Buddhism began to spread throughout China
during this period
 Introduced in the first century CE
 Did not really begin to spread until after the Han
empire collapsed
 Tea was discovered in the south during this
period
 Porcelain was also developed during this time
 Restored the Chinese
imperial structure
 Confucian bureaucracy, etc.
 Defeated external enemies
 Accomplishments of the
Sui Dynasty
 Grand Canal (right)
 Confucianism also began to
regain popularity
 Weakened by military
spending and external
invasions
 Expanded Confucian administrative system
 Reformed examination system
 Compiled the Tang Code in 624 CE
 Liberal attitude towards all religions
 Only female empress in Chinese
history
 Removed the rightful heir to the
throne in 690 CE
 Recruited outstanding individuals
to serve in her court
 Buddhism was the favored state
religion
 Attempted to make it a state religion
 Financed the building of many
Buddhist temples
 Rapid increase in rice production
 Techniques such as planting out seedlings rapidly
increased yield
 Champa rice from Vietnam
 Terrace Farming
 Population doubled
 Urbanization
 Power moved from north to south
 Revived the Silk Roads
 Contemporaries of the Umayyad and Abbasid
Caliphates
 Not politically powerful
 Conquered by Mongols
 Great advances were made in technology and
culture
 Used gunpowder as a weapon
 Foreign trade expanded greatly due to junks
 Rise of Neo-Confucianism
 Specialized Production
 Government monopolies
 Private business
 Guilds
 Silk, porcelain, iron, etc.
 Expanding trade markets
 Internal expansion caused by population growth
 Grand Canal, paper money, etc.
 External expansion caused by naval technology
 Compass, junks, etc.
Song dynasty iron smelting process
Yuan dynasty waterwheel and blast
furnace
 Gunpowder
 New porcelain techniques
 Translucent porcelain
 Invention of the moveable type
printing press in 1045 CE
 Introduction of paper money,
called flying money was
introduced
 Metal was scarce in China
 First evidence of this
practice shows up in
about 950 CE
 Not sure why this practice
began
 Widely practiced among
both the rich and poor of
China
 Essentially made women
subordinate to their
husbands
 Yuan Dynasty came to an end in 1368
 Attempt to eliminate Mongol cultural influence
 Ming Government
 Reestablished Confucian bureaucracy (again)
 Moved capital to Beijing
 Built the Forbidden City
 Expanded into Central Asia
and Manchuria
 New American crops expanded agriculture
 Sweet potato, maize, peanuts
 Led to rapid population growth
 Went from 100 million in 1500 to 225 million by 1750
 Population growth aided manufacturing by keeping wages
low
 Limited need for labor saving devices
 Launched expeditions into the Indian Ocean
 Zheng He voyages
 Limited trade with Europeans to Macao & Canton
 “the Silver Sink”
 Strengthened traditional Chinese values
 Filial piety
 Extended family system
 Emphasized loyalty to family
 Females remained subordinate
 Footbinding continued
 Female infanticide was not uncommon
 Widows were discouraged from remarrying & widow suicide
was often encouraged
 Confucian-based social hierarchy
 Promoted Neo-Confucianism
 Emphasized Chinese tradition
 Literature
 Monkey, the Water Margin, etc.
 Pottery
 the Great Wall